Healthy Eating

By LMonroe

June 29, 2007 10:02 AM | Link to this

I do care where the food I eat comes from. I care because not only do I want food that isn’t pumped up with drugs, hormones, etc. but I also want to know that an animal was treated humanely. Having an animal kept in super-cramped spaces is not right. Butchering animal that isn’t dead is cruel. I talked a man who had worked in a hog butchering plant and the hogs weren’t always dead when they sawed them in two. I think we should all care about how animals are treated. To not respect the life of the animal reflects poorly on how we are as a culture and a people.

By Pam

June 29, 2007 10:03 AM | Link to this

I will eat them either way, but I think the smaller farms help to ensure they are organic. Something about smaller means more attention to detail.

Now that you asked the question, I’m wondering if they certify the farm or each individual product? Do you know?

By robo

June 29, 2007 10:09 AM | Link to this

They both have roles in the supply chain, and they both taste way better than chemically fertilized, pesticide laden, antibiotic infused produce. I hope more supply comes online, so the price will go down. Plus, the land stays healthier. We can export the chem stuff to China. They like crap in their produce.

By Shelley

June 29, 2007 10:25 AM | Link to this

Owning a small family farm, I prefer that my food comes from a small farm, not that I could have my food certified organic, but it’s close enough for me. I like to know exactly how my food lives, what it eats, exactly what goes into it’s body, who butchers it, and have the say as to how it is butchered. I feel the same way about produce. That is why I have my own farm. It just tastes better to me this way. I don’t know if I could ever buy my meat products from the store again.

I’ve never heard of “antibiotic infused produce”. Anyone care to enlighten? I don’t understand why it would be done.

By ga farmer

June 29, 2007 11:45 AM | Link to this

Adopt a farmer for an education, since most of the comments posted here indicate a lack of knowledge about agriculture and agricultural economics. Most farmers,large and small, are exposed to the plants and animals they produce more than anyone else so they use safe inputs and practices. I have been the first to consume what I produce for 43 years on what all definitions classifies as a large farm. To my knowledge none of the 4 generations before me nor the 2 after me have suffered from the consumption of our production.

By 2N4YEARS

June 29, 2007 11:52 AM | Link to this

I would like to believe that if it’s ‘Organic’, than it should be equal whether it’s a small farm or a large farm, but as someone else has already mentioned, I believe that a small farm environment would be a better choice because of the detail. With that being said, I’ll pick Organic over regular food any day, regardless of whether it’s a small or large farm.

By Me

June 29, 2007 12:57 PM | Link to this

ga farmer: You failed to mention if whether you’re an ‘Organic’ farmer or not. If not, I’ll enlighten you: Pesticides DO have ill effects on people. As with tobacco or any other crop, it effects people differently. Some may smoke for 10 years & develop lung cancer, while others may smoke for 50 years & never have cancer. Also, in order for a product to be stocked on every shelf in almost every grocery store in all 50 states, there is a sense that they would almost have to use large farms. And that arises the question of just how close are these farms monitored??

By lovelyliz

June 29, 2007 1:14 PM | Link to this

I don’t trust agri-business at all when it comes to organics.

They’ve already tried to change the rules and given how much $$$$ the bug guys have to spend on lawyers, I simply have a hard time trusting them.

I’ll stick to buying organics from those I trust and that’s usually the little guy.

By mayretter local

June 29, 2007 3:22 PM | Link to this

As long as they don’t change the definition of Organic like they tried to a few years ago. That was the craziest thing. It either is or it isn’t. Let the big guys go organic, but make them follow the rules. I always choose the organic when possible.

By lovelyliz

June 29, 2007 3:26 PM | Link to this

I don’t trust agri-business at all when it comes to organics.

They’ve already tried to change the rules and given how much $$$$ the big guys have to spend on lawyers, I simply have a hard time trusting them.

I’ll stick to buying organics from those I trust and that’s usually the little guy.

By Katharine C. Otto, MD

July 2, 2007 8:22 AM | Link to this

Labeling is meaningless, anyway. I don’t trust the word “organic” to tell me anything more than that the food is more expensive.

This is just another cheap, sleazy, move by Wal-Mart, the chain grocery stores, and the big growers to cheapen the word, along with the products. The more the megacorporations get into the food business, the more I will encourage people to grow their own food and patronize small farmers in their local areas.

By Quint

July 2, 2007 9:49 AM | Link to this

It would be helpful to include a definition of “small” and “family farm” along with what is defined as a “mega farm.”

Is it acreage or crop diversity? I have relatives who farm more than a thousand acres or family owned and leased land. The three brothers and their families run the farm. Is this a mega farm or a family farm? They are rather diverse in that they grow corn, wheat, beans, peas, cucumbers, melons, and peppers along with a few hogs and cows.

I can tell you that it is true the larger a farm is the more difficult it is to control disease, blights, and harmful bugs. As long as the fruits and vegetables I buy are free of known harmful pesticides and the milk is free from steroids, I will be satisfied. I do try to buy organic milk, but I am not too worried about my fruits and veggies. That is why I wash them.

As for meat products, you probably don’t want to know what they feed them. Trust me, it ain’t just whole corn, wheat, oats, and grass. Don’t ask and you can be happy. Ignorance is bliss.

By the way, I trust meat from the butcher to be safer more than I trust burgers from the big M, the King, or Dave’s red-headed daughter.

By Binta

July 2, 2007 9:52 AM | Link to this

I do believe that the family farm is better for the community, the family takes care of the farm better and there more careful of getting the people the REAL deal,things have a way of getting out of hand when it becomes a large FACTORY….I was getting some of my Organic vegetables from the market until I went to a small Organic family farm and was Shocked to even taste the difference in the food…it brought back the times when I was a young girl in the 40’s even the pure Milk right from the COW real real milk..when you get the Organic food from the supermaket you really don’t know where it comes from..what do they do to keep it fresh until it hits the stores and then are they picking it not ripe so it will last…when you get it from the family farm you know where it comes from… Thanks