family farm VS commercial grown
. many people are aware of the financial reasons to grow their own pork. but their are many other reasons including health of the meat and treatment of the pigs
money: cost of raising your own pigbased on a 6 month average growing time to a butcher weight of 250lbs and a hanging weight of 220lbs
Cost of pig:$100.00 Feed for pig (aprox 28 bags) @ $8 a bag =224 kill fee $50.00 cut and wrap @ 0.60 a lb *220lb= $132. averages out to $2.30 a pound health:Pastured/ free ranged pork is more nutritious. Pastured pork has higher levels of vitamin E, healthy Omega-3 fatty acids,and many other nutrients than conventionally raised pork.
Pastured pork is safer for human health. Pastured or free ranged pork is less likely to be contaminated with E.coli. The antibiotics fed constantly to pigs in CAFOs to keep them healthy in stressed, overcrowded conditions also have far-reaching human health effects. Antibiotic-resistant diseases are on the rise, and in 2002, researchers discovered antibiotic-resistant bacteria floating on dust particles in the air in and around hog confinement plants. A strain of antibiotic-resistant staph infection known as MRSA has recently spread to the general population, and rates are particularly high among communities with hog confinement farms. Housing:Pastured and free ranged pork is more humane. Pigs raised on pasture have more than just freedom from confinement, they have the freedom to behave in natural ways. Pastured sows create nests for their piglets, and live in family groups, just like wild sows. Even pigs that are supplemented with grain or slops spend much of their day rooting and grazing in the sun and fresh air.
humain treatment: Pigs are living animals. By providing them with shelter and plenty of room, food and water we are showing our respect for them. They do not need pristine barns or pens but deserve room to move and be a pig! Our sows and boars are also pets. We spend time with them and they enjoy ur attention.
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money: store bought porkAcording to wiki answers: here are average prices of common pork products:
Bacon @ $3.00-3.50 a lb breakfast sausage @ $2.50-$4.00 a lb depending on fat content. Smoked ham@ $2.38 a lb. pork chops@ $4.00 a lb HEALTH:Pigs, like humans, are healthiest when they eat certain foods. Pigs can digest grass, corn, grains, soy and other plants. they will also eat bugs and such that they will dig up.
factory farms are profit-driven, they use the cheapest feed available to fatten up their animals, with no regard to animal health or the health of humans who eat their products. products that can be found in feed are meat from animals of other or the same species, meat from diseased animals, bits of feathers, hair, skin, hooves, blood, manure and other animal waste, plastics, antibiotics and unhealthy amounts of grain. Grains used on industrial farms are conventionally grown. This often means they contain high levels of pesticides and are genetically-engineered. In fact, corn and soy are the two most commonly grown genetically-engineered crops in the US, little is known about the long-term effects of eating animals that were raised on genetically-engineered food. Pesticides are known to “bioaccumulate” (or build-up) in the fatty tissues of animals, and when these animals are eaten, the pesticide build-up may be transmitted to the consumer. This exposure to pesticides increases people’s risk of developing cancer, and is also known to have long-term effects on our reproductive, nervous and immune systems. In some states, garbage can legally be fed to pigs, and if this garbage includes uncooked meat, pigs are at risk for diseases such as hog cholera, Foot and Mouth Disease, African swine fever, and swine vesicular disease. Other pathogens of concern are Salmonella, Campylobacter, Trichinella, and Toxoplasma. These diseases may be spread to other livestock or humans if hogs eat contaminated meat in improperly treated food waste Pasture-raised hogs are not only happier and healthier than hogs raised in confinement, but they also have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their meat, and more vitamin E than factory-farmed hogs Houseing:pigs are kept in tiny pens with out room to move or even lay down.Because of illness, a lack of room to exercise, and genetic manipulation that causes them to grow too large too quickly, pigs often develop arthritis and other joint problems. Many pigs on factory farms are forced to live on slatted floors above giant manure pits. Smaller pigs often suffer severe leg injuries when their legs get caught between the slats.
inhumain treatment:According to a November 10, 2002 article in the New York Times, "Sick pigs, being unproductive 'production units' are clubbed to death on the spot." Other common methods used to kill sick pigs include: "thumping" (slamming animals' heads against the floor until they die), drowning them with a hose, and standing on their necks.[7, 8, 9] Approximately 100 million pigs are killed in the U.S. each year.[10] Cruelty at slaughterhouses is commonplace. An April 10, 2001 story in the Washington Post reports that, "Hogs...are dunked in tanks of hot water after they are stunned to soften the hides for skinning. As a result, a botched slaughter condemns some hogs to being scalded and drowned. Secret videotape from an Iowa pork plant shows hogs squealing and kicking as they are being lowered into the water." According to slaughter plant worker, Tommy Vladak, "After they left me, the hogs would go up a hundred-foot ramp to a tank where they're dunked in 140° water...Water any hotter than that would take the meat right off their bones...There's no way these animals can bleed out in the few minutes it takes to get up the ramp. By the time they hit the scalding tank, they're still fully conscious and squealing. Happens all the time."
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