You pay these people’s salaries when you buy from Tyson

Please read this and think about whether or not you want your money to go to people like this. I don’t know about you but I sure don’t feel like buying these guys a beer after work….

http://www.mfablog.org/2012/05/new-video-tyson-pork-supplier-caught-beating-pigs.html

From Mercy For Animals:

The Humane Society of the United States has released gruesome undercover footage shot inside a gestation-crate facility that supplies to Tyson – one of the world’s largest meat processors.

The shocking investigation reveals:

Mother pigs confined in tiny metal gestation crates, uable to turn around for nearly their entire lives;

Workers punching and kicking mother pigs and piglets, and whipping piglets around by their hind legs, smashing them into concrete floors, and throwing them high into the air;

Employees throwing piglets’ testicles at each other and feeding them back to the mother pigs for “fun”;

Pregnant pigs suffering from severe rectal and uterine prolapses without proper veterinary treatment;

Dead and decaying piglets – including some who were mummified – littering the facility, including in piles next to mother pigs in crates; and

Dead pigs left to rot in their gestation crates for days. One dead pig was half-buried in grain from an automatic feeder.

WE LOVE Jim Sacia

Rep Jim Sacia of Illinois filed a motion to table an Evil Ag Gag bill (like the one Iowa just passed)

Send Jim some love!

District Office
50 Douglas St, Suite 1001
Freeport, IL 61032
815-232-0774
Email
jimsacia@aeroinc.net

“Several animal protection organizations praised the Illinois Judiciary Law Committee for tabling H.B. 5143, a bill aimed at criminalizing whistleblowers who expose animal abuse, unsafe working conditions, environmental destruction and other illegal and unethical activities on farms.

The Humane Society of the United States, the ASPCA®, Mercy For Animals and Farm Sanctuary strongly supported a motion filed on Tuesday by Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Ill., to table the bill after concerns were raised over threats to First Amendment rights, food safety, animal welfare and workers’ rights. Tabling the bill essentially removes it from consideration. “
http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2012/03/Illinois_ag_gag_030809.html

How to Boycott Iowa over Evil AG Gag Law

So we have this evil law in Iowa that helps large corporations abuse farm animals and it needs to be rescinded, but what to do? It’s great to say “Boycott Iowa!” but what does that mean? Cancel your long awaited Iowa vacation? I don’t think many of us were planning on vacationing in Iowa. So what can we do? Well, we can stop buying products that are produced in Iowa, and we can let the companies that produce these products know that we aren’t going to be contributing to the torture of farm animals and the Iowa government’s attempts to hide it.

So what are these products? Surprisingly there are many well known brands that are easy to avoid buying:

Aunt Jemima
Banquet
Beefsteak Bread
Betty Crocker
Big G cereals
Bisquick
Bugles
Cap’n Crunch
Cascadian Farm
Cheerios
Chef Boyardee
Chex
Chex Snack Mix
Chi-Chi’s Salsa
Chicken Helper
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Crunch ‘n Munch
David Sunflower Seeds
Diablitos Underwood
Dinty Moore
Fiber One
Fleischmann’s
Frescarini
Fruit Snacks
Gardetto’s
Gatorade
General Mills – Cereal- Cheerios, chex, toal, cocoa puffs ets.
Gold Medal
Good Earth
Green Giant
Gulden’s – Mustard
Häagen-Dazs
Hamburger Helper
Healthy Choice
Hebrew National
Heinz Tomato Ketchup
Herb-ox Bouillon Packets
Hormel
Hostess
House of Tsang
Hunt’s
Jiffy Pop Popcorn
Jus-Rol
Kid Cuisine
Kix
Knack & Back
Knott’s Berry Farm
Kretschmer Wheat Germ
La Choy
La Lechara
La Salteña
Lärabar
Latina
Libby’s
Lucky Charms
Macaroni Grill
Manwich
Marie Callender’s
Mary Kitchen
Monsters
Mother’s Oat Bran
Mountain High
Mrs. Richardson’s
Muir Glen
Nature Valley
Old El Paso
Orville Redenbacher’s
Pam Cooking Spray
Patak’s Curry
Peloponnese Kalamata Olives
PEMMICAN BEEF JERKY
Peter Pan Peanut Butter
Pillsbury
Pillsbury Atta
Polaner All Fruit
Progresso
Quaker – Quaker Oats
Raisin Nut Bran
Reddi Wip
Rice A Roni Pasta Roni
Rotel
Slim Jim
Suddenly Pasta Salad
Swiss Miss
Total
Total Whole Grain
Totino’s / Jeno’s
Trix
Tuna Helper
V.Pearl
Van Camp’s
Wanchai Ferry
Wesson Corn Oil
Wheaties
Wonder Bread
Yoplait
Yoplait France

Monsanto is also based in Iowa and here are some products that use Monsanto seeds:
(Monsanto is evil enough on it’s own without the Iowa connection, watch this if you don’t know:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-world-according-to-monsanto/)

Aunt Jemima
Quaker
Betty Crocker
General Mills
Bisquick
Duncan Hines
Hungry Jack
Jiffy
Ms. Butterworths
Peppridge farms
Campbells
Aurora Foods
Kraft/Phillip Morris
Post cereals
Hershey’s Nestle
Carnation
Holsum
Interstate bakeries
Best foods
Knorr
Kellogs
Nature Valley
Nabisco
Pillsbury
Heinz
Hellmans
Hunts
KC Masterpiece
Frito-lay/Pepsi
Delicious brand cookies
Famous Amos
Keebler/Flowers Industries
Banquet
Green Giant
Healthy Choice
ConAgra
Kid Cuisine
Stouffers
Lean Cuisine
Marie Callenders
Ore-ida
Smart ones
Power Bar Brand
Chef Boyardee
Hormel
Loma Linda
Morningstar
Lipton
Unilever
Uncle Ben’s
Rice-a-roni/Pasta-roni
Tombstone Pizza
Totinos
Orville Redenbacher
Pop Secret
Pringles
Procter and Gamble
Coca Cola
Minute Made
Pepsi
Cadbury/Sweppes
Capri-sun
Cool-aid
Ocean Spray
V-8
Prego Pasta Sauce
Ragu sauce

Non-food:

3M tape
Post Its

I am going to miss the Bisquick!!! So here is more info from Wikipedia on Iowa based companies and industries.

And don’t forget to sign the petitions:

https://www.change.org/petitions/take-the-pledge-boycott-iowa-the-ag-gag-state

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-utahs-ag-gag-bill/

So there you go! Easy enough right?

Think about it like this, if someone offered to give you one of these products – or all of them – for free, if you let them beat a pig to death with a cane, would you take any of them? If not, why are you buying them?
In the world today YOU ARE WHAT YOU BUY

Is it really neccesary?

to torture animals before we eat them?

I have recently become all too aware of what happens to the animals on factory farms. 97% of animal cruelty occurs in the production of meat – think about that. We have all heard stories of animal abuse in the news, dog fighting, cruelty to cats – well that is only 3% – the rest of it happens on these factory farms. Chickens, pigs and cows are really suffering and we need to help them.

I know it seems like an overwhelming problem and a lot of people think that the only thing they can do is to become a vegetarian, but there are other things you can do that will really help!

Factory farms are businesses – if we stop buying from them they will change or go out of business! Look for Certified Humane Raised & Handled® labels

This guarantees that:

• Animals are allowed to engage in their natural behaviors.
• Animals are raised with sufficient space, shelter and gentle handling to limit stress.
• Animals have access to ample fresh water and a healthy diet without added antibiotics or hormones.
• Animals are sufficiently protected from the weather.
• Managers and caretakers are thoroughly trained, skilled and competent in animal husbandry and welfare, and have good working knowledge of their system and the livestock in their care.

The ASPCA is one of my favorite organizations and they have some things listed on their website, which I am reposting here:

http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/farm-animal-cruelty/10-ways-you-can-help-fight.aspx

That really isn’t too much to ask is it? Here are some links to companies that treat their animals humanely:

http://www.certifiedhumane.org/index.php?page=producers-products

Here is another great article on how to find humanely raised food – it’s easy!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolette-hahn-niman/avoiding-factory-farm-foo_b_353525.html

And don’t forget to sign the petition asking the president to end factory farming!

https://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-end-factory-farming

Think about it please – it’s just not right, and we can stop it.