Meet the Super Cow

Slaughterhouse Investigation: Cruel and Unhealthy Practices

Is Cage Free Better?

Moving hens from crowded, dirty cages into a more open pen sounds like a good idea, right? Well according to researchers, it has been found that the hens that lay most of our eggs become more protective when placed in a bigger space with less birds. This leads to fights among the chickens, which ultimately results in more deaths. So what is the better plan here: crowded cages or a new genetic breed of friendlier birds?

Read more here.

Did You Know?

As you probably know, we are reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Do you know all of the horrible things animals have to go through in their lives? If you don't, here are some interesting facts I've learned from reading Eating Animals:

• "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" (Animal Farm by George Orwell). In other words, we consider dogs more equal than cows because we don't eat dogs.
• Almost twice as many dogs and cats are euthanized as are adopted.
• In the Philippines, there is a recipe for stewed dog.
• There are two types of chickens - layers and broilers. The layers are the ones who lay eggs, whereas the boilers are the chickens that become meat.
• Because of Common Farming Exemptions (CFEs), corporations can define thier own level of cruelty in the industry.
• A downer is an animal that collapses and is unable to get back up due to little rest and water. The number of downed cows is abou 200,000 a year.

Wanna know more? Pick up your copy of Eating Animals at your local bookstore today!

-Jennifer

Got Milk?

Milk may be seen as a "safe" beverage. No cows died in the making right? Actually, those cows are impregated yearly and the male calves are seen as worthless, and many bobby calves find themselves crowded into a slaughterhouse within only a few days of their birth.

Once disunited from their mothers, they are taken to slaughterhouses miles away, generally in overloaded trucks where there is little to no room to lie down. To get them up, they are often dragged by their tails or legs, and sometimes are even electrically prodded. After arriving at the abattoir, many bobby calves have to survive the night with no nourishment before they are slaughtered. In Australia, for example, bobby calves are permitted to go without food for up to 30 hours! How barbaric is that? There is currently an unenforcable Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals that states: "Calves should be fed within six hours of transportation and must not be left without appropriate liquid food for more than 10 hours."

 So, what are you waiting for?!? Get off your butts and see what you can do to help at http://www.animalconcerns.org/external.html?www=http%3A//www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/brutal-secret-behind-the-dairy-industry-20110128-1a7tb.html&itemid=201101280021220.338953!

-Jennifer, Kelly, and Katy

Family Chickens

Low and behold! Our family does in fact own two chickens.  They produce roughly 2 eggs per day, and are very friendly.  Their delicious eggs are often used for breakfast, opposed to the low quality, mass production, factory farm eggs.

According to sustainable table, the quality difference between free-range chicken and factory farm chickens is significant. This difference is often due to lower quality in the food of these factory farm chickens.

"A natural chicken diet can include corn, oats, soybeans and dried alfalfa.  The pasture provides grasses fertilized by the chickens themselves, as well as worms and bugs, many of which are abundant on the manure left behind by cows.
Feed for factory farmed chickens is significantly less fresh, natural and appetizing. Millions of tons of meat and bone meal from post-slaughter animal waste are recycled back into animal feed each year, and poultry and hog producers are the main purchasers of these products."
Sustainable Table

They are adorable, and make funny noises.  I suggest all families jump on the chicken bandwagon! 
Here's a good website if you're interested in purchasing chickens. 

-Payton, Zach and Shockley

Burnt Fork BBQ Store Front

Burnt Fork BBQ Menu

Burnt Fork BBQ

This past sunday i ate dinner at a Decatur barbeque resturant called Burnt Fork BBQ. Burnt Fork specializes in organic food as well as serving only humanely raised meat from Moonshine farms in Athens, GA. The menu also has vegetarian options with tofu taking the place of the meat. Located at 614 Church Street, Burnt Fork Barbecue is still working on perfecting its recipes and overall quality is still behind other local BBQ joints. However its worth the trip for anyone concerned with animal welfare in our food system.