Cobsize wrote:
LadyVet2012 wrote:
Cobsize wrote:
I've got a friend who moved her family to the USA from the UK a year ago and they have gone almost completely veggie as she can't source any ethical meat where she lives, in the UK we have strict animal welfare and drug/hormone laws regarding meat and milk animals plus you can get slightly more expensive free range/organic options and sustainably sourced fish in every supermarket.


Just FYI- we have strict drug/hormone laws here in the US as well. People act like we are serving terrible meat products filled with chemicals. This is just not true. As far as vegan/veg goes, I have no opinion.
I've not looked into it in depth but I thought in the USA beef cows are given hormones to increase muscle growth and cows are given hormones to increase milk production? Do you still have battery/caged egg farms or are commercial egg laying hens barn kept or free range? Maybe I'm running off old news.

Yes cows are given hormones, but the hormones are no different than the hormones that would be circulating in their systems if they were not castrated.  The reason they are given hormones, is because our society is so large that the animals are required to grow from calf to full adult in under a year.  Canada is currently discussing the reason we castrate food animals because they are sold well before sexual maturity.  If they choose to stop castrating animals, then maybe the US will not be far behind.  However, in-tact bulls do not put as much fat into their meat, so the meat will be leaner.  This means that people will have to get used to leaner cuts of meat than what they can currently get.  Very few farms use growth hormones to increase milk production because we now know how much husbandry affects the animals.  Animals that are kept clean, dry, well fed and watered will produce more milk than a cow that is not.  There are some commercial egg laying operations that now have free range barns, many are still kept in cages.  I am not a fan of caged hens, but the animals are in the cages for a max of 6 weeks so their suffering is not prolonged.  I choose to support local milk coops that have created an audit of sorts to guarantee that the animals are treated well and the farms kept clean.  I choose to support local eggs/meat when I can afford it and when it is available.  However, there is a great subset of the 3 hundred million plus people in the USA that cannot afford/do not have access to local products so we need to feed people somehow!


Last Edited By: 3 Kitties and a Lens Nov 20 12 6:38 PM. Edited 1 times.