Is Overconsumption Our Death Knell?
I should probably be posting this on Back to Basics instead of my personal blog, but I have more eyes here and I'd like to get some feedback.
Apparently, the US will now be sending poultry and pork to China for processing. It will then return the finished product to this country.
China must have under-bidded everyone down to the floor.
If the video below is any indication, it appears that China's processing facilities are both spotless and sterile. Yet when I think of all the contaminated dog food, dog treats, and toxic children's toys we get from China, I don't feel very secure about their standards.
It is our ultimate goal to raise our own food on our property. Not everyone has that luxury. And some people don't have the stomach, time, space, or inclination to grow their own food.
Regardless of where you live, how do you feel about another country processing your food even when you grow/raise it locally? Am I missing something here? Is money the only determining factor for not processing our own food?
Warning: Some of the video below is graphic, but this is how commercial meat farming is done. It goes on to show how we over-consume and force these companies to produce more and more, though I think some of the video shot in Costco was misleading. A lot of businesses shop at Costco. It isn't all for private consumption.
Apparently, the US will now be sending poultry and pork to China for processing. It will then return the finished product to this country.
China must have under-bidded everyone down to the floor.
If the video below is any indication, it appears that China's processing facilities are both spotless and sterile. Yet when I think of all the contaminated dog food, dog treats, and toxic children's toys we get from China, I don't feel very secure about their standards.
It is our ultimate goal to raise our own food on our property. Not everyone has that luxury. And some people don't have the stomach, time, space, or inclination to grow their own food.
Regardless of where you live, how do you feel about another country processing your food even when you grow/raise it locally? Am I missing something here? Is money the only determining factor for not processing our own food?
Warning: Some of the video below is graphic, but this is how commercial meat farming is done. It goes on to show how we over-consume and force these companies to produce more and more, though I think some of the video shot in Costco was misleading. A lot of businesses shop at Costco. It isn't all for private consumption.
Comments
Personally, it's for the exact reasons you mentioned that I WOULD NEVER purchase any food from China, and I don't care how much ice you pack it in, the amount of time it would take for meat to arrive does not constitute fresh.
Too many dogs have died from contaminated food products form China. If I can't eat it, neither will my dogs.
PS Thanks for the tweet!
The government can't tell them not to do business with another country (unless we have a trade embargo with them).
The only thing that will change the corporations' minds is negative numbers on their financial report.
It's when stuff like that happen, there needs to be more tariffs. Of course, that means higher costs for your meat. I'm willing to pay the price, but are others? I'm guessing the majority would say no.
Sadly, that mentality is in the minority.
As for whether or not overconsumption plays a part, well, I'd say that along with other factors like wanting everything cheaper, faster, now.
I don't even know what to think. I'm surprised, but i think i'm more surprised that i'm surprised, you know?
I am not sure how we can truly combat this but hope that the business of meat processing stays here at home, surely the idiots have number crunchers who can provide evidence the cost to ship out then ship back is more than any profit margin.
But hey even that does not seem to stop our corporations in other areas from "outsourcing" so it cannot all be about money that is for sure.
Cannot be about quality product either because you are right about China, their products have gone down hill for more years than I can remember.
Truly, the things shown in this video is no way to handle our food or these innocent animals.
It's an interesting video albeit one-sided.
We're so conditioned to getting things at a certain price. If we paid for what things actually cost to raise naturally, most of us would balk, and many couldn't afford it.
But I can't get all worked up over this without someone puncturing my hypocrisy bubble. A local-ish fish company catches crabs in West Australian waters, then ships them just north of us to Malaysia for processing. If anyone, anywhere, is willing to crack the shells and pick the meat for me, they have my permission. Actually, they have my gratitude :)
Re: It makes each season feel special, too.
That's so true. There's nothing like fresh asparagus in the spring, or watermelons in July.
I'm a little spoiled where I live because we have a longer growing season, but I know not to expect certain foods out of season (unless I grow them).
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/health/cdc-report-finds-23000-deaths-a-year-from-antibiotic-resistant-infections.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130917&_r=0
In most cases, the way we build resistance is by letting our bodies create antibodies. The only time you want chemical antibiotics to interfere is if you are too weak to create enough antibodies on your own.
The stuff that's not pushed down our throats in advertising tends to be what we should be eating.
The big companies have manipulated our plants and animals down to the cellular level. It's disgusting.
People either turn a blind eye or hope it won't hurt them in the long run.
Not a hardship, LOL, I am practically anyway. But seriously, I'm not feeding the wee beasties food from China, whether raised here or not. Shipping meat overseas for processing makes no sense. And I agree with you Maria, something is afoot.