Ethical Eating

Ethical Eating … taking a look into animal welfare in our food system

What are we talking about?
Conventional Animal Production
Ethical treatment
Questions about human health
Environmental Impact
Vegetarianism and Veganism
What’s available for you on campus?
Questions?

Some definitions
Feedlot  where cows go to get fattened up before slaughter
Castration  removal of testicles
CAFO  confined animal feed operation

Slaughter  the killing of animals mostly for human consumption
Livestock  all animals raised for intent of food production
Free range  not defined by law, but used by the industry to say that poultry, pigs lived outside of cages/crates
Pasture-raised  most sustainable way of producing animals for human consumption; animals are able to roam around freely, and do all things naturally

Do Animals Feel Pain?
All birds, mammals, fish have a central nervous system…
All birds, mammals and fish can feel pain.
Is there emotional pain associated with physical harm? The jury is out on that…

Conventional Animal Production
Chickens, poultry
Pigs
Cattle
Fish

Chickens
Broiler chickens  meat consumption
Layer hens  egg consumption, meat consumption

Broilers
Bred to grow muscles 2x as fast as in 1940’s
Muscle growth does not match bone growth
Deformities
Can’t walk
Crowded pens on concrete/slatted floors
De-beaking
Disease vector  administer antibiotics
Unnatural diets

Layers
98% live in crowded cages - 48 sq. in. each – vertical integration
De-beaking
Disease vector  administer antibiotics
Forced molting through starvation to increase egg production
Unnatural diets
Butchered after 2 egg-laying seasons
By slaughter, 29% suffer broken bones due to neglect and maltreatment

Health Risks and Human Concerns
Hormones – increase growth; illegal in US
Antibiotics – promote growth; treat disease
Arsenic – antimicrobial dug; promotes growth
Disease vector – E. coli, bird flu, salmonella
Environmental pollution

What happens at slaughter?
Transported by truck to slaughter
No legal requirement for chickens to be anesthetized for slaughter… they are awake
Throats cut
Dipped into tanks of scalding hot water to loosen feathers
Plucked of feathers by hand or machine

Facts and figures
There is no federal law that regulates humane treatment of chickens
Over 9 billion chickens were slaughtered in the US for their flesh
245 million hens are raised for eggs
99% of all chickens raised for food spend their entire lives in confinement
Due to genetic manipulation (selective breeding) 90% of broiler chickens have trouble walking
100 million male chicks are ground up alive or suffocated each year
71% of the farmers who work under contract for Tyson earn below-poverty wages

Poultry’s environmental impact
Soy-based high protein feed diet
Ammonia emissions and water contamination
Manure lagoons
Nitrates and phosphates contaminate waterways
Nitrates  algae blooms  fish kills
Blue baby syndrome  result of drinking nitrogen-contaminated water

The Industry…
“ Is it more profitable to grow the biggest bird and have increased mortality due to heart attacks, ascites, and leg problems, or should birds be grown smaller so that birds are smaller, but have fewer heart, lung, and skeletal problems?
A large portion of grower’s pay is based on the pound of saleable meat produced, so simple calculations suggest that it is better to get the weight and ignore the mortality …”

Free Range Poultry
Guaranteed for all egg laying hens and broilers – Prop 2 by 2012
What does free range mean?
Is it really free range?
“ Most free-range birds are still fenced in corrals, though people like to imagine the birds are out roaming the range. They are not out exercising. These birds are raised much like the regular poultry.” – Ralph Ernst, UC Davis Poultry Specialist

Turkeys
Killed when they are 5-6 mo. old
300 million slaughtered ea. year
No federal legal protection
Beaks, toes seared off
Crammed in tight quarters with thousands of other birds
Slaughtered like chickens
Too obese to reproduce  artificially inseminated

Turkey treatment
Mortalities from organ failure or heart attack before reaching 6 mo. old
Become to obese to walk
Transportation to slaughterhouse results in the death of millions of turkeys each year due to heat exhaustion, freezing, transport accidents

Free range turkey?
“Consumers can really be fooled. Some farms can qualify for free range, but they raise turkeys in the same conditions as industrial farms” – Mary Pitman from Mary’s Free-Range Turkeys

Pigs
Over 100million pigs are killed ea. year for consumption
97% of the pigs consumed today are raised on factory farms
Baby pigs have some of their teeth removed, are castrated (males), and have their tails cut off and ears notched
Gestation crates
Transport to slaughterhouse results in the death of 1 million pigs ea. year

Treatment of pigs
Farrowing crates
Piglets placed in “battery cages”  similar to vertical integration for layer hens
Pigs are crammed into small pens with many other pigs until slaughter
Rampant disease
Pigs live up to 6 mo. in factory farms… in nature pigs live up to 15 years

Pig Illnesses
Genetic manipulation to grow too big too fast
Arthritis
Joint problems
Mange
Pneumonia – 70% have it before slaughtered

Slaughter of Pigs
Transported to slaughterhouses in trucks
170,000 pigs die each year in transport
420,000 pigs are crippled during transport ea. year
Typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs every hour
Pigs stunned with stun guns, or bolt guns
Improper firing of stun guns/bolt guns result in live slaughter
Throats slit to bleed out
Scalding water bath to remove hair

Health Risks and Human Concerns
Antiobiotics in pigs
Trichinosis – parasites; raw and undercooked pork
Linked to when pigs were fed garbage
1997-2001, average of 12 cases per year

Environmental Impact
Feral Pigs in North and South America, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii
Invasive species – extensive environmental damage
Pollution from waste

Cows
Beef cows
Dairy cows

Beef Cattle
Bread specifically for meat production
First year spent grazing
Iron-branding
Castration
Horns removed
After first year  auctioned off
Shipped to feedlot
Many arrive at feedlot crippled or dead

Life at the Feedlot
Unnatural diet of mostly corn and antibiotics
Acidification and bloating of the stomach
Ulceration and rupturing of the intestines
Manure overload and manure lagoons
Respiratory problems due to chromic inhalation of the ammonia, methane, and noxious chemicals created by confined environment

Dairy Cows
Repeatedly impregnated in order to induce lactation
Calves taken away from them
rBGH and rBST – growth hormones used to increase milk production
Unnatural diet high in fat and protein-rich grains to increase milk production and replace energy lost by producing such large quantities of milk
Antibiotics administered to keep cows healthy

Slaughter
When to slaughter - b eef cattle is an “acceptable size”; dairy cows stop producing at an “acceptable” rate
Fast and messy  the faster they slaughter, the more meat they can produce, and for cheaper
400 cows slaughtered per day in ea. slaughter house
Cows are stunned, sometimes not completely
Throats slit, bleed out
Slaughtered – specific cuts or ground beef

What’s in the Beef?
GROSS
Fecal contamination
E. coli 0157:H7
Mad Cow Disease
Saturated Fat
GOOD
Protein
Vitamin B12
Iron (heme form)

What is in the milk?
GROSS
Pus
Hormones
Antibiotics
Saturated Fat
Cholesterol
Pesticide residues
Dioxins
Antibiotics
GOOD
Calcium
Protein
Vitamin B12
Added Vitamin D

Got Osteoporosis?
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) looked at all aspects of diet and bone health and found that high consumption of fruits and vegetables positively affected bone health and that dairy consumption did not .
Such findings do not surprise nutritional researchers: The calcium absorption rate from milk is approximately 30 percent , while figures for broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, and some other green leafy vegetables range from 40 percent to 64 percent .

Something’s Fishy
Overfishing – 90% of large fish populations have been exterminated in the past 50 years
Contamination of our waterways
Factory Farmed Fish (aquaculture) – it takes 5lbs of wild fish to produce 1lb of farmed fish
Destruction of ocean’s ecosystems
Bycatch

Health Concerns and Fish
Seafood is the #1 cause of food poisoning in the US
E. coli
Biomagnification
Heavy metals : cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, arsenic
Kidney damage, nervous system issues, cancer, etc.

What do we do?

“ Sustainable” Proteins
Mary’s Turkey – free range
Mary’s Chicken – free range
Petaluma Poultry/Rosie’s Chicken – free range

Food Alliance Certified “Animal Welfare Approved”
Grass Fed Beef – Fulton Beef
Pure Country Pork

Healthy, humane animal treatment
“ Food Alliance certified producers raise livestock with the
greatest respect for their needs and comfort . Food Alliance
producers provide proper nutrition for excellent animal health
and fitness , without excess fat . Living conditions and space
allowances provide physical and thermal comfort , afford
access to natural lighting and vegetated pasture (where
appropriate), and enhance natural behavior (including social contact
among animals). Food Alliance
producers are trained and competent
handlers , minimizing animal fear and
stress during handling, transportation
and slaughter . Use of hormone
treatments is prohibited . Antibiotic use
is restricted to treatment of occasional
illness, and not as a substitute for healthy
living conditions.”

Monterey Bay Seafood Watch

Milk and dairy products
Horizon Organic  organic, but humane?
Berkeley Farm  rBST free
Butter  Sysco brand
Creamers
Cheeses  Sysco brand

Other options…
Vegetarian entrees
Vegan entrees
Vegan corner
Soy milk
Vegan desserts

Opportunities for the future…
Glaum Eggs – cage free – possibly for the Fall of 2009… may be too expensive
Continue to purchase Food Alliance Certified products as they become available
Vegan ice cream

What is the barrier?
Student demand
Cost
Availability

QUESTIONS? ?

Ethical Eating

by daniellellee on Feb 06, 2009

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Ethical Eating — Presentation Transcript