Bacon For Cheap or Expensive

I love food and I love learning where food comes from and how its prepared, but sometimes you run into situations where you just don't know if production situation meet your moral guidelines food.  This brings up a recent topic in media gestation crates where pigs are raised in individual crates allowing them to lay around but not move around.  The reason this is done is that these animals are very aggressive and competitive for food making it hard for younger smaller ones to grow up in to healthy fatty piggies that we all love and can eat.  

Now the controversy is that some people feel this isn't right and when they see these pigs squirming in their cells they get up set and say what the hell I'd never want to live like that, and i agree its a hard thing to say.  On the other hand you have the Veterinary Medical Association says well actually it may be hard to look at but it works fairly well, the pig grow up big and chubby, while there behavior is much better, and there white blood cells do well.  So if the pigs health are good, is there a problem.  

Well i guess others believe there still is.  So to fix this problem you would need well trained staff, much more land, more attention to pigs, and make sure there properly fed.  This in return means a much higher price in the cost of pork production.  Because some people don't like the pictures they see I now have to pay a whole lot more for my bacon.  

This is one of those situation where i toss and turn around in my mind.  Though I think one solution and the best is one uncommonly thought.  Why not turn to local small production pig farmers.  What if you could drive on over to the farm, or a farm market, and farmer Ben has a cuts of pork ready for you, or he could cut some up right there.  I imagine that would lower transportation costs, selling costs, and you would end up with a much better happy pig.  This food culture needs to stop thinking on a massive scale and look more into small scale productions. The return of the Small Farmer.

Then I want to provide you with one final thought, I hear wild boar bacon is the best bacon you'll ever have.

A Crisis in Earths Time

I may not follow the global warming bandwagon all that closely or worry that the worlds going to come to a crashing end right away if we don't switch our ways and run from gas, oil, and the various pollutants we use.  Though I am a strong believer that their needs to be a harmony between man and nature, humans were never meant to dominate the globe, but since we have no natural predator we have gained control of the top of the food chain.  With this responsibility we should protect the earth and help it out.  

Recently researchers wrote in the journal of nature that because of our actions we are facing a tipping point.  The thing is that the earth has a funny way to natural shaking out the problem or issue that is great effecting its environment.  The article can be found at this link http://www.accuweather.com/en/home-garden-articles/earth-and-you/tipping-point-earth-headed-for/66212

With all this in mind it starts to sink in and wonder maybe there's changes we all could make in our lives.  Which got me thinking why do we always need more money and why does minimum wage always need to go up, and its not supply and demand that is driving prices up from what they were when our parents were kids.  Maybe in some cases it is, but its this strange desire to buy things that we never needed years before.  Twenty years ago no one had cell phones, now nearly everyone does, Cost 60$ on average to a total 720$ a year!  Internet & TV bundle 80$ on average 960$ a year.  There are many other costs that we keep adding on but years ago we never spent those dollars! Therefore we had less need for that money. College a gigllion dollars now.  

The reason i bring these points up is that i think we face a tipping point in lifestyle changes, one where reexamine how we live and how we act.  Now Im not saying give up cellphones and tv because I certainty have no intention on doing it myself, but i believe there are many things that we can adapt into our lives to both better nature as well as our own lives and dollars.  I will spend the years investigating new ideas, how they benefit us, nature, and yes if economically they work in our lives, because in all truth money controls our lives.  So i hope you follow my blog as I look into this new Cultural revolution that we together can start.  And please comment or suggest ideas, I'd love to hear your input.