Note: Any time I’m referring to farms or farmers in this post, I am talking about large scale commercial farms and the people that are running them. I am fully aware that small independent farmers do not necessarily engage in the same practices, and their products can be produced more ethically. This is not a criticism of farming writ-large.
After nearly 47 years on this planet as an omnivore, I’ve decided that it’s time to be a vegetarian. Not for health reasons, but if I wind up healthier that’s a bonus. It’s entirely an ethical decision.
Now, I try to live my life in a way that I consider to be ethical. I’m not always successful, but I try. I avoid things that I think are bad for the world. In the summer I try to ride my bike instead of drive my truck. I try to avoid the stock market because I think that publicly traded companies have to much pressure for infinite growth and they have to make decisions that are bad for the environment, bad for their employees, or bad for their consumers in order to appease shareholders. I turn off lights in rooms once I’ve left them, I’ll even leave them turned off in a room I’m occupying unless I really need to see. I recycle, even though I’m pretty sure it’s just a make work project for most of us designed to trick us into thinking we’re saving the world by trying to recycle plastic that’s probably just shipped to a different part of the world that has less stringent environmental laws so they can just burn it for us. I try to be kind and patient and understanding with people and remind myself that not everyone sees the world the same way I do, even if I’m screaming internally. This might be giving me an ulcer, but it’s for the greater good.
I do little things in the hopes that I can make the world marginally less shitty, whether it be through my efforts or by setting a not shitty example for others.
Now my list of things that I think make the world shittier includes the eating of meat. Now, I’ve already indicated that I know what an omnivore is, so I hope it’s clear that I understand that humans evolved to eat both flora and fauna. I know I have canines, and an digestive system that processes animal flesh. I know how tasty a steak can be. I know how tasty bacon can be. I know how tasty a bacon fried steak can be. Yet, I must make a change.
I don’t take issue with consuming meat, I’m no Meat is Murder vegetarian. I’m not going to advocate that you stop eating meat, even though I think you should. My issue is entirely with the state of commercial agriculture and the practices used to maximize profit. I think that the state that these animals that are being bred for food by the giant farms that “care” for them before being slaughtered is atrocious. I think that the way in which the animals are slaughtered are cruel, and disgusting.
I’m certainly no expert on the topic so if you’re looking for an expert, you’re in the wrong place. However, I have eyes and a brain and am capable of learning about some of the practices that take place on these farms and forming my own opinion about it.
Things like docking the tails and ears of pigs in order to minimize the cannibalism that takes place on pig farms. When pigs are forced to live too close to one another, they get stressed out and they will eat the ears and tails off of their neighbours. This is, as you might imagine, not cool. No one wants their little pig friends to chew their ears off of their heads. Seeing a video of pigs walking around with open wounds on their heads and hindquarters will help you understand that your imagination isn’t up to the task of picturing the horrors that living in these conditions can cause.
In order to “help” pigs not get their ears and asses eaten by their buddies, the farmers skip the middleman and dock the ears and tails off of piglets. Using scissors, they cut the tails, and trim the ears. This kind of surgery would really hurt if there wasn’t some sort of anaesthetic and after care for pain management involved. Surprise! There is none.
An alternative, and obvious, solution to pigs eating pigs would be to not force them to live in such a way that cannibalistic tendencies are antagonized. However, either solution would take time, cost money, and require empathy, all of them sworn enemies of profit margins. With friends like these, am I right?
Pigs aren’t the only animals that are abused in the system of large-scale commercial agriculture before being slaughtered. I don’t have the patience or the stomach to outline all of the abuses that take place in this industry, but know that cows and chickens have it bad too. And the horrors don’t stop once animals are sent to slaughter.
Seeing a bull, that had already gotten a bolt gun to the head, struggling to escape from the noose that’s connecting his back leg to the conveyor system is heartbreaking. There’s terror in his eyes, as he dangles upside down, his free legs kicking in the hopes to slip his caught foot out. It’s an awful thing to see, to understand the realities of large scale meat production. It’s witnessing these tragedies that have moved me to stop eating meat.
It’s reactions like mine that make it far riskier than it used to be to get raw footage of what’s happening within the large scale business of farming animals for human consumption. Laws have been passed in a lot of states and provinces in North America (and internationally) that make the punishment for taking hidden video of the abusive reality of profit-at-any-cost commercial agriculture greater than the abuse itself. Governments and society have decided that it’s more important to protect the industry of meat than it is to let people see how the sausage is made and decide for themselves if they still want to slide that thick sausage down their throats.
These laws make it easier for us to be ignorant of how the meat we consume gets to our table, and easier delude ourselves into believing that there’s no harm done in getting meat into it’s plastic wrapped tray stacked up in the grocery store. It’s this ignorance that allows companies to cut corners, and the same ignorance let’s consumers not feel complicit in these heinous acts inflicted upon their food sources.
I no longer feel comfortable being part of the machine that is okay with all of this.
Perhaps I’m being optimistic in thinking that anyone will read this, but I know that of the people who do some will be supportive, others will think I’ve not gone far enough if I “really care about animal welfare”, and the rest will think that I’m overreacting. All of these reactions are fine, though I do prefer people being supportive, because I’m making this choice for myself. Also, I’m not haven’t written this to try to change your point of view on vegetarianism, or animal abuse, or wearing animal products. I wrote this to better understand why I’ve made this choice.
I’m really going to miss gummy bears though.
Relevant Links
- Earthlings Documentary This is a hard watch, but this is what finally made me decide to change what I eat
- What Are Ag-Gag Laws?
- Tail Docking in Swine