PeaceBang
The manic mind of the minister -- Auntie Mame Meets Cotton Mather. Blogging about Unitarian Universalism, UU Christian spiritual practice, occasional cultural and political ravings, and the inner life of ministry. PeaceBang is the alter ego of a small town pastor serving an historic New England Unitarian Universalist congregation.
Not So Free-Range, Baby
October 26, 2008 on 6:21 pm | In Environmental Ethics Issues |Whenever I go to Whole Foods, I trust that they’re doing the work of making sure everything is up to standard. They certainly talk a good game there; their butchers and fishmongers always smile indulgently at me when I ask about the conditions within which the animals were raised and harvested. “Ah, fat suburban woman, these animals were all raised on a spa! They had massages every day! They had therapy sessions every Thursday afternoon, and they were slaughtered swiftly while high on the best natural ganja we could get from our Jamaican contacts.” Me: “Oh, good. I’ll take 2 lbs..” And then I get out my little Seafood Watch Pocket Guide and toddle on over to that area and ask them, all wide-eyed and nice about it, why they’re still selling Chilean Sea Bass. “Is that real Chilean Sea Bass? Because I heard that it’s highly endangered. I was wondering about your policy on selling endangered fish?” Blink, blink.
This hasn’t happened often, of course — I’ve only purchased meat from Whole Food three or four times since I went Veggie Vicki on Sept. 2. Now I’m feeling like I’ll try to do without meat, period, because it looks like the animals they purchase might suffer almost as much as the factory-farmed dudes.
I still love Whole Foods, and their meat standards are obviously good but they’re not as committed to compassionate conditions for the “aminals” as I thought they’d be. . I’m really glad they have the Animal Compassion program in place — maybe if lots of people stop by the butcher or deli counter and say that we will occasionally purchase meat if more vendors sign onto it, that will be good incentive.
Or maybe I’m becoming one of those obnoxious vegetarians! {oogie music}
P.S. This image from WH’s web site should keep me totally untempted to touch animal-based food for awhile. Because, yikes, those sausages and ribs just look so greasy! That’s SO not consistent with the Whole Foods experience!
“Hi! We were so much more beautiful when we were pigs and cows! We’re really embarrassed to be seen in this condition and believe us, this is NOT what we had in mind when we said we were ready for our close-up!”
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Yes, before I became a vegan I was really surprised to learn that organic and free range meat/eggs/dairy was not all that huge of a step toward reduction of animal cruelty. Especially with “cage free” eggs. Battery cages are horrific, of course, so cage free is better, but with cage free the chickens are still crowded in a huge airless warehouse, get their beaks painfully sliced off (Whole foods is OK with this for layer hens), plus if chicks are male they get gruesomely killed days after hatching. Those cage free chickens are still suffering a lot… Chickens need space to scratch and peck and preen in order to be happy birds.
Comment by Sarah Millspaugh — October 26, 2008 #
Here’s some related information from an animal sanctuary that has cared for those who have survived free range operations.
http://www.peacefulprairie.org/freerange1.html
[I am so deeply bummed to learn this about “free-range” eggs — but DUH, I should have realized that as go the layers, so go the fryers. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. The good news is that two friends keep chickens and I can buy fresh eggies from them. Thanks for the excellent, if totally upsetting, link. - PB]
Comment by Charlie Talbert — October 27, 2008 #
I was going to reply to one of your earlier posts about Whole Foods, because I knew that the “cage-free” and “free range” labels don’t mean what you think they mean, but I didn’t want to come off as one of THOSE vegetarians.
“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” covers it better than I ever could–Michael Pollan actually goes to Petaluma Poultry to see where his free-range, antibiotic-free chicken, “Rosie,” grew up. Not so different from factory farming at all.
I am lucky to have local farmers nearby who raise poultry that are truly free-range, as well as grass-fed, grass-finished beef, and happy pigs. I don’t feel the need to eat meat much, but I know I can get it without a guilty conscience if I really want to.
Comment by Tara — October 27, 2008 #
Somewhere along the line I missed that you were going veggie…you go girl! No cow has died for me since 1978, it really ain’t that hard to do.
I second Tara’s endorsement of local food. I’ve heard Michael Pollan interviewed a number times but still need to read his books. The same is true of Bill McKibben’s thoughts on local economy in “Deep Economy” (guess I’ve got some reading to do). Eating low on the food chain and doing it close to home are necessary to fight global warming and save the economy. What goes on your plate is no small matter.
Comment by Ian Lynch — October 27, 2008 #
Whole Foods “issues” seem to abound these days: this morning I was perusing the pre-made family dinners in the deli at my local WF and was REALLY surprised to see high fructose corn syrup as a prominent ingredient in the turkey meatloaf (and this was a Whole Foods Commissary item!). HFC; questionable animal raising practices; sprayed grapes from Chile (I’ve been buying the majority of my produce from a local organic farm for awhile now): so why am I paying WF prices if the difference between them and the nearby megamart are negligible?
On the plus side, the more educated I become about the “purity” (for lack of a better term) of food and how challenging it is to find, the more appreciative I am of the animals, plants and ecosystems that allow us to be sustained. How odd that something as simple as eating could lead me (a decidedly non-spiritual curmudgeonly skeptic) toward a more reverent and holistic outlook.
Ps. I second Tara’s recommendation of Michael Pollan’s books. Both the “Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food” are hugely eye-opening and very readable.
Comment by Amy — October 27, 2008 #
Whole foods (we call it whole paycheck) is not somewhere I go any more. I can get almost everything I’d get there at the local grocery store organic–produce, dairy–plus truly local humanely raised eggs and some meat that is basically the same sources as that place (we get beef from a cowshare and there’s a poultry producer nearby–pork and seafood trickier but that’s true at whole paycheck too). The coffee’s not as good, but the last time I drove 20 minutes to get there I was just flabbergasted when I checked out. And they don’t sell diet coke
Comment by madgebaby — October 31, 2008 #