I know a lot of people who grow confinement house chickens and turkeys. Growing up, we went to church and school together. They're hard-working, fun, family-oriented people who want to stay on the farm, and they're doing it, partly through raising confinement house poultry. They don't necessarily enjoy every part of it, but they're willing to do it, if it means they'll be able to farm.
When I was about 13, I overheard a conversation about one of their turkey houses. "Yeah, Tom* (not real name) just put up a new turkey house," one person said, "but it's a free-range house."
"A free-range house?" someone else queried.
"Yeah!" she snorted, "You know what that means? He has to provide a door and a tiny strip of fenced in area outside for them to be in. It's not enough for nearly all of them, and nothing can grow there, but it they have that, they can label them free-range."
We all rolled our eyes. As if a tiny strip of land outside would make much of a difference. I didn't understand why anyone would pay extra for that. It seemed silly to me.
Now that I'm older, I recognize what's happening.
Most people want good food that they can feel good about eating, which for most people means that the animals should be treated well, have access to natural things (like fresh air, sunshine and grass) and not be given antibiotics and hormones and the vegetables should be grown without herbicides and pesticides. However, they don't know their farmer. They've never visited a poultry farm and they've never been to a tomato field in July. So they depend on the labels to tell them what's good and bad. They don't always know what the labels mean.
Most farmers want to make a good living on their farm. They want a chance to do what their family's been doing for generations. Or they want to start out and give their own children a childhood on the farm. They need to be able to sell what they produce at a higher price than it cost them to produce it. However, they don't know their customers. They're not sure a customer would understand how hard it is to make money in today's market or what's actually necessary to get food from the farm to the consumer. (In the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" Barbara Kingsolver recounts a time when she told one of her friends what was happening in the garden. "The potatoes are up. . ." she mentioned. "Wait," her friend says, pausing to formulate her question, "What part of the potato. . . comes up?" Turns out her friend didn't know that potatoes grow from plants. . . with leaves. . . Another example is a produce farmer I know, who says that people want corn without bugs, but they want it to be organic. They don't realize that with sweet corn that is almost an impossibility. Anyway.) Farmers depend on a third party, (often a large corporation) to buy their product and deal with the marketing, so they don't have to.
Someone (and I'm not saying who) benefits from the combined ignorance of farmer and consumer. (I'll give you a hint though. It's generally not the farmer. And most of the time it's not the consumer.)
The solution? Well, it's not to gallop off and write a letter to your congressman demanding stricter labeling laws. Someone will always figure out a way to sell an inferior product for a superior price if the only thing you ever see is the label. The solution is actually a lot simpler than that. Simpler, but probably not easier. It is this.
Get to know your farmer. Go with him to feed the hogs. Help her weed her vegetables. (Weeding is the price you pay for no herbicides.) Watch the broilers chase bugs. Go see the hens who lay the eggs you eat for breakfast. See for yourself if this is good food.
Decide for yourself if it is really free-range.
When I was about 13, I overheard a conversation about one of their turkey houses. "Yeah, Tom* (not real name) just put up a new turkey house," one person said, "but it's a free-range house."
"A free-range house?" someone else queried.
"Yeah!" she snorted, "You know what that means? He has to provide a door and a tiny strip of fenced in area outside for them to be in. It's not enough for nearly all of them, and nothing can grow there, but it they have that, they can label them free-range."
We all rolled our eyes. As if a tiny strip of land outside would make much of a difference. I didn't understand why anyone would pay extra for that. It seemed silly to me.
Now that I'm older, I recognize what's happening.
Most people want good food that they can feel good about eating, which for most people means that the animals should be treated well, have access to natural things (like fresh air, sunshine and grass) and not be given antibiotics and hormones and the vegetables should be grown without herbicides and pesticides. However, they don't know their farmer. They've never visited a poultry farm and they've never been to a tomato field in July. So they depend on the labels to tell them what's good and bad. They don't always know what the labels mean.
Most farmers want to make a good living on their farm. They want a chance to do what their family's been doing for generations. Or they want to start out and give their own children a childhood on the farm. They need to be able to sell what they produce at a higher price than it cost them to produce it. However, they don't know their customers. They're not sure a customer would understand how hard it is to make money in today's market or what's actually necessary to get food from the farm to the consumer. (In the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" Barbara Kingsolver recounts a time when she told one of her friends what was happening in the garden. "The potatoes are up. . ." she mentioned. "Wait," her friend says, pausing to formulate her question, "What part of the potato. . . comes up?" Turns out her friend didn't know that potatoes grow from plants. . . with leaves. . . Another example is a produce farmer I know, who says that people want corn without bugs, but they want it to be organic. They don't realize that with sweet corn that is almost an impossibility. Anyway.) Farmers depend on a third party, (often a large corporation) to buy their product and deal with the marketing, so they don't have to.
Someone (and I'm not saying who) benefits from the combined ignorance of farmer and consumer. (I'll give you a hint though. It's generally not the farmer. And most of the time it's not the consumer.)
The solution? Well, it's not to gallop off and write a letter to your congressman demanding stricter labeling laws. Someone will always figure out a way to sell an inferior product for a superior price if the only thing you ever see is the label. The solution is actually a lot simpler than that. Simpler, but probably not easier. It is this.
Get to know your farmer. Go with him to feed the hogs. Help her weed her vegetables. (Weeding is the price you pay for no herbicides.) Watch the broilers chase bugs. Go see the hens who lay the eggs you eat for breakfast. See for yourself if this is good food.
Decide for yourself if it is really free-range.
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