"Eating Animals"

Hello fellow AP English class bloggers. As our blogging project is drawing to a close, I felt it necessary to finally post about our animal welfare book, Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer. In his book, Foer brings to light various unknown facts about the food industry, generally focusing on animals (hence the title). Now as much as I honestly do not care about eating organic or picking healthy and economically friendly foods, I do care very much about animals. Believe it or not, I am an animal lover (as if you didn't surmise that from my last posts being about dogs). From owning multiple dogs in my lifetime, to the various rodents, birds, fish and reptiles my family has possessed, I have grown quite attached to animals. This is why I am in the animal welfare blogging group, and this is why I am posting this now...

While I may disagree with certain aspects of the purpose of this focus on the food we consume, I cannot ignore the impact that reading about the deplorable conditions that the animals I eat are raised and killed in has had on me. Those of you who have read Eating Animals as well already know what I am talking about. For the rest of you, however, allow me to fill you in. I will start out talking about pigs, one of the animals that I most love to eat (for Payton and Jack). As funny as Jim Gaffigan may be, the conditions of the lives of the pigs we eat are far from it. Like many animals, pigs are kept in pins that are so small that they are unable to turn around, let alone walk. Much like astronauts' bones and muscles atrophy in space, being confined in such small spaces without the ability to move causes the bones of these pigs to become less dense. Keeping large numbers of pigs in a confined space obviously results in a problem with waste and odor management. These pigs are often left to wallow in their own excrement. Obviously these crates are small, and small crates cause rubbing. This brutal combination of cramped living space, toxic living conditions and friction with their cages causes the perfect storm of medical problems, open sores and deformation. If only these pigs had been lucky enough to be the runts of their respective litters, in which case they are bludgeoned to death. This may not sound like a great alternative, but compared to being raised in torturous factory farms it may not be so bad.

Now for chickens. I mean who doesn't love Chick-fil-a or having some nice scrambled eggs for breakfast? Maybe you even enjoy both at once, ordering a chicken, egg and cheese bagel for breakfast at chick-fil-a. How nice. Eating a chicken as well as the egg that it has produced, a kind of full cycle, nothing goes to waste deal. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but this notion is false. Now we have two kinds of chickens: layers and broilers. Oh yes, there are two different chickens for the two different edible aspects of chicken-hood. Lets begin with layer chickens, the chickens who lay the eggs that we eat. These chickens live in 67 square inches of space. That's slightly more than 8 inches X 8 inches. Sounds awesome, especially considering that the average sized chicken is almost 12 inches long. Now, small living space aside, being a layer can't be all that bad, right? Wrong again. Imagine being trapped in a dark elevator so tight that you can't move, and in some cases can't even touch the ground. That's right folks, chicken cages are stacked in tiers that can go up to 18 layers high. Imagine being a chicken on the bottom of these 18 stories, with 17 chickens almost genetically identically to you drizzling you with their wonderful excrement for literally your whole life. Now if you think about the idea of chickens breed for laying, a problem comes to mind. That pesky Y chromosome. What are you going to do with a chicken that is meant for laying, yet is a male? Simple enough. Kill it. This problem leads to the destruction of 250 MILLION male layers EVERY YEAR in the United States. Now how do we accomplish this chicken genocide? By sucking them through a series of pipes which eventually dump them onto an electrified plate. These are the lucky ones. The less fortunate are sent through devices known as the macerators. Ever seen Fargo (if not here, check it out: Fargo)? Ya, that's what macerators are. Ok then. Now onto the broilers, aka meat chickens. These chickens live in luxury compared to their egg laying brethren. With a whole square foot of space, they are living the life of great fortune, until you consider the fact that they are genetically engineered to be larger, effectively making this increase in space negligible. Due to the same gene manipulation that makes them so large, they also mature extremely quickly. They grow twice as fast in half the time as their organic predecessors. The life expectancy of a chicken is approximately 15-20 years (which means at least 15 more years of chickens in your back yard Mrs. Collier ;) ), but broilers are killed just six weeks after they are hatched. Because of their short lives and big size, it is obvious that they are growing rather quickly. In fact, their daily growth rate has increased 400% since the 1930's.

Alright. If you are still reading this, I applaud you, and I will not keep you for much longer. These are the two things I came to talk about, and I feel like a covered the general pigs and chickens that you eat pretty well. However, I am excluding some of the most disturbing and shameful aspects of factory farms because I don't wish to make some exceptionally cruel behavior by a minority of workers in the business appear to be common practice. If you wish to feel ashamed to be a human, I would strongly suggest reading this book (like I am doing now). If you just wish to become more aware of the problems and corruptions of the "meat making" industry, read it too. However, remember that I've warned you that some of it is pretty gruesome. And if you are STILL reading this post (Mrs. Collier, I know you are the only one left), I would like you to note that I told you that my final post was going to be a knockout.

-Zachary Ifkovits

Benefits of Vegetarianism

I know, when we hear "vegetarian" or "vegan" the first assumptions are hippie, animal loving, over-enthusiasts. However, vegetarianism has become a much more common choice lately, not just for the sake of the "poor" "innocent" animals, but for the health benefits! Vegetarian diets are proven to lower one's BMI, cholesterol lovel, and risk of cancer (certain vegies, herbs, and fruits have concer-protective phytochamicals).

In Jonathan Safron's book Eating Animals, Safron creates a great argument (or great arguements) for an animal-free diet. He makes his argument personal and relatable as well as factual (not to mention pretty funny) and points out the moral, scientific, and practical. In the very beginning he tells stories of his youth and why he first dabbled in vegetarianism. As a child, he realized that he should not hurt people, he should not hurt pets, so why should the chicken on his plate be any different? His book synthesizes from basic morality, to factual investigation of the heathy side of vegetarianism.

So why does vegetarianism have such negative connotations? There has to be a reason for the sudden growth, and if so many benefits come from this, why not do a little more researching?

You can read more about the book (which is surprisingly good!) here: http://www.eatinganimals.com/
(There's a short excerpt if you want to see if the book's for you!)
and here's a website with a few pages on health benefits: http://www.benefitsofvegetarianism.com/

-Katy

A New Hope

T-Rex Dinosaur--Scott Kinmartin
Me and my bro headin' out for some free range pterodactyl!

I have been outraged and saddened by my discoveries over the course of the last few months. Judging from some of the comments we've gotten on this blog, I take it that many of you feel the same way.

A large portion of the food industry has sold out its values for increasing revenues. They seem to not care about their workers, their communities, and their animals. I am a proud carnivore (no, not an omnivore as you are all trying to correct me. I don’t remember the last green thing I ate) in the tradition of T-Rex. But I cannot and will not eat tortured flesh. And let’s face it folks, a majority of the food we eat is.

Now with this being said, I am not going to stop eating meat anytime soon. However, I am becoming increasingly more interested in the quality of life of the animal that I am eating.

For instance, when I go to a restaurant, I won’t eat any meat dish unless I know the name of animals I am eating, I have seen its Facebook page, and I know that it has a solid, witty Twitter feed. I cannot tell you how many chicken I have sent back to the kitchen because they had a mean streak in them.

That’s a bad joke, but I setting my standards MUCH higher and I am looking for new places to get good meat. This has led me to Springer Mountain Farms (thanks Robbie) and Niman Ranch (Thank you Jedi Master Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals and my new hero).

Knowing nothing of the Niman Ranch, I decided to pay it a visit (via the internet, for clarification). According to the website, Niman Ranch raises animals that are “Humanely Raised on Sustainable U.S. Farms and Ranches, Never Given Antibiotics-Ever, Never Given Any Added Hormones-Ever, [and] Fed All Vegetarian Feeds.” In addition to this, Niman Ranch is part of a larger Niman Ranch Network with 650 other farmers committed to their same values.

This was promising so I kept exploring the ranch.

I hit the FAQ and I was really impressed. First off, Niman Ranch is very honest. Their cattle are not 100% grass fed and they admit it. The cattle do spend their lives at pasture but are fed grains right before they are slaughtered because it makes the meat better. They also explain that the cattle receive a humane slaughter. This is good news for animal welfare conscious T-Rexes like myself.

The info goes on and I suggest that you read it to see what GOOD meat producers are doing these days. And there are good meat producers out there. It is our job to find farms like Niman Ranch and to support them (even if they are more expensive in the short term--because they are). This is the only way to fight the abusive policies of the factory farm.

So please pay heed! You are part of the last hope to save the Galaxy! Do not give into the temptingly low prices of the Evil Empire of the Factory Farm! Join up with the Rebel Alliance and strike back! I wish all of you good luck and happy hunting in the grocery aisles. May the Farm be with you!

-Shockley

Is Humane Slaughter Really That Humane?

 Jonathan Foer's Eating Animals illustrates the side of our food industry that we seldom see. He highlights the low points of our food system in a way that is to the point and in your face. while focuseing on the darker aspects of food in america such as hormone enhanced livestock, and the effects of the waste produced by facotry farms, he also invetigates how a "humane" slughterhouse operates.

In the chapter titled "Slices of Paradise/Pieces of S***" Foer visits a humane pork slaughter house to see how they do business. Now Paradise Locker Meats is much more animal friendly than traditional anumal processing plants, however they still admit to over crowding and to using means of knocking out their pigs that work only 80% of the time. A worker states that,"We get em on the first shock I'd think about 80% of the time." (155)

This same slaughter house also said that in a pin designed to hold 50 hogs, "we get 70 or 80 at a time."(161) Foers investigation made me think about how all animals are treated not just ones who's destiny is to feed a family of four. Our Humane facilities are a better option but hey are few and far between, and for those who are radically pro-animal rights do not offer a perfect solution to today's slaughter house issues.

-Robbie

Organic Consumers Association

The Organic Consumers Association was formed in 1998 and campaigns for health, justice, and sustainability on behalf of the millions of organic consumers. Their main political program, the Organic Agenda, contains six points addressing the changes that need to take place in the food industry, with the fourth stating they would like to see "a phase-out of the most dangerous industrial agriculture and factory farming practices."

Here's the bad news about factory farming:

1. Each full-grown chicken in a factory farm has as little as six-tenths of a square foot of space. Because of the crowding, they often become aggressive and sometimes eat each other. This has lead to the painful practice of debeaking the birds.
2. Hogs become aggressive in tight spaces and often bite each other's tails, which has caused many farmers to cut the tails off.
3. Concrete or slatted floors allow for easy removal of manure, but because they are unnatural surfaces for pigs, the animals often suffer skeletal deformities.
4. Ammonia and other gases from manure irritate animals' lungs, to the point where over 80% of US pigs have pneumonia upon slaughter.
5. Due to genetic manipulation, 90% of broiler chickens have trouble walking.

A great way to get swine flu!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arbaks/3486354284/sizes/s/in/photostream/

Also, as you probably know, the swine flu started at a hog farm in North Carolina because of the awful conditions of factory farming. It quickly spread across the world, leaving behind numerous health risks. However, what you may not know, is that the vaccines treating the H1N1 virus actually may contribute to the already present safety concerns of the illness:

1. A leaked memo revealed that the swine flu vaccine has been linked to paralysis.
2. The fast-tracked vaccine contains novel adjuvants, including dangerous qualene which is linked to Gulf War syndrome.

To learn more about the swine flu and other issues concerning the welfare of animals and humans visit this website. The OCA also provides information in areas such as organics, agriculture and climate, genetic engineering, food safety, fair trade/social justice, and politics and democracy. Take action, find organics, and donate today at www.organicconsumers.org!

-Jennifer Rochefort

Waka Flocka for PETA

As ridiculous and absurd young rap star Waka Flocka may seem, I found some very interesting information regarding him and animal rights.  As a child, Flocka had many animals: dogs, cats, and even iguanas.  Due to his passion for animals, he took a strong stand for animal rights.  He admits that after watching graphic videos of animals being tortured that it has changed the way he eats.  He also is completely against genetically engineering.  He views it as changing the way an animal truly should be.  He can relate to this way due to his status as musician.  No one should be forced to be who their not.

I was going to post the YouTube video on this blog, however he does say a "bad word" or two.  If you want to learn more about Flocka's controversial stance on this issue, search "Waka Flocka for Peta" on YouTube.  Here is an article now explaining further Flocka's feelings.

http://www.ballerstatus.com/2011/02/08/waka-flocka-flame-signs-on-for-peta-campaign/

- Payton Collier

World famous

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank our international viewers from: Iran, Canada, Indonesia, and Australia!

-Robbie