1. Sermon by Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman
2. More Comments about Animal Welfare Reforms
3. Major Report Condemns Factory Farms
4. May Issue of The Peaceable Table
1. Sermon by Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman
The Church of Spiritually Lukewarm People
http://www.all-creatures.org/sermons98/s20080427.html
2. More Comments about Animal Welfare Reforms
My logic and stance on this is based on analogies of slavery or
victims of the Holocaust. I have never read of any abolitionist, who
instead of working to abolish slavery, devoted their energies to seeing
that “masters” just feed or clothe their slaves better or beat them a
little less harshly. And I never read about, or spoken to, anyone who
simply asked that the Nazis give their victims a little more room in the
cattle cars that took them to their deaths. It would be laughable in the
macabre sense to even suggest that this had been a valuable contribution
to the causes of overcoming these injustices and tragedies. How can it
not be the same in this case – we are not making strides when all we are
doing is to send innocent animals to a terrible death – but they have
had it a bit nicer on their trip to the slaughter house. What we are
doing is assuaging our own consciences that we have made a difference,
won a battle, and are on our way to victory. We have not and we are not.
Pamm
Although I am an abolitionist (an important tradition among Quakers
as regards human slavery), I think the advantages of reforms such as
abolishing cages in favor of free-range production outweigh the
disadvantages. It is true that some people who are troubled by the
suffering of confined animals will become complacent rather than going
vegetarian or vegan. But the population as a whole will probably become
more sensitive to the issue through this kind of campaigns, including
people who would only become more resistant if activists pushed
Abolitionism Now. Later, as awareness builds, more radical changes can
be urged.
Gracia Fay Ellwood
3. Major Report Condemns Factory Farms
[Article courtesy of Farmed Animal Watch]
PEW Report on Industrial Farmed Animal Production
“The goal of this Commission is to sound the alarms that significant
change is urgently needed in industrial farm animal production,” said
John Carlin, Chairman of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal
Production (see: http://tinyurl.com/35vqno).
The Commission released its 112-page report this week after examining
the issues for 2 & ½ years. Large industrial farms "often pose
unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the animals
themselves" while shifting rural economic power from farmers to
processors, the report states. A Pew press release notes: “good animal
welfare can no longer be assumed based only on the absence of disease or
productivity outcomes.”
Among the report’s recommendations are that as soon as possible -and
within a decade- battery cages, gestation crates, veal crates, force
feeding for foie gras production and the docking of cows’ tails be
phased out. It also recommends poultry be covered by the Humane Methods
of Slaughter Act, antibiotics be banned as growth stimulants, and
regulations regarding animal transport and manure management be
strengthened and enforced. (The report notes that, in the U.S., animals
in confinement facilities produce three times as much manure as does the
human population.)
After industry representatives moved to prevent the Commission from
accessing farms, it resorted to tours arranged by the Animal Agriculture
Alliance:
http://www.animalagalliance.org
“We found significant influence by the industry at every turn: in
academic research, agriculture policy development, governmental
regulation, and enforcement,” the study reports. “[T]he agro-industrial
complex -- an alliance of agricultural commodity groups, scientists at
academic institutions who are paid by the industry, and their friends on
Capitol Hill -- is a concern in animal food production in the 21st
century," wrote the Commission’s executive director. The Commission
recommends increasing public spending on research to avoid potential
bias of industry-sponsored studies, and that universities disclose
research sponsors. (Two-thirds of U.S. research and development money
comes from industry and less than a third from the federal government,
according to the National Science Foundation. In 1981, the funding
levels were equal.) Industry groups counter that the Commission was
slanted against them from the start.
The full report, which includes numerous photographs, can be found at
(PDF): http://tinyurl.com/5oaao7.
PEW Commission Says Industrial Scale Farm Animal Production Poses
“Unacceptable Risks” to Public Health, Environment
Pew Charitable Trusts press release, April 29, 2008
http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=38438
Panel Questions Factory-Like Farms
Associated Press, April 29, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-04-29-farms-panel_N.htm?csp=34
Farming Critics Fault Industry’s Influence
The Wall Street Journal, Elizabeth Williamson, April 30, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5htdyf
Report Targets Costs of Factory Farming
The Washington Post, Rick Weiss, April 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5odc7j
4. May Issue of The Peaceable Table
Contents include:
* Bonobos, together with other animals and birds, are featured in the
Essay Review of "Minds of Their Own," the lead article in the March '08
National Geographic.
* In the Film Review, we learn of some surprising analogies between the
situation of the hero of Horton Hears a Who! and that of animal
advocates.
* A recipe for delicious tsimmes, encountered at a Passover Seder,
appears in this month's Recipe column.
* Our Pioneer and Poet is another worthy from ancient Rome, the
lighthearted and sometimes ribald poet Ovid, who in this excerpt from
Metamorphoses (with translation) reveals a serious side.
You can view this issue online at
http://www.vegetarianfriends.net/issue43.html
We always welcome comments, suggestions, and submissions.
Peace to all,
Gracia Fay Ellwood
Editor