Why factory farming must be stopped 5

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1. 

   Tom Philpott Posted 8:52 am
   25 Sep 2008

   Yo J,I'm with you on this one. I agree that "If you're going to eat meat, don't support industrial meat operations." But how far, realistically, is consumer choice going to get us on this one? People have gotten hooked on cheap and easy meat. Should we not also focus on agitating for strict regulation and oversight of the meat industry? The agencies charged with doing that have been  rather lame.
   
   Victual Reality

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2. 

   amc89 Posted 12:33 pm
   25 Sep 2008

   Californians can do something: Vote Yes on Prop 2Tom makes a good point. It's important but not enough just to make changes in our own diet, we need to convey how important our desire for humane and environmentally friendly food systems are to our politicians. And when politicians don't listen, we can take it directly to the voters through the ballot initiative process (though unfortunately not every state has the initiative process) as happened in Florida, where voters voted in favor of banning pig factory farming in 2002, in Arizona, where voters voted against pig and veal calf factory farming in 2006 and now in California, where voters should vote Yes on Prop 2 to ban the factory farming of egg-laying hens, veal calves and pigs.  Let your California friends know about Prop 2 with this video by Free Range Graphics.
   http://uncaged.yesonprop2.com/

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3. 

   Colin Wright Posted 1:57 pm
   25 Sep 2008

   Cap and trade, anyone?I wonder how much CO2 goes into the production of meat? It's about equal to transportation, right? Not to mention the methane.

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4. 

   caniscandida Posted 4:15 pm
   25 Sep 2008

   "regulation and oversight"Yes, Tom, that is indeed what we should be agitating for.  Every aspect of the meat industry, from conception to slaughter, should be accessible and visible to consumers.
   But meanwhile, it is also well done to encourage meat-eaters to buy meat that does not have a CAFO origin, as well as to go meatless once a week (at least), as Umbra Fisk recently recommended.
   
   Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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5. 

   Jason D Scorse Posted 4:36 pm
   25 Sep 2008

   All good points....Consumer choice is definitely NOT sufficient- we need much more regulation and true-cost pricing of all the resources that these feedlots use and the damage their waste causes- the true cost of meat is probably at least $10 a pound- if regulation could correct this market failure demand would go way down and we wouldn't have these monstrosities- will it happen, probably not, at least until resources get really scarce and the budget gets really bad- oh wait, maybe we're almost there....
   
   We need to focus on the root causes of problems.

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