Reply #85: I do.

[LWolf]

I eat the eggs my hens produce, and I eat free-range, grass-fed organic meat raised locally, that never see feedlots or large processing plants, that don't need hormones and anti-biotics. As a matter of fact, great care is taken to ensure that there is no stress prior to killing, as that stress reduces the quality of the meat. I also eat wild-caught salmon, and various trout and freshwater salmon from local waters.

I don't drink milk or eat butter, but I do eat cheese. I get my cheese from small local homesteads where I can see the animals producing the milk that goes into the cheese, and see their living conditions.

I don't need to consume animal products to survive, but I can do so without supporting the mass production of meat for large populations of people. It's one of the benefits of living rurally. I drive 13.5 miles to work one way, and never see a stoplight. There are 4 stop signs along the way, and most of the road runs by pastures and open land. There are horses, cows, sheep, goats, lamas, pigs, and poultry out in those pastures, which are not at all overcrowded. The geography and climate where I live is not favorable for wide-scale grain, vegetable, or fruit production, but we can grow grass for livestock and we can get fish from the abundant lakes and rivers. Supporting local food production, especially small-scale, family farms, is part of the solution.