Serenity Farm

Naturally raised Chickens, eggs, Tamarack Swine

(Coshocton, Ohio)

08 Nov Thu 2012

The Real Cost of Pork!

Why do I have a picture of eggs in an article about Pork? It is very simple. They are closely inter related. The egg on the left is an egg from a grocery store. The egg on the right is an egg laid by a chicken farm raised and free ranged. Pork is very similar. Pigs raised by factory farms are very different from pigs raised on a farm, even genetically. Typical factory farms keep pigs crammed together in pens. There is no real exercise other than milling around on a concrete floor which gets hosed off when the feces gets too deep. Mothers are artificially inseminated in gestation crates with no room to even turn around. Some have their legs held open in the farrowing crates so that the piglets have 24/7 access to the milk. These pigs never see sunshine and are housed in huge indoor barns with large industrial fans. To combat illness (Think of poverty stricken nations suffering from over crowding), these pigs are loaded with antibiotics.
I am not an overly religious man, nor am I an animal activist, but this makes me sick to my stomach. Not only do I wish to eat this type of meat, but I do not wish to support this kind of human behavior. God gave man dominion over all the animals, including the way we raise them. What disgusts me even more, is that even with the horrendous conditions, auspiciously enough, in an effort to make meat more affordable, our government subsidizes these factory farms.

Here is a picture of 2 of our pigs. The larger one on the left is our sow to be, she should be able to be bred next month (December 2012). Her name is Lucy or Ethel, I have to ask Carla. The other is a feeder pig, unnamed. As you can see, these pigs get to see the light of day every day. They get daily exercise even if it is to find some root or meander to the pond for a drink. Our pigs are not just any pig, but a heritage breed, Tamworths, called the bacon pig, a very lean pig, bred to be a good forager, a good mother, and to make good meat. Now, I was raised in the city and I have spent a lifetime listening to different marketing ploys, but the difference in taste is night and day.

Thanks for visiting with me,
Shawn

Shawn_1

03:51 PM EST

02 Apr Mon 2012

Serenity Farms of Coshocton, Ohio

At Serenity Farms, we strive to raise meat and eggs the old fashioned way. Our animals don't need medications, do well on pasture, and are raised humanely to the point that almost every animal on our property is used to the human touch. We aren't health nuts, but appreciate the differences between food raised by big business as a profit venture, and animals raised for the specific purpose of food, but not treated as product while still living and breathing.

I read an interesting article over the weekend which made me ponder. It was about how some of us are so anti big ag business that all we do is spend our time tearing them down instead of concentrating on what is beneficial to us and thus our consumers. While we don't debeak our birds or some of the other nasty stuff we have all heard about in the poultry industry, I have lost chicks to inclement weather, and crushing them under a portable tractor, none of which would have happened in a climate controlled, stationary gage commercial setting.

That said, My chickens are certainly raised in a more natural, freer environment, allowing them a more natural lifestyle for their short time here on earth.

I am not a scientist, but am quite able to read as well as copy and paste, and believe that sunshine and exercise, is not only good for humans, but our food, as it is being raised as well.

Thanks for reading and we'll talk again soon.

Shawn