Visit a farm???

Question

There are many strong opinions regarding the production of food on a farm some good yet many people seem to disagree about animal production and how they perceive that they are cared for. How do you recieve this information? Have you seen this first hand or have found the information through another source? Would you visit a farm?

To Michael H., your story seems a bit bizarre and secondly farmers "chew the fat"... cows "chew their cud"

Thank you for everyone's input. Asking the V& V group to possibly visit a farm and firsthand asking a farmer their questions and expressing their concerns is surprisingly met with strong resistance. I would expect more people to be open minded and willing to have the opportunity to discuss their agenda, but I realize that this is not so. That is unfortunate.

Answer 1

How come no one recognizes the positive aspect of high intensity farming? Without it, much more land would be required to produce the same amount of food we currently do, and in the case of the third world, where animals are raised in the manner in which so many of you desire; that means the destruction of thousands and thousands of acres of forest land each year.
And where does this notion of "torture" and "maltreatment" come from anyway? To believe so would require that you perceive the farmer as some sort of devil, rising up from a puff of smoke each time he appears and laughing with a sinister "Humhahahahaha!" There is no logical argument to say that animals are mistreated on a factory farm (defining that in itself is problematic). For one, people that mistreat animals in general have mental problems, so suggesting that all farmers have mental problems just isn't reasonable. And two, farmers need to raise a quality product in order to remain competitive in the market and meet production standards, so mistreatment of their stock would be counterproductive to their goal. In reality, the utmost care must be taken with the stock to ensure a successful year. Notions that chickens' coops are too small or that cows don't walk around enough resulting in "cruelty" are disproven by the simple fact that the chickens lay more eggs than they used to and that the cow produces more milk than it used to. If the animals were under distress or being harmed, these numbers would be going the other way. All that is really going on here to create all this "cruelty" is a misunderstanding and ignorance of the system by soft-hearted (but maybe well intentioned) people without a good understanding of the reality.

So in my opinion, yes, everyone should go visit a commercial farm and talk to the farmer so that you may learn there is a reason for everything. If people knew that chicken and beef and eggs and milk don't just magically appear on store shelves at night (not to mention all the bread, vegetables, and nearly everything else at the store) maybe they would have a greater appreciation for the fact that they do have so much of it and that it is the result of the unprecedented efforts of an ever shrinking group of dedicated individuals doing a largely thankless and yet, vital, job.

Answer 2

I've never visited a high-intensity farm. I don't really think I'd want to (or visit a slaughterhouse). My main problem with the meat industry does have a lot to do with the treatment of animals, but it goes way beyond that. Saying that you don't eat meat because it kills animals is, in my mind, a bit simplistic. The mass-meat industry is bad for the environment and extremely wasteful of resources. I have no problem with naturally-raised meat.

Farmers will often say that the animals are well-cared for or they wouldn't produce. While I agree with this in theory, I wonder whether the animals would produce in their environment if the farmers cut the use of all antibiotics and hormones. If animals can't produce or survive in an environment without medicines, I'm forced to doubt that their environment is ideal.

That said, I also prefer produce from smaller organic farms.

Answer 3

I own an arable farm. If I look north, i see a beef farm, south, beef and sheep, east, arables ( mine ), west - dairy.

I visit these farms every week, normally every few days. The farmers are friends and we "chew the cud" on various farming issues and I take animals from them destined for slaughter (when I can) for health, lack of growth, or other husbandry reasons that just require a bit more attention for the animal that farmers cannot afford to spend.

I turned veggie aged 14 after visiting a farm, it was an open day at a pig farm that had won husbandry awards - this was the best the industry had to offer.. I left the building an instant veggie and could never turn back after seeing the way animals are reared. Since growing up and now owning a bit of land I've seen nothing to change my mind in the 28 years since.

Answer 4

I grew up on a farm (dairy cow, beef cattle, chickens) we milked the cow, ate beef and chickens and were involved in all aspects of the process. I never for one time thought it was cruel. If we wanted pork we traded beef for pork. I had a great life, I left after graduation, went to the 'city' and got the shock of my life! Yes, the beef, milk, pork is, well it's eatable but that's about it, nothing like what we raised on the farm, must be the hormones etc, I don't know but things sure are different. Now I am a 'farmer' and raise fruit only. I buy beef, pork and lamb from a neighbor and the meat is awesome! We cared for our animals, I could walk among them without fear, they were part of my life, when it as time to slaughter them we did it, no second thought, that is what they were raised for, simple as that. I was in 4-H and chickens were my 'thing' and eating them wasn't hard, it is what you did. So... it's up to the individual, I do not like to eat meat from the grocery store at all. FYI we also hunt and fish, and eat salmon, halibut, trout, elk, deer, moose all of which have been 'raised in the wild' so the process thing isn't part of my food. There are farms and then there are corporate farms that are raising thousands of animals, would I visit a corporate farm? I'd rather not, I like my simple life, that is safe and secure, silly me, imagine being safe and having a good life, but that is exactly what I have and I am blessed.

Answer 5

To answer your question, most of my information comes from first-hand accounts, (from notes, still pictures, and video) of brave people who have volunteered to be employed at factory farms, rendering plants, etc. Advocates of the industry will try to say that videos on PETA or Youtube are just extreme cases, or one bad apple in the bunch, but the fact is that there are hundreds or thousands of videos from all over the country and that is the way the majority of meat is produced.

I read on here about people who grew up or had experience on a family farm, and I believe every word of their story. However, most meat sold in the US comes from factory farms, not small family farms. People who once owned some chickens should not eat commercial meat and assume the animals were treated with anything but degradation and torture.

As for the last question, no I do not believe I am strong enough to visit a factory farm, nor do I have the desire to. I already know all the information I need to know to stop me from consuming animal products, I can't stand to see any more.

Answer 6

Nobody's going to visit the farms. They take the PETA videos as being the standard when they are actually the worst case scenarios.

You have to understand the different levels of what people call abuse too. For some people, having an animal live a comfortable life and killed in a painless manner is still abuse.

Answer 7

everybody should be taken to a farm and a slaughterhouse , to see for themselves what goes on

i live in the country , and i have no problem eating meat , but i think some people might if they seen what goes on

and when i say i eat meat , i mean " real " meat ,good cuts of meat from local farmers

not the s** t that goes into a McDonald's , or a kfc

all the best
Ian

Answer 8

i flow to farm shops frequently because of the fact i like to purchase interior sight nutrition have purely stayed in a rented farm cottage on a hill farm in wales a pair of cases. sure i do savour the long ours and demanding artwork that farmers would desire to do to even get a sensible residing. i attempt to not purchase clean produce from supermarkets because of the fact i think of that it rather is incorrect the way that they shop their money to farmers a ways too low it is so unfair.

Answer 9

I live in the country, I have seen the farms that did raise cattle disappear more and more every year. I never knew why it was happening until I did research on the Internet and found out about factory farms through a vegetarian forum. The images and videos I have seen have disturbed me greatly and opened my eyes to a very cruel industry. My aunt used to raise cattle fifteen years ago or so, and her farm is gone to the big companies also. I have also seen calfs tied up on very short chains to dog box looking houses. Once I saw one in the pouring rain chained up with no shelter. So, I have seen what farms used to be first hand. I would not visit a farm because I recognize that the animals there feel pain, physically and emotionally. And that they have a desire to live, and it would sadden me to see them knowing how they are going to die. And you couldn't get me anywhere near a factory farm.

Answer 10

In this day and age people have to see in order to believe so a visit to a farm may be sufficient.