Elizah Leigh, This Dish Is Veg
June 2011
[Ed. Note: Or...Seven reasons to go vegan! Read articles about The Meat and Dairy Industries.]
This system has proven to be ideal in terms of yielding high profits, but it significantly compromises our environment, the quality of life that animals bred for food ultimately experience, and the end product which in many cases is sub-par and prone to contamination.
1) Genetic Modification
2) Inappropriate & Sub-Par Diet
3) Excessive Exposure to Pesticides & Hormones
4) Lack of Access to Pasture
5) Extreme Confinement/Inability to Engage in Social Behaviors
6) Perpetual Stress
7) Haphazard Processing
Some strive to live a healthful lifestyle, and though they may exercise with
consistent dedication and consume copious amounts of fruits, vegetables and
dietary supplements, they may still not be entirely immune to ailments as
the years progress. There are also the lucky few who can seemingly eat and
drink whatever they want, and will somehow still manage to get a clean bill
of health whenever they visit their doctor. While the general state of
wellness for the majority of us may seem heavily weighted on randomness and
the sheer luck of the draw, throughout the last decade alone, thousands upon
thousands of studies have zeroed in on how paying attention to both diet and
exercise positively impact longevity.
For myriad reasons, one of the foods that has received its fair share of
negative health press has been meat, but it’s far more complicated than
merely just labeling it as a ‘bad food’ that should be avoided entirely.
There are actually several positive nutritional attributes that make lean
cuts of animal-based protein valuable to the human body. However, things
have gotten pretty sticky with regard to the modern methods used to produce
animal-based protein, and that has directly impacted the quality,
nutritional content and safety of the final product. Today’s big fat juicy
steak may taste good to mainstream eaters, but it comes at a much larger
price than most people realize.
The meat industry has evolved into a multi-billion dollar business designed
to accommodate high consumer demand as efficiently and cost-effectively as
possible. In an effort to continually supply budget-friendly selections to
shoppers, a combination of science, technology and mechanization are
employed to bring animals from the field to the plate in record time. In the
real world, however, ‘the field’ is a euphemism for overcrowded containment
systems (otherwise known as factory farms) where animals exist in highly
unnatural, often inhumane conditions that become a breeding ground for
illness.
This system has proven to be ideal in terms of yielding high profits, but it
significantly compromises our environment, the quality of life that animals
bred for food ultimately experience, and the end product which in many cases
is sub-par and prone to contamination.
Unlike the nutritional profile of wild game -- which contains beneficial,
unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids and far less fat overall -- factory farmed
meat contains very high levels of the very same type of saturated fat that
“is implicated in many of the chronic degenerative diseases” that plague our
society, such as type II diabetes, heart disease, and prostate/breast/colon
cancer. There is a particularly strong correlation between the consumption
of animal fats derived from meat, eggs, milk and cheese and increased
mortality rates from heart disease.
Another concern revolves around highly processed offerings such as sausage,
delicatessen meats, hot dogs and bacon. Typically treated with potassium
nitrate and sodium nitrate -- two curing ingredients that help retard the
growth of certain microbes in products while helping them to retain a
desirable, fleshy tone -- both agents happen to be toxic in high amounts.
While a lethal dose of 22 milligrams would require that a 150 pound adult
consume “18.57 pounds of cured meat product containing 200 ppm sodium
nitrite” in one sitting, they would more than likely die from acute salt
toxicity first. Nevertheless, a Harvard University research team analyzed
the findings of 20 global health studies involving a total of one million
participants and determined that the nitrate preservatives found in a modest
50 gram portion of processed meat are a significant risk factor for coronary
heart disease and diabetes.
The good news, relatively speaking, is that cutting one’s consumption of
both red and processed meat is associated with a reduced incidence of
multiple types of cancer -- such as lung, esophagus, bowel, and liver. In
the interest of offering unbiased information for This Dish Is Veg readers,
it's only fair to note that the medical community still seems to acknowledge
that meat can be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle, particularly when
the leanest cuts of unprocessed, grass-fed buffalo, venison and beef
tenderloin are consumed (such as top sirloin, top-round, eye-round, and
bottom round) in portion sizes that are no larger than 6 ounces, roughly
three times each week. They also concur that grass-fed meat is an ideal
option since it possesses a heart-healthy blend of conjugated linoleic acids
and omega 3 fats, as well as cancer-fighting antioxidants compared to its
grain-raised counterparts.
Nevertheless, the decision of whether one should or should not consume
animal-based products is a highly personal one, and should be motivated by a
number of factors, including education, ethics and environmental concerns.
There are seemingly countless aspects to both arguments that require a great
deal of time and commitment to explore thoroughly, but it's almost
impossible to do either justice within the confines of this space.
Nevertheless, you'll definitely want to make a date to revisit this site
tomorrow because seven different glaring factory farming flaws will be
examined in great detail -- and whether you've been a long term vegan,
vegetarian, flexitarian or your know anyone who appears to be enamored with
meat, you'll definitely want to share this eye-opening information.
Like so many other concerned citizens out there -- you're not terribly
thrilled with the factory farming system that supplies the majority of the
world with its animal-based edibles. Maybe you've caught a few headlines in
the last several years and have begun to suspect that something is rotten in
the state of Denmark. Are you feeling as though there are far too many red
flags? Join the club.
Perhaps you're wondering what the real deal is and above all else, you
simply want to make an educated decision regarding where you stand on the
matter. That's what this article is all about. There are always multiple
aspects to every story and given that this is a very sensitive topic, I've
tried to offer a comprehensive, unbiased and thoroughly researched
perspective that will ideally educate and illuminate all This Dish Is Veg
readers.
The following 7 points specifically address the connection between factory
farming and the questionable safety/nutritional value of the animal-based
protein sources that are typically available for purchase in the United
States.
1) Genetic Modification
Animals are engineered at the genetic level to fit automated processing
machinery easily, to rapidly achieve their optimum slaughter weight, and to
taste uniformly palatable. They are also fed genetically modified (GM)
grains and other plant crops that have never been tested for long term
safety.
2) Inappropriate & Sub-Par Diet
Chickens, turkeys, pigs and various types of cattle achieve optimum health
when they graze on pasture land, however intensive feed operations offer
them grain instead, because it is subsidized by the government, far more
cost-effective, and it fattens them up faster. In fact, 40% of the grain
that is produced globally is earmarked specifically for animal agriculture.
Depending on the type of species, diets are also typically augmented with
various animal by-products (including fecal matter, skin, feathers, hair,
hooves, bone matter, poultry litter, etc.), garbage, and expired human junk
food, many of which take a toll on their digestive systems and lead to
illness. It is not uncommon for chickens – which naturally thrive on a diet
of plants and insects -- to be fed mercury-laden shark by-catch.
It is worth noting that animal by-products incorporated into cattle feed,
including “compressed spinal cord and paraspinal ganglia,” were ultimately
responsible for the emergence of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (also
known as Mad Cow Disease) and its human equivalent, variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
3) Excessive Exposure To Pesticides & Hormones
In light of the deplorable conditions that factory farmed animals exist in –
including overcrowding, abuse, very poor diet, consistent exposure to
disease-breeding waste products, etc. – they are given ‘preventative doses’
of antibiotics, pesticides, growth hormones, as well as arsenic-based drugs
and antiparasitics, so that they can tolerate their unnatural diet, become
somewhat immune to pathogens, and be kept alive long enough to reach
slaughter. These assorted compounds are then passed on in the food chain to
humans.
4) Lack Of Access To Pasture
Allowing livestock consistent access to open fields seeded with various
types of high-protein, vitamin and mineral-rich grass, legumes and plants,
“decrease(s) animal stress and remove(s) unnecessary burdens on the immune
system,” yielding healthier stock. On the other hand, industrial farming
operations frequently keep large animal populations within very small indoor
containment systems, often made of metal and concrete, offering them
high-calorie, grain-based meals that support rapid growth. This process is
beneficial for streamlined production and profit, but it comes at the cost
of animal wellness and the ultimate health of the end consumer.
5) Extreme Confinement/Inability To Engage In Social Behaviors
Highly mechanized factory farms focus on maximum yield using minimal space
-- typically in indoor facilities rather than out in the field -- failing to
allow for the display of natural animal behavioral patterns and instinctual
grazing. This compromises the general wellness level of animals, both
mentally and physically, resulting in patterns of aggression, depression,
illness and even death.
6) Perpetual Stress
Inhumane living conditions, the inability to move around, physical duress
due to incessant reproduction requirements, and the burden of chronically
uncomfortable or even painful genetic traits all contribute to a consistent
level of fear and anxiety. The immediate result of this sustained fear is
that factory farmed animals regularly end up possessing higher levels of
pheromones such as adrenaline in their muscle tissue. A lack of food and
proper hydration during transportation to the slaughterhouse along with the
trauma of milling through the actual facility similarly results in the
production of corticosteroids which compromise the quality of meat via the
acidification process.
7) Haphazard Processing
Throughout a typical work shift, slaughterhouse workers are commonly
expected to perform one repetitive action at their station -- such as
stunning cattle with an air-compressed gun, sawing carcasses in half or
removing specific organs -- every ten seconds. As they process roughly 400
animals per hour, each employee is subject to constant stress while trying
to fulfill exceedingly rapid-paced performance expectations. This can
frequently result in human error, particularly with regard to improper knife
blade treatment and accidental intestinal perforation, both of which yield
carcass contamination and potential food borne illness outbreaks.
Number of animals killed in the world by the fishing, meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage.
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