Buy free range

Much farming today is intensive -- also called factory farming.

Sheep, cattle and pigs as well as poultry are raised in small yards (feedlots) in the open or covered sheds. They have little room to move, no chance of exercise, and a fairly abnormal existence. Some may literally never see the light of day if they're in sheds that are artificially lit, move around, or experience anything approaching a natural flock or herd scenario.

These are the key reasons why buying free range eggs, milk and meat is the way to go. Free range animals usually have some quality of life and endure less stress than those reared intensively. By buying free range products, you're voting with your wallet for a more natural approach to farming that's better for the animals and, often, the environment. How?

1. When animals free range, their manure is automatically returned to the soil as fertiliser.
2. Settling ponds for manure and animal wastes, which can cause contamination to ground and surface water, are not required, or are needed to a lesser degree, on a free range operation.
3. Free ranging animals can be put straight into a fodder crop; that crop doesn't need to be harvested, transported, stored, and then fed out to those animals: they can simply eat it where it grows, which reduces the energy required in production.

I'm all about free range, and buy my meat from a butcher who stocks exclusively free range product. How about you?