Kspitz’s Weblog

Americans spend less of their household income on food than any other country in the world. We have come to expect cheap food – and lots of it. But what is cheap food really costing us? And at what point does the cost of something become too great?

Meat, especially beef, used to be considered a luxury food, something that only the wealthy could afford, but in America today, beef is a regular item on the menu at every fast food outlet and on every dinner table. A recent article in the New York Times entitled “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler” exposes many facts about meat-eating that may come as a big surprise to Americans who enjoy their cheap burgers and steaks. The article reveals many of the links between meat-eating and the burning of fossil fuels. Industrial or “factory farm” meat production is one of the biggest contributors to global warming and, in my opinion, one of the most wasteful and distasteful endeavors that humans have ever come up with.

I grew up in the heart of Iowa, one of the nation’s top agricultural states, and I have seen many beef feedlots as well as hog confinement operations. Ever since I first laid eyes on such “farms” I have considered them inhumane and utterly disgusting. In the case of cattle, thousands of animals are kept in outdoor pens where they are given no shelter from the weather. There is no grass under their hooves, instead they stand or lie in their own excrement for their entire lives (12-14 months). Most of them are sickly, with snot running from their noses. Their diet consists mostly of corn or soybean meal which is much richer than their natural diet of grass. This causes stomach discomfort and acidosis. To counteract these illnesses and others caused by the stress of such conditions, the animals are fed antibiotics on a regular basis to keep them from getting even sicker. There is an ongoing controversy over whether or not these antibiotics make their way into human bodies when the beef is consumed.

Hog “confinement” is exactly what it sounds like. Hogs/pigs are packed so tightly together in their pens that they can barely turn around. Hogs are sensitive, intelligent creatures by nature, but when kept in this environment they become stressed and agitated. They frequently bite off each other’s tails in frustration. Sows (mother pigs) are housed in individual steel-barred crates. There is only enough room for the sow to lie on her side and nurse the piglets; rarely is she allowed to get up and move around. The long, windowless metal buildings have manure pits directly underneath and when these pits are full, the urine and manure is pumped into nearby lagoons. These lagoons stink beyond belief and eventually, when the lagoons are full, the waste is pumped onto nearby fields. The concentrated nitrogen in the waste contaminates nearby water sources to the point that it kills the fish and other aquatic life. This is the same water that supplies many drinking wells on Iowa farms.

When I think of animals being treated this way, it makes me very, very sad; not only for the animals, but for human beings as well. Where is the humanity in this?  How long can we go on fooling ourselves into thinking that it is acceptable to raise animals this way? How can we fool ourselves even further into thinking it is safe to eat animals that are raised this way? Factory farms are prime breeding grounds for food borne pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus.

The factory farm debate has been going on for a few decades now, but sadly, this type of meat production is still on the rise. It is also used to produce poultry, eggs, and dairy products. However, the New York Times article may mark the beginnings of a turning point. This is the first time a national newspaper has taken an oppositional stance on factory farming. I hope it is not the last.