I’ve been a vegetarian in the past because I love animals and care about their welfare. But I realized I functioned better with animal protein, especially when I have to work on the farm.
What a dilemma…right?
So when you buy half or quarter steer directly from a farmer, how do you know if they’ve been humanely raised? It’s relatively easy to figure out if they’ve been grass-fed or not. Most farmers are willing to show you how their cattle is raised.
If a farmer is using a fodder system to sprout grain for their grazing cattle, you’re most likely looking at ultra premium beef. I’ve only found one in my area and I jumped to buy his beef.
Now the question remains- how can you tell if your steer was humanely raised? You can ask various questions to your farmer, but so far, the following question has lead to the most insight.
Can you tell me what happens on the day they go to the processor?
I hate the thought that my food had to be killed, so I want to make sure the animal went as peacefully as possible under the most humane conditions. The best farmers appreciated that I cared about this because they do go through extra effort for their animals. I actually got very consistent answers to this question but everyone’s standards will be different, so look for an answer that is satisfactory to you.
If what they say feels kind and respectful towards the animals, you will know that the animals were humanely raised and passed peacefully.
