We Got The Meat, Every Animal To Be Mistreat(ed)

(Please read the title to the tune of “We Got the Beat” by the Go-Go’s)

Carsen Mastrangelo
Nov 5 · 5 min read

Do you eat chicken? Pig? Cow? Turkey? Dog?

You read that right, do you eat dogs? Did you know that it is legal to eat dogs in 44 states? In his novel “Eating Animals”, Jonathan Safran Foer explains that we only eat some animals and see it completely immoral to eat others. We keep dogs as pets, they are a man’s best friend. We tend to separate dogs as animals that are remarkably unique and intellectual. Did you ever stop to think that pigs have the same intellectual abilities and feelings? So why do we think it is far-fetched to have a pig as a pet yet completely and utterly immoral to eat dogs? We value animals as equal but some animals are clearly more equal than others. This determines how we decide which animals are appropriate for us to consume. One argument for separating dogs from animals to slaughter and eat is that dogs are companion animals. But pigs can also be companion animals. We also like to think that dogs have a significant mental capacity and are therefore separate from other animals destined for slaughter. If we are using mental capacity as a determining factor of which animals not to eat, pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, and many species of water animals would be included with our furry-four-legged-sleep-next-to-us-at-night animals. To people living in the United States, eating our beloved pet dogs seems unnatural and completely immoral. Many places around the world eat dogs, in fact it is tradition and common practice. Here in the United States, we do not want to see animals, especially dogs, suffer while awaiting slaughter yet that is exactly what is happening. Let me tell you a little bit about factory farming.

Factory farming is the practice of housing vast numbers of animals in cramped conditions, often subjecting them to abuse, and using the most efficient ways to harvest eggs, milk, and meat (among other body parts). Animals on factory farms are regarded as commodities to be exploited for profit. They undergo painful mutilations and are bred to grow unnaturally fast and large for the purpose of maximizing meat, egg, and milk production for the food industry. Their bodies cannot support this growth, which results in debilitating and painful conditions and deformities. To counteract the health challenges presented by overcrowded, stressful, unsanitary living conditions, antibiotics are used extensively on factory farms, which can create drug-resistant bacteria and put human health at risk.

The factory farming industry also puts incredible strain on our natural resources. The extreme amount of waste created by raising so many animals in one place pollutes our land, air, and water. Growing crops such as corn to feed the animals takes up large areas of land and valuable water resources.

Deforestation as a result of the need for more land for industrial agriculture

Recently in my Environmental Humanities class we watched the documentary, “Cowspiracy”. The thesis of this documentary is that animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution, is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, and is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean “dead zones,” and virtually every other environmental ill. Yet it goes on, almost entirely unchallenged and also unrecognized by environmental groups. “Cowspiracy” also aims to convince the reader to go vegan as the only way to save our dying planet. In my class discussion about the film, one student raised the point that one cannot consider themselves an environmentalist if they eat meat. In a sense I agree with this because animal agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to climate change.

Eliot Coleman, however disagrees with this. I am about to do a presentation in my Environmental Humanities class about Eliot Coleman so I know a lot about this guy. He owns Four Seasons Farm which produces vegetables year-round and has become a nationally recognized model of small-scale sustainable agriculture. Eliot Coleman says: “if I butcher a steer to eat, and that steer has been raised on grass on my farm, I am not responsible for any increased CO2. The pasture-raised animal eating grass in my field is NOT producing CO2, merely recycling it (short term carbon cycle) as grazing animals (and human beings) have since they evolved. It is not meat eating that is responsible for increased greenhouse gasses; it is the corn/ soybean/ chemical fertilizer/ feedlot/ transportation system under which factory farm animals are raised.I am sure that future research will document other contributing factors of factory farm practices on animal emissions. The fact seems clear. It is not the livestock; it is the way they are raised”.

Eliot Coleman

While there are many perspectives and opinions about animal agriculture, there is one important fact that is recognized by almost every activist that speaks about animal agriculture: industrial animal agriculture is really bad for the environment. This is the reason I decided to go vegetarian about 3 years ago. Industrial animal agriculture is not sustainable in its current methods of practice. If farming practices were to change in order to be sustainable and ethical, I would start eating meat again. But until then, I’ll stick with my veggie “burgers” and tofu tacos.

So what can you do? Well I am not going to jump down your throat and tell you to give up meat forever. I suggest you simply limit your meat consumption. Try those trendy Meatless-Mondays or try eating one meal a day without meat. Simply limiting meat consumption can make a huge difference and help to positively impact our environment. We can all make a change for the better, so what is stopping us?

Sources:

“Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer

https://sentientmedia.org/factory-farming/

https://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/

Livestock and Climate Change?

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