Big Ag To Sway Ohio Voters On Treatment Of Farm Animals

Mother Jones:

Ohio voters will hit the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of an agribusiness-backed proposal that would amend the state constitution and create a board of political appointees to act as arbiters of what constitutes proper treatment of farm animals. In the eyes of its critics, the heavily favored measure, called Issue 2, represents the meat industry's preemptive strike against a fledgling nationwide movement toward humane food production.

Read the whole story: Mother Jones

Comments

[onalimb]

Conscious eating leads to good food karma.
Any animal consumed should have the opportunity to live a reasonaly happy existence prior to its demise.

[DebbyM]

For those who seriously wish to eliminate eggs and dairy from their diets, spend the next three months viewing any video connected with those topics. Look for dairy cow abuse, Lakeland Dairy videos, downer cattle abuse, battery chickens, veal abuse, etc. Burn those images into your brain and the next time you see a quart of milk, you will see that innocent calf stumbling and falling as it struggles in the auction ring, or fights against the chain that keeps it locked into a dark and filthy crate instead of running and playing in the sunshine. You will remember the cow the stumbles off the meat truck with both her back legs broken or is dragged into the air by her back leg, eyes rolling as her throat is cut. The next time you are thinking about having an egg for breakfast, you will see that soft little chick getting half of its beak sliced off and see the row upon row of brutalised hens (with no beaks) existiing in the ammonia and feces laden dark sheds that are their world.

And for those who think the grass fed.....is better, keep in mind that those animals wind up on the same trucks at the same slaughterhouses where they get their dose of abuse and violence too. You have your share of responsibility in the abuse of animals too.

[plan9]

Fast food and feed lot animals will kill all the tea baggers, so what's the problem?

[jsarets]

The regulation that makes the most sense to me is transparency.

Force producers to allow private citizens and organizations to observe their production methods and convey those observations to others. Force distributors to maintain clear labeling identifying the production facility.

Armed with this information, consumers can choose foods that are produced according their personal preferences. Organizations can publish online tools that help consumers find producers with exceptional standards on ethics, ecology, safety, and/or nutrition.

Certain practices simply should not be allowed, primarily regarding health/safety and pollution. I'm not sure that government should play the role of morality police for animals any more than should for humans. I tend to think that consumers should be the judge of that.

[peacekitten]

there is never a need for cruelty to animals.

never.

this is despicable on the part of big agriculture, but not unexpected.

i invite the executives to spend a month working on the brutal farms and [e-mail] floors under the conditions they would impose, and see if they last.

this makes me !ll.

[brady61995]

ohio has many ballots tomorrow and most of them as you can imagine have ads coming up in every markets trying to confuse voters and none of them tell what the bills mean and what they will do. casino adds have cops for it and devils against it. its terrible. i will vote for the ethical treatment of animals in ohio and against casinos. this will do little in the overall problems we face but every vote counts.

[kanglecap]

"... we are sick of war, we do not want to fight, and yet we gorge ourselves upon the DEAD!"
...George Bernard Shaw

"... thousands of animals are uselessly butchered everyday without a shadow of remorse. If any man would refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime".
... 1915 Noble Prize winner Romain Rolland

We must stop the torture of these defenseless animals now!

[kanglecap]

Those eating meat will more likely than not have to face all kinds of health problems in their 60's and 70's if not long before and studies continue to back this up! Many types of cancers and heart disease just to name two!

The horrible conditions under which these poor animals are forced to live is bad enough, but the way these creatures are slaughtered is even more atrocious! Chicken's legs are torn from their sockets, the animals are hung by their feet and their throats cut ... and these animals are ALIVE when all this takes place! We are savages in the most literal sense, are we not?

I have been a vegetarian for sometime now and very glad that I am no longer personally responsible for what goes on in the slaughterhouses.

"we are sick of war, we don't want to fight and yet we gorge ourselves upon the DEAD"!
... George Bernard Shaw

We must stop the torture of these animals NOW!

[Tags]

Agribehemoths would rather work the issues during an off-year election than spend even a penny more of their precious profits than they need to.

They portray meat and dairy as happy cows and chatty chickens when the reality is puking pigs and sardine can conditions with a side order of insanity for all the animals they "raise".

[RTIII]

What's arguably - and I say arguably - more important is that all the "waste" from all these "farmed" animals needs to be converted into methane soas to both 1) Eliminate the present problem with polluted runoff and 2) provide a fantastic source of "short carbon cycle" fuel upon which to run the farm itself. ...The result of the conversion to methane is, of course, methane, but also the very best fertilizer mankind has ever known.

(For those interested in doing your own research, check out a man named Bates - a British guy who perfected running automobiles on methane so generated.)
.

[LemonMeringue]

Please, it is way past time to do this!!!

I no longer eat meat because of the way animals are abused in food production in America. Even eggs and milk are the result of extreme cruelty; I wish I could give those up too but I've only managed to cut down so far and I'm working on it. Read "The Face on Your Plate" if you want to know. Or anything by Peter Singer.

Europe is way ahead.

[kanglecap]

Great post. I am a vegetarian (have been for quite a while) and fast becoming a vegan. As you say, it is hard to change your diet so drastically, but it is important to stand up and show some respect for these defenseless animals and I know you agree.

[dbezon]

The level of brutality involved in modern farming practices is unconscionable. These are certainly not family farms this issue would protect. There’s a good reason why these agribusinesses kept far from the public eye. The treatment is appalling. The conditions are deplorable. When hidden video footage is revealed, people are appalled. And rightfully so. It would be one thing if this was the exception - but it’s not. It’s the norm and Issue 2 seeks to put the power to control this situation in the hands of those who are abusing it now. I urge all Ohioans to vote NO on Issue 2.

[charitabledonation]

I hope Ohio's residents think this through. Somehow, I think the trend is not in favor however. Which is sad, considering all the sickness that is produced from agri-practice that mass farm meat, not animals.

I spend more on meat that is farm raised, grass fed and free range. It seems so worth it these days.

[PWM]

Same here. Future generations will look back at our farming practices and be as disgusted with us as we are when the English used to tie a cow to a fence and have dogs torment it all day so as to make the meat "tender".