(Feed lot in California)

There was an article in The Houston Chronicle today about commercially raised beef. The article focuses in on the slaughterhouse practices in factory farming. Butcherers of large meat producing plants grind up various undesirable parts of the cow (instead of whole cuts) and can use multiple cows from different slaughterhouses to make up their hamburger meat.

This particular article spotlights a young woman who thought she was purchasing top quality meat labled "American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties" and paid a premium price for the meat only to be sticken with E. coli and paralized from this deadly food-borne illness.

The article gives insight into the awful practices of the commerical meat industry and how the USDA is doing virtually nothing to combat the problem of the spread of E. coli throughout the commercial meat industry. This quote is taken directly from the article.

"In August 2008, the USDA issued a draft guideline again urging, but not ordering, processors to test ingredients before grinding. Dr. Kenneth Petersen, an assistant administrator with the department's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said the department could mandate testing, but that it needed to consider the impact on companies as well as consumers.

“I have to look at the entire industry, not just what is best for public health,” Petersen said.

(Feed lot....where is the grass?)

The article makes a case to buy from local farms without even directly stating it. By simply stating facts, its obvious that consuming factory farmed and slaughterhouse butchered meat is not in our best interest.

Our farm is very particular in who we use to butcher our meats. We have established a wonderful relationship with a local small butcherer to ensure that we receive only our cows. Our cows are never held in a slaughterhouse. They go straight from our pasture and are slaughtered right when they arrive at the butcherer.

On the days our cows are butchered, we go to great lengths to make sure that our cows are butchered first before any other meats. The hamburger meat that we sell contains none of the "junk meat" that you would receive from commercial hamburget meat.

If the USDA won't look out for our best interest, then we have to take it upon ourselves to do so. Factory farming is not the answer.

You can read the article from the Houston Chronicle HERE.

 (Factory Farm meat processing plant)