The Gist: Good morning VegNews Book Clubbers! I am actually reporting from Toledo, OH this week, so you will not hear from me for the remainder of the week. Not to worry! VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria will take over moderation and summarizing our discussion at the end of the week.We are nearing the end of Mad Cowboy, and will be discussing chapters six and seven this week. In chapter six, "Biotech Bullies," Lyman covers the dairy industry and provides an introduction to recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH)—a drug used to increase milk production. Multi-national corporation Monsanto was the main force behind rBGH, which was clearly a risk to the health of both humans and cows, yet the hormone was still able to get passed by the FDA due to shady negotiations. The seventh chapter, "Bovine Planet," goes into detail about the environmental effects of animal industry, including deforestation, pollution, and fresh water shortage.
The Discussion: Here are a couple discussion points for these two information-packed chapters. I look forward to reading your thoughts!
1. (Chapter 6) Lyman brings up the fact that we are losing about 150,000 family farms a year. If factory farms never existed, and all of our food was grown or produced on family farms, would you be a vegan/vegetarian? Do you think the concept of veganism would still exist?
2. (Chapter 7) Lyman states that we could feed so many more people with a plant-based diet than a meat-based diet. Do you think that once the population outgrows the amount of resources available to sustain it, we will have no other choice but to switch to a plant-based diet—for those who haven't already?
The Assignment: Read the rest of Mad Cowboy for the July 26 discussion.
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
If factory farms did not exist, people would eat a lot less meat because it would be too expensive to eat it every day, every meal. People would be closer to being vegetarian due to the costs. It would at least be a better balance for the earth and for our bodies. Being vegan would not be such a 'battle' with the status quo because the mass production of animal products would not exist as it does and therefore, the status quo would be to eat more vegetables instead.
ReplyDeleteHumans are herbivores. So family farm and factory farms aside... a plant based diet is best for human health.
ReplyDeleteHey Everyone! Yes, I am behind this week and have only read Chapter 06 so far, but I'll catch up by tonight or tomorrow, promise! :) Anyway, my reaction to Question 01 is:
ReplyDeleteI would still be a vegan even if factory farms did not exist. What I believe is that when in-taking meat, dairy, and so on, I am taking something that isn't mine to begin with. Meat was never intended for me, it was intended to keep the cow/pig/chicken alive. Milk was never intended for me, it was intended to feed the youth. In this sense, the reasons for becoming a vegan would still be applicable and so I would still be a vegan.
As far as the concept in general, I believe it would still be there, but it might not be as attached to a dairy/meat/animal by-product free diet. What I mean by this is evident when examining the scenario if all factory farms were abolished tomorrow. In this case, I don't think we would see a significant increase in the number of 'vegans' I believe we would only see an increase in those that did not intake diary or meat. What I mean here, is that the intended notion of being a vegan, the reasons behind it, would much be lost. People would not become vegan to help nature or save the lives of countless animals, they would become vegan because it would be too expensive to do otherwise. So in this way, the concept of veganism would still exist, but there might be a disconnect between the term vegan, the not partaking in animal products, and the ethical/environment reasons commonly attributed to it today.
question 1. yes, i'd still be vegan and there would still be a vegan movement. and there would be many more vegan farmers -- that would push the movement even faster.
ReplyDeletewhy would i be vegan? i grew up on a family farm with a moo-moo here and a cluck-cluck there; here an oink there an oink... i had my hands in every gory detail. we still do horrible, cruel things to animals on EVERY animal farm. it's the very nature of the business. castrations, crushing testicls, burning off horns, branding, ripping out female reproductive organs, cutting off tails, notching ears and the ultimate death at the slaughter house or facing a gun to the head on the smallest of farms. it's gruesome, stunning, and the screams of the animals are still in my head. they are why i do the work i do (vegan activism).
these idyllic family farms still use vast amounts of water and grain -- again, it's the nature of the business. it still steals food from people. it still pollutes our land, water, and air.
why would there be more of a vegan movement and more vegan farmers? it's next to impossible to make money raising animals as food. it's one of the primary reasons the move toward factory farming has boomed -- money, profit. the family farms are going bankrupt because they aren't raising food for people. our family farm is still in existence only because we started raising peas, sweet corn, beets, etc. this resulted in the animals being left off the farm -- this wasn't a moral choice, but one of financial survival. more and more farmers if given the option for financial survival and shown the way to do that would opt for it. this would've become a local human rights movement and i think the movement would have grown exponentially.
question 2. yes, a vegan future is necessary and morally inevitable. the social contract will change when over 1/2 the plane is starving or has no water to drink. a vegan future will come either through moral social evolution (being kind to one another) or through social revolution ("we want water and food and the rich are not going to keep it from us").
respectfully, :) matt
Hi, all! This is Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria stepping in for Lyndsay this week. Thanks for your thoughtful comments so far! It's very interesting to hear from Matt, who's experienced life on a family farm and its attendant animal cruelty, and great to hear that just about everyone would still be vegan if factory farming disappeared. I look forward to more discussion as the week goes on!
ReplyDelete~Elizabeth
1- Even if factory farming was a non-existent entity, I would still be a vegan. I cannot divorce myself from the idea that meat is not food, it is a dead animal which used to be alive. This concept alienates me from eating meat just as much as the horrible system of factory farming does. I think this idea of the respect for animals as sentient beings would still allow for the idea of veganism to exist as a lifestyle choice, even in the absence of factory farming.
ReplyDelete2- I think that a lot more public knowledge needs to be put out there about the sustainability benefits of a plant based diet over a meat-centric one. I also think that the way the world is going, with severe overpopulation, pollution, and other factors, we will have no choice but to switch to a plant based diet in order to simply prevent humanity from dying of starvation. Necessity is the mother of invention, so perhaps necessity of food will invent a global plant based diet one day.
The world would be a much better place for animals, farmers, and the planet, if factory farms didn't exist. I'd still be vegan, of course, since even without factory farms, animals would still likely suffer in other ways (transport, slaughter, etc.). But they'd suffer a lot less than they do now, needless to say.
ReplyDeleteI hope we can all (vegan and meat-eater alike) work toward a world without factory farms.
Chapter 6: This is Susan Bran. I believe that if factory farms didn't exist, people (including myself) would still be vegan b/c meat and dairy would be much more expensive. It would not be practical to consume those products every day, especially with large families. Also, I think people would get to know where their food came from, and would maybe not want to slaughter their family cow just to have a nice dinner. That's just me though. I know I couldn't.
ReplyDeleteChapter 7: Yes, I think very soon we will be forced to change our way of living in order for the world's huge population to survive. We can't keep living this way and expect no consequences for our actions.