Food and Feelings: Animals and the Ethics Behind Eating

There was a wide range of reactions to my post on environmental effects of meat production, and a couple of them I found to be very interesting.  I think it’s important to remember that there are many reasons that people cut meat down or out of their diet completely.   Food choices are important to those of us who may not be particularly passionate about animal rights because it affects our water, our air, and our health.  But at the core of meat and dairy is the ethics behind raising or, to be more accurate, producing animals for consumption.  Did you know:

• In 2003, the US slaughtered 9.1 BILLION animals — 8.68 billion were chickens alone.  This also doesn’t include aquatic animals (no official count) or animals that die on the farms or in transit (around 100 million).
• In factory farms, animals are crammed into windowless sheds, wire cages, gestation crates, and other confinement systems.  Many do not ever see the sun until they are loaded on trucks to be killed.
• Dairy cows must be repeatedly impregnated in order to continue producing milk.  According to the USDA in 2004, 9 million cows on dairy farms live in large sheds or mud lots where disease is common.
• Pigs are considered smarter than the average 3-year old human.  Pigs, chickens, cattle and sheep are all sentient beings, meaning that– according to Darwin– they have “the same senses, intuitions, and sensations, similar passions, affections and emotions . . . the same faculties of imitation, choice, imagination, the association of ideas and reason though in very different degrees.”

If you can stand it, you can watch a short clip on what factory farming actually looks like.  The terms “factory” and “farm” together seem like an oxymoron, don’t they?

The facts I listed are not to make you feel guilty, but rather to make you aware.  We can get bogged down with the overwhelming evidence that animals are mistreated on farms, to the point that we compartmentalize and put it out of our heads whenever a food decision is made.  But we should know where our food comes from, right?

As one of our users commented on our last post, if you feel like eating a hamburger, eat it.  I certainly do not hold back if I really want that turkey sandwich.  But I am better about whether or not I need to eat meat every day, at every meal.  And when I do eat meat, I know exactly how I’m affecting the world around me.

Another commenter suggests eating organic.  That’s a good idea, and I would suggest eating local, too, since there is always greater transparency and accountability if you can visit the farm 30 miles away.  And you’re supporting your community economically (a la the Slow Money Movement).  You can check for farms near you by visiting Local Harvest, or by stopping by your local farmer’s market.

What are your feelings on this topic, and what advice would you give our readers about food?

Fight the Good Fight,

Johanna Hudgens

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Related articles to check out:

• Farmers fight back against animal rights groups (sfgate.com)
• The Meatrix: The Revolting Reality of Factory Farming (naturalbias.com)
• Ethical Eating (timesunion.com)
• Interview With A Vegan, Part Two (themoderatevoice.com)

Tags: Agriculture, animal rights, Animal welfare, Factory farming, Farmers' market, Johanna Hudgens, Local Harvest, Replyforall

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 9:49 pm and is filed under news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.