Factory Farming
Animal Ethics
JULY 31, 2008
I agree with Nicholas Kristof that factory farms will eventually be banned by law. I also agree that it will be a good thing. Addendum: Here are comments on Kristof's column
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Factory Farming
Animal Ethics
JULY 31, 2007
Here is a New York Times editorial opinion about factory farming. I have added the Factory Farm Map to the blogroll
Factory Farms
Animal Ethics
MARCH 14, 2007
Notice that the author is not opposed to the use of nonhuman animals as resources for human consumption. Perhaps she would argue that there is no double standard, i.e., that there is a morally relevant difference between human animals and nonhuman animals that justifies the difference in treatment. Are the lives of nonhuman animals less important, to them, than your life is to you Here is a New York Times op-ed column about pork production.
Death on a Factory Farm
Animal Ethics
MARCH 16, 2009
Ever wonder how the animals you eat are treated before they become your dinner? You can find out tonight by watching HBO's new documentary, "Death on a Factory Farm." Death on a Factory Farm" chronicles an investigation into alleged abuses that took place at a hog farm in Creston, Ohio. The documentary airs tonight (Monday, March 16) starting at 9:00 p.m. Central time, but check your local listings for local show times.
J. Baird Callicott on Factory Farms
Animal Ethics
FEBRUARY 3, 2009
From the perspective of the land ethic, the immoral aspect of the factory farm has to do far less with the suffering and killing of nonhuman animals than with the monstrous transformation of living things from an organic to a mechanical mode of being. Animals, beginning with the Neolithic Revolution, have been debased through selective breeding, but they have nevertheless remained animals.
The Horror of Factory Farming
Animal Ethics
MARCH 26, 2007
See here for an editorial opinion by The New York Times
The Family Farm
Animal Ethics
APRIL 4, 2008
Here is a New York Times story about traditional farming, which is a darn sight better for animals than factory farming
Designer Meat
Animal Ethics
FEBRUARY 8, 2007
But is it any more revolting than factory farming Bob Smith sent a link to this. My first reaction was revulsion.
Tom Regan on Utilitarianism
Animal Ethics
JULY 24, 2012
The initial attractiveness of utilitarianism as a moral theory on which to rest the call for the better treatment of animals was noted in an earlier context. Because animals are sentient (i.e., Especially because animals are made to suffer in the pursuit of human purposes—in the name of "efficient" factory farming, for example, or in pursuit of scientific knowledge—the utilitarian injunction to count their suffering and to count it equitably must strike a responsive moral chord.
A Look at Humane Farming
Animal Ethics
FEBRUARY 22, 2010
The film Partitions (running time: 14 min) by Audrey Kali gives an intimate glimpse of the ethical struggles that five small-scale meat farmers face when their animals are slaughtered. In this film, we see farmers interacting with the animals they will eventually transform into food (chickens, pigs and cattle). This film provides an accurate portrayal of small-scale, non-intensive animal farming. This is as humane as "humane farming" gets.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
APRIL 29, 2009
While its exact origin is still unclear, this pathogen, and many others (like avian influenza), originated from animals being raised or eaten for food. As the world moves toward raising the majority of animals in the unnatural setting of factory farms, it is likely that more, and worse, such pathogens will arise. What will it take for us, and our public health leaders, to question our addiction to meat and tolerance of factory farming?
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
AUGUST 5, 2007
To the Editor: “ A Factory Farm Near You ” (editorial, July 31) does not mention any issue of the morality of factory farming—treating living beings as factory products. Cruelty to animals on such a scale should be the centerpiece of any discussion on raising animals for food. The problem is that there is no possible answer to why we allow such cruelty, other than that we are barbarians. Is that why we conveniently omit it from all discussion?
From the Mailbag
Animal Ethics
JANUARY 23, 2007
This is one of the best essays I have read on the subject of animal ethics. It is similar to Mylan Engel's essay "The Immorality of Eating Meat" because it is not dependent on any normative ethical theory or any controversial claim to animal equality, but simply shows that if we take animals seriously at all we should not eat animal products (or at least not those produced in factory farms).
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
SEPTEMBER 24, 2009
To the Editor: It’s mind-boggling that in spite of overwhelming evidence that the consumption of animal products is directly responsible for a host of human diseases , greenhouse gas production and indescribable animal suffering, the general public continues to satiate its taste buds and support factory farming. A plant-based diet is better for human health, the environment and, obviously, the animals.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
AUGUST 25, 2010
15): We are glad to see an article describing the intensive confinement of egg-laying chickens, but we disagree when it says that animal advocates and consumers are “driving big changes” in the treatment of chickens. At our farm sanctuary, we see how much chickens rescued from factory farms delight in these experiences. Like humans, animals have a right to enjoy life. 15, 2010 The writers are co-founders of Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
NOVEMBER 9, 2009
It is the other way around, with grass-fed animals producing up to three times more methane. To replace factory-farmed meat without further tropical forest destruction is impossible. 3, 2009 Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University and the author of “ The Ethics of What We Eat.” To the Editor: Nicolette Hahn Niman (“ The Carnivore’s Dilemma ,” Op-Ed, Oct.
Tom Regan on Harm to Animals
Animal Ethics
JUNE 12, 2012
That individuals can be harmed without knowing it has important implications for the proper assessment of the treatment of animals. Modern farms (so-called factory farms), for example, raise animals in unnatural conditions. The animals frequently are crowded together, as in the case of hogs, or kept in isolation, as in the case of veal calves. Those animals who are raised intensively, then, let us assume, do not know what they're missing.
R. G. Frey on the Principle of the Equal Consideration of Interests
Animal Ethics
DECEMBER 7, 2008
Interests arise, Singer contends, from the capacity to feel pain, which he labels a 'prerequisite' for having interests at all; and animals can and do suffer, can and do feel pain. This, however, is precisely what factory farming does. By forgoing meat in our diets, we can reduce, if not eliminate, this massive suffering of animals, merely through bringing market forces to bear upon factory farming.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
SEPTEMBER 22, 2007
18 editorial about the abuse of antibiotics in industrial hog farms. It not only brings light to a serious issue, but also begins to make the connection between factory farm practices and consumer choices. Eliminating factory farms and the like will happen only when a majority of consumers recognize their shared responsibility for the food system and start paying farmers a fair price. To the Editor: I applaud “ Antibiotic Runoff ,” your Sept.
Industrial Agriculture
Animal Ethics
SEPTEMBER 18, 2007
The wrongness of factory farming is overdetermined. Why does it not call for the abolition of factory farming? Animal rights is neither progressive nor conservative. Many conservatives care about animals as well as human beings. Why animal rights is considered a progressive cause is mind-boggling See here for one sufficient ground. By the way, the editorial board of the New York Times is progressive (as opposed to conservative).
R. G. Frey on Feeling and Principle
Animal Ethics
NOVEMBER 7, 2008
An enormous volume of material has already appeared on the conditions under which animals live and die on factory farms, and more is almost certainly on the way. In other words, we become vegetarians, not through any decision of principle, but through being unable to bring ourselves to continue to dine upon the flesh of animals. Frey , Interests and Rights: The Case Against Animals [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980], 140-1 [italics in original; footnote omitted
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
JULY 21, 2010
July 13, 2010 To the Editor: Today tens of thousands of American farmers don’t even own the livestock they raise, and the conditions they raise animals in are dictated to them by a handful of extremely powerful companies that are concerned only with the bottom line. Inhumane confinement, illegal anticompetitive practices and factory farming hurt animals, the environment, the consumer, the public health and the farmer.
Another Reason to Go Vegetarian
Animal Ethics
JULY 15, 2009
We can thank factory farming for yet another antibiotic-resistant supergerm: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). It's hard to say because the government still has not instituted a comprehensive MRSA inspection process, but independent research conducted by Tara Smith, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa, suggests that MRSA-infected animals may be widespread indeed. All evidence points to factory farms.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
JULY 19, 2011
A factory-farmed egg-producing hen’s lifespan is less than two years. To the Editor: Re “ Egg Producers and Humane Society Urging Federal Standard on Hen Cages ” (Business Day, July 8): I’m a vegetarian who turned vegan after coming to terms with the fact that just because I was eating hormone-free, antibiotic-free, even free-range organic eggs didn’t mean that egg-producing hens were living a cruelty-free life. When I read your article, I was elated.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
FEBRUARY 4, 2011
His call for the end of factory farms (concentrated animal feeding operations) is courageous. When we understand that these prices require “torturing animals,” we will begin to change this system and also improve our diets. His new column offers hope for animals and help for people. To the Editor: Re “ A Food Manifesto for the Future ” (column, Feb. 2): Let us give thanks for Mark Bittman!
Deliciously Vegan!
Animal Ethics
JANUARY 24, 2008
Not all meat eaters are cold, cruel, selfish individuals insensitive to animal suffering. Many, if not most, of the meat eaters I know are deeply concerned about the fact that the animals they eat are raised in factory farm conditions. They realize that factory farming is inhumane. They don't want to contribute to the unnecessary pain, suffering, and death of the animals they eat, but they simply can't imagine life without meat.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
NOVEMBER 16, 2008
But there is a net loss in all meat production, not just of farmed fish or feeding fish to land animals being raised for food. Feeding grain to chickens, pigs and cows is even more inefficient, with 70 percent of grain grown in the United States going to animals raised for food. It also takes 10 times the fossil fuels to produce a calorie of animal food as it does a calorie of plant food. In 1950, each American consumed, on average, 144 pounds of animal flesh a year.
Crates
Animal Ethics
JANUARY 26, 2007
It might be argued that any decrease in suffering for farmed animals is good, morally speaking. Someone might argue that there is no incompatibility between (1) working to decrease animal suffering and (2) working toward the abolition of factory farming. But doesn't decreasing animal suffering make abolition less likely What do you think of this ? But does giving pigs more room change the way they are viewed?
From the Mailbag
Animal Ethics
JANUARY 15, 2007
I've been an ethical vegan for 12 years; for me it was a straightforward transition. I must advocate on behalf of the animals in other ways. Animal Ethics helps me formalize my position so I can be a more effective advocate. However, I am saying that the transition to veganism was completely natural and took little or no pondering on my part once I knew the truth about animal exploitation. Animal Ethics has helped me become a better coach.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
AUGUST 10, 2007
To the Editor: “ A Factory Farm Near You ” (editorial, July 31) is in a time warp. Yes, concentrated animal feeding operations, or “factory farms” as you call them, are a key feature of modern agriculture. You did not mention the tremendous progress made in ensuring that these farms are environmentally sound. At least as far as hog farms are concerned, catastrophic manure spills are a thing of the past.
R. G. Frey on Animal Suffering
Animal Ethics
AUGUST 31, 2008
My view, then, is not that which it has often been taken to be in discussion and which Singer, Regan, Clark, and others blast in their work; I am not suggesting that, because they lack language, animals can be factory farmed without suffering. Animals can suffer, which they could not unless they were conscious; so they are conscious. Animals are moral patients, but not moral agents.
Animal Advocates' Successes Have Factory Farmers Running Scared
Animal Ethics
FEBRUARY 6, 2007
A column entitled "Ag Industry Threatened by Animal Rights" appeared in today's High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal [ HPMAJ ]. The column, which you can read here , is a call to arms to factory farmers to fight back against those individuals and organizations working to protect farm animals from the abuses inherent in factory farms. To learn more about Arizona's precedent-setting victory for farm animals, see here.
Think Vegan Food Must Be Boring and Bland? Think Again!
Animal Ethics
JANUARY 24, 2007
Most people are shocked and appalled when they first read descriptions of factory farming and learn about the horribly inhumane conditions in which the billions of animals destined for dinner tables are raised, and they are even more appalled when they first see documentary footage of the institutional cruelties inherent in factory farming.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
APRIL 23, 2008
To the Editor: In his past comments about protecting animals and nature, Pope Benedict XVI is building upon the Roman Catholic Church’s tradition of promoting faithful stewardship of all creatures (“ A Cat Lover in the Vatican Strikes a Chord With Cat Lovers Around the World ,” news article, April 20). The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic catechism affirm that compassion for animals is a matter of human dignity.
Michael Fox on Vegetarianism
Animal Ethics
FEBRUARY 6, 2008
Modern livestock farming on a grand scale also wastes a colossal amount of feed grains on animals which, in times past, would simply have fed off the land. All it establishes is that we should eat far less meat so that factory farms become obsolete and that, in conjunction with this, arable land should be turned over to the production of high-protein crops, where possible, so that world hunger can be alleviated somewhat.
From Today's Wall Street Journal
Animal Ethics
NOVEMBER 6, 2009
Beyond the environmental impacts of meat production there is a basic ethical issue involved. So here is an even more modest proposal than roasting Fido: Try eating only what animals you are willing to kill with your own hands. A decision not to eat dogs has nothing to do with our inherent hypocrisy, but with our relationship to different animals. Dogs were bred to be companion animals; pigs and cows are raised as food.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
AUGUST 2, 2008
To the Editor: Re “ A Farm Boy Reflects ” (column, July 31): Hats off to Nicholas D. Kristof, who takes note of the trend represented by the animal welfare proposition on the ballot in California this fall. While this legislation would be an important step in transforming inhumane animal production, we must also call for change on the federal level, where the farm bill subsidizes this sector to the tune of billions of dollars. We know that animals suffer as well.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
AUGUST 20, 2007
12): While this is a step in the right direction toward reducing the animal abuse inherent in all factory farming (from the chicken’s point of view), it’s still a long way from what nature intended. To the Editor: Re “ Suddenly, the Hunt Is On for Cage-Free Eggs ” (front page, Aug.
Jonathan Bennett on Revisable Morality
Animal Ethics
DECEMBER 31, 2008
Jonathan Bennett , "The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn," Philosophy 49 [April 1974]: 123-34, at 133 [italics in original]) Note from KBJ: I thought of animals when I read this. Many people exclude animals from moral consideration, even though they would never think to neglect, much less harm, a dog or a cat. It is natural to feel sympathy for animals who are suffering. This sympathy can be a basis for revising one's moral principles so as to take animals into account.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
APRIL 16, 2009
Animals raised for food suffer miserably. The meat and dairy industries want to keep their operations away from the public’s discriminating eyes, but as groups like PETA and the Humane Society have shown us in their graphic and disturbing undercover investigations, factory farms are mechanized madness and slaughterhouses are torture chambers to these unfortunate and feeling beings. Animal agriculture is inherently inhumane.
Introducing Myself
Animal Ethics
DECEMBER 18, 2006
Currently, I am very interested in social and political philosophy and ethical issues. I felt a strong sense of connection to the ideas of Peter Singer while taking Ethics from Keith. My personal perspective regarding Animal Ethics is not fully formed, which is one of the reasons why Keith and I felt it would be a good idea for me to post on here. I find animals to be valuable for a number of reasons, one of which is for their aesthetic value.
From Today's New York Times
Animal Ethics
JANUARY 30, 2008
But much more attention and discussion needs to be directed to the meat industry, particularly its barbaric treatment of the helpless animals that are in our servitude. Animals turn grass, a k a sunlight, into high-quality proteins, minerals and fats that are an ideal food for humans. What is wrong is factory farms. Do not confuse the garbage output of confinement animal feeding operations with healthy meat.
Vegetarianism and IQ
Animal Ethics
DECEMBER 15, 2006
If they are at all informed about modern animal agricultural practices, they know that raising animals intensively in factory farms greatly increases the amount of animal suffering in the world. Given their knowledge of nutrition already hinted at in Gale's reasoning above, they realize that no one needs to eat animals or animal products in order to be healthy.
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