Why even try?

I'm a big advocate of healthy eating. I recently thought about only purchasing my meats, poultry, etc. from Whole Foods, not only because of health reasons but also because of ethical reasons towards animals. But it's very expensive, so I go back and forth on the idea.

Well, I just heard an interview on public radio of this author. He decided to trace back the origins of 4 meals: One from what he calls the Industrial Food Chain (big grocery store chains), one from the Organic Food Chain (like Whole Foods), one from the Local Food Chain (Farmer's Market), and then one where he tried to eat only things he hunted or grew himself, even down to the salt! He didn't recommend this last option in these modern times, even though he said it was probably the best, most enjoyable and spiritual experiences of his life to eat that meal.

The disturbing thing was his story tracing the Whole Foods organic meal. The chicken he purchased had a pastoral scene of a 1930's farm on the label, claiming "Free Range Raised". The actual farm's chickens, however, lived inside in a big barn with 20,000 others. When questioned about why they weren't outside, the manager said that they couldn't let them outside until they were 5 weeks old. Since they don't give them antibiotics, they're afraid the chicks will get sick if they do it before then. So when questioned about whether chicks do venture outside at 5 weeks, the manager said that no, they had all the food and water they needed inside, and they seemed afraid to go outside. Then the chicks are slaughtered for market at 7 weeks. Now, I don't know about you, but giving chickens the opportunity to go outside for 2 weeks of their little lives just doesn't seem like "Free Range Raised" to me.

Because of the enormous popularity of organic whole food, most Organic food chains now are employing the same tactics as non-organic chains. So why the heck spend the extra money? And even though I love purchasing my fruits and vegetables from the Haltom City Farmers' Market, they do not sell meat. So what do I do to try to be a healthier and more morally responsible person? What a conundrum!!!