Animal agriculture and the way animals are raised to be slaughtered and eaten is something not many people are aware of. Whether you are a meat eater, a vegan or a vegetarian, the truth is we don’t know how animals have come to us in supermarkets or how they have been raised. This has been the intended impact that environmental organizations want on us. Organizations such as Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, Oceana and Amazon Watch are the few of many organizations who have kept this worldwide, threatening issue silenced. This should not get in the way of our decisions of what we eat. I believe that people should be aware of the effects and consequences the meat industry has on people and the environment, which include the harsh effects on the environment, the cruel treatment of animals in the industry and the increased amounts of health problems.
It’s true that our environment is facing serious problems that need to be addressed immediately such as global warming, species extinction, droughts, rainforest destruction and lots more and it’s true that environmental groups are trying to address these issues and the root causes of them. These organizations focus on issues contributing to these problems such as deforestation, palm oil plantations, the burning of fossil fuels in transportation and lots more. It’s true that these are leading causes of serious issues in the world and it’s true that we must change our actions to address these issues, but there is another issue that organizations have been silencing. Animal agriculture. “Animal agriculture is one of the largest industries on the planet, with the biggest environmental impact.” Says Will Potter, an independent journalist featured in the animal agriculture film, Cowspiracy. Eating meat has become such a huge habit and important part of our lifestyles that there has been a rapid change and increase in the way animals are raised and slaughtered.
With the rapid increase in population, there has also been the need for a rapid increase in meat and animal products. Suddenly there was a sharp population increase in livestock, poultry, and pigs. Although this may sound good with there being enough meat for the growing population, this hasn’t come without a price. The price we have to pay is the negative effects on the environment. Raising animals has a terrible impact on the environment such as amazon destruction in order to harvest food for animals feed, water consumption by these animals and methane emissions from livestock. With the increase in animals, there has been a need for more food to be available for them. Rainforests, particularly the Amazon, are cleared every day for animals to graze and places to grow feed crops. Livestock is responsible for 136 million acres of lost land. Because of this 100 plant, animal and insect species are lost everyday. But there is also another cause of rainforest destruction, and that is for palm oil plantations. Organizations, such as the ones mentioned above, are addressing this issue seriously and with determination but facts show that palm oil is responsible for 26 million acres of rainforest to be cleared whereas livestock is responsible for 136 million acres of rainforest destruction.
These facts and statistics may sound scary and cause for concern so why isn’t anyone talking about it? A real life story will tell you why. Sister Dorothy Stang was an activist working in Brazil and her life's work was to help the local people in Brazil from people who sought out to steal their land and to protect the Amazon. She spoke about openly about the destruction of the Amazon and was later killed in 2005. This is why you will not hear people talking openly about the destruction of rainforests. Of course times have changed and so has people’s concerns about the environment, but you still will not see or hear people addressing the leading cause of deforestation and forest destruction because of fear. This is one of the many reasons why all of these other issues are not addressed, not just rainforest destruction and deforestation. Some of the other reasons are that major environmental organizations do not see any benefits for doing so and campaigning for the issue because they don’t see any see it as generating any money. Another reason is that they don’t want to change their own eating habits. “You can’t call yourself an environmentalist and eat meat. Period.” Says Howard Lyman, a public speaker, and a renowned activist, most commonly known for being sued after speaking about Mad Cow disease on the Oprah Winfrey show, featured in the film, Cowspiracy. The last reason, and probably the most common is the fear of ramification from the government and laws surrounding animal agriculture.
This is why the worldwide issue of animal agriculture has been silenced for so long. There have been some movies and articles about this issue and why it needs to be addressed as soon as possible but you will not find out information on why the governments and laws surrounding this issue are keeping this silent. Animal agriculture has contributing negative effects on the main environmental issues, but another reason on why animals rights are clearly being violated is the way that they are treated in the industry. Animal cruelty has been a widely acknowledged and controversial topic but then why is there still animal cruelty and clear animal right violations in the world? Factory farms all around the world strive to maximise output while minimising costs and this comes in expense of the animals. There are many ways that animals are being treated cruelly that include living in unsanitary conditions and in their own excrement, no access to fresh air and natural light, forced to eat antibiotics, and the list goes on. This is just the way that animals are raised but the way that they are slaughtered is equally as bad. But this is not the case for independently owned facilities where careful attention is in place to ensure that the animals receive more humane and swifter slaughter. On the other hand, larger industrial slaughterhouses kill and process thousands of animals at an extremely rapid pace to save money. These fast paced slaughter routines ensure that tragic mistakes happen all the time which include animals rendered unconscious before being killed, skinned alive and killed in inhumane ways.
Not only is this unethical for the animals but it also has negative effects on us. While being in factory farms, it is not uncommon for the meat to be contaminated with faeces and other bodily fluids in the process. Also the antibiotics that are fed to the animals have consequences on people which leads me to my next point. The overuse in antibiotics in humans cause antibiotic resistance in humans. In the 2013 Threat Report, it is said 23,000 people die each year in the US due to antibiotic resistant infections. Animal products and meat products in general carry a lot of disease and infection with them. Beef in particular carries a lot of health infections with it that include Mad Cow disease, cardiovascular disease, increased chance of Alzheimer's disease and lots more. Your chance of getting cardiovascular disease is increased by eating red meat because your gut microbes break down a compound found in meat called carnitine, which in turn produces trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). TMAO has been associated with atherosclerosis which is a fatty acid that builds up in your arteries which may in turn cause a heart attack. There are lots more reasons that support the argument of red meat and meat in general causing health problems but that is not always the case. Not all meat is equal. Not all animals have been raised and slaughtered the same way therefore do not all carry the same diseases and negative health problems. Organic meat, grass fed meat and even industrial red meat don’t all have negative effects on humans. In fact, red meat is very nutritional as it’s loaded with vitamins, minerals and nutrients. But it’s up to you and your meat eating habits to distinguish which meat is best for you because as you know grass fed organic meat is very different from factory farmed processed meat.
Now that you know what major environmental organizations, the government, laws and regulations have hidden from you, it is up to you as an individual and activist of your own beliefs to do what you think is right. Particular meat industries have been proven to abuse their animals and their rights but not all industries support this method of producing and harvesting meat. Lots of new theories and cases have been made of the negative effects meat has on your health but then again it is important to keep in mind what positives they have on us especially in our fast paced, omnivorous diet. And last the atrocious effects raising meat has on the environment in countless ways. While it may be fair to acknowledge the fact there are lots more practices that are harmful to the environment, particular films and cases have spoken out to organizations about keeping this issue in the dark and about how not only does this abuse their right of calling themselves an environmentalist but also violates their responsibility to environment.
Bibliography:
Cowpiracy. Dir. Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. A.U.M Films and Media, 2014. Cowspiracy. Web.
"Last Chance for Animals - Factory Farming." Last Chance for Animals - Factory Farming. LCA, n.d. Web. 12 June 2016.
Woronczuk, Anton. "Animal Agriculture: A Neglected Agent of Global Warming?" The Real News Network. N.p., 12 Nov. 2015. Web. 12 June 2016.
"Eating for Your Health." PETA. PETA, n.d. Web. 12 June 2016.
It’s true that our environment is facing serious problems that need to be addressed immediately such as global warming, species extinction, droughts, rainforest destruction and lots more and it’s true that environmental groups are trying to address these issues and the root causes of them. These organizations focus on issues contributing to these problems such as deforestation, palm oil plantations, the burning of fossil fuels in transportation and lots more. It’s true that these are leading causes of serious issues in the world and it’s true that we must change our actions to address these issues, but there is another issue that organizations have been silencing. Animal agriculture. “Animal agriculture is one of the largest industries on the planet, with the biggest environmental impact.” Says Will Potter, an independent journalist featured in the animal agriculture film, Cowspiracy. Eating meat has become such a huge habit and important part of our lifestyles that there has been a rapid change and increase in the way animals are raised and slaughtered.
With the rapid increase in population, there has also been the need for a rapid increase in meat and animal products. Suddenly there was a sharp population increase in livestock, poultry, and pigs. Although this may sound good with there being enough meat for the growing population, this hasn’t come without a price. The price we have to pay is the negative effects on the environment. Raising animals has a terrible impact on the environment such as amazon destruction in order to harvest food for animals feed, water consumption by these animals and methane emissions from livestock. With the increase in animals, there has been a need for more food to be available for them. Rainforests, particularly the Amazon, are cleared every day for animals to graze and places to grow feed crops. Livestock is responsible for 136 million acres of lost land. Because of this 100 plant, animal and insect species are lost everyday. But there is also another cause of rainforest destruction, and that is for palm oil plantations. Organizations, such as the ones mentioned above, are addressing this issue seriously and with determination but facts show that palm oil is responsible for 26 million acres of rainforest to be cleared whereas livestock is responsible for 136 million acres of rainforest destruction.
These facts and statistics may sound scary and cause for concern so why isn’t anyone talking about it? A real life story will tell you why. Sister Dorothy Stang was an activist working in Brazil and her life's work was to help the local people in Brazil from people who sought out to steal their land and to protect the Amazon. She spoke about openly about the destruction of the Amazon and was later killed in 2005. This is why you will not hear people talking openly about the destruction of rainforests. Of course times have changed and so has people’s concerns about the environment, but you still will not see or hear people addressing the leading cause of deforestation and forest destruction because of fear. This is one of the many reasons why all of these other issues are not addressed, not just rainforest destruction and deforestation. Some of the other reasons are that major environmental organizations do not see any benefits for doing so and campaigning for the issue because they don’t see any see it as generating any money. Another reason is that they don’t want to change their own eating habits. “You can’t call yourself an environmentalist and eat meat. Period.” Says Howard Lyman, a public speaker, and a renowned activist, most commonly known for being sued after speaking about Mad Cow disease on the Oprah Winfrey show, featured in the film, Cowspiracy. The last reason, and probably the most common is the fear of ramification from the government and laws surrounding animal agriculture.
This is why the worldwide issue of animal agriculture has been silenced for so long. There have been some movies and articles about this issue and why it needs to be addressed as soon as possible but you will not find out information on why the governments and laws surrounding this issue are keeping this silent. Animal agriculture has contributing negative effects on the main environmental issues, but another reason on why animals rights are clearly being violated is the way that they are treated in the industry. Animal cruelty has been a widely acknowledged and controversial topic but then why is there still animal cruelty and clear animal right violations in the world? Factory farms all around the world strive to maximise output while minimising costs and this comes in expense of the animals. There are many ways that animals are being treated cruelly that include living in unsanitary conditions and in their own excrement, no access to fresh air and natural light, forced to eat antibiotics, and the list goes on. This is just the way that animals are raised but the way that they are slaughtered is equally as bad. But this is not the case for independently owned facilities where careful attention is in place to ensure that the animals receive more humane and swifter slaughter. On the other hand, larger industrial slaughterhouses kill and process thousands of animals at an extremely rapid pace to save money. These fast paced slaughter routines ensure that tragic mistakes happen all the time which include animals rendered unconscious before being killed, skinned alive and killed in inhumane ways.
Not only is this unethical for the animals but it also has negative effects on us. While being in factory farms, it is not uncommon for the meat to be contaminated with faeces and other bodily fluids in the process. Also the antibiotics that are fed to the animals have consequences on people which leads me to my next point. The overuse in antibiotics in humans cause antibiotic resistance in humans. In the 2013 Threat Report, it is said 23,000 people die each year in the US due to antibiotic resistant infections. Animal products and meat products in general carry a lot of disease and infection with them. Beef in particular carries a lot of health infections with it that include Mad Cow disease, cardiovascular disease, increased chance of Alzheimer's disease and lots more. Your chance of getting cardiovascular disease is increased by eating red meat because your gut microbes break down a compound found in meat called carnitine, which in turn produces trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). TMAO has been associated with atherosclerosis which is a fatty acid that builds up in your arteries which may in turn cause a heart attack. There are lots more reasons that support the argument of red meat and meat in general causing health problems but that is not always the case. Not all meat is equal. Not all animals have been raised and slaughtered the same way therefore do not all carry the same diseases and negative health problems. Organic meat, grass fed meat and even industrial red meat don’t all have negative effects on humans. In fact, red meat is very nutritional as it’s loaded with vitamins, minerals and nutrients. But it’s up to you and your meat eating habits to distinguish which meat is best for you because as you know grass fed organic meat is very different from factory farmed processed meat.
Now that you know what major environmental organizations, the government, laws and regulations have hidden from you, it is up to you as an individual and activist of your own beliefs to do what you think is right. Particular meat industries have been proven to abuse their animals and their rights but not all industries support this method of producing and harvesting meat. Lots of new theories and cases have been made of the negative effects meat has on your health but then again it is important to keep in mind what positives they have on us especially in our fast paced, omnivorous diet. And last the atrocious effects raising meat has on the environment in countless ways. While it may be fair to acknowledge the fact there are lots more practices that are harmful to the environment, particular films and cases have spoken out to organizations about keeping this issue in the dark and about how not only does this abuse their right of calling themselves an environmentalist but also violates their responsibility to environment.
Bibliography:
Cowpiracy. Dir. Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. A.U.M Films and Media, 2014. Cowspiracy. Web.
"Last Chance for Animals - Factory Farming." Last Chance for Animals - Factory Farming. LCA, n.d. Web. 12 June 2016.
Woronczuk, Anton. "Animal Agriculture: A Neglected Agent of Global Warming?" The Real News Network. N.p., 12 Nov. 2015. Web. 12 June 2016.
"Eating for Your Health." PETA. PETA, n.d. Web. 12 June 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment