Hello, and thank you for reading. It's been a while since I've posted anything. Yesterday was Thanksgiving so it seems like an appropriate time to post something again...
Thanksgiving is a great day (for those of us who have much to give thanks for). Theoretically it's a time when we gather with friends and family to enjoy each other and the bounty in our lives. We eat, we drink, we're merry and we stuff ourselves silly. There are a lot of things I can appreciate about this minus most people's main course: turkey.
Turkey on Thanksgiving has become such a tradition that most people never really stop to think about it at all. Did you know that more than 45 million turkeys are killed each year just for Thanksgiving dinners (out of about 300 million killed all year)? Do you think that there's a way to kill so many animals in a humane way? I hate to break it to you if you think so, but there isn't. It's actually impossible and that's the reason why factory farming exists: Farmer Bob can't produce 45 million turkeys but huge agribusiness can. And of course, with that comes torture from the beginning to the end. The chicks are thrown around after their born (on conveyor belts), debeaked, have their toes cut off (no anesthetic of course). Like chickens, they are raised in filthy extremely over-crowded spaces where they can barely turn around, their bodies grow way too fast due to hormones and breeding. Eventually they're transported to slaughter where they have to endure the gruesome and terrifying murder procedures. You can read about all of this on the Farm Sanctuary website.
It's really sad what happens to these birds. They're alive. They're sentient beings capable of feeling pain and pleasure. Our society disregards them as inanimate objects and condones massive amounts of torture. Personally, I have never missed eating turkey on Thanksgiving (or meat on any other day). I just wish people would stop for a minute and consider the life and death they're gorging themselves on.
"One meal, soon forgotten, in exchange for a whole life."
Friday, November 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Milk: Whose Body is it Doing Good? (Part I)
Drinking milk is harmless, right? Lots of people can list lots of reasons why we should drink it: we've all been doing it since we were kids and besides, no animals are killed for milk. Cows produce it anyway so we may as well drink it. We need the calcium; milk does a body good!
Like many issues related to food and animals there is a lot of duplicity in the dairy industry. They have lots of dirty little secrets that they don't want consumers to know. Many industries that produce something have some unwanted byproduct, some type of waste product that needs to be discarded (usually to the detriment of the environment, wildlife, humans). In the case of the dairy industry the byproduct is male calves. That's right, newborn baby cows.
Conditions on a veal farm are pretty appalling. Can you imagine a baby, totally new to this world, who can't even walk yet, being removed from his mother taken to a strange place where he will live in stress and pain for the few short months on this planet that he's allowed before he is killed?
In his book "Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food", Gene Baur, president of one of my favorite organizations, "Farm Sanctuary," describes the life of a veal calf: "If he's not put on the dead pile and survives the journey to the veal operation, whether the calf passes through a stockyard first or is sold directly from the dairy, he'll be housed in a narrow crate--just two feet wide--in an indoor shed. So will hundreds of others like him. Here is where the calf will spend the approximately twenty weeks of his short life. He will be chained by the neck, unable to turn around, and barely able to shift his body. To further discourage the calf from moving the shed will be kept dark. His all-liquid diet will be low in iron and devoid of fiber, and as a result, he will experience borderline anemia. Production demands dictate these conditions to prevent the calf's flesh from becoming red or muscled. Pallor and tenderness are the qualities prized by some chefs and some diners." I should probably say that these poor animals cannot even turn around in the small crates and it's even difficult for them to comfortably lie down. This prevents their muscles from developing because they're not really used, thus keeping the color and texture some people like when they eat veal.
Please folks, keep in mind, this is a baby cow we're talking about. A baby! After four to five months of this misery the baby cow will be shipped off to slaughter to face his horrific death. All thanks to the dairy industry!
For these calves' mothers life isn't exactly a cakewalk either. In fact, their lives are quite miserable (as are the lives of all animals in any way maintained by agribusiness). I've decided to write a few blog posts about dairy so I'll get to the actual dairy calves next.
*For more information on veal and dairy please visit Farm Sanctuary's website http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/photos/veal.html
*All photos (except the last of the crated calf) are courtesy of Jo-Anne McArthur of www.weanimals.org. Jo documents cruelty to animals all around the world in everything from factory farming, fur farming, rodeos, zoos, animal testing, and everything in between. I highly recommend checking out her website.
Like many issues related to food and animals there is a lot of duplicity in the dairy industry. They have lots of dirty little secrets that they don't want consumers to know. Many industries that produce something have some unwanted byproduct, some type of waste product that needs to be discarded (usually to the detriment of the environment, wildlife, humans). In the case of the dairy industry the byproduct is male calves. That's right, newborn baby cows.
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| Newborn calf being cleaned by his mother on a dairy farm. You can see he is already tethered. Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur of www.weanimals.org |
In case you don't know that much about factory farming, just like the name suggests they are essentially factories where meat, dairy, or eggs are produced. The goal of a factory farm is not to produce healthy food or ensure animal welfare standards; it's to make money. They want to make as much money as possible and that always comes at the expense of animals. Naturally to the dairy industry a male calf has no use. You might think well can't they use him to impregnate other cows at some point but that's just silly thinking. Of course not, the cows (like all factory farmed animals) are artificially inseminated and it would cost way too much to feed and house all of these male calves so they've gotta get rid of them.
In the picture above you see a newborn calf being cleaned by his mom. Isn't that sweet? Dairy cows, like all mammals, including humans, clean and nurture their babies. It is their natural instinct to take care of their young. Unfortunately within a day or two (sometimes immediately after birth) dairy cows have their babies removed (stolen). If the baby is a female she oftentimes goes on to become a dairy cow herself, if it's a male he's often sold to a veal "farm".
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| Dairy "farm" worker removing newborn calf to go to a veal farm. He's too young to even be able to walk on his own. |
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| Newborn calf being hauled off to his new home on a veal "farm" |
In his book "Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food", Gene Baur, president of one of my favorite organizations, "Farm Sanctuary," describes the life of a veal calf: "If he's not put on the dead pile and survives the journey to the veal operation, whether the calf passes through a stockyard first or is sold directly from the dairy, he'll be housed in a narrow crate--just two feet wide--in an indoor shed. So will hundreds of others like him. Here is where the calf will spend the approximately twenty weeks of his short life. He will be chained by the neck, unable to turn around, and barely able to shift his body. To further discourage the calf from moving the shed will be kept dark. His all-liquid diet will be low in iron and devoid of fiber, and as a result, he will experience borderline anemia. Production demands dictate these conditions to prevent the calf's flesh from becoming red or muscled. Pallor and tenderness are the qualities prized by some chefs and some diners." I should probably say that these poor animals cannot even turn around in the small crates and it's even difficult for them to comfortably lie down. This prevents their muscles from developing because they're not really used, thus keeping the color and texture some people like when they eat veal.
 |
| Veal calf in his crate, tethered and completely unable to move. Just a baby, he will spend his short life this way, craving maternal care, scared and alone. |
Please folks, keep in mind, this is a baby cow we're talking about. A baby! After four to five months of this misery the baby cow will be shipped off to slaughter to face his horrific death. All thanks to the dairy industry!
For these calves' mothers life isn't exactly a cakewalk either. In fact, their lives are quite miserable (as are the lives of all animals in any way maintained by agribusiness). I've decided to write a few blog posts about dairy so I'll get to the actual dairy calves next.
*For more information on veal and dairy please visit Farm Sanctuary's website http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/photos/veal.html
*All photos (except the last of the crated calf) are courtesy of Jo-Anne McArthur of www.weanimals.org. Jo documents cruelty to animals all around the world in everything from factory farming, fur farming, rodeos, zoos, animal testing, and everything in between. I highly recommend checking out her website.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Factory farms vs. the environment
Factory farms are not self-contained units. By that, I mean the effects of a factory farm are not limited to the suffering that goes on inside of them. The horrors animals endure in these massive torture chambers are beyond belief for most of us, but the effects stretch far beyond what goes on inside the physical structures. The environment is hugely impacted and that means that we are all affected regardless of our food choices.
Let's start with water. All life (including us!) is dependent on it. Sure, this seems obvious, but unfortunately clean water is becoming more scarce. In fact, some experts predict that in the future wars will be fought over water similarly to wars fought over oil. In some parts of the world right now people don't even have access to clean, fresh water. So what does this have to do with factory farming? A couple of things.
Factory farms use water in an extremely inefficient way. According to John Robbins in his book "The Food Revolution" (excellent and very informative read!) it takes 23 gallons of water to produce one pound of lettuce or tomatoes, 24 gallons for one pound of potatoes, 25 gallons for one pound of wheat, 49 gallons of water for one pound of apples, 1,630 gallons for one pound of pork and whoa...5,214 gallons of water needed to produce just one pound of beef. Based on those calculations we could literally produce 30 pounds of lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, wheat and apples and still have 894 gallons of water left. That's 150 pounds of food plus a whole bunch of water which could feed a lot of people vs. one pound of beef, which would feed probably 1-2 people. Some statistics say that half of the water used in the U.S. is used for livestock production.
In addition to using water very inefficiently factory farming is actually a huge contributor to both water pollution and greenhouse gases which, as we know, contribute to global warming. Think about it: 10 billion animals living on farms eating mostly unnatural diets consisting of grain, soy, manure, dead animals and animal parts, chemicals and drugs (I'll discuss this in a later entry). Besides the sheer number of animals producing bodily waste their diets are so unnatural and upset their digestive systems further exacerbating the output. Where does all that waste go? On real farms manure is often utilized as fertilizer but today there is so much waste it's not feasible to use it. Plus, given the garbage these animals are eating would you want that used to fertilize your veggies? I wouldn't!
Instead of reusing livestock waste as fertilizer they now collect it in giant lagoons near the farms. It is funneled out of the huge sheds that the animals "live" in and collected in lagoons the size of football fields and sometimes 30 feet deep. That means that all over the country and the world there are massive pools containing ridiculous amounts of feces, urine, dead animals, various bodily fluids and body parts and of course all of the hormones, drugs, and chemicals the animals are fed. As you can imagine these pools are not exactly contained. Rather the waste seeps into the earth, rivers, lakes, oceans and of course, the air, left to make people, fish and other wildlife sicks.
This quote from John Robbins' "The Food Revolution" which is a summary of the findings of the U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee pretty much sums it up: "Untreated and unsanitary, bubbling with chemicals and disease-bearing organisms...(livestock waste) goes onto the soil and into the water that many people will, ultimately, bathe in and wash their clothes with and drink. It's poisoning rivers and killing fish and sickening people...Catastrophic cases of pollution, sickness, and death are occurring in areas where livestock operations are concentrated...Every place where the animal factories have located, neighbors have complained of falling sick." So, yeah, that's what' happens to livestock waste and if it hasn't affected you yet it very well might eventually if we don't stop this. Here's a map of factory farms in the U.S from the organization Food and Water Watch. They're everywhere and if agribusiness has it's way there will be one in your hood before you know it!
This quote from John Robbins' "The Food Revolution" which is a summary of the findings of the U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee pretty much sums it up: "Untreated and unsanitary, bubbling with chemicals and disease-bearing organisms...(livestock waste) goes onto the soil and into the water that many people will, ultimately, bathe in and wash their clothes with and drink. It's poisoning rivers and killing fish and sickening people...Catastrophic cases of pollution, sickness, and death are occurring in areas where livestock operations are concentrated...Every place where the animal factories have located, neighbors have complained of falling sick." So, yeah, that's what' happens to livestock waste and if it hasn't affected you yet it very well might eventually if we don't stop this. Here's a map of factory farms in the U.S from the organization Food and Water Watch. They're everywhere and if agribusiness has it's way there will be one in your hood before you know it!
Last thing I'll touch on for now is air pollution. All of that livestock waste is accompanied by methane, like any solid waste. A report issued by the United Nations (Livestock's Long Shadow-Environmental Issues and Options) in 2006 that set out to detail the environmental impacts of factory farming said that "that the livestock sector is one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global (Wikipedia)." Apparently livestock are responsible for about 20 percent of greenhouse gases and that's even more than transportation! The problem is, of course, in the number of animals.
The good news is that humans can reduce their meat over-consumption which will reduce the profit for big agribusiness and in turn, cause them to reduce the number of animals they're growing for food, and thus, reduce the amount of pollution. Fortunately for us we all have voting power every time we go to the grocery store or to a restaurant. We don't have to support this destruction of our environment and if enough people stop supporting agribusiness with their buying power, then the environmental impact of factory farms will diminish, creating a safer, healthier, planet for us and for our children.
The good news is that humans can reduce their meat over-consumption which will reduce the profit for big agribusiness and in turn, cause them to reduce the number of animals they're growing for food, and thus, reduce the amount of pollution. Fortunately for us we all have voting power every time we go to the grocery store or to a restaurant. We don't have to support this destruction of our environment and if enough people stop supporting agribusiness with their buying power, then the environmental impact of factory farms will diminish, creating a safer, healthier, planet for us and for our children.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sheer numbers
50 billion land animals are killed each year for food. 50 BILLION! There are fewer than 7 billion people on the planet. 10 billion farm animals are killed in the U.S. alone per year.
Based on 2007 statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' Global Livestock Production and Health Atlas.
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Number of animals killed in the world by the meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage. This does not include the billions of fish and other aquatic animals killed annually.
Based on 2007 statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' Global Livestock Production and Health Atlas.
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Friday, April 1, 2011
My journey to veganism
Like most Americans I grew up eating meat. Barbeques, fast food, steak, all of it. Ironically both of my parents were vegetarian (for health reasons) but they thought it would be difficult for me to be a regular kid if I didn't eat meat. In retrospect I find that disappointing of course, but I never questioned their choice and I never questioned my own eating habits. We never even really discussed it, that was just how things were.
Needless to say, like many Americans, especially kids today, my standard America diet took its toll on me pretty young. When I was ten years old my cholesterol was so high they put me on a special "diet" and made me get my cholesterol checked every week. Of course, I didn't know then that only animal products contain cholesterol and the stuff doesn't even exist in plants. And of course the doctors didn't recommend that I eat more plants, but rather, that I switch from butter to margarine and things like that.
From there I went on to struggle with my weight for many years, trying everything from Weight Watchers to Slim Fast to Atkins. None of it worked. I switched to egg whites and lean meat and skim milk and had a little bit of success with weight loss but mostly my weight fluctuated greatly. I was generally pretty lethargic and had major bouts of depression over the course of many years.
I never really thought about animals or animal rights or the possibility of going vegetarian until my mid 20's. Once I did I honestly didn't even consider that my health might improve. I just knew I really loved animals. I had (and still have) two amazing cats who showed me how smart and emotional animals are. I saw how they interacted and I realized for the first time in my life that animals had feelings. I knew they did--I could see it. I saw it in my cats and I knew my cats were no different than other animals in that capacity and slowly but surely my circle of compassion began to extend out into the world to encompass all beings.
Then one day I saw a video of a factory farm and I was completely blown away. It was the most awful thing I had ever seen it and I could not believe that was what animals were going through just so I could whet my appetite. I didn't stop eating animal products, including meat, right away, but I did continue to watch videos and research the practices of factory farming. As time went on the chasm between my personal ethics and my behaviors became so great I had to choose a side. I realized I could no longer claim to love and respect animals so much if I were going to continue to eat them and support an industry that brutalizes them for profit, especially because I was doing it just to please my taste buds.
So I decided to become vegetarian. I wasn't a huge vegetable person so I was eating mostly fruit, cereal, bread, and eggs; not exactly the healthiest diet. I kept forcing myself to look into the dairy and egg industries after I had given up meat. I knew I had to give those up too eventually but I figured I was moving in the right direction and baby steps were okay. At first I thought at least animals weren't being killed for my food, but I soon realized the dairy and egg industries were just as bad and even worse in a lot of ways. How could I contribute to helping these companies profit at the expense of animals?
I knew it would be a challenge at first, but I had to go vegan. Without letting on my true intentions of actually wanting to go vegan I decided to propose a contest to my boyfriend Brian and our good friend Dave. We decided we would see who could remain vegan the longest and the first one of us to fail would have to buy the other two dinner anywhere we wanted. We started on New Year's Day. The night before I stuffed my face with ice cream and cheese anything else I could find. And then a new day and a new way began. By the time we got to about three months we had all decided the contest was over and we were sticking to veganism. In addition to feeling like we were living in moral harmony, we were actually enjoying eating without dairy and eggs. We experimented so much more with cooking and I actually started to eat veggies-lots of them! I realized all of the delicious whole foods I had been missing out on before. And of course there were still lots of foods we enjoyed before that we could eat like some Italian food, Indian, Ethiopian, and Thai just to name a few. Plus we found excellent alternatives to some of our favorites like coconut milk ice cream and vegan cheese (Daiya).
People always ask me if I miss things now that I've been vegan for so long. I can honestly say I do not feel in any way that I am sacrificing and I don't crave animal products at all. I have access to tons of delicious and varied foods and I feel wonderful about my choice. I am healthier than I've ever been. I no longer need medicine for acid reflux, which I took for years, and I rarely need my inhaler for asthma. I have more energy than I ever have and my levels of anxiety and depression have practically disappeared. Not to mention I no longer struggle with my weight. I've lost almost 30 lbs by doing yoga and, well, not much other than eating--a lot!
Today, several years later, Brian, Dave and I enjoy our vegan lifestyles more than ever. Now every time I eat I know that no animal suffered or died for the food to get on my plate and nothing could taste sweeter than that.
Needless to say, like many Americans, especially kids today, my standard America diet took its toll on me pretty young. When I was ten years old my cholesterol was so high they put me on a special "diet" and made me get my cholesterol checked every week. Of course, I didn't know then that only animal products contain cholesterol and the stuff doesn't even exist in plants. And of course the doctors didn't recommend that I eat more plants, but rather, that I switch from butter to margarine and things like that.
From there I went on to struggle with my weight for many years, trying everything from Weight Watchers to Slim Fast to Atkins. None of it worked. I switched to egg whites and lean meat and skim milk and had a little bit of success with weight loss but mostly my weight fluctuated greatly. I was generally pretty lethargic and had major bouts of depression over the course of many years.
I never really thought about animals or animal rights or the possibility of going vegetarian until my mid 20's. Once I did I honestly didn't even consider that my health might improve. I just knew I really loved animals. I had (and still have) two amazing cats who showed me how smart and emotional animals are. I saw how they interacted and I realized for the first time in my life that animals had feelings. I knew they did--I could see it. I saw it in my cats and I knew my cats were no different than other animals in that capacity and slowly but surely my circle of compassion began to extend out into the world to encompass all beings.
Then one day I saw a video of a factory farm and I was completely blown away. It was the most awful thing I had ever seen it and I could not believe that was what animals were going through just so I could whet my appetite. I didn't stop eating animal products, including meat, right away, but I did continue to watch videos and research the practices of factory farming. As time went on the chasm between my personal ethics and my behaviors became so great I had to choose a side. I realized I could no longer claim to love and respect animals so much if I were going to continue to eat them and support an industry that brutalizes them for profit, especially because I was doing it just to please my taste buds.
So I decided to become vegetarian. I wasn't a huge vegetable person so I was eating mostly fruit, cereal, bread, and eggs; not exactly the healthiest diet. I kept forcing myself to look into the dairy and egg industries after I had given up meat. I knew I had to give those up too eventually but I figured I was moving in the right direction and baby steps were okay. At first I thought at least animals weren't being killed for my food, but I soon realized the dairy and egg industries were just as bad and even worse in a lot of ways. How could I contribute to helping these companies profit at the expense of animals?
I knew it would be a challenge at first, but I had to go vegan. Without letting on my true intentions of actually wanting to go vegan I decided to propose a contest to my boyfriend Brian and our good friend Dave. We decided we would see who could remain vegan the longest and the first one of us to fail would have to buy the other two dinner anywhere we wanted. We started on New Year's Day. The night before I stuffed my face with ice cream and cheese anything else I could find. And then a new day and a new way began. By the time we got to about three months we had all decided the contest was over and we were sticking to veganism. In addition to feeling like we were living in moral harmony, we were actually enjoying eating without dairy and eggs. We experimented so much more with cooking and I actually started to eat veggies-lots of them! I realized all of the delicious whole foods I had been missing out on before. And of course there were still lots of foods we enjoyed before that we could eat like some Italian food, Indian, Ethiopian, and Thai just to name a few. Plus we found excellent alternatives to some of our favorites like coconut milk ice cream and vegan cheese (Daiya).
People always ask me if I miss things now that I've been vegan for so long. I can honestly say I do not feel in any way that I am sacrificing and I don't crave animal products at all. I have access to tons of delicious and varied foods and I feel wonderful about my choice. I am healthier than I've ever been. I no longer need medicine for acid reflux, which I took for years, and I rarely need my inhaler for asthma. I have more energy than I ever have and my levels of anxiety and depression have practically disappeared. Not to mention I no longer struggle with my weight. I've lost almost 30 lbs by doing yoga and, well, not much other than eating--a lot!
Today, several years later, Brian, Dave and I enjoy our vegan lifestyles more than ever. Now every time I eat I know that no animal suffered or died for the food to get on my plate and nothing could taste sweeter than that.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
From one being to another
For years I have been angry and saddened by the cruelty that goes on in factory farms. Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about animal welfare and animal rights and how deeply affected I am by this issue in particular. I have been frustrated by my own feelings and unsure what I can do or what I should do to best help these suffering animals.
Yesterday it dawned on me that rather than going to law school or going into politics or starting my own animal welfare or animal rights organization, the best thing I can do is to help these animals is to encourage people to keep talking about the issue and keep educating other people through simple conversation. It's not even about trying to get the whole world to go vegan (although I can easily give you a bunch of reasons why that would be great), but rather about helping to educate people about what goes on in factory farms and how we can all do our part to help change the situation. If you and I can talk about it then we can both talk about it with someone else and then those other people can share what they know and before you know it the information is being widely dispersed and all through regular people. I've seen this happen in my own life numerous times. I've seen friends and family members realize what was going on and make small changes in their own lives that can make huge changes in the factory farm business and more importantly, in the lives of billions of animals. I've even seen quite a few people slowly go from meat eaters to vegetarians to vegans, all from simple conversation and education.
For years agribusiness has spent time and money making sure that people believe they need lots of meat and dairy in order to be healthy. The sad part is that their efforts have worked and the result has been an increased demand for these animal products and huge profits for them. For everyone else, however, the result has been hugely detrimental. Levels of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues have risen dramatically among Americans (as well as those in other countries now following the standard American diet). Even worse than our failing health, which we have the ability to reverse through better food choices, is the unbelievable suffering that animals in factory farms have to endure. It's hard to believe that we live in a country that condones this type of cruelty and suffering. After all, we are a "civilized" country. Unfortunately we're more driven by money than by compassion or good will or anything else you might expect to find in a civilized land.
There are many great organizations committed to abolishing factory farms as well as many dedicated activists who put their time, effort, and money into helping the cause. In my personal experience, I've found that sometimes people have been alienated by my views or by those of certain organizations because they think they're being personally attacked for eating meat. My intention with this blog is to create a place dedicated only to helping animals and to keeping the conversation about the horrors that go on in factory farms as well as related topics going, not to villainize non-vegetarians. I believe that all people, regardless of whether they eat meat or not, need to know what is happening to the billions of animals affected every year. As a country we need to stop denying how dire the situation is. There aren't very many people who could step into a factory farm, observe what's happening there every minute of every day, and walk away unaffected. Even people who aren't animal lovers know what's happening is wrong, if, of course, they know what's happening at all.
Today I watched a video on cnn.com that discussed the proposed laws in multiple states that would make it illegal to take any pictures or video on factory farms. This powerful and wealthy industry doesn't want us to know what's going on in these places because they know the overwhelming majority of people will not agree with it. They would prefer to perpetuate this vicious industry in secret as long as it maximizes their profits. Animals are machines to them and all they care about is their bottom line. It will get worse and worse if we let it, as long as agribusiness can find more ways to make money in the name of animal exploitation and abuse. When I saw this video I knew I had to do my part to encourage people to talk about this issue and I had to start now. Agribusiness may have tons of money, powerful lobbyists, and plenty of politicians in their pockets, but ultimately consumers have the power. By passing this information on from one being to another we can change this system and help the multitudinous animals who suffer the most egregious abuses imaginable, all in the name of profit and palate.
I believe that from simple conversations about factory farming and the beautiful, sentient beings who suffer as a result of it, we can create small changes in the behaviors and habits of large numbers of people. Through these small changes we improve our own health, help the environment which is also affected tremendously by the modern "farming" practices and most importantly, help the countless animals whose cries and torment go unheard. We are all beings on this planet and we all deserve to be happy and free. May we have the courage to face and eventually destroy the abomination that is factory farming. May we not turn our backs in the bliss of ignorance on our fellow beings who suffer needlessly. May we always keep the conversation going from one being to another, from one being for another until there is nothing left to talk about.
Yesterday it dawned on me that rather than going to law school or going into politics or starting my own animal welfare or animal rights organization, the best thing I can do is to help these animals is to encourage people to keep talking about the issue and keep educating other people through simple conversation. It's not even about trying to get the whole world to go vegan (although I can easily give you a bunch of reasons why that would be great), but rather about helping to educate people about what goes on in factory farms and how we can all do our part to help change the situation. If you and I can talk about it then we can both talk about it with someone else and then those other people can share what they know and before you know it the information is being widely dispersed and all through regular people. I've seen this happen in my own life numerous times. I've seen friends and family members realize what was going on and make small changes in their own lives that can make huge changes in the factory farm business and more importantly, in the lives of billions of animals. I've even seen quite a few people slowly go from meat eaters to vegetarians to vegans, all from simple conversation and education.
For years agribusiness has spent time and money making sure that people believe they need lots of meat and dairy in order to be healthy. The sad part is that their efforts have worked and the result has been an increased demand for these animal products and huge profits for them. For everyone else, however, the result has been hugely detrimental. Levels of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues have risen dramatically among Americans (as well as those in other countries now following the standard American diet). Even worse than our failing health, which we have the ability to reverse through better food choices, is the unbelievable suffering that animals in factory farms have to endure. It's hard to believe that we live in a country that condones this type of cruelty and suffering. After all, we are a "civilized" country. Unfortunately we're more driven by money than by compassion or good will or anything else you might expect to find in a civilized land.
There are many great organizations committed to abolishing factory farms as well as many dedicated activists who put their time, effort, and money into helping the cause. In my personal experience, I've found that sometimes people have been alienated by my views or by those of certain organizations because they think they're being personally attacked for eating meat. My intention with this blog is to create a place dedicated only to helping animals and to keeping the conversation about the horrors that go on in factory farms as well as related topics going, not to villainize non-vegetarians. I believe that all people, regardless of whether they eat meat or not, need to know what is happening to the billions of animals affected every year. As a country we need to stop denying how dire the situation is. There aren't very many people who could step into a factory farm, observe what's happening there every minute of every day, and walk away unaffected. Even people who aren't animal lovers know what's happening is wrong, if, of course, they know what's happening at all.
Today I watched a video on cnn.com that discussed the proposed laws in multiple states that would make it illegal to take any pictures or video on factory farms. This powerful and wealthy industry doesn't want us to know what's going on in these places because they know the overwhelming majority of people will not agree with it. They would prefer to perpetuate this vicious industry in secret as long as it maximizes their profits. Animals are machines to them and all they care about is their bottom line. It will get worse and worse if we let it, as long as agribusiness can find more ways to make money in the name of animal exploitation and abuse. When I saw this video I knew I had to do my part to encourage people to talk about this issue and I had to start now. Agribusiness may have tons of money, powerful lobbyists, and plenty of politicians in their pockets, but ultimately consumers have the power. By passing this information on from one being to another we can change this system and help the multitudinous animals who suffer the most egregious abuses imaginable, all in the name of profit and palate.
I believe that from simple conversations about factory farming and the beautiful, sentient beings who suffer as a result of it, we can create small changes in the behaviors and habits of large numbers of people. Through these small changes we improve our own health, help the environment which is also affected tremendously by the modern "farming" practices and most importantly, help the countless animals whose cries and torment go unheard. We are all beings on this planet and we all deserve to be happy and free. May we have the courage to face and eventually destroy the abomination that is factory farming. May we not turn our backs in the bliss of ignorance on our fellow beings who suffer needlessly. May we always keep the conversation going from one being to another, from one being for another until there is nothing left to talk about.
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| Farm Sanctuary, Watkins Glen, NY. Just like nature intended. |
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| Taken at Farm Sanctuary, Watkins Glen, NY. Tired after a day of grazing. You'll notice her tag has a name, not a number. |
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
What is factory farming and why should you care?
Many people have heard of factory farming but what is it and why is it really so bad? Isn't it basically just farmers providing food for millions of people and isn't that a good thing? Sure, I can agree that feeding millions of people is great, but when it comes to doing it at the expense of billions of animals, the environment and even people, I must disagree. Furthermore, the current factory farming system is actually totally inefficient, utilizing a tremendous amount of resources for a very small output of food, but I'll explore that in detail some other day.
Let's investigate the CAFO (Concentrated animal feeding operation) or factory farm. Actually let's first just look at the "AFO" (animal feeding operation) part of that. According to the EPA, "AFOs congregate animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area. Feed is brought to the animals rather than the animals grazing or otherwise seeking feed in pastures, fields, or on rangeland." I don't know about you, but my mouth is watering already at the thought of animals, their poo, and their dead friends all congregating in the production of human food! Remember folks, that last quote came straight from the Environmental Protection Agency, a government agency, not an animal rights group.
The only difference between the AFO and the CAFO is the number of animals stuffed into one facility. According to the EPA this CAFOs fall into 3 categories: small, medium and large. Just to give you a sense of exactly what these standards are, a small CAFO would house fewer than 3000 swine, 16,500 turkeys or 37,500 chickens. Doesn't sound very small, does it? However, a large CAFO would house more than 10,000 swine, 82,000 laying hens or more, and a whopping 125,000 chickens or more. Of course, they also have numbers listed for cows, veal calves, ducks, and other animals.
So what do all of these numbers mean exactly? Let's look into it a little further. CAFOs, commonly referred to as "factory farms" are defined by wikipedia.com as "a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory--a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses." The goal of a factory farm is to squish as many animals into the smallest space possible in order to produce the most "product" and of course, make the most profit. Essentially, it's an assembly line of live animals that can feel pain. According to wikipedia "confinement at high stocking density requires antibiotics and pesticides to mitigate the spread of disease and pestilence exacerbated by these crowded living conditions". Basically what you have is a huge number of animals living in total confinement, often unable to turn around or even rest comfortably, usually forced to stand on concrete or wooden slats, sometimes stacked on top of one another or squished into small pens or cages next to each other, living in their own excrement oftentimes among dead animals who were too sick or injured to survive in these squalid conditions. In order to remedy this filthy and miserable situation, agribusiness employs the use (overuse) of antibiotics and pesticides. So rather than clean up these miserable animal concentration camps, they use chemicals, which, needless to say, come with their own host of resulting problems, but again, I'll explore that issue later.
I'll discuss the plights of specific animals on factory farms in later entries, I just wanted to give a brief overview of the disgusting and miserable conditions of factory farms. If it doesn't sound that bad now when I get into details you'll really understand the horror and severity of the situation. Not to mention there are literally 10 billion animals who live, die, and suffer in factory farms in the U.S. every year.
I'd like to leave this entry off with a video of factory farming. This is actually what happens in factory farms. Watching it is really the best way to fully understand the barbarity inflicted on these "farms". You can stop the video, turn away in horror, and try to forget all about it, or you can allow yourself to see firsthand the suffering these animals endure and find out what you can do to help alleviate the misery and pain. I hope you will choose the latter--educating ourselves about this matter is truly the first step to living a compassionate life that sets an example for others. As Gandhi said, you have to "be the change you want to see in the world."
Let's investigate the CAFO (Concentrated animal feeding operation) or factory farm. Actually let's first just look at the "AFO" (animal feeding operation) part of that. According to the EPA, "AFOs congregate animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area. Feed is brought to the animals rather than the animals grazing or otherwise seeking feed in pastures, fields, or on rangeland." I don't know about you, but my mouth is watering already at the thought of animals, their poo, and their dead friends all congregating in the production of human food! Remember folks, that last quote came straight from the Environmental Protection Agency, a government agency, not an animal rights group.
The only difference between the AFO and the CAFO is the number of animals stuffed into one facility. According to the EPA this CAFOs fall into 3 categories: small, medium and large. Just to give you a sense of exactly what these standards are, a small CAFO would house fewer than 3000 swine, 16,500 turkeys or 37,500 chickens. Doesn't sound very small, does it? However, a large CAFO would house more than 10,000 swine, 82,000 laying hens or more, and a whopping 125,000 chickens or more. Of course, they also have numbers listed for cows, veal calves, ducks, and other animals.
So what do all of these numbers mean exactly? Let's look into it a little further. CAFOs, commonly referred to as "factory farms" are defined by wikipedia.com as "a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory--a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses." The goal of a factory farm is to squish as many animals into the smallest space possible in order to produce the most "product" and of course, make the most profit. Essentially, it's an assembly line of live animals that can feel pain. According to wikipedia "confinement at high stocking density requires antibiotics and pesticides to mitigate the spread of disease and pestilence exacerbated by these crowded living conditions". Basically what you have is a huge number of animals living in total confinement, often unable to turn around or even rest comfortably, usually forced to stand on concrete or wooden slats, sometimes stacked on top of one another or squished into small pens or cages next to each other, living in their own excrement oftentimes among dead animals who were too sick or injured to survive in these squalid conditions. In order to remedy this filthy and miserable situation, agribusiness employs the use (overuse) of antibiotics and pesticides. So rather than clean up these miserable animal concentration camps, they use chemicals, which, needless to say, come with their own host of resulting problems, but again, I'll explore that issue later.
I'll discuss the plights of specific animals on factory farms in later entries, I just wanted to give a brief overview of the disgusting and miserable conditions of factory farms. If it doesn't sound that bad now when I get into details you'll really understand the horror and severity of the situation. Not to mention there are literally 10 billion animals who live, die, and suffer in factory farms in the U.S. every year.
I'd like to leave this entry off with a video of factory farming. This is actually what happens in factory farms. Watching it is really the best way to fully understand the barbarity inflicted on these "farms". You can stop the video, turn away in horror, and try to forget all about it, or you can allow yourself to see firsthand the suffering these animals endure and find out what you can do to help alleviate the misery and pain. I hope you will choose the latter--educating ourselves about this matter is truly the first step to living a compassionate life that sets an example for others. As Gandhi said, you have to "be the change you want to see in the world."
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