continued...

At The Healthy Butcher's pig farm, the camera crew's jaws dropped at what they saw before them.  Instead of seeing cement stalls with steel grate floors, or gestation crates, a common practice in North America of keeping sows (female breeding pigs) in a cage that is 7ft by 2ft, the pigs roamed around on pasture, and waddled in the mud.  "It is a sight for sore eyes", as one cameraman put it.  We have included some images of the farm below.

The documentary focuses on the treatment of animals raised for food, which is unfortunately where the most inhumane treatment of animals occurs.  The images of caged and stacked chickens in the film sends shivers down our spine.  Frankly, it was similar images and similar documentaries that was the impetus to start The Healthy Butcher. There is a better way, folks!  If everyone could visit a conventional chicken farm and our organic chicken farm, no one would ever purchase a conventional chicken again. 

The challenge of creating a sustainable, humane meat industry comes down to dollars and cents.  As Fred de Martines, our pig farmer who was filmed in the documentary so eloquently put it, "people have to pay more for their food."  We need to financially support those few people out there making a difference.   

It is an ironic coincidence that this weekend commences our Festival of Farmers - a celebration of, and recognition for the people behind Ontario's bounty.  The farmers we are celebrating are those small, organic farmers from whom we purchase our meat and vegetables.  Truthfully, it is a wonder that they exist at all.  Imagine for a moment you are one of them - it doesn’t matter what kind... say you’re raising pigs on pasture or you’re growing various vegetables without using gallons of harmful chemicals - the argument is the same. Consider then, your livelihood is completely dependent on Ontario’s unpredictable and often uncooperative weather; add to that not knowing how much money you will get paid for your product; let’s also throw in exorbitant equipment and input costs, increasing property taxes, new government regulations that complicate and change how things are done, the back-breaking physical labour involved, and a general lack of appreciation for the work that you do. How long would you last in this profession?

We encourage you to watch "Revealed: No Country for Animals" available online here.  We encourage you to eat less meat, but better meat in every sense of the word - better for you, better tasting, and humanely raised.  And we especially encourage and invite you to attend the opening ceremonies of our first annual Festival of Farmers this coming Saturday, August 7.  Our goal of this festival is to increase awareness and gain appreciation for the small local farmers that are making a difference in our food system.  Put faces behind the food you eat. Behind real food there are real people.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead

Click here to watch Revealed: No Country for Animals

Photos from The Healthy Butcher's Pig Farm near Stratford, Ontario

To access previous issues of Live to Eat, click here.