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I know all of it. What you don't seem to be aware of is that there are a lot of farmers who don't follow these practices. I make an effort to do research about the food I buy and to make sure it comes only from sustainable, non-industrial farming methods.

What I was trying to get at in my question is that there is nothing "safe" about the assumption that ALL animal products are unethical. It's just a blanket generalization that discourages learning more about the subject.




Although most US farms are small farms, they are in decline and also far less productive, so the vast majority (85%) of output comes from large-scale farms.

Furthermore, because the agricultural system and all of the regulations support large-scale farming, small-scale family farms have to work within the system. (eg, http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2009-02-05/more-on-the-s...).

The trend is toward more factory farming, not less, since small scale farms are less profitable, often not covering costs. The difficulty of making small farms sustainable is generally attributed to the regulations, infrastructure, and economic realities increasingly favoring large scale factory farming.

If you doubt any of what I've said here, the USDA and others have plenty of reports available: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-r...


I'm glad you are familiar with industrial farming as many people are not aware of how food gets to our supermarkets. However, even in the kindest of farm environments (which, incidentally I have visited first hand) I personally find milk production unethical. Force impregnating a cow and separating - and getting rid of - the calf at birth are not "practices" famers can opt out of, they are the biological and financial reality of producing milk.

I don't know if you can empathize with an animals plight at the discomfort of repeated pregnancies, births, and forced separations from their offspring - or the even grimmer likely outcome of the calf itself, but for me this is not justified by own fleeting enjoyment of a slice of cheese that is completely not necessary for my physical well being.


It's a near perfect generalization depending on where you food shop. Good luck finding eggs from ethical sources at Walmart or Publix.




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