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Eastern Iowa | We will never rid the world of all its ignorant flocks.
Niman's cattle produce just as much manure as a feedlot animal does, more actually, when you consider they are kept around, growing slowly, for three years. Terribly inefficient. The column makes no mention of whether Niman accrues any death loss in that time, or what becomes of members of his herd that become sick, as all herd animals eventually do. It would take quite a bit of talking to convince me that letting animals die from preventable disease somehow meets an animal welfare standard.
Michelle Obama's organic garden may have produced 225 pounds of produce already, but the author does not mention that it all has been contaminated by toxic levels of lead and other heavy metals in the soil behind the White House. It has all been thrown away! Yup, better leave the production of safe food to the professionals, ma'am.
If the author believes "most" hog waste is "disposed of" in open air lagoons, he has never been to hog country. I happen to know there are very few open air lagoons left in the industry, and the number remaining dwindles with each passing year. And that hog waste is actually wonderful organic fertilizer. The columnist makes quite a point about commercial fertilizer, so one might think he would find this preferable. Guess he isn't much for contradictions. I would bet a shiny nickel the woman he quotes in the article from Independence Iowa has cattle ****ting in the same creek she laments is being destroyed by hog waste. (Incidentally, they run a natural beef business, so one should not be surprised they take issue with the way most everyone else is doing things.) Nevermind that confinement hog producers spend all the money on those barns in response to consumer demand for leaner, healthier meat--something that is impossible to consistently produce in the upper Midwest without the benefit of warm shelter for groups of animals. Another contradiction for the author, who says this is what we should want, just not provide for the public!
The column essentially advocates a program of no meat for the masses: We could realistically only produce a third of the beef we currently can--pork even less than that, and at great environmental cost-- and at prices prohibitive for virtually anyone to purchase. A quick online check showed Niman beef currently "ON SALE": $24 for 2-10 ounce pork chops. Bacon for $7 a pound. A single, T-bone Porterhouse steak for $40. A 12 pound pork roast for $197.00! I have no doubt the average working Joe can beat that down at the Jewel, Hy-Vee, or Piggly Wiggly, feed his family, and use the money he saves to afford them the kind of proper education that makes them immune to this type of bull**** that spews from East and West Coast elites who think they know what everyone else should want.
Sorry. Touched a nerve.
Edited by GangGreen 8/25/2009 08:04
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Time to become an advocate for our industry
