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Is Factory Farming Even Worse Than We Know?
If you're not already anti-factory-farming, this will do it: The Humane Society just released an undercover investigation (watch the video if you can stomach it, or scroll down the link to find the full report) into the obscene abuses of female breeding pigs and piglets by Smithfield Foods, the world's largest (and probably most profitable) producer of pork. The video leaves me pretty much speechless.(More links here, at Vegan.com.)
I'm usually not one to cry "boycott," but if you, like Paula Deen, are a Smithfield supporter - in fact, if you're still eating industrially raised pork (or chicken or beef or fish for that matter) - get real. Any industry (and Smithfield is hardly alone, though it does seem to be performing most egregiously) that operates with such infuriating disregard for the welfare of their animals deserves all the trouble we can muster.
40 comments
and wrote to Paula Deen asking her about her "Smithfield is Paula Deen Approved" message on her site. You CANNOT be my best girlfriend next door when you are approving of polluting the state, abusing the employees, abusing the animals and now - shipping the worst practices to Eastern Europe.
“For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happening before the meat hits the plate, the better.
“If true, is this an ethical situation?
“Should we be reluctant to let people know what really goes on, because we’re not really proud of it and concerned that it might turn them to vegetarianism?”
Peter Cheeke, PhD, Oregon State U. Professor of Animal Agriculture
Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 2004 textbook
Contact them here: Paula Deen: http://www.pauladeen.com/index.php/pdnew/contact
and Smithfield: http://www.smithfieldhams.com/email_management
http://www.animalwelfareapproved.org/consumers/
and also:
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/animalwelfare/
and how to find local farms where you can see for yourself how the animals are treated and meet the farmers:
http://www.localharvest.org/organic-farms/
Thanks again.
http://www.thisveganlife.org/carnists-against-factory-farming
I made a facebook page to boycott Smithfield......feel free to join and ask your friends to join.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_115386821863899
Research the farms that you buy from--STOP being part of this problem.
Peace and love,
Eve
Agriculture is important. And just like any industry it has evolved to meet changing demands. The pigs shown in that video were not hurt, those lesions and effects that the sows shown had very rarely happen.
Producers care about their animals, and have a moral obligation to produce food for you and their families. They eat the same pork you do, they want it to be raised humanely just as you do.
Gestation stalls are not in any way harmful to the sow. What is harmful is when they get picked on, and starve because the other sows push them away from the food when they are in group housing.
Yes you can say lets produce pigs like we used to, but that will not feed the growing population. We need production that is efficient and won't harm our environment. Modern pork production accomplishes that.
For now we should be glad that we have a choice to pick which type of food we eat. For more information I encourage you to visit The 5 W's of Food Production blog at http://courses.jlmc.iastate.edu/wp/pr305-f10-britjurg/
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i75WwystZo
Agriculture IS important, but animal agriculture is a cruel and destructive relic from history -- and it's time to move into the future. Animal husbandry is not only cruel and violent, but it aggravates world hunger problems and is a recipe for environmental disaster. That's why the United Nations is urging a world-wide shift towards a vegan diet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet
How anyone could claim that gestation stalls are "not in any way harmful to the sow" is mind-boggling. How would you like to be confined to a metal cage designed to be not much larger than your body? How is that not "harmful"? It is immensely cruel and unnatural. As is killing animals simply to satisfy a trivial desire for a particular flavor.
You're right about one thing, though: we cannot return to the old family farm model -- it's simply not scalable to meet the demands of a growing population. That's why factory farming developed in the first place. It's time to see the writing on the wall. The future will be vegan -- whether by choice, or by necessity.
It's obvious you care about animals, I respect that. I also respect your choice to go vegan. However we as consumers should have a choice on what we want to eat. What are you going to say to those who live in poverty when they can't afford high priced fruits and vegetables? Will you look in the face of a starving child and tell them to go hungry?
Farmers care about the land, their animals, and producing a product to feed the world. I don't know if you have ever visited what you call a "factory farm," but I would encourage you too.
I'm not telling you to eat meat or animal products. I'm just saying the life we live today wouldn't be the same without animal agriculture. We should have a choice as to what we want to eat, and know that agriculture, all facets of it, are important.
There are reasons for what the farmers are doing. Most large farms are following science based practices with their animals in order to maintain healthy animals and produce healthy young. It would not make any sense for any farmer who expects to sell animals to do less than provide the best possible care. Now, that MAY include such practices as using gestation crates and crates where the sows can farrow the piglets and the piglets will not be destroyed because the mother rolls over on them. Without an understanding of each type of animal, whether it is a chicken or a pig, what may LOOK like abuse may simply be the most reasonable way to maintain these animals in groups. To do otherwise may end up causing loss of life for some of the animals.
Now, if a FARMER is going to comment about alleged animal abuse and state that XX practice is harmful, then that is another matter. But, if a representative of the HSUS is going to comment, then we have to suspect not only the motive, but the allegation of abuse. You see, the HSUS has a well stated agenda...to eliminate all animal use. What could be clearer than that? And, they have stated that they plan to do that INCREMENTALLY....and incrementally means going after bits and pieces of animal farming practices until the regulations make it impossible for large farmers to produce animals. Then there will be the small farmers, and the cost of eating meat will sky rocket...thus accomplishing the agenda of the HSUS, to end the consumption of meat.
While the HSUS is free to hold their agenda, it is certainly wrong to use allegations of abuse and misinform the general public about farming practices, so that they vote for incorrect regulations of farm practices, with the end result that the public now finds that they can ill afford to purchase meat for their tables, or pets for companions.
So, when some "undercover" spy for the HSUS comes forward with a video alleging abuse, one needs to view that with a big grain of salt, as PERCEPTION can be altered by the way a video photo is depicted and described, and viewers are urged to think..."How would YOU feel if you were in this pen?" But, animals do not think or feel like humans do....that is a fact.
All of this insanity -- all of this injustice and cruelty -- is completely unnecessary. Even the conservative meat-and-dairy backed American Dietetic Association concedes that a vegan diet is appropriate for humans at all live stages. Perhaps at one point in human history, people were forced to kill nonhuman animals in order to survive. But we live in a different time and place now -- and the only reason factory (and family) farms exist is to kill animals for our pleasure.
Is that really ethical?
Pigs are smarter than dogs. Would you inflict such a horrible life and death on a dog? Would you eat your dog? If not - then how can you justify this? For anyone who is interested in learning more about why we eat some animals and coddle others like family members, I recommend this book by Dr. Melanie Joy:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Dogs-Pigs-Wear-Cows/dp/1573244619/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UT...
Plus, there's the issue of natural resources being squandered on fattening livestock, rather than being fed to people directly. According to sustainability estimates, it takes at least 12 pounds of grain to produce one pound of hamburger. This could make 8 loaves of bread, or 24 plates of spaghetti. Grain consumption by livestock is increasing twice as fast as grain consumption by people. Cattle consumes 70% of all U.S. grain.
So, if you are concerned about feeding the hungry, the answer is obvious - stop buying meat and dairy.
Farming animals will never "feed the world" -- in fact, it will starve the world. Please do some research on this topic. http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_veggie/ALL/1740//
It's time we all woke up and faced reality: there is no way to use and kill animals without causing them to suffer and feel pain and fear. There is no way to house, feed, process and transport animals to feed 6 billion people (and growing) without devastating costs to our environment and human rights.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet
Another point, You vegans might do well to read The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond as he outlines exactly how the human race was able to evolve into a civilized society DUE TO THE USE OF ANIMALS...for transport, for food, for work, for hunting, for clothing, etc. etc. Those societies that did NOT have the use of domesticated animals did NOT evolve into civilized societies (examples are the primitive societies in the highlands of New Guinea and in the forests of the Phillippines and the Australian aborigines of old). Those are the regions where there were no animals that had the potential for domestication.
When you view the world from your present urban and suburban life, without considering the background of human history, without a broad knowledge of farming practices and animal management practices, without a basic understanding of how agriculture SUPPORTS our civilization, then you can make pronouncements about why a vegan lifestyle would be good for the planet.
BUT, you are speaking from the present moment in time, without a sound basis in the realities of human health, focusing on one concept, (suffering), which may not be a valid approach to determining whether or not humans should be eating animals and whether or not that is even practical in terms of the uses of land to produce food for a vegan nation. Not to mention the studies in the EU which show that vegan mothers are producing children which are missing critical ingredients for developing a normal brain and body.
While most decent humans do NOT support animal suffering, that is not to say that those same individuals do not include animal meat in their diets. Animals can be humanely produced for food and slaughtered in humane ways...(see Temple Grandin's work).
STOP EATING MEAT ! And you MR. MARK , Please make some great vegan food for us !
'Pig Business' exposes the many hidden costs associated with Smithfield's pork production. The whole film can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-moRV5NmEF4.
