Chinese Pigs

A lovely gal from my church asked me recently what grocery store I purchased my food from and that she'd like to "eat better too". I said, "Well, you may not like my answer." I explained that I purchase all of our meat from local regenerative farms. Our eggs and produce all come from our own property. And we only purchase "snack foods" for special occasions from the grocery store. (I gave her the name of that grocery store.)

Recently, I received an email newsletter by a farmer in Mississippi (close to where I grew up). He included a link of RFK Jr. informing the American public why (or more like how) the Chinese Government has been allowed to purchase our farm land. I recommend viewing it real quick here if you haven't already.

I was personally shocked. And then again I wasn't. Possibly it's more that it hits a little harder because we live smack in the middle of Smithfield pig country. Every back road you turn on around here has a small "Smithfield" sign at the start of the dirt road that leads to the factories. Their operations are very unassuming. Almost hidden. You can't see any of these factories from a paved road.

Today, I researched the news a little further. So, forgive me for being a little fired up. But I found that China owns 25% of our pork farms here in the US. Here's the article/video here if you're curious how this happened.

But the real story is what's happening now. Farmers are slaves. In more ways than what I'm musing on today. Specifically, the farmers that run Smithfield pig factories are the definition of serfs. They don't own the pigs. Many farmers in general don't own the animals or the land. They are told how to farm and what to farm. There are no stewards in Big Ag. Only servants.

I implore you to watch those videos above explaining what's really going on with your grocery store pork. That also goes for your chicken, beef, fish, etc. They work the same exact way. We literally have a CCP chicken factory a stone's throw from our home. In the winter months, we can see if from our back porch. And I assume the fields being farmed/sprayed around us are also CCP owned as no one can tell me who owns the actual crop.

With that said, here's my big ask...

Stop purchasing your meat (add eggs and dairy if you want to go all in) from the grocery stores.

Look up organic meat near me. Call these folks. They always pick up or call back promptly and they love to tell you all about their products. At least they should. If they don't, they're no good. Find someone else. But the farmers, the real farmers, love telling you about their farm. Because they own the land and the animals. And they make the decisions about how that animal will live its life and how that animal will die. They choose to let that animal have sunlight its whole life, breathe fresh air, eat real food, and humanely butcher them when the time comes. They have a purpose. They aren't trying to feed the world. They just want to provide good, clean food for their own local communities. They want freedom to farm while making a decent living. As long as Americans buy grocery store meat, small farmers, real farmers will struggle.

When folks ask me how I can afford organic food, I simply explain its a shift in priorities. While we are certainly blessed, we do budget for our food. Our family doesn't go on lavish vacations. We rarely buy expensive things. We are frugal. We do without. We've found we don't need a whole lot. But we've also decided eating clean food is our priority because our health is a priority.

I'm thinking that if we Americans can collectively make a shift. Refusing the grocery store CCP meat for starters, we could put Big Ag out of business. As the demand goes down, the prices of these small farms would automatically go down and we'd be on the road to FOOD FREEDOM, ya'll.

Do you eat grocery store meat? Are you planning to make the switch for good? What's holding you back?

-Casey G.

The Shopkeeper