Industrial Food

From watching the videos of “Meatrix” “Animal Cruelty” and more videos in class, it reminds me of one of the TV shows that I watched when I went back to China last summer. My sister and I accidently switch to a channel about agriculture and farming, and it shows how the meat are being organized and send to the markets now a day, and how efficient those machinery has done all the work. Therefore, I was not surprised when I see how the animals are being killed now a day into meats that we buy in the supermarkets. But I do remember the first time I saw those images from the television, I totally feel disgusted about it and both me and my sister have to switch to other channels from looking at those “images” of cutting a pig from head to organs, then the feet…etc. We both think it is extremely cruel and it creates a picture of how human will look like if we would have been cut like those pigs hanging on those machineries. Perhaps the pigs are big and similar to human size that caused me and my sister to think about it, I still remember that we both screamed out the words, “EW…I WILL NOT EAT MEAT ANYMORE”.

What I do not know is how the animals are being treated in the so called “farms”. Is not like I do not know how the pigs are being squeezed into a crowded place, but I never thought of it actually affects them in a negative way. Before being exposed to these truths about animals, I thought that animals are doing okay as long as people feed them and they have a place to live. I never thought of they are being stuck into a place that they barely can move. Looking at the Meatrix videos, it caused me to realize that the animals that we are eating are actually unhealthy or sick meats. Other than the issue of animal cruelty, it also caused massive pollution and destroying community.

After being exposed to these truth facts about the meats that I am eating, I expect myself to feel disgust about it and start avoiding meat from dinners or lunch. But it turned out that I am eating okay. I did not feel disgusted from eating meat even I thought about those videos while I am eating. I came to a reason why I turned out this way, I think perhaps I has eat meat for more than 10 years, and it has been a habit like brushing my teeth as daily routine. This habit of eating meat seems to be natural to me, and I do not really have a strong feeling towards it.

Lead to further thinking, I find it unbelievable that the labels on the milk carton and on the meat packages actually affect the way people look at what they eat. Such as looking at the milk that I drink at home, with a nice green farm with cows, it actually makes me to think the milk taste nicer although I know that is not how those milks are being produced. (They baby cows are being fed with blood) Same to the meat, I do know how they treat the animals and how meats are being cut. I still will look at the labels and think the animals are doing fine. I realized that it is very easy to forget these truths behind the food that we are eating. Like the culture’s dominant food ways, what most people care is whether the food looks nice or tastes good? How many people actually thought of the truths behind the food they are eating? Or even go to the extreme, do people have the time to think about these facts even these truths are being exposed online like the ones we saw. Do people even bother to know? Which it leads to another question, do people really think about the food they eat such as where does this piece of meat come from?

Another thought about animal cruelty is that in spite the fact that the animals are being treated that way, why shouldn’t we eat meat and why it matters. I understand that the way the animals are being treat is extremely unacceptable, but I also think that if the pig/cow is going to get killed anyway, why it matters they are being treat badly. Such as human life, when we die, what it really matter after all. Same to the animals, once it dies, and we eat it. What is it left there after all? We all know and seen that the animals are being torture in the “factory farm”, but “if” from eating those meats do not affect our health, why not? This might sound very cruel, but other than feeling sympathetic for how the animals are being treated, why it matters other than the meat might not taste good or it is not healthy for us. (One reason would be not killing the animals/be a vegetarian. Like what we discussed in class before about this issue, if less people consume eating meat, then everything will get slower and the animals will not be treated cruelly because less people buy it. The reason why the animals are being treated this way is because a lot of people eat meat, and by using machinery, squeezing the animals together would help everything to get faster, therefore, the corporations could earn great profits. I also thought of pollution from looking at the videos. Since now a day what we eat is all industrially produced, it actually harms the environment. Of course, workers are not as fast as machines with fossil fueled, but this mistake has already been made. Rather than discussing does it worth it, what should we do in the long term?

In conclusion, after watching the videos in class and online, I has chosen the second choice that we discussed in class that I will be aware of this issue, but not to make any difference. First of all, I still felt powerless to make a change, and I often felt just myself stop eating meat will not make a big difference due to the issue. Second of all, I feel like I am doing fine in these 17 years from eating meat, and perhaps it might caused some serious problem in the future, at least from now, I am doing okay with eating meat. Lastly, I do understand all these issues that we discussed in class are serious and important, but I still feel like I do not have enough knowledge or ability to lead to a further step to make a right change. Therefore, I choose to be aware of these issue, but not to make any change from my daily life.