Recently there has been a new “swine flu” outbreak.  Another serious problem in our world food supply.  It seems that on a monthly basis, there is a new issue with food.  Does it surprise me?  Absolutely not.  Simply by doing a bit of research on factory farms, livestock raising, poultry houses and the treatment of animals, we can easily see where our issues lie.

While at Penn State, I was teammates with an individual who ran a pig farm in Perry County, Pennsylvania.  He would brag about how his family had over 400 pigs under one structure alone.  They each had their own little stall with a cement floor and supposedly never got sick.  He claimed they never got sick because they wouldn’t go outside and they were fed antiobiotics!!!  How backwards is this? Piling over 400 animals under one structure, weakening their system via antibiotics and then wondering why they eventually turn up to have swine flu.  Last year it was the tomato scare, this year it is swine flu.  Still, the government refuses to promote sustainable agriculture and healthy living.  This is quite disturbing.

The part that bothers me the most is the farmers that I buy my meats and raw milk from farmers that go out of their way to maintain healthy, clean farms with healthy, happy animals.  They raise the absolute highest quality food you can purchase.  These same farms are badgered by the government on a WEEKLY basis.  On a weekly basis they get visitors from the government, meanwhile factory farmed animals pollute the food system, kill people and provide terrible nutrition but are continuously allowed to produce under their absurd conditions.

We need to start voting with our wallets.  Stay healthy, buy locally produced meats and vegetables.  Know where your food is coming from, understand how it is produced and recognize the health concerns of many modern foods.  If farmers take mother nature out of the equation, their animals are unhealthy, not nutritious and carry plenty of diseases and genetic disorders.  These aspects have a significant affect on those who choose to consume their meat.