Eating "Humane-ly"

Hi A.,

One thing you might want to do is start looking for products labeled with the "Magen Tzedek." This is the first year the the symbol will be available, although it's been in planning for several years. The symbol is a jewish star (magen, pronounced ma GANE), inside of a magen, inside of a magen. The intention of the symbol is to only place it on foods that are already certified as kosher from manufacturers who adhere to strict ethical guidelines on several levels: maintaining/slaughtering animals humanely, fair treatment of employees (fair wages, health insurance, no child labor, etc.), corporate responsibility, practice fair trade, etc.

You don't have to be Jewish to buy kosher food. The goal of the Magen Tzedek program is to raise the consciousness of the averager consumer while encouraging food production corporations to act responsibly and humanely. You can get more information from www.magentzedek.org. The exact requirements for certification can be found at: http://www.magentzedek.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MT_...

Humane eating is just so impossible right now. Unless you own your own hobby farm, and do it yourself, your Idea of humane treatment of a farm animal may vary greatly to someone else's. I was raised on a farm, ranch and in the view of wide ranging humane practice. I wish I could eat Humanely all the time. Its just not possible. If you want eggs, most cities and state will allow up to 6 hens (usually no roosters) to a backyard. Then you know for sure how they are raised and what they are fed. Milk and cheese are harder, cause in my book any cow used for milk is inhumane. Since they need to be bred often, and the baby taken away in order to get any kind of production to feed a family. When I was a kid, we used to let them moms have their calves, but it would take at least 3 cows to feed our family of 6. After the calves took their fill and then we took ours, there wasn't much left. I always felt sorry for them. There are farms and ranches that sell exclusively humane raised but you def need to schedule a visit to them to verify, and to agree they are what you consider humane. You also pay double for the product as well.

Before I started my family I raised rabbits on large scale. Not for the cute little pets, but I raised the monster meat rabbits. I actually made a great profit off them, after getting my licence and selling them to asian markets and local butchers. They are very expensive. I had large, outdoor cages on the ground, no wires, no tiny little cramped things. They were given food and water and shelter. Clean cages, and quick, seemingly pain free deaths. I tell ya, you cant give love to so many animals, but you dont have to be mean or heartless to them. Just basic needs met, and kind words in the end.

I am not exclusive, but I am trying, a bit more each year. Cutting out or down on animal based products helps a lot. Plus eating less meat saves money that you can put towards more expensive cruelty free/reduced items. Another thing I try to do is buy local eggs and beef where I know the farmer and their methods. Many people raise a few chickens and will sell their eggs. I buy beef from an employee's cousin who mostly farms vegetables, but raises a few extra steer each year. I buy a lamb each Spring from a nursing student who has a few animals.

I consider myself a humane person but I think sometimes we look at part and not the whole. I don't know enough about chickens to say what they prefer in life but I do know that when they get loose they are eaten. So to me free range means wild animal feed. That doesn't seem very humane to me.

Just my opinion mind you.

It is not that I don't support your choice it is just it seems impossible to execute.

I take it very seriously...

Sadly, many of the foods offered in the big grocery stores offer industrial, factory farmed meats and eggs...

The word "natural" means very little. Organic is best when it comes to most foods !

If you are are at all interested in learning alot...View the video on meatrix.com !!!

Another great website about beef is madcowboy.com. My brother and I know Howard Lyman personally. He is not only a wonderful person, he's a hard-working animal activist. He was on the Oprah Show, too. He even took my e-book and edited every page of it.

I avoid dairy products unless they are organic. I do not buy much meat, so I save there. I will purchase Bell and Evans chicken 2x a month.

Pasture birds are fed a grass diet with organic grains. The birds live in open-air operations that are well-managed. See localharvest.org to check out the farms, etc. locations in Florida.

I can tell you that the main reason I stopped eating the big, brand named chicken was due to the reason that many factory farmed chickens are de-beaked so they don't fight each other due to the cramped, filthy conditions.
Who would walk up to a chicken and sear it's beak off ? By the way, the bird is awake. These chickens are fed other parts of chickens and food laced with chemicals...

After watching the film "King Corn", I do not consume corn or soy unless it's organic. Most corn and soy in the USA is genetically engineered. The OCA.com is working very hard to get GE foods labeled. You won't find GE foods in most of Europe. We are the guinea pigs.

I check the grocery inserts weekly and circle (with a bright marker) the organic foods on sale. I travel to 3 different grocery stores.

I hope this info helps !
For more reading see kristenshealthylife.com
Kristen

I don't want to offend but I do have to state the obvious, there is no humane way to exploit animals. Dairy means that a cow has been raped and her babies taken from her at 2 days old to become veal, her daughters are also sent off to become milking machines, when they dry up, they are then killed.
I don't care if it's organic or whatever. I mean heck, I wouldn't want to be killed simply because my body was going to be eaten and skin worn or stuck in a car seat.
I think it's awesome that you're considering the treatment of animals but seriously in the long run, dead is dead. So if they are robbed of their natural life "nicely" or not still sucks.

If you're concerned about budget buy yourself some good quality nuts, soak them in 5 times as much good quality water with a few dates (pitted) then stick them in a blender with a drop of vanilla and then strain through a cheesecloth. You'll have some really great nut milk that's really humane. You can also make cheeses from these milks, tons of recipes online.
Super super healthy and fun to make with the kids. Better to "milk the nut milk bag" than cause a cow to have mastitis or sent off for slaughter.

I don't specifically buy more humanely because I simply cannot afford to spend $6.00 on a 1/2 gallon of milk which is what I've found. I have a friend and co-worker that have become vegan simply because they found it extremely difficult to purchase "humane" animal products. The easiest thing I have found is to buy local. Find whatever meal, and animal products you can from a local source that you can research and find out their practices. I have found a few places to purchase eggs and some milk and cheese but very few as I live in a fairly urban area. I have a strict budget and sometimes these items can't fit into the budget because of other expenses that occur. I would love to but eat only humanely but all in all if you can do it might as well just go vegan.

I would have never thought about it. We eat a lot of cheese and drink tons of milk. I grew up in OKC where Braums Ice Cream got it's start.

The dairy is out by Tuttle and it is pretty much, herd em in, hook em up, get outta the way in case they kick, un hook em, herd em out. They go back to the pasture and don't do much else.

Choosing to eat based on how animals are treated makes me think you should find out the cost of a small acreage and start a small farm to grow your own chickens and cows for milking. That would be fun for some.

My advice is to do what you can. You are making a difference and what you have given up is noble. There is no way to completely give up on cruelty based products... Ie films are produced with gelatin, brake pads are made with chemicals from inside a cow and sugar is processed with bone meal. But even your most devout crunchy, veg watches movies, drives cars and eats sugar.

I'm a vegetarian and have been almost 20 years . That's one of the things I've learned. You truly can't win em all.

I

It doesn't have to be super expensive, but it will cost more. I have found that if you go with organic, you are looking at humane practices as well as better nutrition fed to the animals. I am in a co-op and I get organic eggs for $3.00 a doz and organic cheese for $5.00 a pound. I haven't found sour cream yet, but I know they do sell cottage cheese, however, I don't eat it so I don't know the price. I had to change the way I budgeted for food in order to make this work. It depends on how much of a priority it is for you. It is for me because the hormones that are in the meal and dairy are awful for my temperment. My husband sees the difference and gives me the choice to get whatever I need. Having your husband on board makes all the difference in the world! Good Luck!

my advice would be to start going to your local farmer's markets so that you know your stuff is locally grown, get to know your local farmers so you can trust their practices. I am sad to live far from my aunt and uncle's farm, I knew that even though their chickens were assholes (frankly, all chickens are, these were just chickens who had tried to hurt me personally) they were well treated.

There are now some websites that rate these sorts of things. My mom pointed me to one, cornucopia.org, I think. Try googling it. And buying local/farmer's markets is a good idea, but you have to be careful. It turns out that around us there are two tiers of market, and one doesn't require the produce to be local, and none require them to be organic, etc.

It is somewhat more expensive, but I think if you manage what you eat you'll find it evens out to be as cheap or cheaper in the long run because being vegetarian is cheaper than being a meat eater, and around us anyway the milk is not that much more than the factory farmed.

It is very expensive. I don't know about your area, but in the Seattle area there are a lot of folks producing humanely-raised eggs, meat, and dairy. They are available at Farmer's Markets and some stores. You might be able to get items like cheese through the mail.

And you are correct. Some "free-range" chickens aren't much better off than caged. Many don't go outside at all. You'll need to do your homework.

Or, another option becoming popular here is having backyard chickens. They lay eggs and produce fertilizer. And they are entertainment for the kiddos. I don't know the rules where you are for urban livestock, but you could check into it.