Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer Essay

Factory farming is currently meeting the needs of supply and demand which is beneficial to the economy. However, with the lack of regulations and enforcement of current regulations by authority entities such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it is ethically and morally unjustifiable for these corporations to practice and conduct business this way. The USDA and FDA are not the only players who are to accept blame in this unethical practice. State and federal laws should investigate and collaborate with those agencies to develop, execute, and retain safe and clean practices. Perdue Farms should also accept personal responsibility and be concerned about their workplace, their employees, the animals that make them money, and the consumers. The ethical theory being put into place

Our nation’s industrial farming has become more than just feeding people; it has become a way for the food industry to make more money as human population continues to grow. Jonathan Safran Foer in his book Eating Animals, illustrates the effects factory farming has had on animals meant for human consumption. Furthermore, Foer asks many questions to the reader on what will it take for us to change our ways before we say enough is enough. The questions individuals need to be asking themselves are: how do we deal with the problem of factory farming, and what can people do to help solve these issues? Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, also illustrates the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry as well as Bernard Rollin and Robert Desch in their article “Farm Factories”, both demonstrate what is wrong today with factory farming. Foer gives such examples of employees who work in slaughterhouses giving accounts of what goes on in the kill floors, and stories of employees who have witnessed thousands and thousands of cows going through the slaughter process alive (Animals 231). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, both address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only how people eat, but also the negative effects our climate endures as a result of factory farming as illustrated by Anna Lappe in “The Climate Crisis at the End

Factory Farming is an increasing industry in the United States. These large farms, which evidently appear to be more like slaughterhouses than the typical farms a person can imagine are located throughout the United States. These factory farms contain animals ranging from chickens, sheep, goats, cows, turkeys, and pigs, they also contain dairy products. The conditions for the animals and the employees of these factory farms are inhumane and vile. Life behind the walls of the factory farm is both unsanitary for the animals and the employees. Employees are forced to endure long hours and poor treatment. Animals in these conditions withstand living in cages and are forced to live in uninhabitable ways.

Every year, an average American will consume approximately one hundred-twenty six pounds of meat. This meat can be traced back to factory farms where the animals are kept to be tortured to turn into a product for the appetite of humans. The terrible treatment these animals are forced to endure is the outcome of the greed and want for a faster production of their product. The industry of factory farming works to maximize the output of the meat while maintaining low costs,but will sadly always comes at the animals’ expense.

While researching books for the major project, I stumbled upon a book over the ethics of eating meat: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, published on November 2, 2009. Coming from a rural, agrarian background, my curiosity about why anyone in his right mind would want to become a vegetarian grew immensely when I discovered the book. Foer’s main audience appears to be those on the fence about whether to eat meat or those uninformed about factory farming. This book was not meant for individuals with an agricultural background, as Foer attempts – and fails – to explain how farms operate, massively overgeneralizing several aspects. Throughout the book, Foer seeks to inform readers about the atrocities committed on factory farms, to

Have you ever wondered what you’re really eating, where the ground beef in your cheeseburger comes from, or if the animals are getting the same satisfaction and happiness that your hunger gets? Factory farming is the reason for these questions we ask ourselves. They say we should eat animal products that trace back to factory farms because they wouldn’t raise anything that’s not good for us in a “farm”. I say that you shouldn’t eat animal products from factory farms because of the corrupted conditions animals live in. They might object that factory farms is a better choice because you get more bang for your buck versus going to a farmers market and spending an arm and a leg for naturally raised produce.

Many individuals have seen or heard of the videos on the internet of various slaughterhouses across the country as well as the videos of factory farms and how their livestock are raised, along with Rachel Carson’s various books about the dangers of pesticides. Until the 1950’s, farming never used hormones to increase growth pace to achieve meatier animals. Factory farms and the mass production of animals have caused corporations to stop thinking about the quality of their foods, but the quantity and efficiency in which consumers receive it. Factory farm raised animals are produced to become our food and sold in stores, but they do not have to live in such poor, unhealthy conditions or live short lives full of pain. While factory farms are beneficial to the economy, ultimately they are harmful to the environment and the health of people and animals. Therefore we should find alternatives to factory farming.

These factories not only are creating a bad setting for the workers, but also for the animals and the environment. Meat packing industries have forgotten because they have gotten so used to work conditions as they work in that they are regularly contaminating “the environment and our drinking water, ravage rural communities, and harm the welfare of animals”

In the edited version of conversation, Jeffrey Goldberg talked with Jonathan Safran Foer's about his new book, "Eating Animals." The author, Jonathan Safran Foer believes in vegetarianism, so he accepts that if some farmers could treat animals very well, although some animals will be killed, it is not so painful and suffering. However, he thinks no sale, no killing, so we’d better not to eat or hurt animals.

Today meat is in high demand so more and more factory farms are being made. What people do not know is all of the problems with these factory farms compared to a normal farm. They are worse for the consumer for many reasons including animals being more stressed out from how tightly packed they are. Factory farms have a significant amount of manure that affect the air and water quality around them and they do not have a place for it. A normal farm would use the manure to put on a field. Lastly, the spread of disease in a factory farm is unreal. With them being so tightly packed and so many of them one disease could affect every single one of the animals.

“Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and pesticide- laden corpse of a tortured animal.” says Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder of (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) PETA and animal activist. Factory farming should be banned or demolished thoroughly due to more harm than good that is being presented worldwide. Animal brutality, which can be found constantly and excessively throughout factory farms, is a deleterious act involving the animals and a diabolic act regarding human morals. The antic actions that proceed have an effect on both humans and the environment, as well as the unethical, inhumane treatment and the atrocious sufferings of animals. Besides factory farms offering a copious amount of cheaper food, factory farming is a detrimental agricultural practice to both humans and the environment. The way we receive our food is inhumane and unhealthy to humans and the environment, thus factory farms should be banned.

I don't think Safran Foer is trying to convince readers not to eat animals, I feel like the article was more persuasive toward the fact that people should keep an open mind and not be hypocrites because everyone has there preference of meat and society as a whole eats cows, and pigs, so what is so wrong about adding dogs to the list? Yes it is a family animal and to picture eating a dog is horrific but then again we eat other animals and it fine . I have not changed my feelings about eating animals because every culture has there own cuisine. Although it is bizarre in my culture in other cultures its might be popular and normal to eat dogs. For examples Safran Foer stated " The french, who love their dogs,sometimes eat horses. The Spanish,

When is the last time you really thought about where the meat you eat comes from? Animal farming has reached a whole new level of inhumane. Human beings have lost all compassion towards anything apart from themselves, and they are just getting worse and worse with little sign of improving. Large factory animal farming should be deemed illegal.

All of the factory farms need to be stopped and taken down. We need more family farms, family farms are the safest healthiest places food comes from. Factory farms have air pollution, water pollution, and mono cultures. Also in factory farms when it comes to the animals they give them all these antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides. Family farms do not do anything to drug the animals. Family farms take real good care of all their animals while factory farms don't care about their animals one little bit. So if family farms care more about their animals than they care about the people's health also. If the factory farms don't care about their animals then they don't care about the people's health. Keeping the animals healthy and safe means the people will be healthy and safe and will not have to worry about themselves getting sick or overweight. In Wendell Berry’s article “The Pleasures of Eating” he said “The dreamer in this dream home will perforce know nothing about the kind of quality of this food, or where it came from, or how it was produced and prepared, or what ingredients, additives, and residues it contains” Usually when people buy meats at grocery stores, they buy meat without knowing where it was made, how it was made, and how many chemicals it has. Also known as pig in a poke. The people that do this buy the meats without knowing the harmful things it can do with the human body,

After reading Singer and Mason, “The Ethics of Eating Meat,” I do not feel prepared to change any of my eating habits. Although the authors provide profound insight on the treatment of animals in America on Factory Farms versus Polyface Farms I am still skeptical about how one could be more humane than the other when in both cases the animals are produced to be slaughtered and sold for human consumption. Because there is not really a way to ensure the slaughter of cattle is humane or not I do not see myself becoming a conscientious omnivore. On the other hand, I agree that some aspects of Factory farming should not be acceptable. I strongly believe that laws should be put in place to help regulate better treatment of animals during the duration of their lives on Factory Farms.