Making Hay

Faith in Change

 

by Gene

I recently attended a meeting at the White House to discuss animal issues with religious leaders that was organized by the Humane Society of the U.S. It is very inspiring to see faith-based groups and the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships taking animal concerns seriously.

Throughout recorded history, religious institutions have grappled with major ethical matters while addressing fundamental questions about our place in the universe. Religious and spiritual leaders are seen as moral authorities and have been an influential force, sometimes defending the status quo and sometimes ushering in new understandings and change.

Members of the religious community are often at the center of highly charged debates when existing world views are challenged. Different religious leaders, each citing the divine, have taken opposing positions on contentious topics. Incendiary rhetoric can ensue, as was the case when slavery was debated in the U.S. Congress in the mid-1800s. In his book, Arguing About Slavery, William Lee Miller outlines how anti-slavery activists were demonized: “Who were these foul murderers, bloodhounds, incendiaries, agitators, instigators of midnight murder? These disturbers of our peace and enemies of our lives and liberties? These cold-hearted, base, malignant libelers and calumniators? These knowing accessories to murder, robbery, rape, and infanticide? In short, who were these fiends of hell? Churchwomen, mostly. Churchwomen and preachers, and Quakers, and a few teachers and lawyers and journalists – a powerless and marginal handful of practitioners of a new sort of reform.” (p. 65) These churchwomen and their cohorts took the side of the exploited against the powerful, and ultimately succeeded in changing people’s hearts and minds.

The positions and teachings of religious and faith-based organizations evolve over time and they reflect changes in our society which occur when injustice and cruelty are called out and challenged. For years, the factory farming industry has perpetrated various misdeeds, hidden from public view. It treats animals like inanimate commodities to be exploited, and most citizens have unwittingly supported this systemic abuse by purchasing meat, milk and eggs. But with increasing awareness about factory farming, we are now in the midst of a burgeoning food movement. People oppose animal cruelty and they are seeking to make choices that are better aligned with their values.

As citizens wrestle with moral questions surrounding our food choices, the religious community will be engaged. If you are involved with a faith-based group, please consider raising these concerns for deeper discussion. Our relationship with other animals is an important moral issue, and it is time for the abomination of factory farming to become a thing of the past.

Insight from the Industry

 

by Gene

I recently spoke at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. and to a group of livestock industry experts in Iowa. At both events, it was clear that agribusiness leaders are increasingly concerned about their future. For decades, factory farming has wielded undue influence over government policy and it has profited at the public’s expense. But today, industrialized animal agriculture is widely condemned, and the practice of exploiting animals for food is becoming harder to defend.

An industry consultant addressing the group in Iowa cited our efforts to outlaw the inhumane treatment of animals on farms (such as through initiatives like California’s Proposition 2) as “brilliant.” He said these campaigns cause people to think about farm animal welfare, and this leads to less meat consumption. Supporting this contention, a recent study found that increased media coverage about factory farming lowers the demand for meat.

Along with increasing societal awareness and opposition to the cruelty of factory farming, there is an expanding understanding of farm animals’ complex emotional lives and a growing bed of empirical evidence showing that animal agriculture threatens our health and the environment. Increasingly, policy makers in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere will be pressured to stop subsidizing and propping up an animal agriculture system that offends public sentiments, makes us sick and wastes valuable resources.

I respect farmers and appreciate their noble intention of feeding people. But I urge farmers to ask themselves a fundamental question: “What’s the most efficient and sustainable way to produce healthful food?” The empirical evidence suggests it is by growing plants instead of animals for human consumption.

Challenging Big Ag’s Influence on Government with the Healthy School Meals Act

 

by Gene

I recently attended the 100 year anniversary celebration of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). Located in Beltsville, Md. just outside of Washington, D.C., BARC occupies nearly 7000 acres and is "The World's Largest Most Diversified Agricultural Research Complex" according to its website. BARC researchers have been engaged in numerous efforts to maximize agricultural productivity and marketability. It was BARC scientists who genetically altered commercial turkeys to have white feathers instead of their natural dark feathers, creating a breed called “Beltsville whites.” Unlike their natural counterparts, white feathered turkeys don’t have dark splotches on their carcasses, so they are more attractive to consumers.

BARC, like other USDA operations, is too close to agribusiness, and it is used to promote and validate questionable industry practices and to support bad consumer habits. There were displays and materials promoting the dairy industry and the consumption of cows’ milk at the BARC event, including hand outs from the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association (MDA), which as part of its mission “builds demand for milk and dairy products and enhances the image of the dairy industry on behalf of dairy farmers.”

One of MDA’s brochures distributed at BARC was entitled “Milk & More.” It states, “Dairy foods like milk, cheese and yogurt are important throughout life. In childhood, the key words are ‘growth’ and ‘habits.’ Childhood is a period of growth, and dairy nutrients – especially calcium – are essential for growing bones. Childhood is also the time to form good dietary habits, such as the habit of getting enough dairy every day.” Actually, consuming too many animal products, including dairy, is a bad habit that afflicts most U.S. citizens, and our health is suffering as a result.

As most of us grow up and develop lifelong habits, we are indoctrinated to eat foods that make us sick. Tragically, a major contributor to this problem has been our nation’s school lunch program, which purchases agribusiness commodities and markets them to school kids at the expense of supporting good health. The dairy industry is very influential in our government so its products are heavily promoted. In fact, cow’s milk is given to every child receiving a federally funded meal, even those who are lactose intolerant. This contributes to bad eating habits, which can last a lifetime.

Animal agriculture is busy urging legislators and the USDA to continue promoting meat and dairy products in school lunches, but there is now a very important proposal, The Healthy School Meals Act, H.R. 4870, to promote plant-based alternatives. This bill, authored by Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) will go a long way toward instilling better eating habits in children and thereby improving our nation’s health.

Please contact your representative and urge him or her to co-sponsor H.R. 4870. Please also contact Representative George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, to urge him to support H.R. 4870. The federal school lunch program is being discussed on Capitol Hill now, so please call today!

 

Time to Dig Deep for the Animals

 

By Gene

Across the U.S., hundreds of millions of farm animals, including calves raised for veal, sows exploited for breeding and hens used for egg production, are confined in crates and cages so tightly that they cannot walk, turn around or stretch their limbs. The animals experience both physical and psychological disorders, and their confinement is so cruel that it is being phased out across Europe. Seven U.S. states have now enacted legislation to reform inhumane factory farming systems, including California, where Farm Sanctuary worked alongside citizens in the Golden State to pass a voter initiative that won by a two to one margin in 2008, outlawing veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages. One year later, the Michigan legislature enacted a similar law. But, unlike agricultural leaders and lawmakers in other states, agribusiness officials in Ohio and their legislative cronies have vehemently opposed basic humane reforms.

Public opinion polls in Ohio demonstrate that Ohioans, like citizens in other states, believe that farm animals deserve to be treated with respect and should not be crowded into cages and crates so tightly that they cannot even turn around or stretch their limbs. Now, given the failure of Ohio’s legislature to address these issues, Farm Sanctuary and thousands of citizens across the state are mobilizing, collecting signatures to place an initiative on the statewide ballot to alleviate the suffering of 27 million farm animals who live in veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages in Ohio.

As you read this, Ohio’s animals are suffering and volunteers are in the streets, working hard to make a difference. We have collected more than 160,000 signatures, but there is still a long way to go to obtain the 600,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. If you live in Ohio, or know anybody who does, please get involved. This effort is absolutely crucial.

If we are victorious in Ohio, it will enhance our ability to create needed changes in other states, as well as in Washington, D.C. It’s time to dig deep. The animals are counting on us: www.ohiohumane.org.

School's Out

By Gene

The school year is over, but there are still activities on campuses wherein volunteers, students, and others are engaged in the noble practice of growing their own food. Earlier this week, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack visited a school in southeast Washington, DC to help “create and unveil an edible "Good Food Garden" that will bring healthy, fresh and nutritious food to children from underserved communities in the nation's capital.” Meanwhile, a Baltimore, MD newspaper article described burgeoning efforts to grow and supply healthy fruits and vegetables to school children in that city and beyond.

More and more people are coming to realize the profound consequences of our unhealthy food system. The way we eat contributes to some of the most pressing health problems in our country including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. Sadly, our federal school lunch and nutrition programs have served to exacerbate these problems at tax payer expense, and they are in desperate need of reform. Children should be encouraged to consume fruits, vegetables and other healthful plant foods, rather than animal products, and as the child nutrition act is addressed in Washington, DC over the coming year, we need to be in touch with our elected representatives and senators and make our concerns known. You can take action on this important issue here.