How concerned are you about the mainstream food supply that we find in our grocery store? Are you concerned about the large food corporations lobbying with massive amounts of money to control our government's regulations? Are you concerned about the fact that most meat contains antibiotics so that the food producers can raise large quantities of animals in a minimal amount of real estate? or Out of sight out of mind. It still looks good and tastes good so it can't be that bad. Sure it would be nice to have properly raised farm animals however, that is not practical in today's society. or I try and buy as much natural stuff as I can but there is not much you can do. Cherry pick out of the points above or state your own position. Tell me what you are worried about and what you are not worried about. How do you feel about our food today?
I just founded a 501c3 with three other people. We are starting a Co-op with our own locally grown vegetables and currently working on getting a license to sell locally grown Organic Beef, Cheese and Cured Meats. Somewhere Hooker is lifting his glass and saying "right on Raceway"
We are concerned. I'm doing it to help stimulate our local economy and to bring back a way of life that is being lost in the supermarket. There was a time that the food you ate depended on the time of the year, or you canned your food and ate meat that wasn't loaded with hormones. My wife has Hoshimoto Thyroiditis and needs to be Gluten Free, a lot of this involves us needing to live a healthier life and that starts with locally grown food that is safe from the shift in today's food production methods. We are going to be doing a lot more long term and will have an old barn being converted for a Coffee Shop in the old part of our town. One of the other founders will be renting it out to the Co-op for $100.00-$200.00 so someone local can start the Coffee Shop, we already have a couple of friends interested. We also have a longer term goal of a Micro Brewery and a few other businesses under the Co-op. So far we have around 19 people wanting to be founding members and the local Church is also involved and will be one of our first years properties that we are planting this year. Saturday we have a Founders Meeting to finalize who will be founders and we start tilling the Church property. We also have an acre already in the works at one of the "Original 4's" house and another potential founding member has several raised beds we just got going in his yard. This is all about saving a way of life and preserving the values of small town life
Oh. I'm concerned. Shoot. I can't even pronounce most of the stuff in our food anymore. Cancer is on the rise. People are dying much to young of some really weird stuff. Seems to me the only ones benefitting are the food companies and the drug companies. Could this be why the FDA (food AND drug association) has total control over this??
Insurance companies rule the drug industry. FDA makes it costly to develop drugs due to the strict guidelines on testing in place (probably a good thing), but the insurance companies ultimately decide what is made and how by setting the prices for compensation. As for food? I am not concerned at all. Is there a slight cause for concern? Perhaps...but many people I see complaining of the food industry ruining food are overweight, smoke, drink, or do one of 100 other things far worse for your health than antibiotics being in the hamburger meat you buy. Nothing quite like a guy with a BMI of 25-30 complaining of the hormones going into his burger. (not pointing to anyone here, its just these type of debates are frequent in my chosen profession)
I'm very concerned. Too many fricking drugs and hormones are pumped into these birds and animals. The only beef I buy is farm raised from local farmers in my area. I will not buy any meat from a grocery store unless I absolutely have to. All the vegys we eat in my house are mostly from my garden as sell. I think allot of the cancers out there are coming from the junk in food that is bought from stores.
That is very cool! Wish I would have known about this. Would have been very interested in getting in at the start. Especially since I am not far from you at all.
We are very concientious about where our food comes from, how it was grown (pesticides, antibiotics, etc.), how it was processed (just had a salad bag recall for salmonella in our state), how it is stored before-during sale. We still buy stuff from the store but try to pay close attention to the labels. It is very difficult to get everything locally. For example, I have been using pork shoulders a lot. The only local farmer doesn't even really sell them "in season" because everyone wants sausage so they get turned into sausage. We don't buy stuff we can make and can. It was cool here yesterday so we opened a couple quarts of turkey soup that was made last fall. We know what is in it and how it was made. We make a lot of our bread but still buy a lot from the store. To try and separate yourself from the commercial food supply is a LOT of work and consumes a great deal of time. Fortunately, for my family, I am the only one that has to go to a job away from the house.
I just read this article. It brings to mind another thought abbout our food supply: A serious disruption in part or all of it causing prices to skyrocket. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/18/crops-petition-idUSL2E8FI3K120120418
I have to agree. I think most of America is ingnorant as to what their eating. Between the antibiotics and genetic engineering, it's hard to find natural food these days. Corn isn't even corn anymore (and don't get me started on H-FCS). I used to poke fun at the 'hippies' shopping at whole foods stores, now that's our first stop. We avoid buying meat from the stores anymore. Meat from local farmers (which are few & far between up here), farmer's markets, the CSA we joined, venison and fresh fish comprise much of our diet. If you have Netflix, check out 'King Corn' & 'Food, Inc.' Both are pretty interesting and on on instant play
If you are really concerned about what you are eating... stay out of restaurants. Raise a garden, its a great stress manager and a homegrown tomato, squash or handfull of green beans right off the plant is a great treat. There is nothing better than a good home grown sweet Jubilee watermelon. You can easily raise enough veggies for an average family in a 25X50 foot garden. Plus you're building memories when you do it together as a family and the exercise certainly won't hurt anyone. Coordinate your efforts with other families and you can increase your variety. Win/win/win on every side.
I could see this on chicken and turkey farms.. there is a egg farm about ten miles away and they get shut down 1-2 times a year for there antics There is around 100 head of cattle on part of are farms and nothing is added to the feed so if it is been added to it was at the butcher shop. But i cant see it. We have farmers markets here with organic veggies and some of the greatest people you will ever meet so to the wall-e pink slime meat seller's of the world (pound sand)
Every year we buy a cow from a farmer whos land we hunt. We also buy a hog as well. The only meat we go to the store for is chickens and thats because I havent lived anywhere where I can raise them for the past few years. Our deep freezer is always stocked with beef, pork, deer, fish, and other small game as we kill them. (pheasant, rabbit, etc.) I dont know if you guys have ever eaten a steak from farm raised cow vs. plantation type outfit where they feed them steroids and other crap. You can definitely taste a huge difference. Plus it may cost more at the beginning but this year I paid 2.60/lb for the beef I bought. That price included butchering and packaging. Hell you cant buy hamburger for that cheap in the store anymore. Also both my Parents and my In-laws grow huge gardens and we are able to take what we want from there. As soon as I either get out or the Army or get to a duty station where I want to settle down, I plan on growing a decent sized garden and raising chickens that way I dont have to rely on the grocery store for much of anything. But thats how I was raised. I grew up farming for most of my life so I would like my kids to experience the same things, that way they can be self sufficient as well.
I am very concerned. Actually, we are going to buy a 100% grass fed cow for the first time this fall. I raise my own chickens for eggs and am studying meat chickens. I am also putting a garden this spring. My sister is starting college courses on becoming a holistic nutritionist and I think my wife and I are going to get very involved in studying this out as well. My only problem is that I live in a subdivision on a 1/2 acre. We are also looking to buying all of our produce from local, organic growers. Sal
