What's this all about?

A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles. The locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers’ markets or even to produce their own food, with some arguing that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Locally grown food is an environmentally friendly means of obtaining food, since supermarkets that import their food use more fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.

I was talking to one of my friends the other day and I told her we hadn't had CAFO beef in over a year.

For those of you who don't know (and are lucky you don't know) what Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations are - In the U.S., some factory farms are also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) confined animal feeding operations, or intensive livestock operations "A confined animal feeding operation means a lot or facility, together with any associated treatment works, where both of the following conditions are met: First, animals have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period. And secondly, crops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained over any portion of the operation lot or facility." The definition is used as part of waste management and environmental protection laws to deal with the concentrated pollution from large quantities of animal waste.

Confinement CAFOs and factory farms can be mostly indoor or mostly outdoor operations. The "confinement at high stocking density" aspect refers to lack of natural vegetation that the animals can eat and that can naturally process the resulting animal waste. High stocking density destroys the vegetation and produces unacceptable pollution from the animal waste in run-off and ground water unless it is handled appropriately, so laws have been enacted to deal with that; thus the legal definition for the term CAFO.



She said "How? How do you do it? Where do you get it? Teach me!" So now I am. I'm setting out to find local places and products and review them. Stay tuned for the results.

As a disclaimer I will say YES it is more expensive to eat this way but YES its worth it. Its not just about money people.