In conversation with Fiona’s post this week about making our
own decisions, I would like you all to see this College Humor video (if you
haven’t already) and sigh with me in recognition of the truth it spills.
Fair warning: the rest of this post is going to be pretty biased as I have come to these opinions throughout years of my own research and exposure to the topic.
With this post, I seek to address an issue that has weighed on my heart for at
least the past twenty formative years of my life: non-human animal welfare, especially the welfare of industrialized farm animals. I
recognize that this concern may not take precedence for all of you, and I also
understand that, for some of you like me, this issue and all of its
components may be an overwhelming (and even triggering) one that you already
feel educated about – and don’t need a gruesome reminder of. Wherever you fall
on this spectrum, I encourage you not to shy away from the information in the
links presented; however, I will tag those with violent imagery as gore because I
understand how traumatizing they can be.
This Mercy for Animals video presents the facts, and sums up my thoughts on the problem quite nicely. I hope it also explains where the annoying, opinionated vegan stereotype (Q: How do you find out if someone is vegan? A: Don't worry; they'll tell you.) comes from.
Here are two more Mercy for Animals videos (without the cushy cartoon imagery) that expose further the cruelties food animals must undergo to sustain our appetites:
Tragic. Stomach-turning. Heart-wrenching. And if that isn't enough to get you to think about what it means to eat animals, chew on this. My response to this information has been to take meat off my menu (with the exception of my time in Thailand, where it would have been rude not to eat the food my host families had worked hard to prepare for me, I have been a vegetarian for seven years), but I have never felt fully satisfied with that decision. For the reasons I am a vegetarian, I should really be a vegan. This (largely internal and individual) process has looked like this: stumble onto some appalling shit that humans have done in pursuit of profit, cry a lot, watch a documentary [I haven't seen all of these, but they're on my list, so I'm putting them here: Earthlings, Forks Over Knives, Vegucated, Food Inc., and Cowspiracy - it is my understanding all of these films contain gore.], cry a lot more, get really mad, find and compile a bunch of vegan recipes with the intent to cut out all animal products, and then...I don't do it. It's too hard. You have to learn how to cook, and then actually cook. You have to eat vegetables! Primarily vegetables! I have always said that I'll do it [insert next "convenient" span of time here], and then I don't. I feel guilty because I think of the amount of emotional and physical pain, torture, and bloodshed that carries on indefinitely for me to be able to eat a milkshake or an omelette. So guilty that I stunt myself into not trying, which is the worst place to be for my own mental well being, and, of course, the non-human animals whose lives I'm making a living hell by continuing to eat parts of them.
Recently, it has finally clicked for me that sustainable growth is the result of a gradual, mindful shift in personal habits. There are so many reasons why I have been wanting to adopt veganism (seriously, look at the health benefits!); now is the best time to take that first little step. I have a plan that involves written goals and a pretty solid system of support (though more is always welcome!), and I'm excited to use what I've been learning all quarter to finally help me actualize the life I've been visualizing for years.
There is so much to talk about with this, but I've chosen to keep it close to my personal journey with food animals, and I would love to hear your story. Do you believe the hype around all of this? Are the examples I've chosen to have us look at isolated incidents, or are they indicative of what and who is going into your bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffin? Have any of these articles/images changed your mind about eating animals, or did you already have a clear idea of what was going on? General responses?
Thanks for reading. I look forward to talking this over with you in class on Thursday.
As I read your post, I started to wonder if and how omnivores can consume meat in ways that are honorable. As a lifelong omnivore, I have always struggled somewhat with the fact that I enjoy meat on a regular basis without ever having to engage with the actual process of slaughtering and butchering the animals that I eat. While I have caught and skinned fish on a few occasions, this doesn't feel quite the same as preparing a chicken or pig every step of the way from farm to plate. I think taking a backseat when it comes to the gruesome business of animal slaughter is just one of the many ways consumers can be disconnected and removed from our food. In addition to the fact that meat processing is yet another industry in our food system that is ripe with employee exploitation and abuse. For me personally, I think this is an important, albeit unpleasant, experience to have and one of the ways I can make a more informed and conscientious choice about my animal consumption habits. I am not entirely sure how to go about such an experience however, and until I figure that out, I try to be very careful when purchasing meat. While I don't have much control over how the meat I am served by others is sourced, I do have a say in where the meat I prepare in my kitchen is coming from. Growing up, my parents purchased meat from butchers they knew personally with practices they were comfortable with. That is to say, farms that practiced as best they could the "one bad day" philosophy of raising livestock. Without turning every trip to the grocery store or restaurant into an episode of Portlandia ( https://youtu.be/ErRHJlE4PGI ) , I try to emulate this as best I can although, like many aspects of the honorable harvest, it is not always the most economically viable option for my grocery budget. This makes my efforts far from perfect but I do believe every small choice has an impact.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing up such an important food-related issue!
ReplyDeleteI am not a vegan, but I have seen some of the videos/articles you posted in your post, and know how cruel farm animals are treated. But I don’t know much about veganism, and I may have very wrong ideas about it. So please teach me if I’m saying something weird!
I have considered about becoming a vegan before, but whenever I try to do so, I get overwhelmed by the massiveness of the current food system. I feel like my individual effort of not eating factory-produced animal meat/ animal products is a very meaningless thing, which won’t even be recognized by the people who are in charge of the industries. Even if I become a vegan, unless I take extra actions such as uploading blog posts about veganism/ spreading the idea of the cruelty faced by the farm animals, just being a vegan seems to be a slightly passive. These opinions, however, are coming out of “ignorant me” who does not know much about veganism.
In order to learn more about vegan, I want to ask the following questions to vegans: In what ways do you think vegans/vegetarians impact the current food system, and are there collective movements to make even larger impacts? I also want to know other reasons for people to choose to be vegetarians/vegans.
This may be a slightly off topic, but I love animals and I truly believe that farm animals should not be treated cruelly. Kendal’s post reminded me about Temple Grandin, an autistic animal scientist who invented a system to calm down farm animals before they are sent off to slaughter houses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin
I truly think we need to pay respect to the animals we eat, and should minimize their suffering.
Thanks Kendal for getting specific on a topic that has been brought up in class but hasn't been expanded on.
ReplyDeleteThe videos were hard to watch and I know they will stick in my mind when I go to stores like Meijer to purchase meat. I also know, that in a few weeks these images will become distant and hard to remember. It is very easy to distance yourself from realities like those shown in the video and this distance is why it’s happening. I have been trying to make an effort to have more sustainable and just means to providing myself with meat especially when I am cooking it. It is hard to stick with those morals though when I am eating in the caf or when I am with guests or friends.
My first year here at K we watched the documentary that many of you have heard of called Food Inc. This for me was eye opening and it made it so I became vegetarian (ish) for a few months. I found this impossible to keep up with when I came home though and soon enough I was off that track. Many of us have talked about tradition being the reason we eat the way we do, and I find that to be true when it comes to meat and my family. This summer I will be spending my time up north where the diet and food provided will be completely meatless. I am hoping that this will incorporate a new tradition in myself and I can better understand how to eat less meat.
Wow, wow, and wow. I think this topic is so interesting and important especially to this class. Reading about it and watching the links i was so disturbed. I couldn't really watch the ones labeled (gore) because of how upsetting I found them. I also think I have seen these circulating around on Facebook for a couple of years and I feel frustrated that they can’t quiet make the impact they need to. I know for myself as a child I couldn’t eat meat because it was too sad for me knowing where they came from. But as I grew older this has wained as I stopped thinking about it so much. Also, when I came back from Thailand I wanted to become a vegetarian again but I couldn't quiet get it to stick. I’m not sure why this is but I know I can cut down the amount of meat I eat and save it for special occasions. At least this way some of my demands for meat would be cut down.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings watching the videos. On one hand, they do expose realities of our animal agriculture system that are allowed to be perpetuated I think in large part because people are unaware (or in denial) about the conditions under which most of the livestock in this country live and die. At the same time, I think that Mercy for Animals oversimplifies the issue--it sounds like if you just eat vegan you can be assured that your diet is morally wholesome. But vegetable crop farming impacts animals too--destroying habitat, polluting waterways, changing the climate (think polar bears on their melting ice floes). So I just think the issue is a lot more complicated than just swearing off foods that come directly from the bodies of animals.
ReplyDeleteI also think that there are cases in which animals are beneficial to agricultural systems--there are certain ecosystems that are much more well-suited to grazing than they are to plowing and planting annual crops. And I think that there can be ways of raising animals for food that are respectful and kind. Granted, the farms that use those practices are in the minority, but they do exist. One local livestock farm I respect is EarthSmith Food & Forest Products (http://www.earthsmithfarm.com/). This farm uses ecological principles in a farming system that includes animals and both perennial and annual vegetable crops.
The videos used the term "factory farms"--a term so commonly used now that I wonder what it means in reality. What makes a farm a "factory"? Can organic farms be factory farms? The reason this is on my mind right now is because there is a new proposed rule for organic livestock and poultry practices that is up for public comment right now. You can find the rule here: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/04/13/2016-08023/national-organic-program-organic-livestock-and-poultry-practices. And if you have time to read it and the ability to understand it, you can submit your comments regarding whether it should be adopted or not. But who has time for that? Maybe it's easier to just eat vegan? Or--know your farmer, visit their farm, ask them about how they raise their animals, ask them about why they do what they do, then use your own judgement about whether you want to support those practices.
Thank you for the very interesting (and at times hard to watch) resources you shared, Kendal. Having explored animal welfare in my first year seminar and engaged in conversations regarding this topic in Thailand, I felt fairly well informed about this issue. I found myself nodding and grimacing where I was “supposed to” while watching each video up until just moments before the end of the pieces. I agree with Mercy for Animals’ identification of the problem of factory farms’ treatment of animals, but I can’t buy their solution (going vegan) as the only option; I see many more political, economic, and cultural paths to combating injustice in the treatment of agricultural animals. Within the framework of individual food choices, consumers can choose to reduce their animal product consumption and/or choose to only eat animal products cultivated in conditions sensitive to animal welfare. I think the very narrow vegan solution this organization proposes can take on moralizing tones and be potentially insensitive to different cultural understandings of animal product consumption. Something also rubbed me the wrong way about the market-orientedness of this solution—and this angle appears in many other conversations about food (and justice in general). Under the thumb of capitalism, “voting with your food dollars” isn’t a BAD idea. But, I feel strongly that SOLELY advocating for change in this way reinforces values (market values in particular that aren’t an appropriate valuation system for all things/people/animals in this world) that drive and influence the injustices that we are attempting to address. Advocating for systemic political or economic changes (micro or (preferably) macro) should buttress our individual choices as some don’t possess the privilege to cast that “food ballot.” In short, we need complex, diverse, and multiple solutions to issues of animal welfare; eating choices are important, but cannot address this—or any—issue surrounding food justice alone.
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ReplyDeleteNo need to reduce this information to ‘hype’, Kendal! Humans are, without a doubt, inflicting pain onto creatures who can feel it. I can’t say for sure how I’m choosing to let that fact affect my life. Right now, I do think that I’m choosing to ignore it. I try to reduce my meat consumption, but that’s as much out of stinginess and an ignorance of how to properly prepare it (I was raised with an unhealthy fear of salmonella).
ReplyDeleteHowever, my ideological stance on eating meat centers more on the environment than on humans. Our meat production system, like all of our current agricultural system, produces a terrible amount of waste. I’d like to read more on the environmental impact per calorie of a steak vs. a potato—the energy spent on producing a calorie of beef must be staggering. My environmental aversion to meat has been a slight source of argument for me with my parents over the past few years; they’re constantly worried that I won’t eat healthily. However, it’s also become one of my fiercest counterarguments in support of climate change: whenever I’m told that climate change is just from cow digestive systems (and not anthropogenic sources, surely not!), I’m quick to respond by criticizing the magnitude of meat consumed by the average American.
Finally, I really enjoyed the vegan recipe sites! It reminded me of an article I read recently about using the water from chickpea cans as an egg substitute: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/dining/aquafaba-vegan-egg-substitute.html?_r=0
Just in case anyone’s interested in vegan meringues.
Veganism is interesting to me and like Amy the videos gave me mixed feelings. When I was younger and talked to people who were vegetarians and vegans it seemed that they were mostly motivated either by a desire to lose weight or they were not comfortable with the idea of eating animals. Animals dying (in humane ways) in order for me to eat them is not something I have too much of an issue with and so I never could identify much with the vegans or vegetarians I met. When I went to college I started learning more about the state of our food system, factory farms, and animal treatment in our food production system. Additionally, one of my best friends became a vegetarian not because she did not believe in eating animals, but because of the awful way they were being treated in order for her to eat them as well as environmental concerns. I started to hear about and meet more people who were vegan because of similar reasons and because of that I connected with and was more intrigued by the diet. I often feel caught because I detest the way animals are treated in our current system yet I already have so many dietary restrictions that eating meat allows me to more easily to be able to eat out and eat at other people’s homes. However, I would personally like to make more of an effort to ensure that I am eating meat raised in respectful ways. Also, kind of echoing what Amy wrote, being vegan does not necessarily mean your diet is better for the environment, people, or for animals. Like we have talked about in class underpaid and poorly treated migrant workers are who are supplying us with many of our vegetables. How is that humane? Thus I think veganism should not give anyone moral superiority and should be examined for the ways it still plays into the system.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the necessary reminders, Kendal. I absolutely agree that what we call "factory farming" is a cruel system built on a money-market economy that under values animal welfare. I also agree that it under values human welfare, as farmworkers are subjected to poor conditions, all of us are inundated with chemicals, and as many small farmers are forced out of business or in some instances to adopt the farming practices of the mega corporations that buy them out (sometimes against their better judgement). I think of this as another place where Americans have decided to marginalize farming and farms and preferred to keep theses things out of sight. Ultimately I think their existence arises from a desire for all to have animal protein but not to meddle in the dirt and trauma of animal production. I think this is misguided.
ReplyDeleteI really do think that there are plenty of small-scale farmers who are using animals as a way to increase the biodiversity of their farms and improve their soils in doing so. Working with biodynamic farmers who did both organic vegetables and meats and cheeses in France served as a beautiful example of this possibility. I very rarely eat meat in part to do ecological concerns, and in part based on a conviction that I should eat only meat that I feel ethically comfortable with. This can get a bit dicey when eating out, where I generally stick to vegetarianism. Budgetary confinements imposed by the prices for such meats mean that I cook meat maybe once a month and otherwise stick to legumes, grains, fruits and vegetables.
I don't digest dairy well, so I frequently do eat vegan. I even went vegan for a full month just to see if I could do it, and I really didn't find it difficult. Still, eggs are such a quick, easy, inexpensive option that I really see a local, free-range, organic egg (which, you know... the chicken lays anyway) as posing no moral hurdle. In fact, so many of the more complicated substitutions which attempt to imitate animal proteins have their own set of ecological impacts that can be "worse" than the know-your-farmer approach (the implications of drinking so much almond milk, for example: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/oct/21/almond-milk-quite-good-for-you-very-bad-for-the-planet).
So.. again, I really don't think that veganism or vegetarianism is "the answer" to the issues involved with animal welfare, though perhaps they are one possible response, and I do commend the action and intention that they imply. I think further uncomfortable questioning will always be necessary, but personally prefer to be closer (physically participating or in geographic proximity) to the animals that provide my food.
Thank you for bringing these issues to the table, Kendal!
ReplyDeleteAs others have mentioned, the undercover videos were really hard for me to watch... Their point comes across loud and clear though, and they are very focused in scope (which has its pros and cons). Like Amy, I had mixed feelings because the overt message presented is that veganism is the best/only solution to the issue of animal welfare and abuse, whereas I think the issue is more complex and requires a wide variety of responses. Something else struck me about the undercover videos too: that the people who work directly with the animals seem to be demonized/scapegoated in a very personal way. Their faces were blurred, but the hyperfocused narrative (exclusively on animal welfare) seems to me to have dehumanized them... which is ironic considering the factory farms they infiltrate probably also dehumanize their workers... I imagine that working in the conditions shown would be awful for the workers' health, and would really desensitize a person to the suffering of animals that they are expected/(required??) to treat so poorly. I guess it seems like a lost opportunity for animal rights folks to ally with workers in demanding safe, healthy, less oppressive spaces of food production. I wonder if Mercy for Animals does ever network with or show support for campaigns/orgs in the world of food justice that aren't specifically about veganism or farm animals...
All that said, a lot of your experience resonated with me, Kendal - the documentary-watching, anger, and guilt. Watching the videos had me numbering the dairy and meat products I have in the fridge right now and cringing... It's a lot to think about and I've found it hard to settle in any one place for long regarding my own views on the solutions to these sorts of issues. Meanwhile, I kind of meander along and try to go to Farmers' Markets, although that CollegeHumor video pretty much sums up my experience this quarter. I'm hoping and intending that after K, I'll devote more time to turning the anger/passion I feel into action, probably not by becoming vegan, but perhaps by working in resilient/sustainable ag/permaculture in some capacity. Similarly, I hope to keep moving from confusion/questions to conversation/reflection/solutions/more questions!, as we've done in this class, and which I deeply appreciate.
I see the issue of large factory farming as a problem with specialization that has gotten out of hand. Back in the day, it was advantageous to have people specialize with their profession. Your town would have a doctor, a banker, a dentist, a lawyer, a farmer, a butcher, and etc. This worked wonders for efficiency, people could do better professional work if they didn't have to worry about wearing every other hat necessary for living in society. But as our towns became cities, and our needs grew, our farms became like factories and our animals suffered.
ReplyDeleteAnimals will die and people will continue to eat them until there are no more people or animals left. Some may choose to oppose this, and I think that's fine, but I feel that real change for animals has to come in the form of small local farms providing for their communities. When your food comes from out of state or even out of the country, it becomes too easy to turn a blind eye to what is happening. If we return to local producers of food, people in their communities who are passionate can have more of a voice and influence.
I thought my comment posted but I thought I would double check because the internet was being weird when I was trying to post and turns out it never did. Oh well. Basically what I wrote about before our class time this past Thursday was how these videos and the argument for a vegan lifestyle is definitely impressive I do think it is nothing I haven't seen before. I have great respect for people who choose to live a vegan life but I don't think it is impossible to eat meat in an ethical way. I know I have mentioned this many many times before but Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma really brought this issue into a new light for me. There is a section of the book where he discusses his choice to not be a vegetarian and how can he justify eating meat despite all he knows of the meat industry. He reasons that eating meat can be deemed ethical (perhaps not more ethical than cutting it out entirely, but still) so long as it is purchased from a source you know to be humane and can trust. If you eat a steak but the steak came from a cow that was provided for in healthy ways throughout its entire life, not being fed corn which they are not meant to eat while they stand in small pens of their own manure as many cows are treated, you can feel good about the meat you are eating and no it was given a good life and humane death. Or at least that is how I feel. I have tried to cut down my meat consumption and when I do eat meat I try to buy it from reputable, local sources. I think the biggest message I have from all of this is if we are going to consume food, whatever food that may be, we can't be ignorant. We can choose to buy the big mac from McDonald's, but we shouldn't do so telling ourselves that it is healthy and natural and the meat used for this burger was treated well and there are no chemicals involved. Our decisions are ours to make, I don't think it is my place to tell someone the right way to eat, but I do think it is our responsibilty as consumers to at least be aware and base our decisions off of this awareness.
ReplyDeleteI remember the first time I ever witnessed the cruelty of our food system toward animals. It was quite a while ago, when I was still an underclassmen in high school. I was on a field trip visiting different colleges, when one college student came up to me and gave my friends and I a DVD with a cute bright pink pig with the words PETA written on top. Before this curious case ever occurred, I had no clue what PETA meant or what the contents of the DVD entailed and apparently neither did our bus driver, for he played the movie while on the bus. A riot soon ensued! Our chaperones were appalled, everybody on the bus was shocked. Some people became vegetarians, others vegan and others like me tried to do both, but failed at either option. I am still trying to be vegetarian, but it’s hard when your culture’s main dishes all involve meat.
ReplyDeletePretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon! Website
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