Goat cheese is the new veal
I have two new goats.
In a nod to Tom Sawyer and his fence, I told my sons the goats are for me only, and I want to take care of them. When my sons thought of 100 names for each goat, I told them that the person who takes care of the goats gets to name the goats.
So the goats are named Samuel and Snowflake. And I am supervising feeding instead of feeding.
I know you’re not supposed to name farm animals you are planning to eat. But last summer my son bottle fed a calf that did not have a mom to take care of it, and now my son seems to be fine with the idea of killing the calf.
The farmer made the idea more palatable to my son by telling him that my son will get money for taking care of the calf. My son asked for $10,000. The farmer pointed out that we cannot sell a calf for $10,000 and when all was said and done with the financial lesson, it became clear that if you add labor, and milk replacer, and the small size of the orphaned calf, it costs more money to keep the calf alive and slaughter it for meat than it would have cost to kill the calf when it was born.
“We don’t kill our animals here unless they are in pain,” said the farmer to my son.
So it was easy to explain to my son why our goats were free. “The dairy goat farmer doesn’t want them,” I said. “It costs too much in labor and feed to keep the goat alive. That farmer would lose money.”
I didn’t tell my sons that farmers all over the cheese belt of America are banging goat babies on the head to kill them as soon as they are born.
If this were a PETA blog, there would be really gross pictures. But my kids go to school with tons of dairy farm kids, so I have to be careful.
But here’s the problem with the milk industry. To get milk from animals they have to give birth. And their milk slows down if they don’t give birth a lot. If the dairy cow gives birth to a girl, there’s hope that the girl cow will give milk when she grows up, so it’s not a total waste of money to keep the calf alive.
If the dairy cow gives birth to a boy, there’s not really anything to make it economically sensible to keep it alive.You have probably never had a dairy cow steak in your life—they’re just not that good. But dairy cow meat can go into low-cost food like McDonald’s hamburgers. So McDonald’s is saving the lives of tons of boy dairy cows by creating a market for them.
The dairy goats are not so lucky. Just like the cow business, there are meat goats and dairy goats. But there is not enough money is the goat meat market for people to pay a decent price to kill dairy goats for meat. There’s not enough meat on the dairy goat to make it worth raising the dairy goat.
So farmers that provide goat milk to the cheese industry kill the boy baby goats.
You can get angry at the farmers if you want, but what can they do? They could raise the prices of goat milk, but someone would undersell them. And people who are great at raising goats can’t switch their farm over to something else. They don’t know how and they don’t have enough money for a capital investment.
We have seen this business problem before. We see it in corporate life all the time. It’s much easier to make money without the burden of a moral compass. Until you go to jail. But also, most of us have our own moral compass and we are always trying to balance ethical problems: feeding ourselves and our families and being the good person we envision ourselves to be. Making real world business decisions requires a constant recalibration of the right and wrong of our own perspective against what’s at stake.
The type of business makes a huge difference. Take Bernie Madoff, for instance. It’s hard for me to understand the laws he violated and the numbers he faked. So who knows what I would have done with the opportunity to make decisions for him? But when I first met the farmer, I could look in his pig pen (technically called a “farrowing pen”) and see that I really don’t like how he’s birthing pigs. He has the moms immobilized so they don’t roll over onto babies.
My perspective: It’s inhumane to tie down an animal during birth and if pigs would roll over onto babies in natural childbirth then probably that’s why there are such big litters—because some would die naturally.
The farmer’s perspective: His whole system is set up this way and it’s too much to change right now and it’s just balancing the pain of a birthing mother versus the pain of a baby being squashed, and who am I to guess which is more painful? (This is what most animal arguments with the farmer come down to: “Don’t anthropomorphize the animals!”)
So it’s never absolutely clear to me what is right and what is wrong on a family farm. And most of these goat milk farms are family farms.
What is clear to me, though, is that goat cheese is like veal: If you had any idea what animals are going through to get you this meal, you would be horrified.
The great thing about awareness, though, is that once people understood the horrors of the veal industry, the veal industry tanked. And now a new industry of veal cows with a high quality of life has emerged.
So, I got two boy goats from a woman whose specialty is taking boy goats from milk farmers who don’t want them. Here’s a photo of Samuel today. Four days old.
The farmers control the births so they get an optimum price for milk. Milk prices are high now. So babies are being born in the coldest part of winter. They are not in heated barns because it’s too costly to heat a barn for animals that make so little money at slaughter. Of the boy baby goats that are not intentionally killed at birth, a large percentage of them die from frostbite. And even more die because when you take them away from their mother, they have no will to eat.
Because I make money from something other than goat milk, and I can afford to turn my boy goats into sort-of house pets, we have two in a small heated shed. I am having to force-feed them to teach them how to eat. It reminds me a little of feeding my own boy babies that hadn’t learned to latch onto the nipple.
Here’s my idea. I’m going to learn about how to take care of boy baby goats, and then I’m going to figure out how to change the goat cheese industry so that people understand that the moral cost of goat cheese is very high right now. But it doesn’t have to be. Somehow I want to try to figure out how to make morally responsible goat cheese.
Does anyone have ideas? Also, if you want to know what it looks like to figure out a new idea for a company, here’s what looks like: Going down seemingly insane paths, learning skills that may or may not be useful in life, meeting a wide range of people who may or may not help you, and then telling everyone your idea in order to get feedback.
Penelope,
You seem pretty intelligent. Do you think it’s a good idea to post something that you know you readers will take as gospel, when, in fact, it is anything but..?
Perhaps you should do a follow up blog entry about what good people who are new to farming and animals,erroneously post about subjects that they are clueless about.
I’ve been a dairy goat owner and breeder for close to 30 years. Not one..repeat.. not one breeder that I’ve known killed buck kids at birth. Yes, Penelope, that’s what the proper and correct name is for male goats.
We can’t afford to kill buck kids because they are an important revenue stream for most producers. This time of year, they will be Easter kids, which bring welcome money at the end of the winter. Which makes me wonder how someone can give two kids away …
Do your research, too, on Redwood Hill, and the Bice family. Go to their website, and the facebook page. And then apologize to them. I’ll vouch for their integrity, as many others will. And I’m forwarding them the link that showed up on many dairy goat breeders’ facebook pages.
What I shake my head at , is how all these people believed you, a person whose expertise is what? Career planning? People, do some basic research. I’m just horrified at the bashing you people are dishing out on breeders who work a lot harder than most of you, for a lot less money, and love their animals more than life itself.
I have a very small dairy farm. My buck has been very good at throwing bucks on my does. In fact out of the the last nine animals born here 8 were bucks. I did not “bang” a single one of them on the head. 7 of them were wethered which I will admit is not the most favorite thing for me or my husband to do but it is healthier for the kid if he is not going to grow up to erm, do his duty. The last one is still here growing up to erm, do his duty.
We placed 6 of the wethers in good homes. The last one had behavioral issues so I did send him to the butcher. Our butcher is excellent and very humane. I would not have it any other way. If one is a meat eater one accepts that one is eating something that once lived. I know that that goat lived a good life and was put down easily.
It is fact that to get milk the does have to give birth. At least here I do not take those kids away from their nannies until they are ready to be weaned. I time my births so that I am not without milk. It can be done. I have only had one birth “in the cold of winter” and that was because one of my does in heat decided to jump the fence to get to the buck. That kid had a heat lamp and at goat coat until he was old enough to handle the cold. Not every goat farmer is heartless. I know you did not indicate as such but I want you to know that there are those of us out here that do care for our animals and think hard about the choices that have to be made.
So, you’re enslaving some cows you can’t see, in some faraway industrial CAFO, dry lot dairy, who’s babies became the veal you so detest, so you can feed the bucklings you “saved” from the evil family farmer. What a joke.
And further, after seeing a single goat farm, and speaking with one goat farmer, you have condemned every goat farm everywhere with “So farmers that provide goat milk to the cheese industry kill the boy baby goats.”
I hope your regular readers are taking note, that you have lost all credibility with this statement.
Christian,
Breath of fresh air. Thanks.
Thanks Christian, we agree with your response.
It’s so disheartening to see this broad generalization. I would suggest that the author seek out other dairy goat farmers for a much more enlightened and accurate picture.
Condemning all goat dairies is simply narrow-minded.
Great post Vicki.
You should watch this video. This is how the heartless owners of Blue Heron Farm (A goat dairy that makes cheese in Field Store, TX) treat their baby boy goats.
Please be warned, these baby boys did not get bonked on the head, but considering the way they are in danger of dying of frostbite… and worse… maybe they should have.
Graphic video. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7US3i7SeI0&feature=player_embedded
I do hope you have or are planning to have those two bucklings of yours wethered (castrated) or you’ll be in for quite a surprise in several months when they become sexually active.
You have not done yourself or any of your readers a service by posting such negative and erroneous information on a public forum.
Maybe you just don’t know, but diary cattle are the leanest and most tender breed of cow that there is. So the veal comes from Dairy breeds. Also You can raise a cow responsibly and eco friendly. I make more off my cows than my neighbor who runs beef cattle. Becareful where you get your information because it is not totally accurate. have a wonderful day!
The article makes a broad generalization about dairy animals, and it is a common misperception that males are killed. At our family farm, the goats are treated with respect, pampered even, as you would a favorite dog or cat.
As the first humane certified goat dairy in the U.S., Redwood Hill Farm is known to its’ customers for the love we give each and every one of our goats. Each has a name and a unique personality. Additionally, dairy goats(not to be confused with Boer goats, meat goats), are very intelligent, social creatures. Our family began raising dairy goats in the late 1960’s, since then our goats have been recognized by the American Dairy Goat Association judges as some of the finest in the country. Our does AND bucks are valuable dairy animals and herd sires, each year we have a waiting list of other dairy farms wanting to improve their dairy herd by acquiring does and bucks from our herd. I can’t speak for other dairy farmers, but at Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery, our goats live an idyllic life and are not killed. Please expand your mind and don’t categorize all dairy farms as factory farms, killing babies, that only perpetuates a cruel and untrue stereotype. Sustainably farmed & family owned since 1968, Redwood Hill Farm invites you to visit during one of our Open House Spring Farm Tours, and enjoy cuddling and playing with our baby goat kids, learn about our values, and you may be enlightened.
Sincerely,
David Bice
If this were true, there would not be tractor trailer loads of “baby boy” goats from the mid west flooding the meat market here in Ny and Nj so the local producers could get a better price for their animals here. Nice try but not so true.
I can’t speak for the midwest, we are a family farm in Northern California. I’m quite sure that the dairy farms that acquire any doe & buck kids from us, are not paying us several hundred dollars, sometimes thousands, for a goat to wind up on the table.
This is OUTRAGEOUS!!!! I have raised dairy goats for over 10 years now and have yet to kill a kid at birth. My does raise their kids (nurse them, love them, protect them, teach them, etc.)and I still have plenty of milk. To judge an entire industry by 1 farms’ practices is WRONG!
I am exactly at that stage in my business that you’re describing now. Figuratively speaking, I’m collecting my goats & talking about it a lot.
I’m terrified. It’s kinda cool.
Wow, I am shocked at the tone and misinformation in this post. Lumping all goat dairies into the factory farm category is both wrong and harmful. In general small boutique farms producing for local consumption are by far the most likely to provide superior care for their animals regardless of the end use or purpose. Of all the experience I have with livestock those who raise dairy goats and have working boutique dairies exemplify the term animal husbandry.
Personally after just having a recent bad experience with the diary cow industry (can you say mega factory farms) I believe that small dairy farms producing quality products is a genuine way to limit the kind of practices outlined in the OP.
Vicky, Chistian and Lisa have pointed out the problems with the OP so I really do not have much to say about it except I would hope the readers of this blog do actually go look at the farms that produce their food. Many of us believe in human treatment of all animals and sustainability.
Much of this goes back to the mentality that food should be a bargain and produced as cheaply as possible and consumed in massive quantities.
All food grown or produced commercially causes death, even those on a strictly vegan diet who buy commercially produced grains and vegetables are guilty of causing the collateral damage to other life. Untold animals are killed in the fields because of pesticides, chemicals, and harvesting of food stuffs. The real question here should be how we change the way we view, purchase and consume.
Instead of feigning outrage at anecdotal stories of abuse, we all should know our food and know how it is produced and the practices used by those who produce it. Purchasing products at the big box store in a carton or a plastic wrapped styrofoam tray while pretending that the animals producing these products were "happy cows" or that the products were mass produced in some pastoral setting is plain ignorance.
My animals all have a purpose, they all receive excellent care and their needs are taken care of by me. In return for a life of humane treatment those raised for a purpose return my investment in their own way. Goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows, and all are humanely cared for and when the time comes are treated with respect as the produce food for me.
Excuse me I need to get of the soap box now and bottle feed one of my cows.
Solution.. GO VEGAN.
There is no justification for supporting the holocaust that is the meat, dairy, egg, skin and vivisection industries. We ignorantly and selfishly support and participate in this obscene and perverted treatment of our fellow earthlings for a selfish taste sensation, convenience and vanity.
There is nothing we require that is animal derived and in consuming meat, dairy, eggs, wearing animal skin, using products tested on animal, we behave as nazis towards them.
There are no reasons not to be vegan. Only selfish, ignorant excuses.
You heard it right people, GO VEGAN, if you have a heart and love animals, how can anyone for the sake of a dollar bash a baby goat in the head because it is not profitable! How dare you play the roll of God and artificially inseminate a girl goat to get pregnant! And to play the role of God and determine there death! But by a MURDERUS way! All for taste… Grrr.., you people make me sick, and I hope you all pay for treating animals as a commodity!
Thank you for this wonderful post. I love goats.
I will be a morally responsible goat farmer. Just wait and see.. Just a few of us “CAN” change the world.
Sincerely,
April
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It has been a few months since this post was published, and I still look warily at the packages of goat cheese my husband purchases. Today, I was waiting for my dentist appointment, and I found the Jan/Feb issue of Audubon Magazine. In the Field Notes section, there was an article about hiring goats to clear invasive plants growing in wetlands in New York. The problematic plants are choking off bog turtles’ habitats. Apparently, a healthy bog turtle population means a healthy wetland. You can view the article here: http://audubonmagazine.org/fieldnotes/fieldnotes1101-briefs.html#3
Hello, I know this is old, but just wanted to comment. I worked as a feed sales rep and nutritionist in the dairy industry in WI, and with some goat herds as well. Many farmers found a market for their billys (male goats) by selling them to the Hispanic and Asian populations. I had a coworker who transported the billys from the goat farm to a cattle farm where Hispanic laborers bought them for $5 each and raised them for meat in their backyard. Sales reps who visit farms have a pretty good connection with the farms in the area, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask them to keep a look out for anyone interested in raising billys for meat.
Also wanted to add that none of the dairy goat herds I worked with killed the young males at birth. They either found a market like the one mentioned above, or took them to a sale barn. However, with their low market value, farmers loose money on the deal. So alternatives like linking up with people who want to raise them exists.
Had friends who got two male goats (Darryl and… Darryl) to clear their house lot. These fellows did an amazingly fast and very creditable job and had free range until they started to work on the front door of the new house.
Have read that power companies are using sheep to clear power-lines – after watching D&D, I think that male goats are the answer – and, the way brush grows in many parts of this country, they would be well-employed into their old age.
Adding to the first comment I saw following this blog post. You can get a male goat heard together to clear brush in cities on the sides of highways and streets. This is practiced in Boulder, CO. I bought and raised two baby male goats last year for the summer in the city – right in my backyard in Denver. We bought our male goats for $15 each. We bought them from a goat dairy in Norther Colorado. At this particular farm, most of her babies were born in the later spring and she keeps all of the male goats to try and sell them as pets or 4-h projects. She was a great lady and helped us along the way with any goat questions we had. Anyway, back to what you can do with male goats. We would take our goats on a walk each evening so they could get out of the backyard, and frankly, so they would stop eating our rose bushes. We would take them to a park down the street from our house and there they would literally graze for hours on the tall brush. We would tie them together with a leash and they were perfectly happy grazing there for hours. In Denver (not sure about other cities) it is now legal for residents to own 1 goat and up to 6 or more chickens. We are now going to get chickens.
We have a 6 yr old daughter, and we thought this would be a great way for her to learn how to raise and animal and learn about the cycle of life in a sense. We bottle fed the goats until they were over a month old. Every morning at about 6am, I would wake up to the sound of “Maaam”, coming from my backyard. I loved the baby goats as much as I love my dogs. I highly recommend this pet to anyone looking for something a little out of the ordinary.
Additionally, I recommend that if you are looking for a way to help the goat industry thrive in a more humane manner; suggest goat herds for clearing brush along roads, etc… This is a double benefit because the cities would cut a significant portion of lawn care out of their budget.
wow is that ever a huge amount of readers and comments on this! I was searching for info about pig leather… my Mom has raised goats for about a decade or more and we milk them but give them breaks as well. They are completely free range on over 100 acres and enjoy eating deciduous branches and nettles. Let me tell you about my experience with boy goats- they are slightly more violent during nursing than the females, but we always allow them to grow to at least a year old. We try to keep them seperate from the lactating females as they develop a strong odour ( from peeing on their own heads and natural secretions ) which can taint the milk. They are vocally quite loud and destructive to property (no respect lol) and do a lot of sucking and fornicating with their brothers and are generally gross and obnoxious. All that aside, some great djembe drums have been made from their hides and I still love em, espescially as babies.
The dairy cow steak may not be so tasty that is why they go into hamburger once they have lived their course in life. I will tell you a well fed holstein steer makes some of the best steak out there. This was even proven in blind taste tests across the USA.
Hi Penelope, Think Different! Different business model that is. Who says you need to make cheese? Or if you do, it has to be a high margin cheese product to offset the cost of keeping all the goats. As a new product consultant I can’t help thinking (green) packaging innovation, single serving? Low fat/high protein single serve? Some dessert options? Innovative channel delivery?
And then, what to do with the goats? Petting zoo? Therapy goat program for children. (Kids caring for Kids?–gotta stop this until you sign a retainer, just kidding.) (Every other animal group–horses/dogs/llamas– seems to be on therapy bandwagon) OR tax deductible goat-saving foundation?
micro example: I met Cynthia Miller of Egg Mountain Farm at the Manchester Vt Farmers Mkt when my daughter was going to school in Vt and I visited. Cyndy has a small, goat milk-driven toiletries business sold via her website and farmer’s markets in Vt and in New York where she is based. She got a goat to please her grandchild, then ended up with a lots of them and the same ethical dilemma about the price of milk.
Her higher margin toiletry business and direct selling method makes up for the lower margins the milk brings. Due to higher profits, she could keep the male goats, even the cute, blind one. She brought the little males to the farmers’ markets and every mom got dragged to her booth by her children. I didn’t expect her products to be so great(and to me living near NYC, pretty cheap) but she uses a higher percentage of natural oils to make lotions/soaps more luxurious than anything from Estee Lauder. That led to repeat purchases for gifts which are the norm for her. I find the packaging boring, but everyone I gifted loved them. She is not a personal friend and I get nothing out of commenting. My daughter was going to school in Vt at the time. http://www.eggmountainfarm.com/default.html
Why aren’t soem “ethical” (are there any?) farmers hiring a genetics lab and doing selective births? I’m sure if enough farmers would go for it, the cost would be reduced. They should ONLY implant female embryos into the mom goat. Stop allowing male goat births…unless you want them.
How do I get these goats? A farm would be awesome, since I could probably make my own economical feed that is well mixed. Sure labor costs will be high, but if there are enough goats, won’t I be able to at least break even? Plus goat meat tastes pretty good!
How about using billy goats as guard animals on industrial sites and factories, storage areas etc. They would keep people out and aren’t easily discouraged. Quite possibly could be trained in some way, would keep down weeds – which are often sprayed – so an environmental benefit. Finally start a league for goat ‘appreciation’ and encourage factories, sports teams etc to treat their goats as mascots, create rivalry and competitions, this should also increase their value and longetivity..
henry
Well we should definately save the male goats! Its easy! Goat racing! Kinda like greyhounds. You could even build small chariots and sponsor chariot goat races for children. They race frogs, pigs, and turtles. Why not goats!
Ok… first of all Id like to say, MANY small family farms & even semi-large dairies, do have heated and air conditioned barns. Secondly, most places sell buck kids (boy goats) to breeders or as pets, not just kill them off. Im sure many do- but everyone I know only sells, culls if a must. The goat kids taken away do not have a hard time learning to use a bottle. Many farmers allow the kid to stay with the mom and milk her anyway- as they supply more than needed for a kid. Maybe you should research & learn more about the real side of the milk.
I was going to suggest the fiber option– use the female goats for dairy and the castrated male goats for fiber. You’d either have to mix a dairy breed with a fiber breed or raise the rare and expensive Golden Guernsey goats which produce milk and also have hair that can be spun.
Hi, great article, maybe something like the Krishna community cow farms could be applied to goats. They charge extra for the milk, but no animals are slaughtered or overmilked.
This is an immensely interesting post. As part of a couple that would like to settle down on a Wisconsin farm some day, the insights into the grey area that most people pretend isn’t there fascinates me.
Thanks so much Penelope!
True. Too true. Is that the Penelope ( trunk) that lived in the Tree ( trunk?) wasn’t her name Penelope?
Great blog – I heard that most feta cheese now comes from sheep though – no?
Great article!!! We hope to have goats one day for milk, cheese and maybe meat. I am vegetarian so struggle with the “meat” part. But how many goats can you have?? I would rather be part of the movement to create a better, healthier system than disengage myself entirely. I feel that people that care a lot should be involving themselves and improving the lives of these animals. Well done, you have inspired me :)
How about raising the boy goats for meat, stud, and Poison Ivy clearing? I know the goat meat market isn’t huge, but there is definitely a place for it. In fact, I think raising goats to fill the need of certain ethnic groups is part of the plot of Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer.
if the baby goat had no will to live because it’s away from it’s mother, why not anthropomorphize the goat? and why not anthropomorphize other animals (mammals) since they have exhibited human traits (such as empathy)? : ( maybe the reason animals are so beautiful is so humans will think more deeply and use their ability to reason (something animals lack) to make ethical choices. maybe attributing human qualities to animals/mammals is a step toward where we could be.