Where do you think your meat comes from? How do you think it gets to you? Furthermore, what did it take to get to you?
By in large, most Americans are totally oblivious as to where they meat comes from, how it got to them, and what it took to get it there. The irony of this fact is that Americans are eating more meat than ever before. In fact they’re eating so much meat that cases of chronic illness such as cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes are continuing to rise, and alarmingly so.
Although picturesque images of iconic, all-American farm properties are used in the advertising and packaging of many of the foods and meats that Americans eat, an actually farm property is typically the last place that the average American actually buys their food and meat. To add further insult to injury, many of today’s modern farms and land are a far cry from the ranch and farm land from generations past, having been replaced by massive factory farms.
These operations one, and only one, goal in mind: making money. How that’s accomplished, and what it takes to pull a profit, is morally questionable at best. Gone are the days of small, family-owned farms, producing quality meat products in small, controlled amounts. Instead, these have been replaced by corporately owned, large scale, factor farms where animals are quickly bred, raised, and harvested all while being fed and injected with unnatural substances.
The working cattle ranches of past generations that raised cattle with care and compassion, all while protecting them as they grazed from pasture to pasture, have been replaced by conglomerate factory farms that are rife with animal abuse, cruelty, sketchy business practices, and genetically modified feed.
Working cattle ranches are coming under scrutiny for a number of the aforementioned reasons and more. It’s no longer good enough for a working cattle ranch to simply exist; it must do so sustainably.
