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Ensuring Animal Welfare in Food Production
- 1. ENSURING “ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE” IN ANIMAL AGRICULTURE JUSTIN LE THE POLITICS OF FOOD SSC 356 APRIL 19, 2020
- 2. MCDONALD’S CLAIMS “WE BELIEVE TREATING ANIMALS WITH CARE AND RESPECT IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF OUR COMMITMEN T TO SERVING MCDONALD’S CUSTOMERS “THE FIVE FREEDOMS (FREEDOM FROM HUNGER / THIRST, FROM PAIN, INJURY, OR DISEASE, TO EXPRESS NORMAL BEHAVIOR, AND FROM FEAR AND DISTRESS) AND THE PROVISION OF POSITIVE “WE’RE COMMITTED TO WORKING WITH OUR SUPPLIERS, INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP AND NGOS, TO CONTINUE ADVANCING AS THE SCIENCE OF “WE WORK WITH LOCAL INDUSTRY AND REGULATORY AUTHORITY ON LIVE ANIMAL TRANSPORT PROGRAMS SUCH AS THOSE FOUND IN CANADA, AUSTRALIA AND THE E.U., FOCUSED ON “THE COMPANY HAS SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS TO ENSURE THAT ANIMALS ARE HUMANELY SLAUGHTERED IN THE APPROVED SLAUGHTERHOUS ES WITHIN OUR GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN” “WE’VE BEEN CAGE-FREE FOR THE BREAKFAST MENU IN ALL EUROPEAN MARKETS SINCE 2011” (McDonalds Corporate Center, 2019)
- 3. HUMANE SLAUGHTER 1958 Humane Slaughter Act Intended to prevent “needless suffering” of animals “The point is pain and torture” “Camillo hands me an electric shocker and emphasizes that I should not use it when a USDA inspector comes around” (McClelland, 2013), (Pachirat, 2013)
- 4. INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions (excluding emissions from transportation of livestock). Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Investors urge McDonalds and other fast food giants to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions as animal agriculture (Rome, 2006), (Anderson, 2014)
- 5. CAGE-FREE AND FREE-RANGE Cage-free allows hens to wander, however still confined to a limited hen- house Beaks are trimmed on all hens, causing acute and chronic pain Male chicks are discarded in an industrial grinder due to inability to produce eggs (The Humane Society, 2020)
- 6. SERVING SAFE FOOD Poorly kept machinery Unkept grease traps and ice-cream machines Dirty work surfaces Most chicken is imported from other countries (Ellis, 2017)
- 7. THE 5 FREEDOMS Freedom From: Thirst Pain Hunger Normal Behavior Fear and distress Tyson foods is one of McDonalds main suppliers Tyson has stayed silent amongst multiple animal abuse accusations (Taylor, 2017)
- 8. CURRENT AFFAIRS REGARDING ANIMAL TREATMENT David Benatar: “Our Cruel Treatment of Animals Led to the Coronavirus” Use of antibiotics as a growth promotor Risk of antibiotic resistance We respond to pandemics instead of preventing their spread Most zoonotic diseases stem from animal agriculture. Specifically wet- markets: i.e.: SARS, Avian influenza, covid-19 (Benatar, 2020)
- 9. ANIMAL AGRICULTURE & CLIMATE CHANGE FACT SLIDE 97% of human induce CO2 is from animal agriculture 37% of methane is from animal agriculture US Department of Agriculture estimates 450 tons of manure are produced annually by farm animals Animal Feed production accounts for a significant portion of total fertilizer use (1/2 corn crop is used for feed) (The Humane Society of the US, 2008)
- 10. BUT HOW CAN I HELP? All soy milk is more sustainable than all dairy milk If everyone went vegan, there would be a net 76% decrease in land used for agriculture The most sustainable beef is several times more harmful than the least sustainable plant-based proteins (Poore & Nemecek, 2018)
- 11. WHAT IS AT STAKE The lives of billions of animals per day The exploitation of slaughterhouse workers The risk of future pandemics The lives of many people The future of our planet (climate change)
- 12. THINK ABOUT WHO IS ON YOUR PLATE.
- 13. REFERENCES Andersen, K., Kuhn, K., xTrue Naturex (Musical group),, A.U.M. Films & Media (Organization),, & First Spark Media,. (2014). Cowspiracy: The sustainability secret. Benatar, D. (2020, April 13). Our Cruel Treatment of Animals Led to the Coronavirus. New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/opinion/animal-cruelty-coronavirus.html Busby, M. (2019, January 29). Investors urge KFC, McDonald's and Burger King to cut emissions. The Guardian. Retrieved From: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/29/investors-urge-kfc-mcdonalds-and-burger-king-to-cut-emissions Ellis, R. (2017, July 25). A Former McDonald's Employee Just Leaked The Most Disgusting Photos. Delish. Retrieved from: https://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a54499/former- employee-leaks-disgusting-mcdonalds-photos/ Elder, M. P. (2013). Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight. Journal of Animal Ethics, 3(1), 104+. Goodland, R. & Anhang, J.. (2009). Livestock and climate change. World Watch. 22. 10-19. McCLelland, M. (2013, April 17). T”his Is What Humane Slaughter Looks Like. Is it Good Enough? Modern Farmer. Retrieved from: https://modernfarmer.com/2013/04/this-is-what-humane-slaughter-looks-like- is-it-good-enough/ McDonalds Corporate. (2017-2019). Animal Health and Welfare. Retrieved from:https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/scale-for-good/our-food/animal-health-and-welfare.html Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216 Rawstorne, T. (2010, May 15). Revealed: The very unappetizing truth about McDonald's chicken meals. DailyMail. Retrieved from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1278495/The-unappetising-truth- McDonalds-chicken-meals.html Steinfeld, H., Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations., & Livestock, Environment and Development (Firm). (2006). Livestock's long shadow: Environmental issues and options. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Taylor, K. (2017, December 6). Undercover footage shows chickens being kicked and impaled at a farm that reportedly supplies Tyson Foods. Business Insider. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.com/tyson-foods-animal-abuse-report-2017-12 The Humane Society of The United States. “How to Decipher Egg Carton Labels.” The Humane Society of the United States, 2020, www.humanesociety.org/resources/how-decipher-egg-carton-labels. The Humane Society of The United States. An HSUS Fact Sheet Animal Agriculture & Climate Change.” The Humane Society of the United States,2008. Retrieved from: https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/climate-change-animal-agriculture-factsheet.pdf
Editor's Notes
- Hello all, welcome to my project. Today I plan on exploring the exploitation of animals, despite the claims of big food chains such as McDonalds’ claims that their animals are being treated fairly and humanely. I hope to fight for the animals that are being exploited and tortured against their will by the hand of capitalist gain of Corporate McDonalds.
- One of the leading fast food chains, McDonald’s makes some bold claims upon the treatment of their animals and how they outsource to different suppliers therefore they are not in direct control of the animals. These claims were pulled straight from their corporate website. In my project today, we will break down these claims and expose McDonalds as well as other fast food chains for their mistreatment of animals. Some of these claims simply can not be true as they are paradoxical in nature such as “humane slaughter.”
- One of the claims that stands out to me the most is humane slaughter. It seems like a bit of an oxymoron, no? In my opinion, it is quite impossible to slaughter a sentient being humanely. The 1958 Humane Slaughter Act was passed in order to prevent “needless suffering” of livestock upon being killed. As if there is a certain level of suffering that should be met when an animal is slaughtered. An article on Modern Farmer written by Mac McClelland (2013) debunks this act and explains methods such as the use of a CASH Knocker to stun a cow before it is killed. In Timothy Pachirat’s (2013) book on workings of meatpacking plants, he goes undercover as a slaughterhouse worker to see firsthand the working conditions of the plant and finds that slaughterhouses typically do not comply to regulations as they use electric prodders to keep animals moving down the kill line. To his surprise, Pachirat finds that kill-line workers feel no empathy towards livestock and one named Fernando states that “the point is pain and torture” in a maniacal manner. When
- As a leader in the fast food industry, McDonalds claims to “continue advancing as the science of animal health and welfare continues to evolve.” Plant-based options have depicted to have fewer greenhouse gas emissions than their animal-based counterparts due to agriculture. As taken from Livestock’s Long Shadow, "the documentary Cowspiracy by Kip Anderson (2014)states that animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Another study done by Goodland & Anhang (2009) found that 51% of greenhouse gas emissions produced are by livestock, as they produce methane. An article by the guardian exposed that investors of big fast food are urging the companies to reduce GHG’s as the environmental consequences in 20-30 years time could be profound. Doesn’t seem like much leadership is going on to me.
- McDonalds claims that many of their eggs are sourced from cage free and free-range farms. As this chart from The Humane society (2020) states, cage-free does not mean outdoor access for the animals, nor does that mean that they are exempt from beak trimming or starvation-based molting. These procedures, according to a proposal of the removal of the debeaking process by Karen Davis , can be extremely painful to the hens, and have chronic detriments., and that feather pecking has never been a problem. Although cage-free and free-range may be appealing, it does not mean cruelty free.
- McDonalds claims that “treating animals with care and respect is part of their commitment to serving safe food to customers.” A quick search on google will reveal multiple stories of the chain’s inability to keep their establishment clean. An article on Delish by Rayne Ellis (2017) describes a worker’s rebellious stunt in exposing McDonalds for their underkept machinery. The worker exposes the chain by posting photos of uncleaned grease-traps, and the grotesque ice-cream machine. In addition to unsafe work surfaces, an article published in Daily Mail, a news firm based in the United Kingdom, Tom Rawstorne (2010) states that 60% of the chicken that McDonalds chains in the UK sells is source from South America. This is an interesting find as one of their direct claims is that they “work with local industry and regulatory authority on live animal transport.” Through claiming that they work with local industry and regulatory authority, it would mean that a McDonalds restaurant in the United Kingdom would get a majority of their ingredients from the UK, however only about 1% of their chicken , the rest coming from cheaply sourced labor in Brazil, holland, and Thailand according to Rawstorne (2010).
- McDonalds claims that they will work with suppliers that ensure the animals at their plants “The 5 Freedoms.” Freedom from pain, thirst, hunger, the ability to express normal behavior and the freedom from fear and distress from handlers. Tyson Foods is one of McDonalds ‘ main suppliers for beef and chicken. An article written by Kate Taylor (2017) from the Business Insider, exposes leaked footage from within a Tyson food plant that depicts workers stabbing, kicking and throwing chickens as if they are commodities, and not living, sentient beings with a desire to live. It is audible in the video where the worker states “hit him on the head, kill him.” These tactics that take place within these chicken coops violate almost all the freedoms. Chickens in the coops develop antibiotic resistance as well leading them to develop diseases.
- A much more pressing concern than that of everyone’s favorite fast food chain is the current pandemic that we are currently faced with. Famous philosopher and author David Benatar (2020) writes in his latest New York Times article that animal agriculture has led humanity into the covid-19 pandemic, with risks of developing an even more severe pandemic through antibiotic resistance. David also says that humans tend to be reactive to a pandemic instead of proactive, and that is a flaw that could be detrimental. Reform must happen in order to prevent a spread like covid-19 from happening again. A change could potentially begin with our treatment of animals.
- Here are a few outstanding facts about animal agriculture brought by the Human Society of the United States (2008).
- It may be overwhelming at first, but it is incredibly easy to make small lifestyle changes to make a big impact. An incredible study done by Poore & Nemecek (2018) evaluated the impact of food on the environment through producers and consumers. This study has found some very pressing information about the amount of emissions and the carbon footprint of each food group. If someone wanted to make a difference in their carbon footprint, the first thing that they should do, according to this study is substitute diary milk for a plant-base milk(in this case soy) and reduce their meat intake. Beef is far more harmful and releases many times more kilograms per 100 grams of protein than even the least sustainable sources of plant-based proteins. This study also found that 90% of deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon can be traced back to clearance for animal agriculture.
- I wish to be a voice for the voiceless. The animals that are bred into existence to only be exploited, and inevitably killed for the satisfaction of human taste buds. Humanity has passed the need for animal agriculture as there are forms of food that can be obtained without raising livestock that is just as nutritious. For the future of humanity, the planet and the lives of animals, I urge for humans and big corporations such as McDonalds to push profits aside for the sake of all sentient beings. Going vegan is more than human, it is humane.