Education is the staple

I already knew that big meat factories produce a lot of runoff which in turn creates Eutrophication, pollution of streams, illness to locals, a whole lot of animal cruelty, etc.. I have already had my world shattered when I read ‘Fast Food Nation’ and already know how egg, cow, pig, and chicken industries get to their final product. Along the lines however I, and society, become sheltered from the process and how rapidly these millions of animals are dying. Not until I read the exact statistics and quantitative data was I completely in shock. Anything from stating the number of turkey’s that are inseminated, which is one every 12 seconds, to the fact that the natural lifespan of a cow is around 20 years, but are usually killed at five years of age. Once the statistics are on the table is when I truly feel the affect. I do believe education is the “best defense against the animal rights attack on the… industry (pg. 47).” Education is the staple in reducing animal cruelty. The reason I say reducing is because no one will ever be willing to give it up entirely. It is a convenience for the public, and no matter what is said and shown to shut this down, the number of people willing to purchase these products overpowers the morality of the situation. For instance, I read the part about the Turkey’s and literally felt like I was reading about something getting sexually abused. However, I finished my reading, went to dinner and got a turkey burger. Awareness is important and can certainly have impact on the nation and these industries. Not only the industry but the nation should be conscious of where the food is coming from and how they are extracting it. McDonalds, which was hard for me to believe, have cleaned up their act. Not as much as I would like, but changes have been made. For instance, McDonalds has funded research aimed specifically at animal welfare and devising farming methods which offer better animal welfare. Without such activism people forget these animals are alive. I would love to be as far along as Europe seems to be, but we are where we are. At this point, the only way to go is up.