Industrial Food Animals: Perspectives

In any discussion of human and nonhuman animal relations, the topic of industrial meat production inevitably flares up (see the discussion under the "Who is an animal?" post). The food we eat can feel very personal to us - reflective of how we define our identity, social status, body image, cultural history and what is normal or ideal behavior. I think this is why discussions about eating animals often become so heated, with people entrenched in their viewpoint and unwilling to compromise. Though they might be necessary, I kind of hate these debates - there's always this assumption that there is a single moral truth to a complex situation that requires a certain kind of response, and that all other responses are irrational or pointless.

These videos don't necessarily reflect my viewpoint on these issues; I definitely disagree or feel unsure about several things they discuss. In general though, I do think that industrial meat production is environmentally devastating and normalizes structural violence as necessary to the functioning of society; veganism, vegetarianism, or just deciding not to buy industrially produced animal products seems to be the easiest, tastiest way for the individual human to take themselves out of cruel, ethically and environmentally destructive systems.

Check out these perspectives, and decide for yourself:

Anthropocentric or Environmentalist arguments Wikipedia: Environmental impact of meat production The Farm Animal's Perspective Farm to Fridge - The Truth Behind Meat Production from Mercy For Animals Wikipedia: Ethics of Eating Meat

Number of animals killed in the world by the meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage. This does not include the billions of fish and other aquatic animals killed annually. Based on 2007 statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' Global Livestock Production and Health Atlas. From The Abolitionist Approach

Defending the status quo I wanted to include some pro-industrial farming videos that responded to the claims below, but I really couldn't find any that weren't either about a solitary factory (and denied any environmental and individual abuse) or just silly, stupid or offensive. I am biased in favor of ending the industrial production of animals for their body parts, but I do recognize reasonable arguments when I see them - please post any good video or written responses that you find or create.