Sara Kate and I have been doing research for our new book about the power we have as informed consumers. When we buy selectively, we are making a conscious choice about which corporations to fund and which corporations will shape the future of the planet. Sara Kate and I are trying to make more deliberate choices ourselves, as consumers. We're trying to find out what all these corporations are up to.
Does anybody have any leads or links to info about pet food or pet treats? About Greenies?
I met somebody the other day who used to work for Purina. He told me that Purina no longer exists, it was broken up and went to Nestle, which now does all the pet chow, and Cargill, which now does all the industrial chow. Both companies kept the Purina label though because it's so familiar and popular. Both the pet chow and the industrial chow for farmed animals are composed largely of slaughterhouse waste ("meat by-products"). Does everybody know that? I've sort of lost my perspective, after hearing a variety of people expound on the topic. By-products include heads, organs, feet, fat, skin, chicken poop, "feather meal," bone meal, etc.
My friend said that, in the hog-chow industry, they say of pigs that "the only thing wasted is the squeal."
Are there pet foods, pet treats out there that don't include that glop? Although - really, is the glop all that bad? I understand that it is illegal now to use the carcasses of animals that dropped dead on their own, without being killed. In case they were sick.
A farmer I talked to who raises beef cattle at pasture told me, yes the slaughterhouse by-product glop is that bad. Because it contains all the pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones that were fed to those animals. He said that's why cancer rates are so high in dogs. It is true that my two dogs both died of cancer...
Need to investigate this further.
Sally
No comments:
Post a Comment