tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post3820232849487968992..comments2024-03-19T20:00:57.287+10:00Comments on down to earth: Every time we shop, we vote with our moneyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-47681882743993928982013-09-02T18:51:30.012+10:002013-09-02T18:51:30.012+10:00Hello there, You've done an excellent job. I ...Hello there, You've done an excellent job. I will definitely digg it and personally <br />suggest to my friends. I'm confident they'll be benefited from this <br />website.<br /><br />Feel free to visit my web site <a href="http://bestonlineshoppingsite9.skyrock.com/3182856513-Web-based-buying-for-Australian-People.html" rel="nofollow">how to shop online</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-8224569098438721712013-02-17T23:33:55.944+10:002013-02-17T23:33:55.944+10:00Just found your blog today. Very interesting readi...Just found your blog today. Very interesting reading. We are almost 60 & hubby just had 2 more stents installed in his heart last Monday! His family started our grocery store in 1943 but now that we've bought it, we're having to switch from groceries to expanding on our seed & organic fertilizers business & quilting business. Can't make a living selling groceries in a small neighborhood store. People are lazy. They'll spend $36 foodstamps on sandwiches, chips & pop before buying the ingredients to go home and make their own! Thank goodness we grow our own organic veggies & we've re-committed to eating well after hubby's last stay in the hospital. I'll keep reading to absorb your encouragement! Hope you get rain. Hope WE get rain! (Oklahoma)KeyQuilterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13048286485809232625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-11583842798625609242013-02-05T00:00:13.534+10:002013-02-05T00:00:13.534+10:00While I agree with all you said - we currently hav...While I agree with all you said - we currently have no way of livinig it. First would be because we just went a year without employment thanks to our Monarch here in the states. Second because we are currently staying in an area that is very poor and limited. While there are a few organic products to be had, they are so much more expensive that it would take food off the table to purchase them. I still have to make 7 meals a week. There are farmers markets here but you have to drive 30 miles to get to them. The soil is very poor in the immediate area (mountains/rock) so growing your own will be a great expense to get started (but we would do so if we were settling here). <br /><br />I know we will be moving on to an area where we don't have these problem in a few months. But for all these little communities that call this place home, its Walmart. That's it unless you have the gas money to go into "town". Its very sad to me to see -- especiallly since we have lived so many places with the products available and affordable. Since most of these families are on assistance or are barely scraping by, I can't see a way out for this area. When your dollars are in the form of food stamps...well, they aren't much of a vote. And it just keeps getting worse here. Very very sad.autumnesfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04519475352289814754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-57664764102185218012013-02-01T02:56:21.644+10:002013-02-01T02:56:21.644+10:00Hi Rhonda
I encourage you to sign up to this butc...Hi Rhonda<br /><br />I encourage you to sign up to this butcher's Monday email. FABULOUS tips on eating sustainably and happily reared animals. Good luck on your mission. <br /><br />http://www.featherandbone.com.au/aboutus.html<br /><br />Cheers, Caroline<br /><br />Caroline Hendrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17613186370315230689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-64017734904527074292013-01-31T00:36:40.771+10:002013-01-31T00:36:40.771+10:00Food Inc practically changed my life. It caused my...Food Inc practically changed my life. It caused my husband and I to have long discussions about the food system and how we want to feed our family. We already raise our own layer chickens and grow a small garden, but that documentary really lit the fire within us. Now, this spring, we will be buying chickens to raise for meat, and maybe getting a few goats for dairy. Self-sufficiency is a fantastic thing in so many ways, it benefits everyone! From the battery chickens that I will no longer be supporting to the balance in my bank account, everyone's happier when you simply do it yourself! <br /><br />Proof that you vote with your dollar is at Walmart. There was such support for organic yogurt, that they decided to start stocking Stonyfield Farm products. All because that's what the customers wanted. Amanda :: Grace & Gustohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03596881530109181501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-40046320420542310902013-01-29T08:29:00.337+10:002013-01-29T08:29:00.337+10:00I've seen Food Inc. twice. I always recommend ...I've seen Food Inc. twice. I always recommend it to friends who mention going to organics or such. Here in USA the food labels are deceiving and that can be a problem too. Organics definately cost more but I've found a food co-op called Azure. So for the past 4 months we've ordered from them & it is more affordable in the long run.Vickienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-36389911392350902252013-01-29T07:19:10.229+10:002013-01-29T07:19:10.229+10:00I am so glad I read your article Rhonda. Today I ...I am so glad I read your article Rhonda. Today I was in Marks & Spenser which is a pretty upmarket foodstore in the UK. Chickens had been reduced to less than half price, and it seemed very tempting to buy. But, I thought, are they free range? I couldn't see anything on the packaging so I asked the lady at the till. The lady said no they weren't free range. With that I left them. It has really pricked my conscience and I haven't even watched Food Inc (I'd find it too upsetting I know). It's worth paying a bit more to know the animal has been looked after, and we really need to support these farmers who do care, to prevent them going out of business. Thanks!, GeorginaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-67162022914694365142013-01-28T16:37:20.859+10:002013-01-28T16:37:20.859+10:00This is the reason I became vegan. Not just for th...This is the reason I became vegan. Not just for the fact that I abhor the way factory farmed animals are treated, but also because the effect that this kind of farming has on the environment and my health. The only way I could truly feel that I was making a difference was to not buy meat at all. By doing this I take away my support of these big corporations and their dodgy practices. As far as supporting local farmers, the animals may be treated better while they are alive but they are still sent to abbattoirs where they are treated like all the factory farmed animals are...cruelly and inhumanely and I can not for the life of me support this. I feel I really do vote with my money.SMPLFYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16885227997143876671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-87263567078719868522013-01-27T09:50:55.590+10:002013-01-27T09:50:55.590+10:00Animals Australia (animalsaustralia.org) do a wond...Animals Australia (animalsaustralia.org) do a wonderful job trying to educate the Australian public about where their meat and eggs come from and how they are treated. I became vegetarian after their tv programme in 2011 about the live cattle export industry. Last year they ran their "Make it Possible" campaign about the treatment of chickens, both battery and "barn" and pigs, particularly the use of sow stalls. Not everyone is able or want to keep backyard chickens like I do so people do need educating. Whether they will actually care is another matter. Excellent post. JoyJoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00964247985138171363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-35091616392669202502013-01-27T08:00:50.424+10:002013-01-27T08:00:50.424+10:00My family would really like to support local farme...My family would really like to support local farmers who are trying to care for their animals well and produce organic dairy and meat.Our vegetarian daughter said she would eat some meat if she knew the animal had had a happy life and the end was swift.<br />By reading some of the entries above I think a lot of us would like to support such farmers.<br />Does anyone know of such farmers near Redland Bay Qld?Please let me know their details if you do.<br />Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-59208375558534735032013-01-26T11:27:07.660+10:002013-01-26T11:27:07.660+10:00Thanks for posting the link Rhonda - I would have ...Thanks for posting the link Rhonda - I would have missed seeing it otherwise. It is so sad to see how we treat animals, and really all to save a bit of money. Hopefully the treatment of animals for meat production will go the same way, step by step, as caged eggs. It did make me grateful that at least in Aus we have mainly grass fed cattle. Although I have noticed that some of the grocery stores are now selling 'premium grain fed beef'. What a joke.<br /><br />Like many others, I am trying to reduce the meat we eat to about twice a week. I am on the hunt for tasty lentil dishes! Jasminehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04038017316392438908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-36839353213628195202013-01-26T06:58:56.197+10:002013-01-26T06:58:56.197+10:00Hello from your newest follower. I am from the U....Hello from your newest follower. I am from the U.S. and it is terrifying how oblivious people are to where their food comes from. I live on a small farm, and raise a lot of what my family eats (if budgets allowed, it would be 100% home raised--someday I hope). Your blog looks like it's right in line with my thoughts.<br /><br />Take a look at my blog, if you wish: http://ramblinggallivantinggirl.blogspot.comJulia Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05646479579514667067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-2037986483705857732013-01-25T23:29:41.985+10:002013-01-25T23:29:41.985+10:00I think it all comes down to education which then ...I think it all comes down to education which then gives people the knowledge they need to make more ethical decisions. Lets face it, for many many hurried families the roasted chickens sitting in the warmers at big supermarkets are an easy dinner ready with no effort. How those chickens were raised, kept, "prepared" does not come into question. It should, but it doesn't. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-67698456956518647452013-01-25T13:13:06.495+10:002013-01-25T13:13:06.495+10:00Yes, we are aware of that, and we know the standar...Yes, we are aware of that, and we know the standards here are higher than those shown on Food Inc. Your type of farming is exactly the type that many commenters here say they support. If we could bypass the supermarkets and buy at the farm gate, or from local butchers who have a relationship with you, the producer, I would be very happy with that.rhonda jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08962112306968959985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-8379725022175691062013-01-25T11:59:21.522+10:002013-01-25T11:59:21.522+10:00i do hope you are all aware that these practices d...i do hope you are all aware that these practices do not occur everywhere in australia...in fact the majority of lamb produced in our country comes from free-ranging animals...we just don't have the labelling facility to promote that fact...it always makes me angry when i see people buying grain fed meat thinking that this makes it better when in actual fact, grain fed means feed lot...the reason meat is cheap is because of the supermarkets....lamb might be expensive in coles, but the farmers are certainly not seeing any of that profit margin...we are loosing sheep farmers every day because they cannot sustain a living....where will those cheap cuts of meat come from then? as a farmer in the wimmera region of victoria, we grow sheep for wool, cattle cause we like them and their fun to have around and cropping of everyday staples like wheat, oats and barley...we certainly are not a big corporation, we are a family who choose farming for its lifestyle - the ability to be outside everyday, for our children to be outside and at work with us and for the honesty of working in with mother nature....i no longer say we are farmers because people like to abuse us and tell us how awful we are as people, mainly because they think we all farm like america...it couldn't be further from the truth for us, and our indutry...of course i don't know about pigs, so i can only speak about our broadacre farming...we rotate crops, we only use what falls from the sky, we only feed people because they choose not too...its a bigger picture than just supporting those small producers with a niche market...without some label to assure me, i am comfortable with the farm ethics we practise...a practise that has been occuring here for generations..with quiet respect, we will continue, we hope, well into the future, and our childrens future...the farmers wifenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-108885274167584732013-01-25T10:00:25.549+10:002013-01-25T10:00:25.549+10:00Hi Everyone,
I'd also suggest watching "E...Hi Everyone,<br />I'd also suggest watching "Earthlings". It is very upsetting and not easy to watch; but at least you can become an informed consumer.<br />Thanks for your book and blog Rhonda, you have really changed the way I choose to live. <br />Happy GardeningAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-52475855106448127912013-01-25T08:40:03.939+10:002013-01-25T08:40:03.939+10:00I will probaby raise the ire of some of you with m...I will probaby raise the ire of some of you with my comments, but as a former farmer ( now a small holder), I feel that I have to add some comments.<br />In Aus if you buy ham with bone in it is Australian, ham without bones are imported, as they don'e allow imports of meat on the bone, for reasons of disease and other health issues, ( I don't thi nk that these laws have changed. <br />Twenty odd years ago, when we were still farming (we have been out of farming for 15 years) a certain Prime Minister decided to import pork and literally opened up the floodgates. These days in Aust there a hundreds fewer pork producers because of this, farmers are still getting in todays markets the same prices we were getting 20 years ago, but pork and bacon products in the shops are a lot dearer.<br /><br />When I was growing up there was next door to my Grandfather's farm a small abbatoir run by a local butcher, who sourced<br /> his animals locally, killed them with compassion, used all parts, and sold them in his butchery shop. He retired when I was about 10 ish. Then there was a large abbatoir about 30 klms away, which over the years of big droughts in the 80's struggled then was purchased by an Asian business and eventually mothballed, this abbatoir as not operated for approx 20 years plus.<br />When we sold our pigs, which were sold directly to the buyer, they than had to be transported about and hour and half away, which is far too long for them to travel, but we had no choice. Our pigs were reared humanely, we mixed our own feed ( execpt for the huge drought in the 80's)They were never given antibiotics randomly all in one go, sick pigs were treated individually as needed. I will say this that our pigs had a better diet than a lot of people I knew than and certainly than a lot of people I know now.<br /><br />We also had sheep, cattle and crops. Our sheep mainly were merino sheep bred for wool growing, though we did breed some fat lambs.<br />We grew meat chickens and chooks for eggs, and these were all feed pig feed. I maight add that breeding sows, lactating sows, piglets, weaners and growers all had different mixes of feed formulated for their ages. We killed and ate our own pork, had our bacon and hams cured, ate our own lambs, beef and chickens and they were of far better quality than anything that I could buy in our local town, except for one butcher who bought his pork from us. <br />With our merino sheep production, after as few years we sued to sell the wether (desexed males) portion off the farm, some were bought be small godds manufacturers, some were bought be abbatoirs who proceesed them and exported them, BUT I have question for you what happens to a mountain of wethers , which I might add Australians won't eat, as the meat is a lot older than lamb, where are they sent? Who pays the farmer for the animal is they are dispoed of humanly here? Who does the disposing? Where are they dispoed at? buried burn't? <br />Would it no be better if we worked hard at educating the importers of these animals to treat them more humanely? After all they are a good food source and should not be wasted.Maybe the answer is to have more abbatoirs weho practice the Islamic Hal Hal method of killing and than export the fresh and frozen.<br />There is a lot more that I could mention but I think this is enough, I will say that all our animals were and are treated with the utmost care and compassion then and now, but for most farmers that unfortunately ends when the animals are out of their care at the saleyards etc. Another thing with this is the huge distances within Aust for farmers to have their animals trucked to saleyardsand abbattoirs. Aust laws also forbid any farmer selling his farm killed meat off farm, so to sell their meat themselves they still have to have it processed at abbatoirs.<br />I hope that this helps with a different view, I certainly do not condone the sort of inhumane animal treatment that we see in this video, and on the news, but the greater majority of farmers are not what is shown .<br />CheersChookasmumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08419723204569278592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-87746377202906649672013-01-25T08:00:31.328+10:002013-01-25T08:00:31.328+10:00It is a disturbing and confronting film. It's ...It is a disturbing and confronting film. It's not nice to watch but it's one of the most important films I've watched (along with An Inconvenient Truth and Power of Community) and it has dramatically changed the way we live our lives. We are planning to harvest our own chickens for meat (we can't keep roosters anyway) and my freezer is now almost exclusively organic free-range and farmer direct purchased meat. Our next step is to be able to source dairy products that are from cows (or goats) raised the same way. I was able to even inspire my husband to all of this (he will be the harvester) from watching Food Inc. I find it so sad that we have become so removed from our food that we expect bloodless meat on polystyrene trays, tomatoes all year round and tropical fruits in temperate climes (and vice versa) whereas not so very long ago we all ate seasonally, locally and even processed our own meat in many cases (my mum helped her parents prepare the roast chicken from feathers to gravy). I know this isn't for everyone and isn't even possible for everyone (full respect) but buying ethical meat, if we vote with our wallets will become the only choice I hope.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-69195066548719690952013-01-25T05:16:15.326+10:002013-01-25T05:16:15.326+10:00I watched it again and also found it just as distu...I watched it again and also found it just as disturbing this time around as I did the first time. Maintain the rage indeed. Rene.Mrs Homespunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16415069735707292502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-24300905783655682452013-01-25T05:01:07.172+10:002013-01-25T05:01:07.172+10:00I've just finished reading it, Mary Ellen. It&...I've just finished reading it, Mary Ellen. It's a very good book. Joel is in Australia now. I'd love to see him but the last time he was in my neighbourhood it cost $150 to walk through the door. I'll have to be content with the books.rhonda jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08962112306968959985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-9389706673528206952013-01-25T04:46:15.682+10:002013-01-25T04:46:15.682+10:00I've seen the movie and heard Joel Salatin spe...I've seen the movie and heard Joel Salatin speak in person several times. This past September I got to meet him and shake his hand at the Mother Earth News Fair in Pennsylvania. "Folks, This Ain't Natural" should be read by everyone!<br /><br />Mary EllenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-9982462027853784642013-01-25T03:46:51.903+10:002013-01-25T03:46:51.903+10:00I am so pleased to have found your blog, l share s...I am so pleased to have found your blog, l share so many of your thoughts and find your blog so inspiring. I know of noone round me who is interested in a simpler life and a lower consumption. Everyone appears to want more of e everything. I find it frustrating as both my husband and l were brought up in a different way - a simpler life. Excited to follow! Pam in NorwayWinkel's Crazy Ideashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17934679165455175289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-83260020294594989342013-01-25T03:04:31.973+10:002013-01-25T03:04:31.973+10:00Watching Food Inc. several years ago changed the w...Watching Food Inc. several years ago changed the way I looked at food in a way that no other documentary had ever done. I too was sickened and upset. I thought about what I could do, and came to the same conclusion as you have. It starts at home. Choices we make in what we eat and where we obtain our food and how our food is grown and treated. The more I search out local options the more connected I become to the community I am in and the more we strengthen our local farmers and economy. We establish a line of communication directly with the grower, rancher, and provider of our foods when we work closely with local food providers. We know where our food comes from, how it is treated, and stop spending money on foods that are grown or raised under a veil of mystery. As we share the information we have learned with our friends and family it will grow outward from there and together our buying power does speak volumes!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02673470550534877117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-52207534281817994412013-01-25T02:45:49.984+10:002013-01-25T02:45:49.984+10:00My sister mentioned the documentary to me and now ...My sister mentioned the documentary to me and now you, it is time I find it and take a look. You are absolutely right in your thinking about making a statement when we spend or choose not to spend our money on a product. I have started to buy local as much as I can, as well as seasonally. As you said, it start with us. Christine Somershttp://www.footsteps.bznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-16609273007462927022013-01-25T01:34:15.472+10:002013-01-25T01:34:15.472+10:00What a wonderful post. You put into words exactly...What a wonderful post. You put into words exactly what I try to tell my friends, but they don't seem to get it. This past year in Canada we have had numberous e-coli recalls for meat and e-coli in vegetables. In reality this is somewhat scary. It's hard to imagine our meat coming from a meat processor over 3000 miles away from where I live when there are farmers in my own backyard. I try very hard to purchase my meat from a local butcher, who in turn gets his meat supply from a local farmer. I also purchase as much vegetables from our local produce supplier, who also purchases from local farmers. I freeze 2-3 different vegetables for winter use. I don't buy much, if any pre-made packaged food, (usually spices) Also, when our products say "Product of Canada" on them it doesn't necessarily mean it is from Canada, regulations state that at least 50% of the cost of the product must come from Canada, which means the food can be processed in China, or Thialand and the 50% cost is the label and cans, not the actual food inside. Think about the conditions in which your food could be processed, you may think you are eating healthy, but in all reality your not. This summer I am striving to freeze more vegetables than I do and learn to can the ones I don't like frozen. That way I will be in more control of what I eat. <br />Canada has lost a lot of local business as well as department stores. There are a lot of department stores who boast lower prices, etc, but you really are not purchasing quality of any kind mostly junk from China, which doesn't last. It is making for a disposible society. Cheaper is not always better, most bang for the buck is. If our society doesn't make wise choices with food, we will soon have dictated to us what we will be eating, and quality control won't even be an option.<br />Sorry for the rambling, this is one topic I am really pationate about, you have just explained it it the easiest way possible "We Vote With Our Money" Thanks Rhonda <br />Canadian Country GalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com