In Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer notes that “upwards of 99 percent of all animals eaten in this country come from ‘factory farms’” (12). And yet the vast majority of consumers are unaware of what this means in terms of the stories behind factory farming: the life and death that a factory- farmed animal experiences, the working conditions of factory farm laborers, the health effects of eating animals and their byproducts, and the overall impact of factory farming on the environment.
As one of you said in class after learning that animal agriculture accounts for 51% of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, “Why haven’t we heard about this before?” This is a great question that has no one simple answer, but it’s worth exploring. Indeed, why are so many people uninformed about factory farming?
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The general public remains ignorant to the truth about factory farming because big corporation make it hard to know. In order for someone to know about the horrors of factory farming, one would have to make an effort to learn about it. The meat packages sold in supermarkets don’t tell us what the animals go through to get there. The fast food industry makes the meat look happy and delicious through the media. The food industry pays billions of dollars to cover up the truth. They also make their meat products very cheap; so most Americans will still buy them. The advantages of knowing about factory farming are that you can then change your eating habits and make an ethical statement. The disadvantages of knowing about factory farming are that it presents a difficult decision for people. Cheap meat is the easiest and most cost effective way to feed your family sufficiently. Knowing the truth about factory farming presents the issue of speciesism. If you know the truth about factory farming and still eat meat the issue comes down to if you care about the welfare of animals more than yourself. Most humans believe that we have power over animals, which means we can do whatever we want to them and will pick their own welfare over an animal’s. It’s very easy to get a burger for a dollar without thinking where it came from and what the animal went through. Some people just don’t care and will pick the cheaper option over the more ethical option. Staying ignorant to the truth about factory farming is the easy way out.
Society has put up a façade to hide the cruel facts about Factory Farms. During childhood, society introduces a farm as a happy little scene where the animals are roaming free in a big red barn it’s real cute and sensible. However in actuality factory farms are nothing like what they show you on TV or in books. They objectify the animals to be nothing but meat by using terms such as pork and steak. The consumer remains ignorant to the connection between the bacon on their plate and a pig inside of the factory farm crate. A person would be motivated to remain ignorant because they don’t want to be disgusted enough to feel sympathy for the animals and have to give up their comfort food of meat. This goes back to the saying: “what you don’t know won’t hurt you.” They don’t want to know because then they will have a will to do something and change their way of life. The advantage of learning about Factory Farms is the cruelty that the animals experience will be further discovered and the exploitation of animals will start to decrease. The disadvantage would be the possibility of the discontinuation of factory farming which will increase the price of meat. This would make it harder for the industry to produce fast cheap meat.
Learning about factory farming in my 802 class has defiantly opened my eyes to the way animals are treated before they get to the dinner table, and I have researched further, ways which I can still eat meat but feel better about where the animals are coming from. But I feel as though I am one a few who will be greatly impacted by this new knowledge. People will definitely remain ignorant to this just because they are stuck in their ways, some people are insensitive to the feelings of animals and some people, still, truly believe that animals lack emotions. An advantage of learning about factory farming is the awareness one will gain from the experience. If what they learn effects them, they will stop eating animals that come from factory farms which will lower the demand of animal meat. A disadvantage is the information on factory farms can be really hard to find. There might be brief articles over the internet that you can find, but the brutal, real life footage is sometimes harder to find. And the graphic pictures are often times what effects people the most. People who cannot imagine their diet without meat will definitely be motivated to stay ignorant to factory farming, but people who believe that animals are full of emotion can be motivated to learn more and begin to put a stop to factory farms.
I feel like for the most part, people choose not to know. The information is readily available, but in order to keep their lives simple and convenient, they would rather not know about the horrible things that happen on factory farms. I know that before this class I didn't know much about what happened to factory farm animals and now that I've seen the videos and heard about all the facts it does bother me when I think about where my food is coming from. The industries who produce this food benefit from this “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentality people seem to have about learning the facts about food production. Of course, once people know, it affects the choices they make, just like how once you work at a certain food place like Subway or something you know exactly what to avoid when ordering there (if you ever want to eat their food again!).
The reason one might remain ignorant to the exact details of factory farming is different, I believe, from one individual to another. For instance, before this class I knew slight details pertaining to the suffering inflicted to these animals. This, for me, is due to the fact that this process of inhumane treatment and slaughter is not taught in the least way to the majority of students in grades 1-12. (This is true at least in my experience, in my local area) This is the simple answer. I think what really is the issue, is the assumption many have of NHA: they have little to no cognition, barring the great apes and dolphins. Some students may learn of factory farms before college. However, I don’t think many learn of the cognitive ability and possible capacities of the animal kingdom. We all think our own dog is unique and intelligent. When it comes to the pig however, we assume they are but simple, dumb creatures; living solely for our consumption. This is only one other possibility. Another reason is definitely tied to social-economic settings. Many cannot choose their meals day to day. So even if one knew of the truth, they could do nothing to change their lifestyle. Again, everyone’s reasons are his or her own. All we can do is tell others.
Factory farming is a very important topic that goes relatively unnoticed by the general public. This is for many different reasons. In my opinion, I believe that the truths about factory farming are some of the best kept secrets from the general public. The facts about factory farming are kept under wraps, because if the general public knew, it would mean disaster for the industry. The billion dollar industry has enough money to help keep the laws in their favor. Politicians may know that what factory farms do is wrong, but there is no way that they are going to go against the factory farming industry. Meat and dairy industries spend millions of dollars projecting a certain type of image, because they know that if the real image were to be shown, everything would go down hill. I recently just learned about causes of pollution in my Environment class. It mentioned that the major cause was agriculture, but not once did it mention anything specifically about animal agriculture. Animal agriculture is never specifically mentioned, therefore it manages to go unseen. Many people may wish to remain ignorant about factory farming because they are afraid to know the truth. They may be afraid of what they learn, because knowledge is power. If they gain that kind of knowledge, they have the power to make a difference. Some people may be uncomfortable with that. There are too many people/groups/organizations responsible for the “hiding” of factory farming. Individuals are responsible because they have the resources to help them discover where their food is coming from, yet most don’t explore it. The government is responsible because they are the ones that allow these vicious factories to function the way that they do. The industries are the number one group responsible. They are the ones who pay the politicians to favor their side, they are the ones who project the false images, and they are the ones who commit the gruesome acts. There are so many reasons why factory farming goes relatively unnoticed by the public, these are just a few.
Consumers want to continue eating at the rate they are and the products that they are. Remaining ignorant becomes an excuse or even justification for proceeding to eat factory farmed meats. It is easier to not know the truth because humans value routine, and becoming knowledgeable about the unsightly facts concerning their consumption means disruption and change. Knowing about not only the conditions the animals are subjected too, but the environmental harms as well as physical harms to humans would cause, I would hope, most logical beings to reconsider their current actions. However, remaining a member of the silent herd allows for these illogical actions to perpetuate. Also, corporations want to continue making a profit. Tyson does not care about the condition of the product they are creating, as long as the consumer continues to do its job. The cheapest production cost for Tyson, the higher the profit. They can’t afford to not factory farm if they want to match consumer demand and continue making the money that they do. We don’t know the truth because the truth is ugly, dirty, and sad. We can’t exist in our omnivore universe if we are knowledgeable about the scary truth, and factory farms want to continue to make money for themselves. Our want for their products and to not want to know the truth allows the factory farm conditions to continue to exist and for the truth to not.
The main reason the public has remained uninformed about the harsh realities of factory farming is because it is a tradition in most cultures to consume meat and individuals choose to be ignorant or ignore the facts. This makes it that much easier for industries to mask the production techniques and keep the truth unrevealed. When it comes down to it, a majority of people know very vaguely what factory farming consists of, but millions of people make a conscious decision to remain ignorant because they enjoy the products and its just so natural or mundane to consume these animal products. Most people know its generally wrong, and for that reason choose not to learn more because they are afraid they might feel overly guilty after about eating animals. Prior to this class, I had a very, very vague perception of what factory farming was. I knew it was bad, but chose to ignore it because I didn't want to feel guilty for my meat consumption. It wasn't until this deeper information was force fed to me in this 802 class that I finally realized how horrible it truly is. And now I do feel guilty for eating meat, but this a good thing because I personally feel eating free range animals is acceptable.
I feel that the reason we don't know about this is because the industries that do this do not want it to be known. If this information was really pushed upon people then the meat industry would most likely plummet drastically. These industries do not want people to be informed because they don't want to be pressured any more than they already are. Another reason why I think we have not heard about this is because of prices. If we want these animals to be treated better that means better conditions which means that we will be spending more money. The industries probably are wondering where this money would come from. Also, if we were to make these animals conditions better, we would have to raise meat prices which would make consumers angry. Not all consumers are worried about these animals welfare, they are more worried about how much they are spending. The industries also do not want to pay more for production. Another reason I feel that we are not informed about these conditions is because I feel that people would not want to eat meat as much if they knew what these animals were subjected to. I know this from personal experience. Since I found about how some of these animals have been treated it has been hard for me to eat things such as chicken wings. It just makes you think more about what you are eating and how it is made. I know this is selfish, but sometimes I feel that I wish I wasn't informed so I didn't have to worry about what I was eating. I feel bad for eating what I eat and it makes eating less pleasurable. This is why I don't really like learning about it. But these are all selfish things and people really should be learning. These two reasons are not right, and they are purely selfish.
With the attention that factory farms have been getting throughout the past few decades, it is very hard to ignore the facts. For someone to still be ignorant to the truth would be quite remarkable, but some still are. Some motivation for one to remain ignorant is possibly the fast food industry. The way that fast food is made and given to the public is most of the time overlooked because of low prices and fast service. They may call it a 'HappyMeal', but I can assure you, the animals were far from happy during their lives on these sorry excuses for farms. All this does is disguise the fact of the matter. An advantage to learning the facts about factory farming could be changing the way you eat so that you could cut down on the animals and animal products you use to help to slim the number of animals brutally killed every year for human use. A disadvantage to learning the facts is learning them and like most people, ignoring them and continuing to not do anything about it.
I believe that many are so uninformed about the horrible conditions of factory farming because they don’t want to know. There is so much corruption in everything in society whether it is in the government or the food system and people would rather be ignorant to the details. The companies themselves go to great extremes to hide the truth of factory farming so their sales will stay the same. And the government’s leniency with the food industry allows them to get away with so much that information isn’t exposed to the public as much. Many would greatly benefit their health by educating themselves but they become lazy to find out information or they just don’t want to know. Cheap meat is what people want and the way to achieve that is through over production of corn to feed livestock. People would rather destroy the economy and save a few bucks.
I think the main reason we haven't heard of the conditions in factory farms is because as most people contribute to the meat or dairy industry by purchasing products, and it is easier to keep them in the dark about the type of industry they are buying into than to attempt to justify the industry or change it. Most people do not want their money to go towards industries that are unjust or unfair, so in order to keep the industry going, factory farms choose not to release information about what it going on within their companies. The farming industry is huge and if conditions of what happened inside these factories became very public, it could strongly effect the industry. It would be very expensive to change the industry, so its cheapter to just remain secretive about the practices, keeping Americans in the dark about their food choices.
Ultimately, I would blame the government as to why the general public is uninformed about the effects and practices of factory farming. The government has the most to gain in such a situation. For example factory farming provides cheap meat to the citizens of the United States. Since the price of meat is so low even the lowest of income families can afford to feed their children meat. (Something that not all governments can promise its citizens) In addition, the way the industry of factory farming has grown—grown I mean as in the size of the few “farms” that are left—it would be difficult and take some time for consumer to change their spending patters for the factory farms to not have some much power, because unfortunately in the United States today money equals power. The size and wealth of factory farms is unbelievable. But if you think about it everyone has to eat and most people are extremely busy and find factory-farmed meat convenient. In conclusion the government could be doing more to inform the public of all the effects of factory farming but chooses not too because if the industry would change, the price of food would increase and in the tough economic times were are in today that would be a difficult transition for most families.
When it comes to farm animals, I believe that most people are unaware about the cruel truth behind factory farming because they do not think deeply into where their food is coming from. This is due to society's unknowingly wholehearted trust in the government ran food industry. People do not question the food they eat because they trust their providers. Now the next question one would ask is why does society trust its providers so much? Maybe its all we know and until something hurts or injures someone people seem not to care about the details and orgins of their meals. In my opinion I think big corporations are to blame for this because they are the ones behind the whole operation of factory farms and it is in their best interest to keep their customers/pockets happy at all cost. Their main motivation is money and if telling the harsh truths about factory farming jeopardizes that, then the big corportations will keep the average citizen in the dark. Overall if it is not good for business then it wont happen. I think that even with all of the efforts made by animal rights organizations a considerable amount of people still will be ignorant to the horror of factory farming.
Nomble Lee
Everyone is unaware of the fact that animal agriculture accounts for 51% of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. I feel like part of it is many of the corporations covering up the fact that this is the problem. They don't want bad publicity on their end so they don't have end their business practices. I also feel though that it is possible to be a larger scheme. The food industry is extremely large and without it, or with highly increased prices for animal products would hurt our economy a ton. There is also the the other 49% that seems to cover up the factory farmers. We are constantly being pushed to drive smaller better cars, use energy efficient light bulbs, ect. This is pushed on us harder I believe to hide the fact of the real issue that is pressing us.
guilI think that the mystery shrouding the factory farming industry is a product of both peoples' desire to remain uninformed and the industry's efforts to keep the public uninformed. I believe that people would rather not know what goes on behind closed doors at these farms. If a person knows the details about factory farms, then he/she will be influenced out of t to make drastic changes to his/her lifestyle. It is much easier to simply ignore the details and continue a normal lifestyle without feeling guilty at dinner every day. On the other side of the issue is the secrecy cultivated by the factory farms. The enormous industry knows that as long as the public doesn't know what is going on at their farms, nobody will contest the industry. As long as the public cannot find information about the industry, they cannot demand change. So factory farms do not allow people inside and foster an illusion of family values and animal welfare to cover their trail. So both sides of the industry would like to go about their day without being bothered by someone (or something) else's problems.
The reason why the majority of the populace doesn't know about factory farming for all that it is is because no media source ever covers it on the television. Our main source of information is media (mostly TV) and if they don't tell us then most won't know. Even if media shows it or presents it. It would be a special "event" outside of the daily news time frame. If it was on the news or in the papers as a serious matter then it would get to everyone. The cow that escaped from a slaughterhouse and was running away in the downtown area was broadcasted on the news and thousands of people called in to show their support.
It is in the nature of the general society to only focus on what is being focused on by those around them. For example, when in the fall of the year 2010 violent wildfires broke out in Russia they were covered by most broadcasting companies and, generally, people knew about the disaster. However, very few were aware of the terrible floods going on in Australia that might not have resulted in as many casualties but devastated the country nonetheless, costing it 30 billion dollars in damage. Because there was already one major natural disaster happening, people were not able to, or did not have the opportunity to, give attention to other less known disasters and concentrated their lunch conversations on what they heard being said around them. The issue is similar when dealing with the public's ignorance regarding the sources of their meals. Because there are so many other things going around the world that deal directly with harm and discomfort of human animals, broadcasting companies choose to concentrate their money and efforts into reporting them rather than things dealing with harm and discomfort of non-human animals. Because non-human animals in our society are not perceived as equally important as human animals, industry dealing directly with them is also dismissed as less important and the average person lacks cynicism regarding the subject to criticize or question any of the means of production of that industry. The only thing our industrialized nation is concerned about is the quality of the product; we will worry about the by-products later. However, how late is too late?
People are not informed about factory farming because it not publicized enough. I did not know about the procedures and events that went on in factories before i entered this class. This class has been eye opening and very informative. I was not ignorant; just not informed properly. Society hides the truth to protect their profit because believe it or not factory farming is a major industry throughout the world. It contributes to the economy of the world therefore exposure would damage production and profit. Food choices would be affected in addition to clothes and bedding because the leather and down industry would be discouraged. Society can not afford all these loses so the truth is hidden to protect their gains.
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