In today's post I will discuss the controversial video "From Farm To Fridge" (Click Here For Video)
Within the first thirty seconds From Farm To Fridge, hereon referred to as "the video", we "hit the ground running" with footage of poultry and, with little warning, are immersed in a showcase to what really goes on behind most food production companies in the United States. Immediately after hatching, male chicks are subject to a sort of "poultry euthanasia" and killed, due to the high cost of keeping them alive, using various methods including suffocating with noxious gases and grinding them alive. One would admit that this is gruesome, but this statement is soon challenged when we see the egg-laying chicks suffer through their beaks being removed to avoid pecking each other to death in the jam-packed sheds where they will, inevitably, live their entire life. So crammed, that, as we see in the video, there is little room to even spread their wings. As maintained in From Farm To Fridge, 95% of egg-laying end up living in these conditions. Soon after, we are given a brief tour of the dairy and beef. Here, the dairy-producing cows are milked for all they are worth in conditions that are so barbaric that many of them end up disease and infection ridden. These dairy cows cannot be milked for any other purpose than for the consumption of humans and, as a result, many of the young cattle are killed to completely make sure that this is true. Meanwhile, in the pork factories the video, which I, personally, found to be the most graphical account, shows pregnant sows enclosed in cells barely big enough for their body to actually form into them. As soon as they birth, we see workers with scalpels in hands castrating the piglets. It would be less grotesque to watch if it was performed with surgical precision, rather what we see is sloppy work where the worker seems to rip out the insides of these piglets who, clearly suffering, squeal incessantly in a haunting manner. If they become feeble and cannot grow to their potential size, the piglets are then slammed head first into the ground by workers, who seem to eerily perform this with ease, to end their life. Upon impact, this "pig-slamming" makes a ghastly succession of sounds that proceed as: squeal-thud, squeal-thud. Something many of us may reminisce the next time you have your breakfast bacon.
Conclusively, we are referred to a website that suggest the participation in a vegan diet in the credits of From Farm To Fridge. Though I agree with the video's message to raise awareness of our food production, I'd have to disagree with the suggestion that vegan-ism really is the only means of ethical eating.I think that there are bigger fundamental problems that ought to be faced, as to, say, ethical (humane and considerate of basic rights to all living organisms) slaughter of these animals and public awareness about the food they eat, how it is raised, and diets that are both sustainable and moral. Deeper implications of a purely vegan culture may rise if we don't change our ethics and morals first, for who is to say we will not commit the same barbarisms in cultivating vegetables? Perhaps, in the process subjecting the farmers to the same scrutinizing operations the meat companies are showcased in the video. In the end, we must all overcome this adversity. In the future, perhaps, historians will use the term "pig", not in the sense of the word we use in present time: to depict someone foul, dirty, and/or void of manners But, rather, to depict someone committing a hideous act, similar to the atrocities that us humans performed on the pigs.
H.G.
Hey H.G., Your blog has done a fantastic job of meeting the criteria for this assignment. I feel you did a great job of being descriptive in your summary of the video. Your use of keywords such as "milking" exemplified the horrid conditions of slaughterhouses. You may want to elaborate on the narrative of the film if there was any. As this is a very interesting piece of writing it does bring a few questions to my mind. One question I have is, where does the food from the above mentioned slaughterhouse end up? Does this tortured pork and beef end up at supermarkets or perhaps restaurants? What companies package these products, for instance would a poultry company such as Purdue take part in such vile treatment of their chickens? I found it very interesting that you ended on the note of vegan-ism and possible negative outcome of a purely vegan society. We have recently discussed planting a naysayer in our ENG101 class and i felt this was a very successful utilization of this tactic. Overall i'd say there isn't too much to work on in terms of changing or "repairing" any part of your blog but i would be interested in seeing an expanded version of this piece.
ReplyDeletegood luck,
Robbie
Robbie,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! Indeed, I agree that the "They say, I say" text has helped me evolve as a writer very much. In fact, I've learned and applied much more of the tactics since this very blog and I am continuously looking for ways to incorporate new techniques.
Now on to the juicy stuff...
At the moment, I am unfamiliar with the distribution system of these meat-operations and who, precisely, buys from them. Nevertheless, one can very well make a logical inference that most supermarkets and restaurants have these food super companies as their main source for meat, considering how they hold more than 80% of the meat market . For instance, perhaps, McDonald's, KFC, Tyson Meats, Smithfield's pork, etc... I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers of supermarkets and restaurants that use this method of meat production reflected the percentage of meat produced in concentrated meat-operations.
Thank you for reading!