In one of history's most stunning victories for humane farming, Australia's largest supermarket chain, Coles, will as of January 1 stop selling company branded pork and eggs from animals kept in factory farms. As an immediate result, 34,000 mother pigs will no longer be kept in stalls for long periods of their lives, and 350,000 hens will be freed from cages.
Not to be outdone, the nation's other dominant supermarket chain, Woolworths, has already begun phasing out factory farmed animal products. In fact all of Woolworth's house brand eggs are now cage-free, and by mid-2013 all of their pork will come from farmers who operate stall-free farms.
Coles and Woolworths together account for a dominant 80 percent of all supermarket sales in Australia.
http://www.alternet.org/food/good-news-animal-lovers-factory-farmings-days-may-be-numbered?paging=off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvTvWJWeQ2g
Coles and Woolworths are learning what people want, and they are increasingly moving to provide it. The refrigerated section of our local Woolworths here in Kyneton now contains a range of high quality blended fruit juices. The range of vegetarian food has also exploded, with the supermarket now having its' own brand of such, where previously it relied on others. Unfortunately, the vegetarian sausages there still contain carrageenan, a binding agent made from seaweed which has given me bowel problems, and which can also be carcinagenic; but one step at a time.
As I type, I have next to the keyboard, a one litre carton of Cawston Press Apple and Ginger Juice; but what is remarkable, is that this is not from concentrate, and is not diluted with either water or sugar. I am currently awaiting the arrival of a food processor from Ebay which will let me begin making my own blended fruit juices, but until that arrives, this is a more than acceptable compromise. My renal function has noticeably improved after beginning to drink it, and largely having given up soft drinks.
Not that I am in favour of these factory farms, I would point out that the price of eggs and pork will be going higher.
Why you ask?
In the case of eggs the cages are above a conveyor belt that collects the eggs as they are laid and mechanically brought to a collection area. Let the hens out and you have to hire many people to collect the eggs (if you can find them lol). If prices don't increase, many farmers will go out of business because of higher labour costs.
In the case of the pigs, productivity likely will decrease as sows in farrowing crates actually protect the young pigs from being trampled or eaten by the mother. To create an area to house all of the animals outside crates will be a task in itself.
Everything comes with a cost and a consequence. Anyways I agree it is more humane for the animals.
Good for you petrus and your nation..they are the first to come to their senses in this world of idiotic methods of farming.
Sure these products will be more pricey, but as the techniques and methods of doing so efficiently become more well planned and designed, the prices will come down.
Right now I buy only free range cage free chicken eggs at a price of 1 dollar more per dozen and all it takes is to realize all the benfits youre getting and the really good flavor, and the extra dollar isnt even a factor.
All my meat is hormone and antibiotic free from Publix Greenwise or local ranches within a hundred miles. I buy 150 dollars worth of meats from chicken raised on non-corn diets, and beef raised on grass only, and then split it up and freeze it. This amount lasts me 5-6 months at least, and if one adds up their 6 month meat bill theyll see its a steal to buy it that way. Personally I dont eat much pork, but they will throw in a couple Boston Butts when I get my order for about 20 bucks extra if need be. Talk about a tender piggy..MMmmmm!
Plus it tastes soooo much better. I suggest everyone use this simple website to do what Ive been doing for years, and take back your DNA....it gets damaged beyond belief from eating Mcd's and other crap meat products typically found in every grocery store!
http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html
Good luck with the food processor, Petrus, and hopefully you have a dehydrator, too! :)
Here in Canada, many of the factory pig barns are sitting empty and have been abandoned, because they have become too efficient and produced more pork than needed. They have gone broke and no one wants to buy the farms other than grain/oilseed producers.
September 21, 2012: The Slow Death of Canada's Hog Industry
The hog industry is experiencing more lows these days due to severe economic swings. In fact, Saskatchewan-based Big Sky farms, North America's number 2 producer, entered receivership recently.
That announcement was followed the next day by Manitoba-based Puratone Corporation's decision to file for bankruptcy protection.
http://www.uoguelph.ca/cme/news/september-21-slow-death-canadas-hog-industry
Perhaps the paradigm is changing.
Quote from: Littleenki on November 29, 2012, 03:12:43 PM
Good luck with the food processor, Petrus, and hopefully you have a dehydrator, too! :)
Thanks, Dave, but I'm not going
completely raw. I'm off red meat, but I love fish too much for that. Markus Rothkranz doesn't actually like dehydrators either, which I thought was interesting.
Long term, the diet I'm actually aiming for is a Gerson/macrobiotic hybrid; maybe with a
few indulgences of fish and chips at the local pub, now and then...initially at least. ;) My metabolism just doesn't seem to support being exclusively vegan though; to a certain extent that has already been tried.
The Gerson (fruit/vegetable juice) side is the main reason why I'm buying the food processor, though. I had an amazing experience earlier tonight, when I suddenly realised that I could actually feel the bones above my left ankle; and they have been buried under oedema for probably the past six years. That tells me that whatever I've been doing lately, I'm doing something right.
I want to lose weight and get well; and then I want to try and help others do the same, if possible. I'm not going to be remotely pushy in that regard; I've seen some people on YouTube get really bad about that. It's more going to be a case of just passing on what has worked for me, for people who I already know are interested.