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Originally Posted by
OrientalSlave 
Isn't all organic meat free-range? Or is that just in the UK & Europe?
"organic" really just refers how the animal is fed and raised (organic feed or grass, no GMO crops, growth hormones or antibiotics unless there's an outbreak) and free-range animals are allowed to roam. as usual, the multi-billion $ factory farming industry will find a way to read between the lines and simply not state certain things or take advantage of the fact that the legal definition of a term as is understood by most of the public is not the same legal definition they have manipulated. they're adding things like "cage-free" "open air" etc. i won't buy anything in the grocery store that is labeled like that because it's just a way for them to charge more for a product that only has the appearance of, instead of actually being, humane and ethical.
i would prefer to buy meat that is directly from a farm i can actually visit, and fortunately there are quite a few farms like this in colorado. how feasible this actually is remains to be seen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
OrientalSlave And I guess the US still has battery cages for egg-laying hens...
of course. i don't really want anything to do with factory-farmed products, but i want a healthy diet for my cats. i really don't like depending on processed canned food because it requires that i trust a business. i absolutely refuse to buy anything directly affiliated with proctor & gamble or other huge conglomerates. but i can't go to the factories of the products i do buy and see them, i have to take their word for a lot of things. i know they're still using terms that are appealing to the consumer, but not exactly what people think of when they hear terms like "human grade" or "restaurant quality". that kind of food also has a lot of preservatives in it (and sometimes other ingredients i don't really like, like carrageenan) that wouldn't be in food i prepared myself. the USDA/FDA inspected/approved products mean very little to me because i don't think they've done all that well for humans, let along animals.
as far as buying scraps from a slaughterhouse, i really don't know that i'm prepared to buy lungs, intestines, spleens, etc. i can only go so far. 
(just like i won't be able to buy live chickens and wring their necks.) i may very well end up buying meat which was raised and slaughtered in a manner with which i don't agree, simply because i can't afford to spend $200 a month on cat food. i don't have a grinder either, i don't know how much equipment i'm prepared to buy, yet. i suppose if i wanted to get around all this, i wouldn't have cats. but i do, they're already here, so i'll just do the best i can by them. at least i know that i haven't monetarily supported factory-farming for 38 years. if i have to for my cats for however long they live, that's that. sometimes i have to compromise.
. Americans like their food cheap and plentiful. And the meat producers (probably egg producers, too?) are very politically powerful ($$$), so any attempts at improving matters don't go far. The waste is appalling. . .something like half of the meat produced ends up being thrown away.
