7.
LuLu - The Lifesaving Pig
This is a story of a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig named LuLu. On August 4, 1998, Ann Altsman of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, had a heart attack in the bedroom of her vacation trailer at a Pennsylvania lake resort.
Altsman's husband, Jack, was fishing on Lake Erie at the time.
She yelled for help, for someone to come or call an ambulance, but no one was close enough to respond. After her collapse, her American Eskimo dog began to bark.
Altsman's husband, Jack, was fishing on Lake Erie at the time.
She yelled for help, for someone to come or call an ambulance, but no one was close enough to respond. After her collapse, her American Eskimo dog began to bark.
Enter LuLu
Lulu can't bark, but she did something much more daring. Many say that pigs are smarter than dogs. A perplexed Lulu looked at her. She made sounds like she was crying, quite indescribable - of a crying Vietnamese pot-bellied pig.
But suddenly the pig pulled herself together, and headed outside through a tight "doggie door," cutting her protruding stomach in the process. She came into the fenced-in yard. Never before had she left the confines of the yard -- except for a leash walk -- but this was no ordinary day. She somehow pushed open the gate and walked into the road.
There, LuLu gave new meaning to the phrase "hogging the road." Several times she returned to Altsman only to leave again and try to get help. Witnesses later told that LuLu waited until a car approached and then walked onto the road and lay down right in front it.
One man stopped but he was so unsure of what the creature on the road was that he was afraid to get out.
But another disbelieving motorist stopped for the prone pig and got out. LuLu knew just what to do. She led the man to the house and the rescue.
Lulu’s mistress heard a man screaming through her window that her pig was in distress. She answered that, in fact, it was she who was in distress, and asked him to call an ambulance. Luckily, help arrived in time: doctors said that if 15 more minutes had elapsed she likely would have died.
But when the pig tried to get into the ambulance with her mistress, medics gently let LuLu know she had done enough for one day.
LuLu was purchased in August 1997 by the family as a 40th birthday present for the couple's daughter. And how did they thank LuLu?
She got a jelly doughnut. She then made a sloshing type noise that pigs apparently makes when they devour pastry.
But suddenly the pig pulled herself together, and headed outside through a tight "doggie door," cutting her protruding stomach in the process. She came into the fenced-in yard. Never before had she left the confines of the yard -- except for a leash walk -- but this was no ordinary day. She somehow pushed open the gate and walked into the road.
There, LuLu gave new meaning to the phrase "hogging the road." Several times she returned to Altsman only to leave again and try to get help. Witnesses later told that LuLu waited until a car approached and then walked onto the road and lay down right in front it.
One man stopped but he was so unsure of what the creature on the road was that he was afraid to get out.
But another disbelieving motorist stopped for the prone pig and got out. LuLu knew just what to do. She led the man to the house and the rescue.
Lulu’s mistress heard a man screaming through her window that her pig was in distress. She answered that, in fact, it was she who was in distress, and asked him to call an ambulance. Luckily, help arrived in time: doctors said that if 15 more minutes had elapsed she likely would have died.
But when the pig tried to get into the ambulance with her mistress, medics gently let LuLu know she had done enough for one day.
LuLu was purchased in August 1997 by the family as a 40th birthday present for the couple's daughter. And how did they thank LuLu?
She got a jelly doughnut. She then made a sloshing type noise that pigs apparently makes when they devour pastry.
Four Legged Pigs - Better Than Two Legged Ones
Now look at the facts how pigs get treated in modern slaughterhouses and factory farms.
With corporate hog factories replacing traditional hog farms, pigs raised for food are treated more as inanimate tools of production than as living, feeling animals. From beginning to end, this system is a nightmare from which the animals have no escape, and it all starts with the breeding sows.
Modern breeding sows are treated like piglet-making machines. Living a continuous cycle of impregnation and birth, each sow has more than 20 piglets per year. After being impregnated, the sows are confined in gestation crates – small metal pens just 2 feet wide that prevent sows from turning around or even lying down comfortably. At the end of their four-month pregnancies, they are transferred to similarly cramped farrowing crates to give birth. With barely enough room to stand up and lie down and no straw or other type of bedding to speak of, many suffer from sores on their shoulders and knees.
Numerous research studies conducted over the last 25 years have pointed to physical and psychological maladies experienced by sows in confinement. The unnatural flooring and lack of exercise causes obesity and crippling leg disorders, while the deprived environment produces neurotic coping behaviors such as repetitive bar biting and sham chewing (chewing nothing).
Approximately 900 million pigs are raised and slaughtered in the world every year. As babies, they are subjected to painful mutilations without anesthesia or pain relievers. Their tails are cut off to minimize tail biting, an aberrant behavior that occurs when these highly-intelligent animals are kept in deprived factory farm environments. In addition, notches are taken out of the piglets' ears for identification. By two to three weeks of age, 10% of the piglets will have died. Those who survive are taken away from their mothers and crowded into pens with metal bars and concrete floors. A headline from National Hog Farmer magazine (from North America) advises, "Crowding Pigs Pays...", and this is exemplified by the intense overcrowding in every stage of hog confinement systems. Pigs will live this way, packed into giant, warehouse-like sheds, until they reach a slaughter weight of 250 pounds at 6 months old.
The air inside hog factories is so polluted with dust, dander and noxious gases from the animals' waste that workers who are exposed for just a few hours per day are at high risk for bronchitis, asthma, sinusitis, organic dust toxic syndrome (ODTS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Unlike these workers, the pigs have no escape from this toxic air, and roughly half of all pigs that die between weaning and slaughter succumb to respiratory disease.
Poor air quality, extreme close-quarters confinement and unsanitary living conditions combine to make diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, swine influenza virus (SIV) and salmonellosis a serious threat to animal welfare.
With corporate hog factories replacing traditional hog farms, pigs raised for food are treated more as inanimate tools of production than as living, feeling animals. From beginning to end, this system is a nightmare from which the animals have no escape, and it all starts with the breeding sows.
Modern breeding sows are treated like piglet-making machines. Living a continuous cycle of impregnation and birth, each sow has more than 20 piglets per year. After being impregnated, the sows are confined in gestation crates – small metal pens just 2 feet wide that prevent sows from turning around or even lying down comfortably. At the end of their four-month pregnancies, they are transferred to similarly cramped farrowing crates to give birth. With barely enough room to stand up and lie down and no straw or other type of bedding to speak of, many suffer from sores on their shoulders and knees.
Numerous research studies conducted over the last 25 years have pointed to physical and psychological maladies experienced by sows in confinement. The unnatural flooring and lack of exercise causes obesity and crippling leg disorders, while the deprived environment produces neurotic coping behaviors such as repetitive bar biting and sham chewing (chewing nothing).
Approximately 900 million pigs are raised and slaughtered in the world every year. As babies, they are subjected to painful mutilations without anesthesia or pain relievers. Their tails are cut off to minimize tail biting, an aberrant behavior that occurs when these highly-intelligent animals are kept in deprived factory farm environments. In addition, notches are taken out of the piglets' ears for identification. By two to three weeks of age, 10% of the piglets will have died. Those who survive are taken away from their mothers and crowded into pens with metal bars and concrete floors. A headline from National Hog Farmer magazine (from North America) advises, "Crowding Pigs Pays...", and this is exemplified by the intense overcrowding in every stage of hog confinement systems. Pigs will live this way, packed into giant, warehouse-like sheds, until they reach a slaughter weight of 250 pounds at 6 months old.
The air inside hog factories is so polluted with dust, dander and noxious gases from the animals' waste that workers who are exposed for just a few hours per day are at high risk for bronchitis, asthma, sinusitis, organic dust toxic syndrome (ODTS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Unlike these workers, the pigs have no escape from this toxic air, and roughly half of all pigs that die between weaning and slaughter succumb to respiratory disease.
Poor air quality, extreme close-quarters confinement and unsanitary living conditions combine to make diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, swine influenza virus (SIV) and salmonellosis a serious threat to animal welfare.
Mary had a little lamb. |
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The overcrowding and confinement is unnatural and stress-producing. If they are given sufficient space, pigs are careful not to soil the areas where they sleep or eat. But in factory farms, they are forced to live in their own feces, urine and vomit and even amid the corpses of other pigs.
In addition to overcrowded housing, sows and pigs also endure extreme crowding in transportation, resulting in rampant suffering and deaths.
In addition to overcrowded housing, sows and pigs also endure extreme crowding in transportation, resulting in rampant suffering and deaths.
Story of A Devout Pig
A pig made headlines in Andhra Pradesh, South India with his unusual behaviour, proving once again that animals are like us in many ways.
A tiny pig was found circumambulating dhwaja sthambam (holy pillar) of various temples. Temple priests tried to shoo away the pig but he refused to budge. The news attracted local media and crowds arrived on the scene.
The pig was given a statewide coverage. Next day, the pig took bath in Godavari (a river considered holy) and again started the devotional chore. He was also reported to be putting his head inside the vermilion (kumkum) container as the regular devotees do. Owner of the pig said that he went missing from his herd few days ago and he noticed it only through media. The pig owner also said that there were no temples around where he lived and also that the pig never got exposed to any temple atmosphere.
A tiny pig was found circumambulating dhwaja sthambam (holy pillar) of various temples. Temple priests tried to shoo away the pig but he refused to budge. The news attracted local media and crowds arrived on the scene.
The pig was given a statewide coverage. Next day, the pig took bath in Godavari (a river considered holy) and again started the devotional chore. He was also reported to be putting his head inside the vermilion (kumkum) container as the regular devotees do. Owner of the pig said that he went missing from his herd few days ago and he noticed it only through media. The pig owner also said that there were no temples around where he lived and also that the pig never got exposed to any temple atmosphere.
South Korea - Burying Alive Millions, Insanity or cruelty?
South Korea has been heavily criticized for burying up to 1.93 million pigs and cows alive, in an ill-conceived effort to control foot-and-mouth disease. The first case of the disease was confirmed in November 2010 and any country that has cases of it is unable to export the animals' meat.
According to Reuters this discovery of disease in just a few animals led to, “Hundreds of thousands of authorities working day and night to bury the animals alive”. They ordered farmers, soldiers and local officials to pile thousands of pigs into trucks and drop them into mass graves where they were buried alive.
Imagine getting buried alive if you got sick instead of getting a treatment. We'd like to think we'd be cured, not buried if we got sick!
PETA obtained video footage of the killings, which shows workers as they toss live pigs on top of one another in a mass grave. Pigs are pushed out of trucks and into trenches, covered with dirt, and left to suffocate. Air pockets form in the soil, allowing some pigs to breathe, meaning that some may languish for days, injured and surrounded by dead pigs, before they die.
The South Korean government refused to vaccinate the pigs and other animals against the disease and slaughtered them in record numbers despite appeals to stop.
The government claimed the burial is for preventive purposes but the measure had already proved futile. Since FMD was first reported in late November 2010 in North Gyeongsang Province, preventive killing was done near and far, yet the disease spread to other Provinces. Still, the massive killing continued in the name of prevention. The government is insane and/or cruel, if not plain incapable.
If humans are not affected by FMD and even infected meat is safe for human consumption as the health authorities say, why did the government kept on burying these animals to death?
The estimated cost of the cull is believed to have reached around £300 when a mass vaccination programme would have cost an estimated £23m.
Animal activists worldwide protested the atrocity, but Korean bureaucrats ignored their pleas. Groups such as PETA said that an inexpensive vaccine was available.
According to Reuters this discovery of disease in just a few animals led to, “Hundreds of thousands of authorities working day and night to bury the animals alive”. They ordered farmers, soldiers and local officials to pile thousands of pigs into trucks and drop them into mass graves where they were buried alive.
Imagine getting buried alive if you got sick instead of getting a treatment. We'd like to think we'd be cured, not buried if we got sick!
PETA obtained video footage of the killings, which shows workers as they toss live pigs on top of one another in a mass grave. Pigs are pushed out of trucks and into trenches, covered with dirt, and left to suffocate. Air pockets form in the soil, allowing some pigs to breathe, meaning that some may languish for days, injured and surrounded by dead pigs, before they die.
The South Korean government refused to vaccinate the pigs and other animals against the disease and slaughtered them in record numbers despite appeals to stop.
The government claimed the burial is for preventive purposes but the measure had already proved futile. Since FMD was first reported in late November 2010 in North Gyeongsang Province, preventive killing was done near and far, yet the disease spread to other Provinces. Still, the massive killing continued in the name of prevention. The government is insane and/or cruel, if not plain incapable.
If humans are not affected by FMD and even infected meat is safe for human consumption as the health authorities say, why did the government kept on burying these animals to death?
The estimated cost of the cull is believed to have reached around £300 when a mass vaccination programme would have cost an estimated £23m.
Animal activists worldwide protested the atrocity, but Korean bureaucrats ignored their pleas. Groups such as PETA said that an inexpensive vaccine was available.
“I live in South Korea as an English teacher from America and I heard nearby residents complaining because they could hear the pigs screaming as they were eating each other. And now the ground water is contaminated. It is horrible.” |
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Trauma To The Workers
The massive killings took a toll on the farmers, soldiers, police, health officials and other workers who were forced to end the lives of the animals.
Many of the farmers and officials involved in the livestock massacre suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, fearfulness, hallucinations and loss of appetite. The Ministry of Health and Welfare offered counseling and treatment through the 158 mental health centers across the country.
Many workers often wake up in the middle of the night and hear the cries of cows and pigs. If people bury over a million innocent animals alive and feel unperturbed, they can’t be humans, can they? Anyone who can sleep well while the animals struggled for life underground should be either cold-hearted or extremely overworked.
Many of the farmers and officials involved in the livestock massacre suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, fearfulness, hallucinations and loss of appetite. The Ministry of Health and Welfare offered counseling and treatment through the 158 mental health centers across the country.
Many workers often wake up in the middle of the night and hear the cries of cows and pigs. If people bury over a million innocent animals alive and feel unperturbed, they can’t be humans, can they? Anyone who can sleep well while the animals struggled for life underground should be either cold-hearted or extremely overworked.
Korea - The Story Of A Nation’s Transition
By Kim Heung-sook
In my childhood, my family lived in the port city of Gunsan on the west coast. Every winter, the whole city turned into a white canvas of snow on which everyone left marks of one’s own. The most striking was the red dots left by bicycles carrying fresh beef and pork from the slaughterhouse. Adults banned children from entering the red brick house and its precincts for obvious reasons, but we went there anyway.
In my childhood, my family lived in the port city of Gunsan on the west coast. Every winter, the whole city turned into a white canvas of snow on which everyone left marks of one’s own. The most striking was the red dots left by bicycles carrying fresh beef and pork from the slaughterhouse. Adults banned children from entering the red brick house and its precincts for obvious reasons, but we went there anyway.
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So the present situation of the human civilization is very, very dark, tamasa. They want to live in the city without working for producing their food. And there are butchers, they kill innocent animals. And in the city they eat the meat, and to digest they drink and work like hogs and dogs whole day and night. This is civilization. This is not civilization. This is darkness, darkness of life. |
It was in the 1960s and we didn’t have any factory farms in Korea. Cattle were taken to slaughterhouses after working through their lifetime, while pigs came from small family pens. While pigs entered into the compound noisily, cows usually refused to come in at the main gate. People whispered that cows knew they were doomed. When cows resisted at the gate, their original owners, who were farmers, were summoned. They would caress and coax the animals and the latter walked into the brick house without further ado.
One day, I saw a farmer lead a cow into the house. He let the cow stand on a cemented podium. He rubbed her cheek with his chestnut hands. Then a man with an axe appeared from behind and planted it on top of the cow’s head. The animal collapsed with a thump and it echoed forever. That was the first and most impressive scene of betrayal and death I have observed in my whole life. I saw the teary eyes of the farmer, yet I couldn’t forgive him for what he had done to the unsuspecting animal.
It was much later that I came to remember the scene of death with less remorse and some inexplicable warmth. While the cows were destined to die at the slaughterhouse, people cared about their feelings. There was a proper ritual of parting and expression of appreciation and sorrow that spared the victim unnecessary pains.
At that time, we ate beef and pork only on festive days like Chuseok and Seollal, and birthdays and death anniversaries of ancestors. There were few fat people though the word diet was never heard of. Our stomachs were not full most of the time, yet we shared whatever we came by. We believed we should share even a single bean.
One day, I saw a farmer lead a cow into the house. He let the cow stand on a cemented podium. He rubbed her cheek with his chestnut hands. Then a man with an axe appeared from behind and planted it on top of the cow’s head. The animal collapsed with a thump and it echoed forever. That was the first and most impressive scene of betrayal and death I have observed in my whole life. I saw the teary eyes of the farmer, yet I couldn’t forgive him for what he had done to the unsuspecting animal.
It was much later that I came to remember the scene of death with less remorse and some inexplicable warmth. While the cows were destined to die at the slaughterhouse, people cared about their feelings. There was a proper ritual of parting and expression of appreciation and sorrow that spared the victim unnecessary pains.
At that time, we ate beef and pork only on festive days like Chuseok and Seollal, and birthdays and death anniversaries of ancestors. There were few fat people though the word diet was never heard of. Our stomachs were not full most of the time, yet we shared whatever we came by. We believed we should share even a single bean.
Years ago, I worked with a woman who had raised a pig whom she was intending to sell. She shared many stories about this young female pig, who had a sense of humor and was very affectionate. The pig would push my co-worker down in the mud when she felt her pen had not been kept properly clean. My co-worker was at home the day her pig was to be picked up. She had not realized the purchaser was going to slaughter her pig on-site, and she heard it. She vowed never to raise another pig. The woman was quite traumatized, and felt very guilty and ashamed. |
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As the nation became richer, demand for meat grew. In 2008, the per capita meat consumption of Koreans topped 35.4 kg, more than three times the volume consumed in 1983. To meet the ever-growing appetite for meat, factory farming was introduced for beef, pork and poultry. Now, people eat meat all year round, constantly worrying about gaining weight. The Korean characteristic has also changed from “quiet tenacity” to “palli palli” or “faster and faster.”
People buy beef, pork and poultry from supermarkets as they buy milk, cookies and Kleenex; they are oblivious to the creatures that provide their flesh. Few care about how they live and die.
The government’s burial of 1.93 million cattle and pigs since November 2010 showcases the widespread apathy towards the meat providers.
I wonder if the high-ranking officials who ordered the burial of the livestock have ever been to the hell they are creating down there. If they haven’t, they need to go there once and for all.
People buy beef, pork and poultry from supermarkets as they buy milk, cookies and Kleenex; they are oblivious to the creatures that provide their flesh. Few care about how they live and die.
The government’s burial of 1.93 million cattle and pigs since November 2010 showcases the widespread apathy towards the meat providers.
I wonder if the high-ranking officials who ordered the burial of the livestock have ever been to the hell they are creating down there. If they haven’t, they need to go there once and for all.
‘Buried Animals Went To Heaven’ - Monks
Hundreds of South Korean Buddhist monks and believers offered prayers for more than 1.93 million cows, pigs and other animals that were put to death by alive burial.
The Buddhists held the rite at Jogye Temple, the headquarters of the Jogye Order, South Korea's largest Buddhist sect.
Some monks clad in gray-and-saffron robes offered white chrysanthemums -- a traditional Korean symbol of grief -- and bowed in front of photos of animals inside the temple in central Seoul.
The Buddhists held the rite at Jogye Temple, the headquarters of the Jogye Order, South Korea's largest Buddhist sect.
Some monks clad in gray-and-saffron robes offered white chrysanthemums -- a traditional Korean symbol of grief -- and bowed in front of photos of animals inside the temple in central Seoul.
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The executive head must always be alert to the safety of the prajas, both man and animal, and inquire whether a particular living being is harassed at any place by another living being. The harassing living being must at once be caught and put to death, as shown by Maharaja Pariksit. |
They also bowed toward two big golden statues of Buddha and chanted sutras before circling around a pagoda and burning mortuary tablets and incense.
A monk named Hyechong said the temple held the rite to help guide the spirits of the animals to heaven.
After praying at the temple, Park Young-hae, 74, wrote a message of condolence on a small, white banner and attached it to a bulletin board, "I hope that the dead animals will go to paradise."
Another banner read: "It must have been painful and you cried a lot. I hope that you go to a good place and enjoy happiness."
It is surprising that the religious leaders who are supposed to be the guiding brains in society can only do so much - condone this heinous crime, and give it a finishing touch with religious rites.
A monk named Hyechong said the temple held the rite to help guide the spirits of the animals to heaven.
After praying at the temple, Park Young-hae, 74, wrote a message of condolence on a small, white banner and attached it to a bulletin board, "I hope that the dead animals will go to paradise."
Another banner read: "It must have been painful and you cried a lot. I hope that you go to a good place and enjoy happiness."
It is surprising that the religious leaders who are supposed to be the guiding brains in society can only do so much - condone this heinous crime, and give it a finishing touch with religious rites.
Exporting Factory Farms : The Global Expansion of Industrialized Meat Production
From The Food Empowerment Project
The factory farming techniques that make the mass-production of meat, dairy and eggs possible cause incalculable harm and cruelty to animals, the environment and people—so why would these countries choose to follow this path?
It is frightening that our species now eats more than five times more meat than we did back then in 1950. These days, over 50 billion land animals are killed for food worldwide every year - and that number is expected to double by 2030. Rising incomes in large, rapidly-developing countries are driving a major shift in global dietary patterns as those societies strive to emulate the West's eating habits. The factory farming techniques that make the mass-production of meat, dairy and eggs possible cause incalculable harm and cruelty to animals, the environment and people—so why would these countries choose to follow this path?
The factory farming techniques that make the mass-production of meat, dairy and eggs possible cause incalculable harm and cruelty to animals, the environment and people—so why would these countries choose to follow this path?
It is frightening that our species now eats more than five times more meat than we did back then in 1950. These days, over 50 billion land animals are killed for food worldwide every year - and that number is expected to double by 2030. Rising incomes in large, rapidly-developing countries are driving a major shift in global dietary patterns as those societies strive to emulate the West's eating habits. The factory farming techniques that make the mass-production of meat, dairy and eggs possible cause incalculable harm and cruelty to animals, the environment and people—so why would these countries choose to follow this path?
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“If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.” |
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The main reason is that some multinational agribusiness companies see serious profit in expanding their operations to largely untapped emerging markets. These corporations have already saturated the Western world with their products, so in order to maintain their economic superiority, companies must break into countries where consumer demand for meat and animal products is rising, environmental and animal welfare regulations are lax, and labor is enticingly cheap. Namely, established agribusiness giants are actively advancing into Asia and nations in the Global South—threatening to supplant traditional agrarian practices and wreak the very same kind of havoc they have done in the U.S.
A brief look at the past provides a chilling glimpse into the planet's potential food future. Consider the historical precedent of Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, which in the late 1940s essentially invented the system of vertical integration that now serves as the model for industrialized animal agriculture. The core principle behind vertical integration is to have a single corporate entity own and control every aspect of the meat production process—from feed mills and hatcheries to slaughterhouses—so that farmers solely raise animals on contract for the company at reduced prices. This domineering system now sets the standard for the nation's chicken industry, and can increasingly be found in cow and pig production.
Six decades after its introduction, the economic efficiency of virtual integration now allows just four major companies to process over half the chickens, 80% of the cows, and 60% of the pigs consumed in the U.S. And now, this business model is enabling these same few massive corporations to expand into the consumer territories of developing societies. We can begin to understand what this means for animals, the environment and people in other parts of the world by examining Big Ag's recent commercial activities in some of these countries.
A brief look at the past provides a chilling glimpse into the planet's potential food future. Consider the historical precedent of Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, which in the late 1940s essentially invented the system of vertical integration that now serves as the model for industrialized animal agriculture. The core principle behind vertical integration is to have a single corporate entity own and control every aspect of the meat production process—from feed mills and hatcheries to slaughterhouses—so that farmers solely raise animals on contract for the company at reduced prices. This domineering system now sets the standard for the nation's chicken industry, and can increasingly be found in cow and pig production.
Six decades after its introduction, the economic efficiency of virtual integration now allows just four major companies to process over half the chickens, 80% of the cows, and 60% of the pigs consumed in the U.S. And now, this business model is enabling these same few massive corporations to expand into the consumer territories of developing societies. We can begin to understand what this means for animals, the environment and people in other parts of the world by examining Big Ag's recent commercial activities in some of these countries.
South America
In 2008, Tyson purchased two Brazilian poultry companies outright, and a 70% share in another, with a plan to use these acquisitions as a base for exporting chicken around the world. Brazil's status as a major beef producer means that they already have an extensive network of plantations in place encompassing vast pasturelands, making the transition to intensive poultry production a natural fit for Tyson's takeover.
As poultry production rises rapidly in Brazil, beef production is simultaneously increasing in Argentina, where ranchers already raise approximately 5 million cattle a year in feedlots. Argentina was once the global marketplace's leading beef supplier, raising grass-fed cattle, but with other countries around the world using factory farming methods to raise animals for food, Argentina soon followed. Raising animals on pasture not only requires more time before they can be killed, but also requires more land. As grazing land in Argentina has become increasingly scarce, more farmers have switched from cattle ranching to the more financially stable enterprise of growing animal feed, leading to more and more of these animals being fed on high-protein grains in densely-concentrated feedlots. With Argentinians consuming more beef per capita than any other people in the world, Argentina's government is following the latest trends of factory farming by subsidizing the construction of new feedlots, each with the capacity to hold tens of thousands of cattle.
Meanwhile, an estimated 97% of the world's soy supply is now fed to livestock, and Argentina is a major soy exporter. Their northern neighbor Paraguay is also among the world's top soy-producing nations, having dedicated 6.4 million acres to the crop, but their success in this field has not been without serious social costs. Cultivating feed for factory farmed animals in other countries has radically despoiled Paraguay's environment, displaced rural communities, and prompted labor riots in which people have been injured and killed by paramilitary squads working for industrial growers.
As poultry production rises rapidly in Brazil, beef production is simultaneously increasing in Argentina, where ranchers already raise approximately 5 million cattle a year in feedlots. Argentina was once the global marketplace's leading beef supplier, raising grass-fed cattle, but with other countries around the world using factory farming methods to raise animals for food, Argentina soon followed. Raising animals on pasture not only requires more time before they can be killed, but also requires more land. As grazing land in Argentina has become increasingly scarce, more farmers have switched from cattle ranching to the more financially stable enterprise of growing animal feed, leading to more and more of these animals being fed on high-protein grains in densely-concentrated feedlots. With Argentinians consuming more beef per capita than any other people in the world, Argentina's government is following the latest trends of factory farming by subsidizing the construction of new feedlots, each with the capacity to hold tens of thousands of cattle.
Meanwhile, an estimated 97% of the world's soy supply is now fed to livestock, and Argentina is a major soy exporter. Their northern neighbor Paraguay is also among the world's top soy-producing nations, having dedicated 6.4 million acres to the crop, but their success in this field has not been without serious social costs. Cultivating feed for factory farmed animals in other countries has radically despoiled Paraguay's environment, displaced rural communities, and prompted labor riots in which people have been injured and killed by paramilitary squads working for industrial growers.
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It took me 44 years to “get it.” I can’t erase the past, but I can move forward. Perhaps the next time I find myself in the company of someone on a different timeline, I will speak without judgment and consider how best to nudge them in the right direction. |
India
In 2008, Tyson also bought a majority share in Mumbai-based Godrej Foods Ltd. and expects to reap about $50 million a year in poultry sales throughout India. But the company may find that Indian society is less conducive to their vertical integration schemes than Brazil, because approximately 65% of Indians are employed in the agricultural sector, and vegetarianism is quite common. In a country where about 780 million people make a living producing food, Tyson's top-down domination strategy faces real challenges. However, meat consumption (especially chicken) is rising in India as incomes grow, and drive-through fast food franchises are spreading at an exponential rate, so company heads figure that increasing demand for meat and more convenient means of distribution will work in their favor over the long term.
China
Fast food is a $28 billion industry in China today, where there are already more than 900 McDonald's and 2,000 KFC restaurants. This is no surprise, given that China has one of the world's fastest-growing economies, with a burgeoning middle class that sees "meat" as a social status symbol signifying wealth and privilege (much like the upwardly-mobile consumers in many other developing countries). To feed this demand for animal foods, China has courted agribusiness investment from the likes of Tyson, Smithfield Foods and Novus International, and is well on its way to becoming one of the world's top meat-consuming countries. Yet, even as Chinese society increasingly emulates the Western-style diet, a legacy of ecological damage resulting from their currently unsustainable agricultural practices looms behind them, casting a dark shadow over a future that may prove even bleaker. That is, even though factory farming is not yet the main “meat” production method in China, almost a million acres of Chinese grassland are already reduced to desert annually as a result of overgrazing and intensive farming, and China surpassed the U.S. as the world's top emitter of greenhouse gasses in 2008. If factory farming becomes widespread in China, these problems—and many others—will become more devastating, not only to this country of 1.3 billion people, but to the rest of the world as well.
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Since I suffer when pinched or killed by others, I should not attempt to pinch or kill any other living entity. People do not know that because of killing innocent animals they themselves will have to suffer severe reactions from material nature. Any country where people indulge in unnecessary killing of animals will have to suffer from wars and pestilence imposed by material nature. Comparing one’s own suffering to the suffering of others, therefore, one should be kind to all living entities. |
For decades, animals, people and the planet have suffered the severe consequences of factory farming as it is conducted in the Western world—and the export of this corporatized method of mass-production can only exacerbate the ethical, ecological and social problems it causes. The implications of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations expanding across the globe are especially disturbing because most of the countries targeted by agribusinesses have even fewer animal welfare, environmental, health, and labor regulations than the U.S. or Europe, so the abuses inherent to factory farming would only worsen. Even as individuals we can make a positive difference by supporting activists in developing nations who proactively promote a diet free from animal products and work to prevent these industries from gaining a foothold in their countries.
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The question is not, “Can they reason?” nor, “Can they talk?” but rather, “Can they suffer?” |
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