Factory Farms

Has the world gotten shittier or is it just me? I’m convinced that factory farming is one of the leading causes of the shitty world syndrome. (Factory farming is the practice of raising farm animals in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. Thanks, Wikipedia!) Factory farms care about profit-- not about you or me or the animals or the environment or the future of America. But we all support factory farms with every food purchase we make. (Factory farmed meat, eggs, and dairy now account for 99 percent of all farmed animals raised in the United States. Virtually all seafood comes to us by way of industrial fishing or factory fish farms.)

Seriously, I viewed two websites and read 1 1/4 books and decided that was all it took to change my lifestyle forever. I do have a soft spot in my heart for animals (hence owning three dogs) and I already thought that high fructose corn syrup was the devil, so maybe I was more inclined to change.
Websites:
http://www.goveg.com/
http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php
Books:
Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (I'm only on page 94 of 411 and I've already wanted to highlight half the book, but it's the library's copy...)

Skinny Bitch changed my entire outlook on food in one HILARIOUS, fast, easy read. Even if you don't care about this topic, it's just a funny book. I like to describe it as delightfully crude. For example, "If you don't want to be fat, then stop eating all that shit." It's the only book that I've read in its entirety in years. That's sad...I know. I'm working on that. So, back to why I've changed my eating habits. Skinny Bitch took everything to the extreme. I didn't want to be a vegetarian or a vegan for that matter (which is what they preach) but it opened my eyes to what horribleness is in our diets. The chapter on slaughterhouses traumatized me, but in a good way. We should know what animals go through to provide us meat. It won't change most people's outlook on eating meat just by reading those words, so I suggest you read it. But for a day or two, your heart will be a little sadder that we kill so many animals. Skinny Bitch also touches on other foods such as soda, artificial sweeteners, dairy products, etc. They also included recipes and lots of other useful hints if you want to live their vegan lifestyle.
But I didn't want to be a vegan. I like meat; I think it completes most meals. Plus, the Zwiebels own a hobby beef farm and I think I would be shunned from the family if I became a vegetarian. (When I first met Adam's grandparents, I went to their house and got to know other family members by looking at their fridge full of photos. As Grandma Rusmisel went down the fridge talking about each member, she came to one person and said, "That's ____ and she doesn't eat ground beef." And that was it. That's how I will forever know that person. The person who doesn't eat ground beef. You get the picture.) From Skinny Bitch, I decided that I wanted to research food products. (Side note--The best part of this lifechanging book is that my mom bought it at a garage sale for 50 cents. She read it and passed it on to me. My yoga instructor is reading the book now and has been equally moved by it. I have another friend in line to borrow it after that. The power of two quarters continues to better America.)
That's when I researched on the web. I found http://www.goveg.com/ first. I made the mistake of watching the videos online about what happens on factory farms and in slaughter houses. http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp I cried like a baby. I don't cry...the last time I cried like this was during Marley & Me at the movie theater. (I think we're noticing a trend. I like animals.) I was horrified. Why did America turn away from these cruelties and just pretend that what we ate wasn't living a horrible life. I decided that factory farms were my new worst enemy. High Fructose Corn Syrup had its day...I was onto bigger and better topics! I came up with my own mission statement. I know there is no "good" way to die, but there is a good way to live. And factory farms are not the right way for animals to live.
So I sat at my computer googling "what to eat if you don't want to eat factory farmed animals and don't want to be vegetarian." Somehow out of that came http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php. It is exactly what I wanted to do with my eating habits! I couldn't have told you what "sustainable" meant, but I loved what I was reading. I learned from Wikipedia that "Sustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure. For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources." I wanted to support local farmers, nurture the environment, build the local economy, AND help the animals. Why would I ever buy factory farmed meats again?