Kevin, as important as it is to be able to report and do investigations on any issue without being prosecuted, we need to think about the bigger issue of sentient animals and that there is NO such thing as non-abusive use of animals, and even if there were such a thing, it would still be morally wrong. We need to stop thinking that there is anything morally justifiable about exploiting, torturing and killing 100s of billions of sentient animals each year for trivial reasons of mostly palate pleasure.
I know that these kinds of comments about the moral imperative of the left to go vegan goes into that inconvenient black hole of cognitive dissonance, but we need to confront this issue head on and admit to ourselves that these animals would not be there, and suffering and being killed, if we were not creating demand for animal products (meat, fish dairy eggs etc). There would be no slaughterhouse workers suffering PTSD, and suffering from diseases from working in such appalling horrific conditions if we were vegan and if we're not creating demand for these products of violence.
In short, anyone who thinks that animal agriculture cares one iota about animals and their "welfare" is not thinking critically about the issue. The animal industry is only interested in what is economically efficient. Animal "welfare" will never ever be "improved". It is ALWAYS going to be torturous. If we applied the same standards to humans, it would be considered torture. The "free range" "cage free" "enriched cages" and so forth are all scams to charge exorbitant prices and soothe the public's conscience about what we are participating in.
Industrialised farming is just meeting our demand. It is never going to end, and mom and pop farms will not be able to take up the demand. By 2050 according to Chris Hedges who is vegan , animal agriculture will not be able to meet demand. It is a case of let go or be dragged. It is a completely unsustainable, ecocidal and violent industry that needs to end, and that starts with you and I going vegan. It's easy to be vegan and it is a moral imperative at this point.
Moreover, The study, published in the journal Science, created a huge dataset based on almost 40,000 farms in 119 countries and covering 40 food products that represent 90% of all that is eaten. It assessed the full impact of these foods, from farm to fork, on land use, climate change emissions, freshwater use and water pollution (eutrophication) and air pollution (acidification).
“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, as these only cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world. Loss of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife.
Thanks for your reporting on this. Interestingly there is a new UK report which has been highlighted in parliament by one party member which is quite interesting.
Kevin, as important as it is to be able to report and do investigations on any issue without being prosecuted, we need to think about the bigger issue of sentient animals and that there is NO such thing as non-abusive use of animals, and even if there were such a thing, it would still be morally wrong. We need to stop thinking that there is anything morally justifiable about exploiting, torturing and killing 100s of billions of sentient animals each year for trivial reasons of mostly palate pleasure.
I know that these kinds of comments about the moral imperative of the left to go vegan goes into that inconvenient black hole of cognitive dissonance, but we need to confront this issue head on and admit to ourselves that these animals would not be there, and suffering and being killed, if we were not creating demand for animal products (meat, fish dairy eggs etc). There would be no slaughterhouse workers suffering PTSD, and suffering from diseases from working in such appalling horrific conditions if we were vegan and if we're not creating demand for these products of violence.
In short, anyone who thinks that animal agriculture cares one iota about animals and their "welfare" is not thinking critically about the issue. The animal industry is only interested in what is economically efficient. Animal "welfare" will never ever be "improved". It is ALWAYS going to be torturous. If we applied the same standards to humans, it would be considered torture. The "free range" "cage free" "enriched cages" and so forth are all scams to charge exorbitant prices and soothe the public's conscience about what we are participating in.
Industrialised farming is just meeting our demand. It is never going to end, and mom and pop farms will not be able to take up the demand. By 2050 according to Chris Hedges who is vegan , animal agriculture will not be able to meet demand. It is a case of let go or be dragged. It is a completely unsustainable, ecocidal and violent industry that needs to end, and that starts with you and I going vegan. It's easy to be vegan and it is a moral imperative at this point.
Moreover, The study, published in the journal Science, created a huge dataset based on almost 40,000 farms in 119 countries and covering 40 food products that represent 90% of all that is eaten. It assessed the full impact of these foods, from farm to fork, on land use, climate change emissions, freshwater use and water pollution (eutrophication) and air pollution (acidification).
“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, as these only cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world. Loss of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Several good points raised that I think even Howell - after his experience - has likely considered.
Thanks for your reporting on this. Interestingly there is a new UK report which has been highlighted in parliament by one party member which is quite interesting.
https://wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/news/farming-climate-change-biodiversity-health/ecological-farming-can-feed-uk-if-diets-change?fbclid=IwAR0ABTnvpN0mUNW1mm5uXqagKsXkqAmEAI1g0cFDJb51jPpbY7j54qdiLzg