Animal Ethics in Food Production

A casualty of faceless industrial food production is animal ethics – we do, we eat, we don’t think of how or why. This post is about regaining our ethical footing in meat production.

Industrial meat production treats animals as simply that, meat. They are nothing more than means to our ends of cheap food. Moral consideration, as the aptly named Kenneth Goodpaster writes, dictates that we must consider animals as more than just meat factories on legs. Animals are created beings that we are to wisely manage (see my post on dominion vs. stewardship here), not treat as means. In this post, I will highlight just some of the problems with industrial meat production. Just as we would find these things to be atrocious if they were done to humans, we should find them alarming when done to animals due to animals’ intrinsic value as created beings (see post on intrinsic value here). We should see as a symptom of our unwise stewardship of creation that our food production is riddled with unnaturally-raised, diseased animals.

Industrial meat production overcrowds animals, predisposing them to develop diseases and be unhealthy, which is why they are fed antibiotics and other medicines. As the bacteria get resistant to the antibiotics, the producers have to keep ramping up and changing the doses. Tilman argues in his paper published in the journal Nature that “High-density animal production operations can increase livestock disease incidence, the emergence of new, often antibiotic-resistant diseases, and air, groundwater and surface water pollution associated with animal wastes.” Feedlot animals are fed antibiotics everyday, which leach out through animal waste into waterways and increase bacteria drug resistance.  Antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a health concern for humans as antibiotic-resistant diseases become more available to the public.

Animals are also forced to eat food which they are unadapted for – as a quick example, cows are fed corn, ground up cow parts, and other muck. As herbivores, they are only adapted for eating grass, and yet they are fed corn because it is cheap (due to overproduction, see post on corn) and cow parts, because it provides protein to make the cow grow faster. This makes cows even more prone to illnesses such as mad cow’s disease and other immuno-deficient diseases. Finally, some industrial meat producers use steroids and other hormones to make cows grow faster and bigger.[3] This is a far cry from the the Biblical command to help fallen animals. (Deuteronomy 22:1-4) In fact, we are causing the fall of animals through our industrial meat production.

Other problems have resulted due to removing meat production from its natural place on a diversified farm to a sprawling feedlot operation. The high density of animals results in a high density of waste. On a sustainable farm, animal waste would be composted and added to the soil for nutrients. However, in industrial meat production, there is nowhere to put the waste, since industrial crop production uses artificial fertilizers, not good old animal poop. Additionally, the waste from industrial meat production is laced with antibiotics, hormones and steroids, which makes it unfit for many uses. The waste becomes a problem, instead of being part of a dynamic food production system. Industrial meat production waste is  then dumped into our waterways and is a major cause of marine-life-killing algae blooms and unhealthy wildlife through the absorption of the chemicals.

Our unwise stewardship shows results in two ways, declining healthfulness of food and large, preventable environmental problems. Just as with the declining nutrients in produce, there are fewer nutrients in corn-fed, industrially raised beef. Grass-fed chicken has more Omega-3s and other nutrients than industrially raised ones.[4] Grass-fed beef has also more nutrients and minerals.[5] This shows that our tinkering with natural processes has had damage. Not only are the animals coping with distressing conditions, but the nutrient availability, and thus our health, has declined.

There is hope though.  We can support diversified small- to medium- sized farms which ethically raise their meat by buying from them, and supporting policies that do not favor large agribusinesses at the expense of small farms.  (To buy sustainably raised meat, check out farmer’s markets, CSAs, and research online for ethical farmers near you.  Some chain supermarkets also carry sustainably raised meats.)  We can also consume less meat, which is better for our health and creates less of a market demand that drives industrial meat production.  Yes, sustainably raised meats usually cost more, but by eating less meat overall and by joining ‘buying’ clubs if you are part of a family, you can keep meat costs down.  Unfortunately, until we rehaul the current subsidy system, the consumers are stuck with the higher tab for purchasing more environmentally-friendly and human health-friendly food.  Hopefully soon though we can change the policies that have, in part, gotten us to this food production system in the first place.

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[2] Tilman, David; Kenneth G. Cassman, Pamela A. Matson , Naylor, Rosamond and Polasky, Stephan. Nature 418, 671-677 (8 August 2002) | doi:10.1038/nature01014. Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v418/n6898/full/nature01014.html#f1

[3] Pollan, Micheal. Omnivore’s Dilemma.

[4] Lopez-Bote, C. J., R.Sanz Arias, A.I. Rey, A. Castano, B. Isabel, J. Thos (1998). “Effect of free-range feeding on omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-tocopherol content and oxidative stability of eggs.” Animal Feed Science and Technology 72: 33-40.

[5] Abott, A; Basurto, M.; Daley, C.A.;Nader, G.; Larson, S. “Enhanced nutrient content for grass-fed beef: justification for health benefit claim.” California State University.