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Farm families have special Christmas traditions

December 24, 2009 – In the spirit of Christmas, we don’t think this article could say it any better. The author, Jeanine Moyer, was raised on an Ontario farm and is one of the winners of the Guelph Mercury Christmas story contest. We think Jeanine captured the essence, exactly, of Christmas on a Canadian livestock farm. Merry Christmas to all. – OFAC

Farm families have special Christmas traditions
 GuelphMercury.com – News – December 21, 2009

Christmas is the holiday for traditions. Growing up, we knew our family had several Christmas traditions such as leaving milk and cookies out for Santa, hanging stockings and attending church on Christmas Eve. It wasn’t until we were in our early teens that my siblings and I began to understand just how different our family was and that our Christmas traditions were different from most.

Growing up as the seventh generation on our family farm, my sisters, brother and I knew we were different from most families, and for some reason it always seemed most apparent at Christmastime.


Posted by OFAC on December 24th, 2009 :: Filed under Beef cattle, Farm life, Sustainability of the family farm
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NMA, AMI seek to overturn California slaughter law

Feedstuffs, (12/25/2008) ,
Rod Smith

The National Meat Assn. (NMA) has filed a lawsuit in a federal court in California seeking to overturn part of a California law passed this summer that bans the slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock for meat for human consumption, and the American Meat Institute (AMI) has moved to intervene in and broaden the action, according to an announcement yesterday.


Posted by Admin on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Meat/slaughter plants, Regulations
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What do farmers know about farming?

Lloydminster Meridian Booster, 11 Jan 2008, Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

Why is it that urban dwelling experts and animal rights advocates feel they have to educate farmers in the economics and practices of farming?


Posted by Admin on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Family vs factory farming, Letters to the Editor
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Most farmers would never think of abusing animals

Waterloo Record, MARLENE OTTENS, (Jul 19, 2006)

The July 14 letter of the day, Livestock Suffer Under Horrific Conditions, would be amusing if it wasn’t such a blatant collection of half-truths.

Writer Carol A. Lodin makes a series of statements based on assumptions and propaganda that need to be addressed.


Posted by Admin on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Education and public awareness, Family vs factory farming, Letters to the Editor, Pork
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Scientist Temple Grandin explains animals’ emotions in Animals Make Us Human’ book review

Tricia Springstubb, The Plain Dealer, January 11, 2009

At last! We’ve installed a 100-percent squirrel- proof bird feeder. I’m gloating over the desperation of the fat-tailed rodent who normally hoovers up the seed and, if I’m not quick enough on the refill, sets to gnawing the back door. He is relentless in his dangling upside down, flattening himself against the lid and rising up on his hind legs, beating his chest. Foiled!

And then I begin to read Temple Grandin’s “Animals Make Us Human.”


Posted by Admin on July 19th, 2009 :: Filed under Beef cattle, Education and public awareness, Meat/slaughter plants
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Farm Bureau jumps into battle over animal rights

Farmers, ranchers urged to help public understand care

By Mitch Lies, Capital Press, December 18, 2008

LINCOLN CITY, Ore. – Educating the public about agriculture – while worthy – no longer is adequate, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation executive.

Mace Thornton, deputy director of public relations for the AFBF, on Dec. 9 told participants at the 76th Annual Oregon Farm Bureau Convention that the Bureau has started a program encouraging producers to interact with the public – particularly on the topic of animal agriculture.


Posted by Admin on July 19th, 2009 :: Filed under Consumers, Education and public awareness
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Animals aren’t pets

Letter to the Editor, Readers Digest Magazine, December 2007

The October issue of Readers Digest carries an editorial titled “Food For Thought: Pets are family, but chickens are food?” Written by a rural vet in Quebec, this editorial claims to “examine our changing view of other creatures” to make an argument for applying the same standards to food animals as we do our pets.


Posted by Admin on July 19th, 2009 :: Filed under Education and public awareness, Family vs factory farming
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EU to debate cloning for food, wary of trade impact

By: Jeremy Smith, Reuters, 30.jan.09

BRUSSELS — EU regulators will discuss again in a few months whether to allow meat and milk products from cloned animals into the food chain, despite local consumer opposition and inconclusive data, officials said on Friday.

Animal cloning has been around for years. Dolly the cloned sheep was born in 1996, for example. Now, scientists estimate the EU has 100 cattle clones and fewer pig clones alive. Race horses have also been cloned.


Posted by Admin on July 19th, 2009 :: Filed under Consumers, Education and public awareness, Food safety, Innovation and technology, Regulations
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Least Harm Principle suggests humans should eat beef, lamb, dairy, not a vegan diet.

By S.L. Davis, Department of Animal Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331.
Published in the Proceedings of the Third Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics, 2001, pp 440-450.

Introduction

Although the debate over the moral status of animals has been going on for thousands of years (Shapiro, 2000), there has been a resurgence of interest in this issue in the last quarter of the 20th century.


Posted by Admin on July 13th, 2009 :: Filed under Consumers, Education and public awareness, Vegan
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