Righteous Blog
Avoiding Factory Farm Foods
Friday, November 13th, 2009
In the months since my book was released, I’ve done a lot of speaking and dozens of media interviews about factory farming. Without a doubt, the question I’ve been asked most frequently is this: How can a person AVOID eating foods from factory farms? It’s everywhere and so cheap. Well, the reality is you’ll probably never TOTALLY stop because it is, indeed, everywhere. I mean if you’re invited to your aunt’s house and she makes a pork roast especially for you, what are you going to do? But there’s a lot you CAN do.
Probably the single most important piece of advice I have for people is to stop being a supermarket zombie. As I describe in Righteous Porkchop, when I started looking, REALLY looking for foods that were not from nameless, faceless commodity markets of industrially produced food, I had to get out of the supermarket. Supermarkets buy in huge quantities and are generally unable and unwilling to buy from independent, traditional farmers.
A second important piece of advice is to try to change what you’re eating one step at a time. Start, for example with eggs. (I describe my own egg hunt in Righteous Porkchop). Try to find a local farmer or even a backyard hobby farmer who is raising their hens outdoors. You will pay more for these eggs but they will be well worth it.
Recently, I was invited by Huffington Post to put together a guide of what I’ve learned about finding foods from non-industrial farms. I did so, and called it: Avoiding Factory Farm Foods: An Eater’s Guide. The Guide doesn’t give you all the answers but I think it provides a lot of helpful information to get you well in your way in the journey. I’d love to hear YOUR additional suggestions for the guide once you’ve given it a look.
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