Top 5 Ugly Truths the Meat Industry Hopes You Never Find Out

What we put in our bodies in the way of food makes a difference in every single level of our lives. It affects how we feel, how we look, how we reproduce, and even how we think. These things will then make a difference in how we relate to each other as a society, which then translates into how we will relate as a society to the entire world. Food is just as relevant and important to us and our survival as air and water. When we started changing where our food source came from is when the trouble seems to have started. We stopped getting our food from people (neighborhood farmers, friends, our own backyard gardens) and started getting it from corporations. This was a huge mistake and it shows in every aspect of our lives. Unfortunately, many of us live so far removed from farms and dairy production that we have little or no idea what is going on, what is in our food, or how the animals we are eating are being treated. You would never consider eating meat from a cow that was obviously sick when it was alive, but since you aren’t there when this cow is slaughtered; you could very well be eating meat from sick animals. We are what we eat, friends, so in this case, the sickness the animal had while it was alive can be transferred to you when you eat it. This isn’t to say that we all need to be standing by, personally approving every animal that is killed before we eat it. That is completely unrealistic. But everyone should be aware of the facts behind factory farmed meats and why you should NOT be consuming those. Take a look at the top 5 facts behind factory farmed animals and why the meat industry hopes you never find out. 1. Factory farmed means extreme density problems Thirty eight states in the US admit to having extreme density levels at least at some their factory farms. California is perhaps the worst offender with more than 25 percent of their counties saying that they have extreme density levels. What does this mean exactly? Corporate run farms edge out the average family farm by undercutting meat prices so that they cannot survive and end up selling their farms to these corporations. Corporate farms are able to make their money in numbers, raising huge amounts of animals in crowded, inhumane conditions and increasing the speed at which animals grow through growth hormone injections. Pigs and chickens are often kept in completely enclosed buildings where these animals never see the sun. EVER. Factory farms avoid disease by constantly injecting their animals with antibiotics or putting antibiotics in the feed. They need to do this because the animals themselves are kept in unbelievably crowded, unclean conditions. Animals are packed in so tightly that sometimes they cannot turn around. If they want to lie down, they must do so in their own waste. Even with these antibiotics, which are being passed on to you via the meat, by the way, think of how many salmonella and E.coli outbreaks there have been in the past 20 years. The waste from these animals, which is often sold as fertilizer, puts all those growth hormones and antibiotics into the soil, which leeches into our food and water supply. 2. Ammonia Reigns If you have ever gotten a whiff of strong ammonia, you most likely pulled back quickly. Ammonia is a powerful chemical that is used to clean things such as windows and toilets. Ammonia is used in processing plants as it sterilizes the meat and kills some pathogens, but apparently not salmonella and E.coli as these are still problems in the meat supply in America. Ammonia actually changes the DNA cell structure and warps cells, which can fuel the development of cancer, especially in organs that try to remove ammonia from the body, such as your liver and pancreas. Although you won’t see ammonia on the list of ingredients, but if you have ever seen the words “processing agents” on a package of hamburger, then you know they used ammonia to clean it. 3. Hormone Heaven In addition to the antibiotics that must be given due to overcrowded conditions, hormones are given to many animals, such as pigs and cows, to help make them grow bigger and gain weight faster so they can be butchered more quickly. Unfortunately, those hormones don’t know if they are fattening up a cow or YOU. In America, two out of every three cows are given hormones because it will make the corporation more money. That’s it. They don’t care if these hormones cause you problems such as prostate cancer or breast cancer. They don’t care if these hormones make you gain weight; they only care about making more money. Hormones such as zeranol, verall, and progesterone, interrupt the human body’s natural hormone balance. Fewer women in Europe have breast cancer because the European Union has banned these types of hormones in their meat. Read more about foods Americans eat that are banned in other countries. 4. Antibiotics and You Ever wonder why so many people and bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics? Part of the reason is because animals in the US are being fed huge overdoses of antibiotics and these stay in the meat, which you consume. SEE ALSO: Why Antibiotics Are Bad News for Your Health 5. Bleaching Your Meat It’s well known that the meat industry also uses bleach rinses in order to clean meat. Now you might be asking, if they use bleach, why isn’t the meat white? This is because the corporate meat industry uses nitrates to give meat that fresh, red color. Everyone knows that the healthy flesh of recently killed meat is a flush of red. However, since many meats, especially processed meats such as bacon and hot dogs, were killed quite a while back, and then processed with bleach, they need to be made to look “fresh” again. Companies use nitrates and nitrites to make meat look red and fresh, and also to preserve its shelf life. If only nitrates could preserve us! Instead, nitrates are carcinogens that kill. No one is suggesting that you need to give up meat entirely. Meat can be healthy for you when it is kept and killed correctly. Make a commitment today to only buy organic, grass fed meats. Cattle and chickens that walk freely about outside in the sun (which why you will sometimes see meat labels that say “Free Range”) and eat normal animal diets, such as seeds, grass, and insects, have healthy levels of many important vitamins and minerals. No one can say that about factory farmed meats. Eat smart and always eat organic. It’s well worth the price. Sources: FactoryFarmMap.org

Top 5 Ugly Truths the Meat Industry Hopes You Never Find Out

4. Antibiotics and You

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