Free Range and Hormone Free Meat

Diet and Nutrition
21

[b]rainjack wrote:
There is no such thing as “free range”. Every animal that is processed for consumption has been confined in one manner or another.

[/b]

true, but what most people are hoping is that free range animals <chickens/fowl, for example> do not have all of their natural instincts/drives frustrated by being cramped up in cages with other chickens.

free range chickens are SUPPOSED to be able to satisfy their natural drives in a semi-natural environment, to be able to roost, move around, flap wings, hook up with the opposite sex, etc…

so even though they are confined, their confinement is supposed to be much more humane.

FYI - Every animal processed for consumption has met with an inhumane death - how else would they be dead enough to process.

:-\ it depends on how we define ‘humane death’. it’s subjective. but hopefully organic/free range animals are killed more humanely. i obviously do not know for sure.

[b]And EVERY single bovine raised in the US has been injected with either progesterone, testosterone, trenbolone actetate, or estrodiol.

To say that a bovine is hormone free is a joke. There is not a Rancher worth his salt that doesn’t implant a Ralgro in his calves during Spring Works.
[/b]

i have a feeling you’re right. it’d be interesting to see the criteria that is required to meet in order to the get the ‘organic’ stamp from independent third party certification organizations. i have a hard time believing that anything labelled ‘organic’ is truly organic. the way i look at it, i bet the huge food manufacturing companies <beef, vegetables, everything else> actually OWN the ‘third party’ party organix certifiers. and even if some organic certifiers actually ARE independently owned and are truly third parties, it would not be in their best business interests to actually deny a customer/client/business looking for an organic certification. if they deny business looking for certifications then they’re gonna lose business. know what i mean?

Geez - it’s like some folks think beef grows on trees prepackaged in styrofoam trays and wrapped in plastic.

:-\

22

Check out the hormone-injected animal section of this article:

http://www.T-Nation.com/findArticle.do;jsessionid=F9666B6A144FF89DDC2015C938A773B3.hydra?article=06-066-diet

23

You could always find a Kosher butcher in your area too.

If your worried about the humane killing of the animal:
meat and poultry be slaughtered in a prescribed manner known as shechita. The trachea and esophagus of the animal are severed with a special razor-sharp, perfectly smooth blade, causing instantaneous death with no pain to the animal. Only a trained kosher slaughterer (shochet), whose piety and expertise have been attested to by rabbinic authorities, is qualified to slaughter an animal for kosher consumption.

After the animal has been properly slaughtered, a trained inspector (bodek) inspects the internal organs for any physiological abnormalities that may render the animal non-kosher (treif). The lungs, in particular, must be examined in order to determine that there are no adhesions (sirchot), which may be indicative of a puncture in the lungs. If an adhesion is found, the bodek must further examine it carefully to determine its kashrus status. It should be noted that in addition to fulfilling the requirements of halacha (Jewish law), the bedika of internal organs insures a standard of quality that exceeds government requirements.

I’m trying to find some info on how the animals are treated when they are raised.

24

Kosher Meat Continued:

-at the time of slaughter, an animal?s blood must be free of artificial additives such as hormones.

I cant find any direct information on how the animals are treated when raised however this quote was used in many many articles I read.

" Jews are permitted to eat meat, but are commanded to take precautions to ensure that our carnivorous desires do not cause unnecessary suffering to animals. Thus, the Torah prohibits both cooking a kid in its mother’s milk and taking eggs or chicks from a nest while the mother bird is present (Deuteronomy 22:6). These two laws indicate a concern for the emotional pain of the mother bird or cow, who should neither see nor participate in the killing of her children."

25

My family runs a farm. We have chickens, goats, turkeys, horses (you would be suprised how many people buy horses for meat), and eggs. and no, we don’t sell horses for meat.

To the OP- all animals go to the same place to be killed.This is usually done by wetting the floor and hitting it with some electricity (for birds). Now if you choose to buy organic, be warned most of the owners of these farms are “hippies” and just kill the animals themselves. It is much more brutal (I have killed a few rabits for “hippies”).

There is a taste differnce in organic/free range and hormoned up farms animals. However, not one that I would pay for.

I will share a secret of the business with you, a lot of that free range shit is bs. We have “free range hens” for eggs. They get to go out for a certain amount of time and live in a more pleasent setting, they still kill/ canabilize each other, fuck the shit out of the smaller ones, and eat their own shit. We charge 2.50 for our eggs and they sell like hotcakes.

Also when we buy our baby chicks/turkeys from a corporate breeding house, you can’t specify what food they are given in their earliest days. The pump them full of antibiotics/hormones to keep them alive for sale. Its funny, when we get them home and start feeding them normal food they die off like crazy.

If you go to farmers markets to buy meat, a lot of the meat has been obtained through questionable means. This meaning hicks kill what they got and label it organic. I know people that do this and make a killing.

To me the hormones are just extra. I feel happy if the cow I am eating was given some hormones, its like steroids for free (in really small doses of course). Plus i dont like the idea of all those organic hippies “tenderizing” the chickens (read chicken fuckers).

26

Fuck. Yeah, I knew about the milk, protein and egg thing. I’m not trying to stop the whole process by myself, just trying to do my part. One of the reasons I thought about eating meat was that I cannot give up eggs and cheese, and those animals are treated worse than the ones raised for meat. Maybe I’ll switch to free range chicken and give up milk. I don’t know what the fuck to do. I appreciate all the replies, even from the deuchebag that thinks I dont know where meat comes from. I’ve hunted and gutted deer and shit, i’m not an idiot or a fucking hippy just because I care about things other than muscles. Thanks again guys.

27

[quote]jbodzin wrote:
You could always find a Kosher butcher in your area too.

If your worried about the humane killing of the animal:
meat and poultry be slaughtered in a prescribed manner known as shechita. The trachea and esophagus of the animal are severed with a special razor-sharp, perfectly smooth blade, causing instantaneous death with no pain to the animal. Only a trained kosher slaughterer (shochet), whose piety and expertise have been attested to by rabbinic authorities, is qualified to slaughter an animal for kosher consumption.

After the animal has been properly slaughtered, a trained inspector (bodek) inspects the internal organs for any physiological abnormalities that may render the animal non-kosher (treif). The lungs, in particular, must be examined in order to determine that there are no adhesions (sirchot), which may be indicative of a puncture in the lungs. If an adhesion is found, the bodek must further examine it carefully to determine its kashrus status. It should be noted that in addition to fulfilling the requirements of halacha (Jewish law), the bedika of internal organs insures a standard of quality that exceeds government requirements.

I’m trying to find some info on how the animals are treated when they are raised.
[/quote]

oh ya! i totally forgot about that. and i’m born and ‘raised’ jewish, as well. but remember, halacha has nothing to do with how the animal was treated prior to slaughter. many kosher-slaughtered animals are still raised in pretty shitty conditions.

28

Not everyone wants to eat meat from an animal that was given growth hormones to make them fat.
I believe this messes with your bodies hormonal system.

Not only that,but the synthetic estrogen they use,that can actually cause cancer.It did in a family member of mine.
I used to live by an organic farm. The whole" organic" thing isn’t B.S.

And 300 years ago when ,we hunted for animals that weren’t given growth hormones, wasn’t brutal?
There is no pretty side to killing an animal.
I just care how it’s raised and what it’s given.

I don’t want to eat meat that comes from animals that were given synthetic hormones,like synthetic estrogen,which has been linked to breast cancer already.
I don’t want to eat meat that came from animals that were given hormones to fatten them up.
I want meat that tastes better too.

[quote]keaster wrote:
My family runs a farm. We have chickens, goats, turkeys, horses (you would be suprised how many people buy horses for meat), and eggs. and no, we don’t sell horses for meat.

To the OP- all animals go to the same place to be killed.This is usually done by wetting the floor and hitting it with some electricity (for birds). Now if you choose to buy organic, be warned most of the owners of these farms are “hippies” and just kill the animals themselves. It is much more brutal (I have killed a few rabits for “hippies”).

There is a taste differnce in organic/free range and hormoned up farms animals. However, not one that I would pay for.

I will share a secret of the business with you, a lot of that free range shit is bs. We have “free range hens” for eggs. They get to go out for a certain amount of time and live in a more pleasent setting, they still kill/ canabilize each other, fuck the shit out of the smaller ones, and eat their own shit. We charge 2.50 for our eggs and they sell like hotcakes.

Also when we buy our baby chicks/turkeys from a corporate breeding house, you can’t specify what food they are given in their earliest days. The pump them full of antibiotics/hormones to keep them alive for sale. Its funny, when we get them home and start feeding them normal food they die off like crazy.

If you go to farmers markets to buy meat, a lot of the meat has been obtained through questionable means. This meaning hicks kill what they got and label it organic. I know people that do this and make a killing.

To me the hormones are just extra. I feel happy if the cow I am eating was given some hormones, its like steroids for free (in really small doses of course). Plus i dont like the idea of all those organic hippies “tenderizing” the chickens (read chicken fuckers).

[/quote]

29

And many police are dirty in this world.
Does that mean all are?
Organic farms are far more better than “normal” farms.

The USDA inspects them,so they have to be clean.
I know that from first hand experience.
But,I guess now that I never get sick,and am healthier since I’ve been eating organic is just a figment of my imagination.

[quote]hueyOT wrote:
jbodzin wrote:
You could always find a Kosher butcher in your area too.

If your worried about the humane killing of the animal:
meat and poultry be slaughtered in a prescribed manner known as shechita. The trachea and esophagus of the animal are severed with a special razor-sharp, perfectly smooth blade, causing instantaneous death with no pain to the animal. Only a trained kosher slaughterer (shochet), whose piety and expertise have been attested to by rabbinic authorities, is qualified to slaughter an animal for kosher consumption.

After the animal has been properly slaughtered, a trained inspector (bodek) inspects the internal organs for any physiological abnormalities that may render the animal non-kosher (treif). The lungs, in particular, must be examined in order to determine that there are no adhesions (sirchot), which may be indicative of a puncture in the lungs. If an adhesion is found, the bodek must further examine it carefully to determine its kashrus status. It should be noted that in addition to fulfilling the requirements of halacha (Jewish law), the bedika of internal organs insures a standard of quality that exceeds government requirements.

I’m trying to find some info on how the animals are treated when they are raised.

oh ya! i totally forgot about that. and i’m born and ‘raised’ jewish, as well. but remember, halacha has nothing to do with how the animal was treated prior to slaughter. many kosher-slaughtered animals are still raised in pretty shitty conditions.
[/quote]

30

By the way,if you knew anything about farming,you’d know there is still a HUGE difference between “FREE RANGE” and ORGANIC eggs(milk,meat,etc.)

[quote]keaster wrote:
My family runs a farm. We have chickens, goats, turkeys, horses (you would be suprised how many people buy horses for meat), and eggs. and no, we don’t sell horses for meat.

To the OP- all animals go to the same place to be killed.This is usually done by wetting the floor and hitting it with some electricity (for birds). Now if you choose to buy organic, be warned most of the owners of these farms are “hippies” and just kill the animals themselves. It is much more brutal (I have killed a few rabits for “hippies”).

There is a taste differnce in organic/free range and hormoned up farms animals. However, not one that I would pay for.

I will share a secret of the business with you, a lot of that free range shit is bs. We have “free range hens” for eggs. They get to go out for a certain amount of time and live in a more pleasent setting, they still kill/ canabilize each other, fuck the shit out of the smaller ones, and eat their own shit. We charge 2.50 for our eggs and they sell like hotcakes.

Also when we buy our baby chicks/turkeys from a corporate breeding house, you can’t specify what food they are given in their earliest days. The pump them full of antibiotics/hormones to keep them alive for sale. Its funny, when we get them home and start feeding them normal food they die off like crazy.

If you go to farmers markets to buy meat, a lot of the meat has been obtained through questionable means. This meaning hicks kill what they got and label it organic. I know people that do this and make a killing.

To me the hormones are just extra. I feel happy if the cow I am eating was given some hormones, its like steroids for free (in really small doses of course). Plus i dont like the idea of all those organic hippies “tenderizing” the chickens (read chicken fuckers).

[/quote]

31

[quote]mrjoshua wrote:
Fuck. Yeah, I knew about the milk, protein and egg thing. I’m not trying to stop the whole process by myself, just trying to do my part. One of the reasons I thought about eating meat was that I cannot give up eggs and cheese, and those animals are treated worse than the ones raised for meat. Maybe I’ll switch to free range chicken and give up milk. I don’t know what the fuck to do.[/quote]

I was in the same place as you, a vegetarian who decided to become a meat eater. Actually, I was vegan by the time I did that, rejecting any animal confinement. But it was only for about a year and a half that I’d been practicing these ethics.

When I started back on animal products then, it was wild animals only. Namely wild fish, since that’s widely available in grocer’s everywhere. That might be something for you to try, as they live free for the most part, without the suffering of domesticity that even humans incurr.

Look here for information on which fish are abundant and sustainably harvested using low-impact methods:
http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp

After that, though, I went on to free-range animal products. Eggs, cheese, beef, bison, pork, ostrich and chicken. This was primarily for my body composition and hypertrophy goals.

But I also gave myself this justification:

I figure those free-range animals live about as bad a life as we: let outside as much as possible, but otherwise pushed around by circumstances and the assholes that cause them for us. We’re often made to perform tasks that we would rather not, for someone else’s greater benefit.

And at night, we all shuffle back to our barns to sleep just long enough before starting all over again. Haha, yes, I’ll eat any animal that has had the same quality of life or better than I (free-range or wild, respectively).

So now all that I won’t touch these days are animals raised by non-traditional practices, e.g. factory farmed. They have a shitty life, and I can’t say mine is anything like that. I’m not exactly the mutilated and poisoned prisoner, not anymore at least.

Funny, though, how people living in the Matrix eat animals living in the Meatrix:

So there’s my take on things. Good luck, in whatever you choose.

32

For those of you who are saying “Free steeroids, yee haw!”:

Even if the hormones given to cattle are going to have an effect on your body - which is admittingly doubtful and minimal if at all - I think you’d do much better with the big concentrated bits of CLA and Omega-3 found in grass-fed beef as opposed to the inflammation causing Omega-6 from those fed on grain.

“Free FlameOut, yee haw!”

In fact, you might even avoid the stress hormones pumping through those confined and misfed cattle, that could just as well be effecting your body as any unlikely androgens.

Hope you see how ridiculous it is now, to think that feedlot cattle have anything over those eating their natural diet in a more natural setting… Though the idea of raising bulls rather than steers does intrigue me, for the reason of androgenic possibilities.