Letters to the Editor
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Questions for Myself
I was driving home from an awesome music festival last spring, in a great mood and listening to great driving music. A semi trailer full of pigs passed me on the highway. It was an 85-degree day, and the pigs were shoved into that truck so tightly that they were literally climbing on top of each other trying to get their noses to the slats in the truck to get some fresh air. It made me sick to my stomach and I started to cry, and was in a terrible, sad mood for the next couple of days. That scene still affects me every time I think about it. I have two dogs of a breed known to be one of the smartest and most independent thinking breeds, and I would never dream of eating them. But I know that pigs are way smarter than dogs, I have seen pigs and cows butchered in a small meat processing plant (traumatic), have read "The Jungle", and that truck full of pigs made me sick. So why do I still eat pork (or chicken or turkey)?? I'm not sure. I do know that my experiences have made me more conscious of what little meat I do eat, and I did go vegetarian for a couple of years. I guess if I'm going to eat meat I want to know that it's been raised and killed humanely, and processed in a clean, safe facility by workers who are paid well. If I raised and killed my own turkey I'm not sure what would happen. Maybe I'd appreciate my food more by experiencing how meat becomes meat, or maybe it would turn me off of eating turkey forever. I just don't know.
I gave up beef several years ago, having become way too interested in mad cow disease, and how little the USDA is doing to test for it and prevent it. A little paranoid, perhaps, but the thought of eating beef totally grosses me out. My entire family, including my husband, still eats beef and that's fine with me. I just don't eat it or cook it myself.
Anyway, I don't really have a point. I'm pro-choice when it comes to eating meat, but I have issues.
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Re: eggs
Okay, I get the factory farming part of it. I agree that the chicken industry does some pretty horrible things, and I know that organic and free range isn't much of an improvement. But what if you've got your own chickens? We had chickens when I was growing up and they roamed around in a big pen (probably 50 x 50 yards). They had coops for roosting, and a large open pen to protect them from predators. What's wrong with their unfertilized eggs? I'm not trying to be difficult, I really am trying to understand the egg thing.
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So what to do?
Reading about the conditions of factory farming has made me really want to try to buy milk, eggs and meat in a more ethical fashion. But I don't have a Whole Foods anywhere nearby. My local supermarket does carry "organic" eggs and milk -- would those be cruelty-free? Meat, I can arrange, as I know a free-range farmer just down the road, and I also know several hunters who are willing to part with some of their game.
I'm not really willing to give up meat, but I am willing to pay a little more, eat a little less, and shop a little smarter. So any advice on names to watch for, keywords to look for, would be greatly appreciated.
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'Organic' no guarantee
HLC: I see no problem with eating those eggs; they're about as guilt-free as you can get.
KRISTA: Good for you! It's possible to make the changes you want to, but it ain't easy. Don't feel you have to change all at once, and don't beat yourself up if you err once in a while. It's a much easier change to make if you take your time, do your research, and understand that each small change you make is helping.
Labels stating "organic," "natural," "free-range," "cage-free," "grass-fed," etc. are all but meaningless. This, too, is thanks to heavy lobbying by the food industry so that they can use these terms deceptively to bilk unwary consumers. The only way to be sure about what you're buying is to look up the company for yourself to determine if their practices are in line with what you're looking for. 'Organic' has little to no bearing on how an animal was raised or treated. Indeed, practitioners of sustainable and cruelty-free farming tend to shun the label 'orgainic' because it is so misused.
Again, suggested reading is Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma," (I swear I'm not a relative or publisher of his) and michaelpollan.com for links that may help you.
One note of caution about "The Omnivore's Dilemma": The first part of the book, all about corn, can become deadly boring. It's important information, but goes on for a very long time. DON'T let this deter you from the rest of the book, just skip ahead.
Good luck, Krista!
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Novella the Narcissist
A lot of people seem to be commenting on how this is about family farming. It isn't. I grew up on a family farm. I stopped eating meat when I saw my first factory farm and realized that's where every bit of meat at the grocery store came from. Today I don't go to the farmer's market and buy free range animals because I realize they are killed when they're extremely young, and because I feel that eating animals is unsustainable in our current environmental crisis.
Where I grew up and played in the woods, it's all stinking factory farms now that allow run off to pollute the water supply. That idyllic family farm I grew up on is a myth. It's gone. Plus it was never that great. Animals got hurt, their tails were cut off, they got sick and died, we killed them and sometimes they screamed and fought and sometimes they went quietly. We also killed beautiful wildlife so they wouldn't encroach on our farm.
Unlike Novella Carpenter, we had many animals and none were essentially pets the way Harold was. Sure, some had names, some didn't. But Ms. Carpenter describes Harold's emotions and treats him as a companion and then feels glee as she watches his body bleed out? That's just sick. Would she do that to a dog if a dog tasted good? I guess she's such a gourmand that the answer is yes.
I've seen a lot of animals slaughtered and I can honestly say that while I've seen men proud of killing the largest deer, or satisfied that they killed an animal quickly and painlessly, I've never seen anyone experience glee while watching gore spill everywhere.
I think something is deeply wrong with Ms. Carpenter. She justifies this sickness based on her taste for heirloom foods. She brags about this and then demurs that she isn't proud of it. It sure sounded to me like she thinks she's superior. Her sense of superiority has taken precedence over whatever meager empathy she once possessed.
I don't have a problem with predation in nature. But let's face it, there isn't enough room on this planet with our current population to raise all the animals currently consumed in a humane manner. More people could be fed and fed well if the resources devoted to raising meat for spoiled brats like Novella Carpenter were used to grow plant foods for everyone.