Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Oral Roberts who wrote (103286)	5/5/2005 11:37:47 AM
From: Ish	Respond to of 108807

Sorry about your wife. TULSA, Okla. -- Evelyn Roberts, the wife of evangelist Oral Roberts, died Wednesday in a California hospital after suffering a head injury during a fall. She was 88.

To: Oral Roberts who wrote (103286)	5/5/2005 1:14:52 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

I didn't call you a hick. I think it is unfair to say that. I spent part of my childhood and all my college years in a very rural area and have always really liked that lifestyle. I think most farmers are very smart. I watch the farm channel on satellite tv occasionally, and I can see that in rural areas farm animals are viewed differently than the way some people are beginning to view them in cities, and more especially in Europe, where new laws are being written making sure they are treated compassionately. In rural areas there is much more emphasis on animals as livestock--a source of income. So it is obvious we just have totally different world views. I live in a place with entire vegan neighborhoods, preschools, restaurants. I am pretty sure that you don't. I think it is important that we each recognize that there are entirely different world views out there. But certainly, the trend is more towards mine, and away from yours. Again, that does not make you a hick. Factory farms are not open to the public. They are huge, closed buildings. Visitors are not welcome. Perhaps you could tell me more details about how pigs are raised for market in your locale. Do they live outside with relative freedom, the ability and materials to rut? Are the mother pigs strapped down in tiny crates, or do they play in the muck with their babies and walk around unfettered? The statistics I have read from many, many separate sources indicate that unless you are talking about small, hobby farmers, there are two kinds of farming--organic free range and factory farming. Can you show me some photos or web sites about this third way of farming you are talking about? I would also be interested in seeing examples of how this works on chicken farms. Are the chickens in this third way of farming debeaked? Do they live in large, open areas with plenty of sunlight? Are they free to flap their wings and fly around? What about beef? You didn't seem to be sensitive to, or concerned about, the way the beef cattle are treated at the Harris Ranch, which is very typical of factory farming of beef. Do the beef cattle in this third way of farming live on relatively clean surfaces, uncrowded? Do they eat nutritious food, or the kinds of dangerous waste materials factory farmed beef are fed? I think there is a myth about organic farming. Organic farmers get top dollar for their products. People in cities are demanding organic foods. So when you say you couldn't afford to be a true organic farmer, it doesn't make sense to me. Chains like Wild Oats and Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are expanding all over the country very rapidly, and they sell these products. As more people become aware of factory farming, rBGH and the horrible feeds for cattle like chicken manure, they don't want to eat them anymore! I am a realist. If organic farming was declining in market share, if natural foods stores were closing, I would say that all of this was trending your way. But it just is not. I agree that my views are minority, but that minority is definitely growing. If I were a farmer I would be very interested in what the societal trends were, because I would want to make sure that my family could adapt to those trends and continue farming profitably over the next generations. That is why I think the web is so interesting--it brings people like you and me together to discuss ideas.