A big price to pay
Well, Black Friday came and went. One day after we over indulge and give thanks for what we have, we act like crazy people in the stores or on the road to save a few dollars. It is simply amazing.
How ironic that on Friday when I visited that sacred of sacred places, the Pittsford Wegmans, I was greeted at the shopping mall entrance by people protesting the treatment of chickens at the Wegmans chicken farm in Walcott NY. Unfortunately no camera so no pictures (sorry) but it looked like an impressive turnout. They have a web site here.
Nevertheless it got me thinking – what is the price we pay for cheap goods? Now, Wegmans eggs are not from China (used metaphorically here as all things overseas) but they are cheaper than organic eggs or EB brand eggs? (we usually buy the EB or organic eggs btw).
Our exposure as a society to how animals get from the farm to the table is shaped by the cute books about farm animals you read, or movies like Chicken Run or Babe.
Enter the industrial animal farm. Antibiotics are used to counteract the effects of hormones which are used to grow the animal at a cost of the animals health. These animals are force fed food not normally part of the animals’ diet (Cows are supposed to eat grass not grain). Of course nothing is left to waste, as carcasses are ground up and put into feed. Check out this CBS 60 mins write up about Pig farms. It is Thanksgiving weekend — ever wonder how we manufacture 24 lb turkeys?
Well, don’t eat meat. OK - What about Roundup resistant crops? Genetically engineered crops are resistent to Roundup or other pesticides so the farm can intenstively spray poisons to kill everything but the crop? Then there is genetic engineered crops and the cost of getting potatoes from Idaho, Lettuce from California, Mangos from south of the border to your table.
What is the ultimate price we will pay for the food we ingest? Well, factor in the true cost of the food. From “The Seven Deadly Myths of Industrial Agriculture” .
Ask yourself what is the cost of
Intensive pesticide use
Production of 1.3 million pounds of manure per year contributing to the loss of top soil
Lack of bio diversity on our ecosystem or food chain
What is the true transport cost such as pollution to travel the average 1300 miles from industrial farm to dinner table plate.
Consuming industrial foods, including the contribution of pesticides, hormones, and other chemical inputs to our current cancer epidemic.
Expenses and lost workdays of 80 million Americans who contract food-borne illnesses each year.
health care costs of farm workers for example, Migrant workers are 15 times more likely to manifest symptoms of pesticide exposure than non-migrant farm employees in California
Cost of the corporate welfare that I’m sure gets passed to the corporate farms.
It is a big price to pay in the long term.
Personally, I applaud the protesters and their efforts to bring these conditions to light.
I read Fast Food Nation a while back and after reading the book, I haven’t been into a fast food restaurant since. Not even for coffee. I don’t want to support that system.
This isn’t about saving the chickens or the whales it is about realizing that everything is interrelated. It is about unmasking the true cost of putting food on our tables and doing something about it. You have to eat, but you also can pick what you want to eat.
I’m glad you brought this up. Clearly an important topic.
I really like the book “Omnivore’s Dilemma.” It’s a good starting point for people who would like to learn about the food industry.
Orangeclouds over at kos has been trying to organize a group to work on these issues (here)
Yes, thanks for this post - it is especially an important topic because it is something EACH of us can do something about THREE times a day. Unlike other major issues (like the Iraq war, etc) that make us feel helpless, we either directly contribute to the problems of industrial agriculture, or to the solutions every time we put something in our mouth. In my opinion, the best way to do this is to eat as low on the food chain as possible, and to eat locally grown foods in season as much as possible.
Yes pesticides and roundup ready crops are a huge problem, but most all of the crops grown in this country are fed to animals. So by eating a plant based diet, we reduce the need for high intensity agriculture. And by supporting CSAs, we can help local organic farmers succeed as well.
Good point, peachbuzz. I would just add that if folks are curious to learn a little more, Vegan Outreach has a great overview called “Why Vegan?”. They also make the argument that even if you like meat, you can still help the situation by eating less of it.
[...] Now, maybe they can look at their Chicken Farm. [...]