Recently, we were interviewed by a reporter from the Fenton Patch , Ellie Shansky, who was writing a story on natural and local foods. We were thrilled to find it published as of this morning! The story focuses primarily on our local food co-op, Dibbleville Food Co-Op, and discusses the benefits of finding local, natural, and responsibly produced foods. You can read the story here.
The timing is interesting in that it coincides with national news reports about some folks becoming ill from ground turkey, due to the antibiotic-resistant strain of salmonella bacteria it contains. That’s one great example of why many of us are trying to opt-out of the industrial food system, by raising some of our own food, and sourcing it locally or from responsible producers if we can’t find it nearby.
The problem is that the animals that produce the meat available in the supermarkets are being raised on feed lots. These feature crowded conditions, a lack of clean green pasture, and for birds, they are often in large warehouse buildings with no cleansing sunshine exposure. These animals become stressed and therefore ill – but instead of fixing the conditions that caused the problem, the factory farms dose them up with antibiotics, often routinely just added to their drinking water without knowing whether the birds are actually infected. And just like in humans, this creates resistant strains of bacteria. Many of those strains are zoonotic – which are transfered to humans when we eat the infected meat.
Animals aren’t supposed to live in these conditions, and it’s why we are seeing the weaknesses of these industrial systems more frequently in the way of outbreaks. It is also evident in that many antibiotics are simply becoming ineffective, not only for the animals in these CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) settings, but also, for us as humans.
How do we fix this? Stop buying factory produced meat. We live in a corporate-centric culture and we are not going to fix this with legislation. Legislation means bureaucracy, and that’s part of what led to these conditions in the first place. Bureaucrats tend to look out for the interests of their masters, which do not tend to be we, the little people.
Opt out of the system and spend your dollars with a local farmer who raises their meat and other foods ethically and sustainably. If you aren’t sure where to find farmers, check out:
USDA Farmer’s Market Search Tool
Vote with your dollars. Let’s change our own diets for the better with ethically produced, bio-diverse, truly nourishing foods. The more of us who do just that, the better for us, our communities, the animals – the whole circle of life.
Related Images:
Leave a Reply