Freedom

I visited a farm recently and noticed that they had some dogs chained up. This felt wrong to me. It got me to thinking about freedom. Personally I believe freedom is a necessity of life, like food, water, and shelter. I believe that humans should have freedom as well as animals.

CAFOs, or "concentrated animal feeding operations", confine pasture-based animals in an area with no pasture. To me, this seems very unnatural and unhealthy. So I purchase my meats from farmers that do pasture-based farming instead. In fact, for a while, I was purchasing only game meats which were field harvested. These animals are "ranched" rather than "farmed," meaning that they are free-roaming and wild animals instead of domesticated species that are confined to specific lots. Field harvesting means they are killed and slaughtered on site (using mobile abattoirs) instead of transported to a slaughterhouse. Ranching versus farming, and field harvesting versus transporting to slaughterhouses, allows for much more freedom for the animals to seek out the pastures that they desire and have a much more natural life.

In the same respect, I think we have confined ourselves as human beings to unnatural jobs indoors, when we are steppe-based and savannah-based animals!

Homo sapiens mostly evolved in steppe-tundra or savannah, with wide open spaces. There were no computers, ruining our eyesight by looking up close all day long. Instead, we looked far out along the land to spot prey.

Our ancestry lived with fresh air, sunlight, rain, and a lot of movement. I believe we need this, just as much as we need healthy food. I believe that animals should have all of that too. Freedom (liberty) is an inalienable right:

"That which is inalienable cannot be bought, sold, or transferred from one individual to another. The personal rights to life and liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States are inalienable."
West's Encyclopedia of American Law

I feel very strongly about the importance of freedom. Why worry about people drinking sugary sodas, and even pass bills against it, but yet confine people who have committed no real crimes, for years in horrible prison cells? 

And the same for animals. Animals have a right to be free, to roam, to run, to feel fresh air, sunlight, and grassland underfoot.

I  have been thinking of a plan towards a better and more free life for myself, my family, and the companion animals which have found their way to us. Hopefully I can make it happen!

Grassfed lamb steak with sea salt