April 2010

A Contradiction in Terms?

As we become more educated about the lives of factory farmed animals, some consumers are concerned how their meat was raised and slaughtered. They are concerned about how humanely the animals are treated. To make meat eating more palatable for consumers, the food marketing industry promotes a way for us to “have our cake and eat it too.” By using such labels as “humanely raised” or “naturally raised,” consumers are given the image of the happy cow or the dust bathing hen.

Can animals who will eventually be slaughtered ever be truly treated humanely? Are we fooling ourselves when we look for labels such as “cage-free” or “free-range,” many of which are created and defined by the very people selling the products rather than by an outside regulatory third party?

So, then, the question becomes are the lives of factory farmed animals made better by increasing the cage size, giving them more room, letting them roam free albeit in a confined building? Are farmed animals’ lives better because some standards have changed and some practices have improved before they are slaughtered? Does purchasing “humanely raised” meat make it easier for us to eat?

What’s your opinion?

Email us to share your thoughts about “humane meat”

and what we as a society can do to improve the lives of farmed animals.

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