"Is it Endemic?" is the critical question that needed to be asked in the article, and it wasn't. The reporter did no research other than repeating factoids that are from a fairly old report released by PETA. When Sinclair wrote "The Jungle" it was, in fact, endemic, and it caused investigations to be made, and legislation to be passed. But now, taking one poorly run slaughterhouse and saying "This is the Meat Industry", reeks of a piece of PETA political propoganda. It's like taking Vanity Fair and regurgitating it as an expose' on Furry Fandom. It is totally irresponsible journalism.
Frankly, one of the things that causes beef production to be as unpleasant as it is is the need to follow certain procedures to be considered Kosher, but if one were to go after THAT particular angle, one would be branded an anti-semite.
As far as I'm concerned, if an animal's ultimate destiny is to be used as food, other than the possible effects it might have on its quality AS food, what difference does it make?
"Organic Farming" for example, is so inefficient as compared to modern farming, that EVEN MORE wild lands would have to be converted to farmland in the third world to support the same number of people. (The usual theory against urban sprawl is to keep human habitation as dense as possible, so does it not make sense to keep human food production as dense as possible too to minimise the impact on the land?) (On the other hand, if high density is bad for animals, might it not also be bad for Humans?)
"Is it Endemic?" is the critical question that needed to be asked in the article, and it wasn't. The reporter did no research other than repeating factoids that are from a fairly old report released by PETA. When Sinclair wrote "The Jungle" it was, in fact, endemic, and it caused investigations to be made, and legislation to be passed. But now, taking one poorly run slaughterhouse and saying "This is the Meat Industry", reeks of a piece of PETA political propoganda. It's like taking Vanity Fair and regurgitating it as an expose' on Furry Fandom. It is totally irresponsible journalism.
Frankly, one of the things that causes beef production to be as unpleasant as it is is the need to follow certain procedures to be considered Kosher, but if one were to go after THAT particular angle, one would be branded an anti-semite.
As far as I'm concerned, if an animal's ultimate destiny is to be used as food, other than the possible effects it might have on its quality AS food, what difference does it make?
"Organic Farming" for example, is so inefficient as compared to modern farming, that EVEN MORE wild lands would have to be converted to farmland in the third world to support the same number of people. (The usual theory against urban sprawl is to keep human habitation as dense as possible, so does it not make sense to keep human food production as dense as possible too to minimise the impact on the land?) (On the other hand, if high density is bad for animals, might it not also be bad for Humans?)