Meat Processing Ethics

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

     In the early twentieth century, at the height of the progressive movement, “Muckrakers” had uncovered many scandals and wrong doings in America, but none as big the scandals of Americas meatpacking industry. Rights and responsibilities were blatantly ignored by the industry in an attempt to turn out as much profit as possible. The meat packers did not care if poor working conditions led to sickness and death. They also did not care if the spoiled meat they sold was killing people. The following paper will discuss the many ways that rights and responsibilities were not being fulfilled by the meat packing industry.

Eating animals is normal for any carnivore, but abuse to these animals is unacceptable. There are religions and traditions when it comes to eating and killing animals, usually to be viewed sacred and not like they are nothing. Humans have morals and traditions that separate barriers with farm animals and pets.

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.

Throughout the factual novel, Food Inc. by Karl B. Wiber, the author uses many different ways to show rhetorical strategies. Wiber develops rhetorical strategies by using different devices to display pathos and ethos. Rhetorical devices occur also to support the claim that food companies are hiding from consumers. The author exhibits both informative and persuasive arguments. These arguments only strengthen the pathos and ethos.

Today, the food industry has not just altered the American diet, but it has also had a negative effect within the labor sector as well as the animals meant for consumption and the lack of government oversight. Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, and Jonathan Foer in Eating Animals, illustrate the mistreatment of labor workers as well as the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry. 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 (231). Eating meat does not have to be so inhumane for example, Foer quotes Frank Reese, who does not permit inhumane practices on his ranch that are cruel, and Reese believes that there are other ways of having a sustainable humane animal agriculture instead of the methods of the large corporate meat industry (238). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only what people eat, but how the government has neglected the issues of the wellbeing of labor workers and the animals that are processed for consumption.

The top four meatpacking businesses hold 20 percent of the nation’s cattle in company owned feedlots or cattle bought before-hand, sometimes using secret pricing contracts (138). These farmers are doing everything they can to make a living. This includes rotation practices that big companies would never care about.

The demand for meat in America is on the rise while the number of family owned farms is declining. The farming industry has had to change century old practices like free-range grazing to keep up with the mass amounts of meat that Americans and other cultures have become accustomed to. A process known as factory farming is controlling the farming industry worldwide. Factory farming is an unnatural and inhuman way to raise mass amounts of livestock. Unfortunately to keep up with demand, small farmers around the world are struggling to survive and are being pressured to work for large corporations raising animals using theses factory farming strategies rather than the natural alternative. As described by Wenonah

We do not take in consideration on where our meat comes from and how they treat the animals. People do not know how the process is from slaughtering a cow to the meat that you buy in your neighborhood market. In the book Foodopoly, Wenonah Hauter argues that there is a misrepresentation on what truly happens in the meatpacking industry, hog industry, the impact on small farmers, and how the working conditions are for the meat packing industry workers.

The farmers of long ago took pride in their animals treating them with kindness and care, but today they are kept in small cramp areas with countless other hogs where the ability for movement is often constricted this for the animal causes stress and in turn makes the meat more tough, and sometimes fattier. Some of these animals are filled with hormones that will increase their size making the animals today larger than the ones in the past, but larger doesn’t always mean better. The hormones that they are using can cause illness to some people this unacceptable this is not only unethical, but inhumane to the animal and how they are treated. The small hog farmers are bought out from the big business, but they still allow the farmer to raise the animals under strict guidelines that they must follow this in turn makes the small farmer feel like they “work for the man” and their understanding of the business is often shot down because they have little or no control of their farm they are told how to raise the hogs, how to process them and transport them, but at times they are the ones that have to take the fines if they are not following standing USDA procedures with the big corporation

The first dilemma is observable in the sphere of the American meat industry. The unhygienic conditions of meat production units, and the pathetic conditions of the places where the cattle are kept, both point toward indulgence in unethical practices. From the deontological perspective and from the utilitarian perspective if the meat production scenario, as depicted in the documentary, is considered then a clear picture of unethical practice will come before the eyes of the spectators of the movie. The disgusting condition of the meat industry has contributed to the infamy of the meat industry and its rotten nature. From the deontological perspective it can be said that, it is the duty of an employer to ensure the safety and security of his employees. But Robert Kenner, in the documentary, has shown how the employers in the sphere of American meat industry are indifferent to this basic duty. These employers refrain from being accountable to their employees and to the common public as well. The higher rate of workplace injury in the context of the meat industry is a burning truth and this truth indicates how unethical the approaches of the employers are. From the utilitarian perspective, if judged, it can be seen that, the food industry must be very much cautious about its modes of production and about the quality of its produces. This is primarily because food is consumed by a huge number of consumers

Meatpacking companies combined allowing farmers to sell their cattle at competitive rates. Many farmers were forced to sell their cattle off and quite the business. Many farmers, including Hank, take their own life away. Iowa Beef Packers opened slaughterhouses using the same principles that McDonalds did with its fast food

Thesis Statement: The U.S. government should ban factory farms and require the meat industry to raise animals in their natural environments.

The cattle industry produces vast amounts of strain in the environment. It is energy inefficient, pollutes water, occupies many acres of land, and deteriorates the health of the people who abuse its consumption. The government subsidizes this industry. Therefore, the price paid for meat doesn’t reflect the environmental hazards involved in the process. In order to protect our health and the health of the environment we should pay close attention to our food choices and make sure we don’t support industries that degrade it.

What is the ideal doneness of a burger? Some may claim that well-done is the best, others may like medium-rare. While this is one of the most common questions asked in regards to meat-eating, there is an even more important one that everyone should be asking. What are the ethical implications of eating meat? This oft-debated question has been obscured, especially in recent years, by the outcry for the humane treatment of animals being raised for food. There have been many recent documentaries, books, and debates about how these animals sometimes never see sunlight before they are slaughtered, among many other abusive treatments. In his essay, “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable,” Gary Steiner raises this issue of the morality of meat-eating and challenges the readers to question their own views on this topic. Regardless of the morality of eating meat or using animal products, Steiner does not support his claim strongly enough to be accepted.