Comments for The Willimantic Food Co-op

Comment on To Sell or Not to Sell Meat? by Phoebe Godfrey

Phoebe Godfrey — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:11:11 +0000

Hi All- just to let anyone who has not heard the vote was 330(+/-) for the meat buyers club and 105(+/-) against. Thank you to all members who voted and I hope we can all find ways to continue to support the co-op and our co-operative principles, despite our personal views on meat eating / selling…etc. Obviously there are about 4600+ members who did not vote but still it was good turn out given voting trends.
For details as to how the meat buyers club will be organized pls. inquire at the store.

Thanks
phoebe

Comment on The Co-op’s Annual Meeting & Potluck by Tyger Wright

Tyger Wright — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:41:49 +0000

Please accept rsvp for 1 person.

Comment on The Co-op’s Annual Meeting & Potluck by Beth-ann

Beth-ann — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:55:15 +0000

I was just wondering if this is a vegetarian pot luck?

Comment on To Sell or Not to Sell Meat? by Beth-Ann

Beth-Ann — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:07:50 +0000

hi barbara, forming a vegetarian buyers club sounds interesting….

Comment on To Sell or Not to Sell Meat? by Barbara Day

Barbara Day — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:43:56 +0000

yes, Beth-Ann——it would kind of leave vegan/vegetarians looking for another place to shop.

Some possibilities are: forming a vegetarian buyer’s club and dealing directly with local vegetable farmers, those who do not use animals. There are some catalogues which sell, not produce ,but other off the shelf items such as olive oil, almond butter, etc. Natural Lifestyle is one. Of course there are at home gardens and doing such things as sprouting or indoor soil gardens in the wintertime. There’s Garden of Light in Glastonbury, which, unfortunately is being done in by Whole Foods in Glastonbury. They sell some produce and have never sold meat.

Comment on To Sell or Not to Sell Meat? by beth-Ann

beth-Ann — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:30:11 +0000

I don’t understand what is human about pulling families apart and killing them? it is extremely violent to eat an animal, and it doesn’t matter who did the deed,as the animal was murdered for you “the meat eater”". this is violent no matter how it is done. Peace Abby in Mass. is a great resource to visit on this matter…..

as for selling cut up animals, I only joined this coop because I believed this was a safe place to shop, if the coop starts to sell meat then I am back to square one again with no local place to by food, the only other place is Edge of the woods” in New Haven and it is too far….

I agree with the prior comments about the dog food having cut up animals in them, we should have vegetarian dog food on the shelves, is that that this is all about???

Comment on To Sell or Not to Sell Meat? by mark mathew braunstein

mark mathew braunstein — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:58:48 +0000

The year is 1850. The State of Connecticut bans slavery, but Mississippi does not. One plantation owner in Mississippi, let’s call him Farmer John, treats his slaves more humanely than does any other. He provides his slaves ample room in their sleeping quarters, feeds them organic food, does not dose them with antibiotics, and because he does not quite work them to death, his slaves live in relative health compared to most other slaves. But he still executes all his healthy slaves once they reach 15 years old, their age of their full biological growth, after which they no longer would turn a profit.

Many of the good citizens of Connecticut work in textile mills that import cotton from Mississippi plantations, and most of the good citizens of Connecticut wear apparel made of cotton fabrics spun in those mills. (A few pesky abolitionists shun cotton, and instead wear clothing made of hemp grown at home in Connecticut.) Farmer John develops a cotton hybrid that can tolerate the cold of Connecticut, and figures to save the cost of transportation by growing it in Willimantic. So when John proposes to move his plantation and all his slaves to Willimantic, he first must seek exemption from the Connecticut legislature to keep his slaves in bondage.

Farmer John’s campaign publicizes that most citizens in Willimantic already wear clothes made from inhumanely grown cotton, so would be better off wearing humanely grown cotton. And because they would save on transportation costs, the good citizens of Willimantic even would be saving money.

The year is 2010. The good citizens of Willimantic now face a vote. Invite humane slave driver Farmer John into their community, and reward him for being a humane slave driver who nevertheless executes his slaves at age 15 as do all the inhumane slave drivers, or keep Farmer John banished far away in Mississippi with all the inhumane slave drivers.

Comment on To Sell or Not to Sell Meat? by Barbara Day

Barbara Day — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:04:07 +0000

Yeah, BillieD thanks —it was an interesting discussion. I think we probably have exhausted it, so I’ll be moving on. But I’m very glad we did this.

Comment on To Sell or Not to Sell Meat? by Barbara Day

Barbara Day — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:00:02 +0000

REMEMBER, the farmer may use the small slaughterhouse for his food only, but cannot sell it to the public or through retail, so it is not germane to the issue of meat at the co-op. Meat sold at the co-op will still have gone through the horror of federal slaughterhouses.. REMEMBER, there is no meat inspection program for the small custom slaughterhouse. REMEMBER, animals are still castrated, force bred, disbudded, and branded, all very painful processes, whether on large or small farms. REMEMBER small farmers still get their chicks from large hatcheries, where babies of no use are ground up alive, REMEMBER, the world cannot be fed with local meat. It is no answer to factory farms. REMEMBER, organic meat production is inhumane because antibiotics can’t be used if an animal is sick. If antibiotics are used to nurse an animal to health, the meat cannot be labeled organic. REMEMBER all meat production contributes to world hunger and pollution, and sets up a system where many go hungry so others can eat meat. REMEMBER the land used to graze cows or to grow grain to feed cows could be used to feed many more people. REMEMBER , meat is a contaminating product which must be constantly monitored for spread of bacterial infection, even to produce. REMEMBER, meat eating is a strong contributor to human illness such as osteoporosis, heart and vascular disease, liver and kidney disease, and many cancers. REMEMBER the very system of raising feeling sentient beings , only for the purpose of killing them, is far from an ethical act. REMEMBER, there is no harmony in slaughter.

Comment on To Sell or Not to Sell Meat? by BillieD

BillieD — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 13:16:16 +0000

Barbara also brings up some good points here: the small farmer is finding it increasingly difficult to stay small and make a living. Know you farmer, know your food.

Talk to the farmer who sold you his or her food. Ask him or her about their process. Shake his or her hand. Ask lots of questions. The small farmers I have spoken to really care about quality and health, and of course, humane treatment of their meat animals. No feedlots here.

I know the farmer I buy from personally, and he is more than willing to answer any and all questions. He gave me a tour of the farm, and was quite vocal in his support of humane and sustainable practices and distaste of big agribusiness, and not just for meat. The small slaughterhouse he uses has never been cited for health violations, as opposed to some of the larger operations, for example in the midwest.

Support your local small farm! Ask questions, and be an educated consumer.

Thank you for the discussion, Barbara.