Our nation moves toward a demand for quality, healthy beef shown by an increase in sales for grass fed beef from local farmers and organic grocery stores. The organic grocery stores, such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes, make purchasing grass fed beef a convenience at a similar price as corn fed beef. The monetary benefits will increase as the nutritional education and industry change solutions
The great need for food brings forth the importance of the agriculture industry. Science has made many products that allow for food production to be done in a more efficient, cheaper, and faster manner. In the beef industry many types of growth stimulators have been created to increase weight per day of age, shorten finishing time and maximize profit for the producer. More recently, developed products with the common name, beta-agonist, have been developed. Beta-agonists have distinct advantages and disadvantages in terms of animal welfare, meat quality, and profitability when used in production.
Such facilities house animals destined for the food industry--lots of them. Depending on the type of livestock, a CAFO can house several hundred animals all the way up into the millions (Agricultural Waste Management Field Handbook 4). Being that their primary purpose in life is to grow as large as possible, as fast as possible, the animals are constantly fed, and are constantly turning that food into manure. Though an animal defecating is nothing new or shocking, the vast quantities or feces produced provide an interesting logistical problem for CAFO operators. Take into consideration the following: The average dairy cow can produce as much as 21 times the amount of waste per day that the average human does (Agricultural Waste Management Field Handbook 4).A large sized CAFO housing 4700 cattle can produce as much waste per day as the human population of Berkeley, CA.
In Chapter 4, he explained why plant and animal domestication were important factors for the ability of Eurasians to produce the technologies that conquered the rest of the world. Diamond mentioned that a population that can produce more food could yield a higher population size. The majority of plant and animal material found on Earth is unpleasant-tasting, bitter, or lethal. When people manage the resources that the land produces, they can determine to breed the plants and animals that are the best available elements of food. Domestic animals like the cow, sheep, and goat are the major sources of fertilizer, meat, milk, and fuel for fires.
Goodnight bought and ran a ranch for 11 years, he cross bread Hereford and Texas longhorns to provide a cow that was tough but had good meat and ran a herd of about 100,00 cattle. He used the money he made to buy the bests lands with the best water and agreed to sell cattle to the Indians. He soon realised that by taking his cattle to the markets in the north, he could sell them for more money. He found a trail and began selling them, this is one of the reasons why cattle ranching changed so much between 1865 and 1895 because the cattle drives came in which allowed the ranchers to sell their cattle for more money in the North. But these trails for the ranchers were just to the nearest railroads and didn't really have anywhere to store the vast amounts of cattle.
The ratio of me to bone is high meaning there is more edible meat on the carcass than even a chicken. 9. Rabbit meat with the many health benefits does not have a strong flavor and is comparable to chicken but not identical. 10. Rabbits are one of the most productive domestic livestock animal there is.
There are many “ranchers in the Dakota Beef program [that] are pioneers in the organic food movement and have been advocates of the need to treat cattle humanely, to reduce stress and to improve the quality of the beef they produce” (The Nibble). This illustrates how the Dakota Beef Company employees treat their cows nicely and when they kill them, they kill the cows as humanely as possible. According to the workers, this improves the quality of the beef because it reduces the stress the cows have in living in horrible conditions. The company advertises that they never use hormones, antibiotics, or any harmful chemicals “and [they] believe in the importance of sustainable farming, respecting the land and animals, to provide healthy food for [people’s families]” (Dakota Beef Company). Dakota Beef Company’s cows are all organic because they did not add any hormones, antibiotics, or any harmful chemicals to them.
Last month she gave 40 sheep for 10 additional acres of land. Isabel also makes the observation that 35 of Deyonne’s sheep belong to another man and he merely keeps them. Deyonne counters that he has a large one-room cabin that he built himself. He claims that he has been offered 3 acres of land for the cabin. Besides these things he has a plow, which was a gift from a friend and is worth three goats; two carts, which were given him in trade for a poor acre of land; and an ox, which he acquired for 5 sheep.
That’s why Meat Lovers across the world should join the food movement and eat less meat. The incentives are clear: suppressing our appetite for the juicy good stuff one day a week could help improve the environment, raise the quality of our meat while managing sustainability, and above all, support good health and well-being. “Meatless Monday addresses the prevalence of preventable illnesses associated with excessive meat consumption. With the average American eating as much as 75 more pounds of meat each year than in generations past, our message of “one day a week, cut out meat” is a way for individuals to do something good for themselves and for the planet.” (“History”).
How does the way they are treated also affect us? CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are basically animal factories. Within CAFOs animals are given hormones and feed so that they grow at extraordinarily fast rates. For example, cows are fed corn instead of grass. This causes them to grow heavier faster.