That was an awesome post. I really have nothing much to add. Other than, I try to get most of the meat in my diet from humane sources; the deer that Mark hunts, shoots, and processes; also, our friends have a beefer herd and every fall get a bunch of cows slaughtered; I have been to the meat plant and know that it is done cleanly, humanely, and not on a huge factory-farm scale. Yet it is always a dilemma; sure, it is nice to supoprt the small family farmer, but look at what thse farms do to the undeveloped environment, with their chemical fertilizers/herbicides, overgrazing, and slash-and-burning to grow crops? However, I would still rather support the smaller family farmer, than these hideous factory farms that ruin whole landscapes with their ammonia-laden waste water and unneeded size equaling huge odor emissions.. A smart farmer always sets asids a portion of their land as natural forest, whether for personal gain through hunting/rec acreage, or a genuine love for the land.
I like that my friends' farm, where we get our beef from, is responsible. My friend went to school for Ag and was appaled at the modern practices such as liquid manure/human waste fertilization that makes a muck of our wells and such. I wish responsible farmers were not a dying breed; your average joe knows nothing about the hideousness they are supporting by buying a gallon of milk or a pound of beef; sigh.