As someone that has lived in farming communites all of my life, I wish people would make more of an effort to buy from local farmers or from co-ops that buy from local farmers.
I had friends that were involved in 4H that loved the money they recieved when they sold a cow they had raised, pampered and showed by themselves. By buying meat this way, you knew that the cow was healthy and you were getting quality meat.
Animal rights people need to target factory farms and not small farmers that are struggling to make a living and usually treatings animals kindly and not impacting the environment.