# Free-Range Eggs and Meat



## manson (Jun 21, 2008)

*Free-Range Eggs and Meat: Conning Consumers?*

In recent years, there has been an increase in the demand for free-range products by a public that is becoming more aware of both the health and moral implications of eating factory-farmed meat and eggs. While free-range products command a high price in supermarkets and delicatessens, and many people are willing to pay for improved conditions on the farms, the reality of 'free-range' farms does not live up to the marketing hype.

*Free-Range: Fact or Fiction?*

*
*Most consumers believe that the hens who produce 'cage-free' or 'free-range' eggs spend much of their lives outdoors, warming themselves in the afternoon sun, enjoying dust baths and laying their eggs in individual straw nests. But to British egg producers, 'cage-free' and 'free-range' mean something entirely different. 'Cage-free' means only that the animals are not in cages; beyond that, anything goes, and the animals are often crammed inside faeces-ridden sheds, with no ability to engage in any natural behaviours, for their entire lives. 'Free-range' birds also generally spend the majority (if not all) of their lives inside a dark shed with thousands of other birds. These sheds have 'popholes' which allow birds access to the outside and the producers to label their eggs 'free-range'.(1) However, because birds are territorial, the stronger ones monopolise the area around the popholes, while the weaker ones may never cross these territories to get to the exits. These weaker birds may never get outside at all. The areas around the popholes are, not surprisingly, the most desirable areas of the shed, and consequently fights break out amongst the congregated birds. Because aggression, injuries and even cannibalism are rife under these stressful conditions, free-range hens may still be debeaked, a painful practice in which the ends of the birds' sensitive beaks are sliced off.(2)

In their natural environment, chickens can live into their teens and form friendships and social hierarchies.(3) But hens on commercial free-range farms are 'spent' or unable to produce enough eggs to remain profitable within two years.(4) Instead of being allowed to retire, these worn-out hens are usually sold to slaughterhouses, where their bodies are turned into stock cubes, soup or baby food. The hen who laid your 'humane' free-range egg yesterday could easily be shackled upside-down and headed for the scalding tank tomorrow.

Don't be fooled by the label 'free-range' or by Freedom Foods. Birds reared under this scheme do not necessarily have access to the outdoors, either, but instead may spend their entire lives in a shed, rather like a broiler shed, with no fresh air, sunlight or space to carry out their natural behaviours. There is one scheme that does ensure all the birds can walk around outdoors, dust bathe and enjoy the fresh air. That is the Soil Association's scheme, and they stamp their approval on the egg boxes. However, these birds, too, are sent for slaughter after just two years, ending their vastly improved lives in the same terrifying, violent manner.(5)

There is yet another sordid side to this industry, a side that is rarely revealed: the fate of the male chicks. Egg-laying birds must be female. But 50 per cent of the chicks hatched for the egg industry are male, and these financially worthless male birds are slaughtered soon after birth.(6) This is the same for all male chicks, whether they are hatched into the battery, barn or free-range systems.

*Organic Meat: A Product of Cruelty*

*
*Organic meat, milk and eggs are produced by routinely feeding the animals food that contains no pesticides or antibiotics. Because the animals are often untreated even when sick and because these farms are often quite small and may keep sick and ailing animals around longer, cruelty on such farms can conceivably be worse than on the huge factory farms. The exact definition of organic will depend on which organisation or scheme accredits the particular product, and conditions for the animals can vary greatly. Regardless, all the animals are still rounded up, loaded onto a truck and driven to the slaughterhouse where an agonising death awaits them. Herded in, stunned with an electric current or shot with a captive bolt into the brain, shackled and hoisted up, their throats are slit. They remain upside-down as their failing hearts pump the lifeblood from their bodies. There is no such thing as 'cruelty-free' meat.

*'Exotic' Animals on the Plate*

*
*While some people consider it 'adventurous' to eat ostrich burgers, kangaroo fillets or crocodile steaks, many consume non-traditional meats because they believe these animals are reared more humanely than cows, chickens, turkeys or pigs.

Ostriches are native to the hot, dry plains of Africa, where their excellent vision and powerful legs are perfectly suited to the environment. When they are brought to damp and rainy Britain, the birds can run from one side of an average-sized paddock to the other in just a few strides. Skeleto-muscular problems are common as their rapid growth puts tremendous pressure on their bones. This can lead to dislocated joints and fractures, which are caused by chicks' running into obstacles they wouldn't normally come across or losing their footing on the slippery muddy ground. Lameness, loss of appetite, depression and even death can follow. According to the Council of Europe, ostriches succumb more often to disease and have a higher death rate than domesticated farm animals.(7) The only regulations in the UK governing ostrich slaughter are that the animals may not be drowned or suffocated.(8)

The Australian government permits the slaughter of more than 6 million kangaroos a year.(9) While there are laws governing the killing of kangaroos, there are still serious problems with 'weekend hunters', unlicensed shooters who often view kangaroos as 'pests' and have no regard for their suffering. The preferred method of killing joeys whose mothers have been slaughtered is, according to government code, decapitation or a 'heavy blow to destroy the brain'.(10) On their own property, landowners can do whatever they want to kangaroos without fear of repercussions.

In the wild, crocodiles are either shot or captured and taken to overcrowded 'farms'. The females are impregnated and their offspring killed at just 3 years of age. Shooting at point-blank range is the recommended form of slaughter, but where shooting is disregarded for financial reasons, the 'nape stab and pith' method can be used. This involves having workers stand on the head and tail of the crocodile to immobilise him or her; a sharp chisel is then forced between the base of the skull and the first vertebra. When the animal has been stunned, a rod of about 3mm in diameter is used to probe and destroy the brain. In one PETA investigation, slaughter of alligators by bludgeoning them and stabbing them to death was caught on film.

*The Unhealthy Option*

Whether it's 'exotic', 'organic' or 'free-range', meat is completely devoid of fibre and contains high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol that are associated with hypertension, stroke and heart disease. Meat is still linked to cancer, kidney stones, osteoporosis and a whole host of other conditions, diseases and illnesses.

The same is true of 'free-range' eggs. They have no fibre, and the cholesterol in them contributes to the furring of the arteries and premature death by stroke or heart attack.

*Doing the Humane Thing*

From the 'free-range' hen who smells fresh air for the first time only on her way to the slaughterhouse to the 'humanely-reared' dairy cow whose day-old male baby is taken from her and sold to veal farmers, all animals raised for food suffer and are exploited. The only truly humane alternative to this suffering is to choose alternatives to eggs, milk and meat.

Original Source - http://www.peta.org.uk/


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## Team1 (Apr 3, 2008)

Interesting

I notice a huge difference between the free range eggs that come froma local farm shop where i can see the hens wandering all around the place...and the guff so called free range eggs from the supermarket that also happen to be more expensive


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## SD (Sep 3, 2004)

Its written by a vegan extremist, but essentially the message is correct. I buy free range because my conscience can just about handle that, we have free range farms in Kent and Sussex, they look pleasant enough, big outdoor pens but pretty bleak and featureless. A zillion times better than a battery cage however.

The male chicks are indeed a by-product but they are killed humanely with carbon dioxide and then frozen and sold to the reptile industry.

Wish there was a viable alternative to these products but there just isnt, so in the meantime I will buy free-range and when I can afford it, Organic.

SD


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## 2001kdy (Jan 23, 2009)

we need clarity on labelling there is even confusion over open reared pork. Apparently they areborne outside and then moved indoors after a few weeks! it needs better defintion and regulation. Is it better for whom, the animal or consumer ? I guess thats personal opinion


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## SnakeyB (Apr 10, 2009)

"meat is completely devoid of fibre and contains high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol that are associated with hypertension, stroke and heart disease. Meat is still linked to cancer, kidney stones, osteoporosis and a whole host of other conditions, diseases and illnesses"

Reeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally? If you take the time to 'watch' what you eat and are actively making a choice about what foods will comprise your diet (as opposed to eating whatever is most tasty & to hand when you're hungry) I'm pretty sure there's nothing more unhealthy that a vegetarian diet. Apart from a vegan diet perhaps. There are nutrients that have no parallel in vegetables, such as iron derived from the haemoglobin in animal blood, which is different from e.g. the iron in spinach. A skinless chicken breast is not the same as a lorne sausage, the ignorant ideologues that wrote this might want to look at the nutritional content of foods before making claims - of course, they won't WANT to do this tho because informing people isn't PETA's goal, it's gaining equal rights for humans & animals (rather than 'animal rights'). If cows didn't want to be eaten they shouldve thought of that 5million years ago & out-evolved humans.


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## kyle82 (Apr 30, 2009)

ive heard that chicken eggs usually have 500 grams of cholesterol per egg. is this true?? if that would be true... it would not be good for me.. im 27 years old and im really really disgusted with cholesterol..


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Eggs are fine, they wont skew the ratio of good to bad cholesterol, remember all your sex hormones are made from cholesterol, if that isnt enough T4 is converted to T3 in the liver via way of cholesterol.

Not eating cholesterol only promotes the liver to manufacture it, so reduction in food sources that do not impact the ratio of good to bad cholesterol is pointless.

80% of the entire cholesterol in your body, the liver makes.

Free range eggs have 19 times the omega 3's than store bought.

I used to get eggs from a friend, they were brown, green, and all diffrent kinds of colors with very orange yolks.

Vegetarians in general have many defiencies in their diets.

People lived on meats far before the agricultural age changed their diets.


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## Virgo83 (Jul 19, 2009)

There was this chinese man, and he kept filling bodybuilding forums with sh!t in a desperate attempt to sell his pathetic fake attire.

The End


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## B-GJOE (May 7, 2009)

I agree that eating sick animals isn't as good as eating healthy ones, however.



manson said:


> *meat is completely devoid of fibre and contains high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol that are associated with hypertension, stroke and heart disease. Meat is still linked to cancer, kidney stones, osteoporosis and a whole host of other conditions, diseases and illnesses.*
> 
> *
> *


*
*

*
Is a load of rubbish!!!!*

*
*

*
Cancer feeds off glucose, fibre is full of phytates and injures the intestinal tract, cholesterol isn't bad in itself, and carbohydrates cause the vldl stuff. Yawn, this claptrap really ticks me off. Anthropologically when has the human race ever eaten a vegan or veggie diet??? If we were supposed to then we would have guts similar to cow, and gnashers to match. I am finding it hard not to swear here.......................*


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## BLUTOS (Mar 5, 2005)

Bit like naughty farmers markets, where they "organosize" spuds carrotts etc, and sell em at an extra 50p a kilo.

Organosizing is just as simple as covering product with soil n compost making it look like its just been dug.


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## B-GJOE (May 7, 2009)




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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

B|GJOE said:


>


Nice. :thumb: :beer:


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## ostrain (Sep 8, 2009)

SnakeyB said:


> "meat is completely devoid of fibre and contains high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol that are associated with hypertension, stroke and heart disease. Meat is still linked to cancer, kidney stones, osteoporosis and a whole host of other conditions, diseases and illnesses"
> 
> Reeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally? If you take the time to 'watch' what you eat and are actively making a choice about what foods will comprise your diet (as opposed to eating whatever is most tasty & to hand when you're hungry) I'm pretty sure there's nothing more unhealthy that a vegetarian diet. Apart from a vegan diet perhaps. There are nutrients that have no parallel in vegetables, such as iron derived from the haemoglobin in animal blood, which is different from e.g. the iron in spinach. A skinless chicken breast is not the same as a lorne sausage, the ignorant ideologues that wrote this might want to look at the nutritional content of foods before making claims - of course, they won't WANT to do this tho because informing people isn't PETA's goal, it's gaining equal rights for humans & animals (rather than 'animal rights').* If cows didn't want to be eaten they shouldve thought of that 5million years ago & out-evolved humans*.


That made me laugh.


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## BrutalRaw (May 20, 2010)

B|GJOE said:


> when has the human race ever eaten a vegan or veggie diet??? If we were supposed to then we would have guts similar to cow, and gnashers to match! .....


Seconded ! i have no problem with people choosing to be Veggie's or Vegans . but trying to push there narrowminded beliefs onto people who Do eat meat ,

through either guilt or manufactured Bulls**t they have no evidence to back up really ****es me off!

Same as when people try to make me feel idiotic because "i dont believe in God" ...... ^ ^

Vent Over /END


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

....


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## Bettyboo (Jun 8, 2009)

Hmm if we were meant to be none meat eaters then our appendix would work (cant remember why it would if we didnt eat meat) but it dont it has no use. Apparently cows have appendixs that work as they eat lots of roughage - grass Oh yeah tahts why ours dont work anymore lol

most un uselful load of crap but there ya go, im bored and cant seep lol


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## B-GJOE (May 7, 2009)

To all the vegetarians and vegans in the world.

Fcuk off and leave me alone, you choose your path, I'll choose mine. Lets see who lives the healthier more fulfilled life!!

Maybe I should go on a forum that will likely be full of veggies, and post how great eating animals is!


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## cecil_sensation (Jan 26, 2009)

B|GJOE said:


> To all the vegetarians and vegans in the world.
> 
> Fcuk off and leave me alone, you choose your path, I'll choose mine. Lets see who lives the healthier more fulfilled life!!
> 
> Maybe I should go on a forum that will likely be full of veggies, and post how great eating animals is!


 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

B|GJOE said:


> To all the vegetarians and vegans in the world.
> 
> Fcuk off and leave me alone, you choose your path, I'll choose mine. Lets see who lives the healthier more fulfilled life!!
> 
> Maybe I should go on a forum that will likely be full of veggies, and post how great eating animals is!


lol Joe, quit sugar coating things. :lol:


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## B-GJOE (May 7, 2009)

hackskii said:


> lol Joe, quit sugar coating things. :lol:


PMSL

You don't know how relevant that post is mate. As you know I work in chocolate confectionery. At the moment I am away from the chocolate factory and working at our sugar coating (panning) factory. Image below shows what a sugar coating factory looks like.

So the post 'quit sugar coating things' is very apt.


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## bert1 (Aug 22, 2010)

there is definately a difference between caged and freerange eggs.

Possibly not freerange from the supermarket but I only eat real freerange eggs from my dads chickens - very well looked after and the yolks are a different colour, more yellow if that makes sense.

Dunno if there better for you, cant be bad that they are healthy and not just machines for laying tho


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

One of the nation's largest egg producers is recalling 380 million eggs after being linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.

I hear it is closer to half a billion.


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## a.notherguy (Nov 17, 2008)

B|GJOE said:


> *To all the vegetarians and vegans in the world. *
> 
> *Fcuk off and leave me alone, you choose your path, I'll choose mine. Lets see who lives the healthier more fulfilled life!!*
> 
> Maybe I should go on a forum that will likely be full of veggies, and post how great eating animals is!


lmao!

could of been a bit subtler and said

walk away in your leather shoes, get in your car with leather seats and drive home to sit on your leather couch instead of telling me that animals shouldnt be killed.

:beer:


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## Smitch (Dec 29, 2008)

I've never bought organic or free range, I just buy the standard stuff and it tastes fine.


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## Dagman72 (Apr 2, 2009)

Humans will eat meat (that will never stop), but I do believe that animals should be kept in good conditions where they can roam and when it comes to slaughter be killed in a humanly way.

Maybe if we did keep them in better conditions we would not have these outbreaks of diseases.


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## bert1 (Aug 22, 2010)

Dagman72 said:


> Humans will eat meat (that will never stop), but I do believe that animals should be kept in good conditions where they can roam and when it comes to slaughter be killed in a humanly way.
> 
> Maybe if we did keep them in better conditions we would not have these outbreaks of diseases.


easier said than done, I was a slaughterman for a few years a while back ( was super fit at the time lol ) and even the nicest, best tempered person can loose it after 2000 pigs a day and take it out on them - rightly or wrongly.


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## Dagman72 (Apr 2, 2009)

bert1 said:


> easier said than done, I was a slaughterman for a few years a while back ( was super fit at the time lol ) and even the nicest, best tempered person can loose it after 2000 pigs a day and take it out on them - rightly or wrongly.


How can you say rightly - no wonder we have so much abuse of animals and children.

WRONG, so your mad so you take it out on a pig - hay big man you :cursing:


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## bert1 (Aug 22, 2010)

Dagman72 said:


> How can you say rightly - no wonder we have so much abuse of animals and children.
> 
> WRONG, so your mad so you take it out on a pig - hay big man you :cursing:


Dagman, unless you do the job youl never understand. Im not saying I was nasty to the animals, I wasnt, however EVERYONE I know that worked there, or elsewere in similar places has done at one time or another. They are aggressive beasts at times, one even ran straight thru a pallet once ( after it was stuck! )


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## micktherepman (Aug 24, 2010)

manson said:


> *Free-Range Eggs and Meat: Conning Consumers?*
> 
> The same is true of 'free-range' eggs. They have no fibre, and the cholesterol in them contributes to the furring of the arteries and premature death by stroke or heart attack.
> 
> ...


Ok - fascinating post. I do believe that many points raised within the article are at the very least worth considering and in many cases - true indeed. Its easy not to think about these things such as animal welfare etc when on the hunt for our affordable protein sources. Nonetheless, I do think that as the article is written by PETA there is an obvious leaning towards their own agenda.

One thing is for sure - Eggs taste a million times better from a REAL Free Range Hen (ie local farm) than anything that comes out of a supermarket.

I am convinced though that Eggs are still the best Overall Nutritional choice for Bodybuilders. Check out this article here, and see how highly the great Vince Gironda rated them. (I have tried his pre contest Diet and it WORKS)

http://madformuscle.com/mfm-diet-plan-for-bodybuilding

Finally in relation to free range vs Battery hens nutritional value of Eggs, how will we ever know for sure anyway? Food labelling is a joke. Bottom line is eat sources of food as untampered with by humans as much as possible i guess..


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

I get eggs sometimes from a friend that has a huge yard and has chickens.

Free range at its best, they are wild.

The yolks are not yellow, they are gold, and there is more yolk.

They come in all colors except white, they are brown, even green, but all have the best taste, and gold yolks.


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## B-GJOE (May 7, 2009)

Dagman72 said:


> Humans will eat meat (that will never stop), but I do believe that animals should be kept in good conditions where they can roam and when it comes to slaughter be killed in a humanly way.
> 
> Maybe if we did keep them in better conditions we would not have these outbreaks of diseases.


Look up the film 'FOod Inc'

You;ll like that

The way we rear animals today is criminal. A cow is a big lazy animal that nature designed to graze in a field all day, eating lovely green grass. This is a far cry from the clostrophobic beasts wallowing in their own excrement being force fed a diet of corn and grain that makes them sick. Then we eat the meat of the sick animal.

Having said that, sh1t meat is cheap, and most cannot afford organic, but I wish I could. I do try and go for free range eggs, and will grab organic if it is on offer.


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## B-GJOE (May 7, 2009)

bert1 said:


> Dagman, unless you do the job youl never understand. Im not saying I was nasty to the animals, I wasnt, however EVERYONE I know that worked there, or elsewere in similar places has done at one time or another. They are aggressive beasts at times, one even ran straight thru a pallet once ( after it was stuck! )


It's not the job, it's the kind of person the job attracts. Most sane people wouldn't go near an abattoir job. You certainly wouldn't get hairdresser killing animals all day. It's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy, you need bonkers men to kill thousands of beasts a day, and bonkers men will get annoyed and abuse animals. They don't see them as animals, just pieces of meat, which I suppose helps them do the job. Get my point?


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## bert1 (Aug 22, 2010)

B|GJOE said:


> It's not the job, it's the kind of person the job attracts. Most sane people wouldn't go near an abattoir job. You certainly wouldn't get hairdresser killing animals all day. It's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy, you need bonkers men to kill thousands of beasts a day, and bonkers men will get annoyed and abuse animals. They don't see them as animals, just pieces of meat, which I suppose helps them do the job. Get my point?


In some cases. I wouldnt say I was particualy insane tho, I just got paid off a week after buying a house and needed a job and stuck it out. I actually made a lot of good mates there and had some amazing laffs with them altho I have to admit quite a few of them are now inside for either drug related or violent crimes. But even I have lashed out ( mostly at people but also at pigs ), something Im not proud of, but when you are working to a deadline with job in knock and the entire team is going mental because they are waiting for you and one animal is being a bugger it just happens, the same as anyone can be pushed into loosing their temper.

Like I said previously, unless you have done the job I dont think you could understand


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