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Previous post: Cleaning out the inbox
Next post: Friday Random Ten – the I Blame Feminism For This, Too edition
In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set.
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Reproductive Health Matters
More of Feministe On
{ 11 comments }
An idiotic bit of self-indulgent ego-stroking that will do nothing but put some farms out of business. My guess is these same voters will be the first to screech and complain when the price of food increases because of this, too. But hey, at least the chickens have more room to… do whatever it is chickens do in their free time.
Actually, I don’t see why the DoA needs to be replaced with anything. Virtually all of the problems Kristof complains about could be fixed just by shutting the whole thing down so it can no longer meddle and play favorites.
Like turn around, and maybe pace a little bit?
Goddamn those entitled chickens!
I’m sure that’s very comforting to poor people who will see their grocery bill climbing once again.
I first read that as “What Kristol said,” and I was very surprised/confused.
Yes, let’s get rid of the USDA. We’ll just let invasive pest species spread unhindered through our country and let Monsanto and Dow pick clean the corpse of the ARS.
Betsy: Heh, so did I.
Haha! Kristof/Kristol. I was confused, too! :)
CTD – STFU. What chickens do in factory farming conditions: endure pain and frustration when they don’t have any room to lay eggs. Get their flesh stuck on rusty cage wires and injure themselves. Die, then rot while their cagemates have no way to escape stepping on their corpses. Suffer spay leg, a debilitating disability that prevents them from standing, and then often die as the result of this. Burn, while their combined waste turns to ammonia that stings their eyes, skin, and lungs. Become de-beaked, a cruel practice which leaves many birds unable to eat, but is necessary to prevent the chickens from killing each other/themselves under extremely crowded conditions. Have their toes trimmed, another inhumane practice necessary for the same reasons.
Factory farming is an abomination. It has always been, but thanks to people who worked to get Prop 2 passed, animal welfare is in the mainstream of the american dialogue about food.
We actually have a Minister of Food in Denmark, focusing on all food-related issues, including fishing, agriculture, and food safety. I don’t think it’s such a quick win as Kristof seems be think it will be.
In general I agree with the article. We do need to make changes. As Kristjan Wagner said:
but I would hope that it would be one of those baby steps that are so useful, and would get the relevant issues talked about on a national stage.
It’s too bad about Kristof’s drive-by fat-hate…
I am a prop 2 supporter that will not be complaining about egg prices, just happy that I can finally enjoy California eggs without guilt. Seriously I get that it sucks to have food prices go up. But the problem is not the cost of food, the problem is people being able to afford it. I am all for helping people not go starving, but food like eggs and meat should be more expensive. Right now chickens are less expensive than cages. That means that as a factory farmer it is economically smarter to stuff more chickens in less cages even if it means some chickens dying. That is not right!!
To compare, since people don’t seem to care much for animals. It is like complaining about the high cost of cloths from companies that do not use slave labor overseas. I don’t mean to compare the suffering of humans to animals, but the economic effect is similar. We all enjoy cheap commodities, but at what price?
One way to make a positive impact is to reduce your intake of animal products. We don’t all have to be vegetarian or vegan. A reduction in the consumption of meat, dairy and eggs reduces the amount of land, water, pesticides, and energy required for food production since it takes so much more of them to raise animals than plants. See http://www.pbjcampaign.org/how for more details. A lot of small changes can add up to a big difference.
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