Moving the Needle Forward on Animal Welfare, Food Safety, and the Environment: Vote YES on Prop 2

If you could peer into a giant factory farm where animals are mass produced and then killed to become our food, you might wonder how we, as a decent and humane people have arrived at this place. What you would see is this:

1. Egg laying hens, crammed by the bunch, into a tiny wire cage stacked one upon the other for what seems like miles. They cannot spread their wings, and they are driven mad by the 1-2 years (the length of their miserable lives) of extreme confinement.

2. Mother pigs enclosed in a metal frame barely bigger than their bodies for months on end. The gestating pigs can hardly move, and they endure extreme discomfort and frustration. Did you know, by the way, that pigs are more cognizant than a three year old child and smarter than your pet dog?

3. Veal calves that have been ripped from their mothers at birth and shackled with a chain around their necks in what amounts to a dark box. They are kept in this state of intense captivity so that their muscles remain tender, hence they are often dragged to slaughter unable to walk on undeveloped legs.

Imagine, if you will, that it is you who is locked in a tiny dark space, unable to move, day after maddening day, month after torturous month. You suffer endlessly without a kind gesture or moment of relief. You have done nothing wrong, and you will ultimately die so someone can dine on your flesh.

I am not an idealist; I know that we are not a culture that is about to stop eating animals overnight. But I do think until that day arrives, we can raise these creatures with a modicum of decency. We can give them a little room to breathe, stretch, and even walk around before they are killed.

It's not only a humane choice to ease the tight containment; it also makes sense for our health. Raising animals in dark and filthy conditions breeds bacteria and viruses. For instance, there is up to 20 times the rate of salmonella in caged hens versus cage free hens. And the bird flu virus, although quiet in the news for the moment, has mutated at an alarming rate in pockets of animals who are kept in these dank conditions. And lastly, our environment suffers enormously from the runoff of these colossal farms: the nearby water tables are polluted by the massive amount of excrement laced with antibiotics and hormones, the air is thick with ammonia and other noxious fumes, and rotting by-products of animal flesh make the smell untenable.

So to vote YES on Prop 2 in California would be the beginning of making things better for animals, our health, and the environment. If the measure passes, factory farms in the largest animal production state in the country would have until 2015 to change their ways and get rid of the most extreme confinement. It won't put an end to factory farming, but it will certainly move the needle towards reclaiming our integrity.

As Gandhi famously said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

www.YESonProp2.com

Comments

[barnamink]

It is truly depressing that Prop. 2 is considered the "best" we can come up with to "help animals". It is in fact another tailor made "victory" for the HSUS to keep its revenues flowing.

The HSUS currently is trying to raise $200,000 dollars to run a 30 second TV ad here in San Francisco. (A lot of money but it is still $100,000 less than Wayne Pacelle's yearly salary...) On my blog SFVegan.org, I calculate that with the money spent on 30 seconds of Prop. 2 campaigning, I could give away 150,000 slices of vegan pizza (and this is darned good pizza everyone who tries it raves about) along with literature, or about 3,000 slices each weekend for a whole year:

http://www.sfvegan.org/2008/10/what-could-we-do-with-200000.html

The point is: we can and must do better than the expensive but misguided campaigns run by large corporate charities, that passes as the "animal rights movement" today. This is a movement that is run by guys in pinstripe suits in DC (such as Pacelle). Now I don't need to tell other Huff Post readers that D.C. guys in suits tend to run watered down, misleading, **expensive** and out of touch campaigns, in the place of what should really be creative grassroots movements, eh?

[nonipunk]

PETA seems to be the only one really changing things. they put on so much pressure they usually win. i think we need to be more aggressive. militant even. those are the groups i'd happily contribute to. anyone know of any?

[GaryFrancione]

Unfortunately, groups like PETA and HSUS are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Like HSUS, PETA has, in effect, become a partner of animal exploiters in its promotion of the "happy meat" movement. For example, consider the PETA campaign involving Kentucky Fried Chicken. You can read more about it in my essay:

http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/?p=144

Large, national groups like PETA are concerned primarily with fundraising efforts. In order to raise the many millions that these groups raise, it is necessary that they take positions that do not challenge the status quo in any significant way. Remember that PETA acknowledges that half of its membership is not vegetarian (let alone vegan). In a December 2006 about Dan Mathews of PETA, Mathews and the writer went to McDonald"s to eat and the writer asked if it was okay to order a cheeseburger. Mathews is reported as saying ""Order what you want," ¦. "Half of our members are vegetarian and half think it"s a good idea."" (The source for Mathews' quote is provided in the above-reference blog essay.)

PETA is not an agent for progressive social change; it is on many, many fronts a reactionary defender of the status quo.

Gary L. Francione
Professor, Rutgers University

[ohioan73]

Well water containing high levels of nitrates can kill a baby. Factory farms not only drive family farms out of business, they poison the water supply of rural communities. Factory farms are the Walmarts of the rural communities but more dangerous in terms of health risks.

All that said, I dont think its too much to ask for my chickens and cows to live the best life they can live before they end up on my plate. I participated in a 1,000 person protest at the Oscar Meyer building in DC about 7 years ago and it was fantastic.

Boycott factory farms. Buy meat from family farms.

[veggiequeenmo]

better yet - don't eat animals or their byproducts to begin with - save a step and help the environment, improve your health and repsect life.

[nonipunk]

we all agree but what do we do?
voting NO on prop 2 doesn't help. i think that putting at least some pressure on these soul less corporations is at least a start. Getting really involved in the humane society and PETA is also extremely important. The best thing to do of course is go vegetarian. it's not such a big deal. People are going to look at us 100 years from now and think our society was a bunch of barbarians eating all this meat. it's just so stupid on every level.

[ohioan73]

The best thing you can do is not buy the products of factory farms. If you wanna get more involved contact National People's Action. (NPA) They work with a network of national community organizations on rural issues. I traveled with them to DC in 2001 and protested inside the Oscar Meyer building. It was a blast. Very organized people. No arrests in 38 years of community organizing.

[ch4r1iegr1]

Big Agra uses the legal system and the state governments to further their greedy means of production.

Woodford county in central Illinois is filled with newly built hog farms. The "farms" usually consist of 1 to 6 long, white buildings. I drove in the driveway of a couple that I happened to drive past and I talked to some relatives who've been attending city council meetings and following the fight against the placement of these "factory farms" near the town. There are more being built right now, 1 mile upwind of a school, for instance, and people have been trying to stop it.

You know how many pigs are in each one of those buildings? 2400 pigs. In one building... with clusters of 4, 5, 6 buildings.... You know why? Big Agra lobbied in Springfield to get the laws changed to allow that many pigs in one building. Then they tell the townspeople that they are "within the law," so there is nothing a county or a town can do to stop these greedy monsters.

They own the system with their influence. The only way to put a stop to cruel factory farming practices, is to boycott the cheap, compromised, low-quality crap they're churning out. It's not hard. Giving up just eating fast food will do more than trying to pass legislation.

[GaryFrancione]

Proposition 2, the "Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act," is a bad idea. Consider only several of the many reasons.

First, Proposition 2 will not even come into effect until 2015. Proposition 2 has numerous exceptions and qualifications and even if it does come into effect at some point in the distant future, and even if it is enforced, it will result in no meaningful reduction in animal suffering.

Second, even if Proposition 2 comes into effect in seven years, it will do virtually nothing to provide meaningful protection for animal interests. Animals raised for food in California will still be tortured. The only difference will be that the torture will have the stamp of approval of the Humane Society of the United States, the primary promoter of Proposition 2, and other animal advocates who are supporting it.

Third, not only will Proposition 2 not provide meaningful protection for animals, it will actually make people feel more comfortable about continuing to exploit animals by misleading them into believing that they can now eat "humanely" produced animal foods. Proposition will increase animal exploitation and not decrease it.

The decision about how to vote on Proposition 2 is not one that requires that advocates choose between more animal suffering or less. It is a choice between continuing to promote the "happy meat" movement that is taking things in the wrong direction or getting down to serious animal advocacy that will really make a difference.

Gary L. Francione
Professor, Rutgers University

[FearlessFreep]

How will voting no on Proposition 2 help animals?

[GaryFrancione]

Proposition 2 does nothing to help animals and makes the public feel better about consuming animal products. Please re-read my original posting and my reply to Isinla.

Gary L. Francione
Professor, Rutgers University

[lsinla]

I've heard this guy on the radio before. He'd prefer to not do anything rather than make even one farm animal more comortable. How is that affecting change? Look at the awareness this is bringing and will continue to bring...once this passes, Big Agriculture will be held accountable and will make the changes necessary to treat all of their animals with more respect and care. YES, it'd be great to have everyone become Vegan like yourself...but that is not going to happen any time soon. So until that day, why not let the Animals have a little more space until they're slaughtered? It might not change the world for you but it will certainly change the world for them!

VOTE YES ON PROP 2!

[GaryFrancione]

I am sorry that Isinla feels compelled to resort to mischaracterizations of my views rather than to address the substantive issues.

This "happy meat" nonsense is not doing anything to help animals. Proposition 2 will not even become effective until 2015 and it has many loopholes. Moreover, initiatives like Proposition 2 make the public feel better about consuming animal products and this militates in favor of continued consumption of animal products. Indeed, in the past year or two, there have been many articles discussing how even those who once refrained from eating animal products for moral reasons are returning to eating animal products because they believe that they are now more "humanely" produced.

Efforts like Proposition 2 do not help animals.

If all of the time, effort, and money that went into the campaign for Proposition 2 were, instead, focused on vegan education, it would certainly result in some people going vegan and in generally educating society about what is a clear message: that we cannot morally justify animal use. Proposition 2 sends a very wrong message and it does nothing to help animals.

Gary L. Francione
Professor, Rutgers University

[HopefulAgainInTX]

If I lived in California, I would certainly vote yes. Sadly, it will be a long long time before Texas moves forward on animal welfare.

[patianneb]

You'd be surprised how quickly things would move if people would simply stop buying unhealthy food and instead opt for locally raised meat from pastured animals, even if for just 30-60 days or so to make a point.
We have and fail to use so much power ....
People SHOULD do this, for the sake of themselves, their families, and families in their general communities....