Why We Raise So Many Animals: Part 2
Well, here I am with part 2 of my series on why we have so many farm animals.
There are many reasons for raising your own food. The most important reason, in our opinion, is that you know exactly what you are getting, which is not the case when you buy from the store. Even the basics (milk, eggs, bread, meat) are not always exactly what you think you’re getting. When you raise your own, this is not an issue. You know what you feed them, and you know the way your animals have been treated. In our case, we try to raise our animals as much on grass as we possibly can (except the dog and cats, of course). Research has shown that grass-fed animals give the most nutritious meat, eggs, and milk. So there are health benefits in doing it yourself. This is the main reason we started getting all of these animals. Websites we found helpful in researching nutritional issues are Dr. Mercola’s Blog, and The Weston Price Foundation.
Here are just a few ways that home-grown, grass-fed animal foods are more healthful than store-bought varieties:
Some of these foods can be bought (for a high price) in health food stores, but some cannot. For example, it is actually illegal to sell raw milk in our state. We believe that raw milk is so important that we have our own dairy goats. Also, it is impossible to know for sure if what a store’s products’ labels say are true. Many companies which claim to be “organic” are not necessarily as organic as they should be.
Next time I will talk about another reason we “do farm stuff”: the animal-food connection.
There are many reasons for raising your own food. The most important reason, in our opinion, is that you know exactly what you are getting, which is not the case when you buy from the store. Even the basics (milk, eggs, bread, meat) are not always exactly what you think you’re getting. When you raise your own, this is not an issue. You know what you feed them, and you know the way your animals have been treated. In our case, we try to raise our animals as much on grass as we possibly can (except the dog and cats, of course). Research has shown that grass-fed animals give the most nutritious meat, eggs, and milk. So there are health benefits in doing it yourself. This is the main reason we started getting all of these animals. Websites we found helpful in researching nutritional issues are Dr. Mercola’s Blog, and The Weston Price Foundation.
Here are just a few ways that home-grown, grass-fed animal foods are more healthful than store-bought varieties:
- Higher Omega 3 fatty acids (as opposed to Omega 6 fatty acids, which most Americans tend to get too much of. These fats are actually good for you. Many “supermarket” fats are not good for you.)
- Raw milk is much more healthful than pasteurized (cooked) milk.
- No antibiotics, chemicals or growth hormones added to home-grown meat.
- We know it is not irradiated.
- We know the animals have not been fed genetically modified anything.
Some of these foods can be bought (for a high price) in health food stores, but some cannot. For example, it is actually illegal to sell raw milk in our state. We believe that raw milk is so important that we have our own dairy goats. Also, it is impossible to know for sure if what a store’s products’ labels say are true. Many companies which claim to be “organic” are not necessarily as organic as they should be.
Next time I will talk about another reason we “do farm stuff”: the animal-food connection.
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