I grew up on a farm where my parents dedicated a half acre to a vegetable and berry garden, a half acre to an orchard, several acres to raise cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and sheep, and several acres to grow grains and hay for the animals. The whole farm was worked by my family (big family) and only my mom worked out of home to support us. A lot goes into a farm, and little profit is made.
Unfortunately, where I live, new laws have come into effect. My dad was no longer allowed to butcher his own animals. He had to pay for someone to pick them up and ship them away to a major slaughter house. There are so many things wrong with that. Everything you mentioned above, as well as our animals being injected with all kinds of things, and then when we get the meat back, we can't be sure if it was from the same animal we sent in.
The laws also said we couldn't advertise that we had things to sell. My parents were forced to sell all their livestock because they couldn't afford to pay for the shipping of their animals and for the organic certification. He couldn't do it under the table because all locally run big freezers were being shut down. My dad sold 7 full grown cattle with two calves for $1400. If he were allowed to butcher his animals himself and sell the meat, that's what he would have gotten for one cow.
Big corporations are evil. They're shutting down small farms which doesn't make any sense. Small farms are where you're going to get the best quality and you know the workers are treated well because they're most likely part of the family. The animals on small farms are treated better, and it's easier to pick out a sick cow from a group of 10 than it is from a group of 200+.
I suppose this is a sensitive issue for me.
My parents have shrunk their garden down to a size that only feeds the family. They have no more animals, save a few chickens they use for eggs. My dad has been working hard these past few years to convert the pastures into hay crops. That means he has to plow the ground and pick out all the rocks and sticks several times before the first seeding. Depending on the earth, it can be three years of plowing and rock picking before the seeding. He does it because it's the only way he can maintain a farm status, otherwise he's going to have to pay a heck of a lot more for taxes on 86 acres which he can't afford, and then they'd have to sell the farm.
It's difficult to find produce and meat products that haven't been tampered with sprays and injections, let alone in a good work environment. It's very sad, and scary.
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I grew up on a farm where my parents dedicated a half acre to a vegetable and berry garden, a half acre to an orchard, several acres to raise cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and sheep, and several acres to grow grains and hay for the animals. The whole farm was worked by my family (big family) and only my mom worked out of home to support us. A lot goes into a farm, and little profit is made.
Unfortunately, where I live, new laws have come into effect. My dad was no longer allowed to butcher his own animals. He had to pay for someone to pick them up and ship them away to a major slaughter house. There are so many things wrong with that. Everything you mentioned above, as well as our animals being injected with all kinds of things, and then when we get the meat back, we can't be sure if it was from the same animal we sent in.
The laws also said we couldn't advertise that we had things to sell. My parents were forced to sell all their livestock because they couldn't afford to pay for the shipping of their animals and for the organic certification. He couldn't do it under the table because all locally run big freezers were being shut down. My dad sold 7 full grown cattle with two calves for $1400. If he were allowed to butcher his animals himself and sell the meat, that's what he would have gotten for one cow.
Big corporations are evil. They're shutting down small farms which doesn't make any sense. Small farms are where you're going to get the best quality and you know the workers are treated well because they're most likely part of the family. The animals on small farms are treated better, and it's easier to pick out a sick cow from a group of 10 than it is from a group of 200+.
I suppose this is a sensitive issue for me.
My parents have shrunk their garden down to a size that only feeds the family. They have no more animals, save a few chickens they use for eggs. My dad has been working hard these past few years to convert the pastures into hay crops. That means he has to plow the ground and pick out all the rocks and sticks several times before the first seeding. Depending on the earth, it can be three years of plowing and rock picking before the seeding. He does it because it's the only way he can maintain a farm status, otherwise he's going to have to pay a heck of a lot more for taxes on 86 acres which he can't afford, and then they'd have to sell the farm.
It's difficult to find produce and meat products that haven't been tampered with sprays and injections, let alone in a good work environment. It's very sad, and scary.