Breeding conditions can sometimes be extremely revolting :
Young female chicken are grinded, the males are mutilated, and will be force-fed.
In slaughterhouses, animals are killed while still counscious, or are left agonizing.
Hens can never in their lives deply their wings, and upon death are left to rot amongst the other living hens.
What concrete measures should we, us students, take ?
Based on this website. (warning : some videos have a very shocking content)
1) The website is in French, because I couldn't find any in English that would have been that interesting, I apologize.
ReplyDelete2) I myself have not watched their videos, since someone told me that they can be traumatic.
3) I do not agree with all of the website's positions, and do not in any way suggest that we should blindly addopt them.
4) We will be trying to find concrete measures that we will take in a couple weeks, so it is important that we all try to have a constructive discussion.
I know that a lot of meat we buy comes from mass producing farms like these and it is horrible. No living being should be brought into the world to live like an object. Meat does not grow, it comes from an animal, who is alive like us humans. I do not understand why it is even allowed and I despise people who are not aware of it as it seems to me that it brakes all laws of decency.
ReplyDeleteThere is sadly little we can do for now as people do not see chickens, pigs and cows like creatures worth their time and effort but we can boycott all meat that comes from these battery farms and spread awareness and our disgust to try and ban this kind of treatment.
Nowadays, animal conditions' are quite shocking especially the fact to force-feed geese to make some 'foie gras'. This horrible situation is unknown by most of the people. We eat some food without any thoughts for these animals even we take pleasure in what you are eating.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think the major solution to fight against these pratics is to boycott some products like 'foie gras'. Everybody, not only students, must to think about it. The website said that more than 51% of people are for the force feed prohibition's. This number shows the implication of French people.
Moreover, some animals are treating very badly. Inspections have to be more frequent to prohibit some pratics end even to forbid some people to have animals if they don't respect them.
I don't know if we, as students, can change this situation. I see more concret measures for everybody. What about you Lucas ? Have you an idea of measure to stop this as a students like you said ?
Well, I think a first step would be to enquire about the breeding conditions of the meat served in the school restaurant. I *suppose* that they carefully select their products, but I think that they should nevertheless clearly state what their policies are.
DeleteNow, there would be many other things to do, but I'd like to see what other people would think about this idea, and what suggestions they have.
Do you agree ?
To answer to Lucas's idea I think that knowing the policies of our food service is a good idea. I think however that there are many French laws that set certain policies concerning the breeding conditions. The only issue I see with this idea is if we actually realize that the food service is not following those laws, the food service would have no other choice than raise the cost of our daily meal due to higher quality meals. As I said before, unfortunately we do not all have the same financial situation and it can be hard for some people to pay extra for food. It is very difficult to find a balance between what we can do and what we would like to do to impact our system in a good way.
DeleteTrue, I hadn't thought about the financial side of the school resaturant question.
DeleteHowever, would that situation happen, maybe they could simply look for other sources of proteins, that may not be more expensive.
I am starting to realize that I am lacking infos on non-animal proteins.
Does anyone have good infos on that ?
Humans have today created a world that is based so much on profits that they even take advantage of the suffering of animals. So what could we do to moderate this excessive consumption and would our actions have any impact ?
ReplyDeleteI just saw some of the videos on the website and even though I am not personally affected by blood, I must say some parts of the videos can be rather disturbing. I also read a bit about the measures this website suggests but I believe we cannot have a reaction out of proportions. Boycotting these companies by eliminating entirely meat from our diet seems to be excessive. I believe the fear of animals being killed so that we can eat shouldn't change our lifestyle that much. We are indeed omnivores and no diet can be healthier than eating a little bit of everything. In the other hand I believe the main concern here is the way the animals are killed. An overconsumption of meat leads necessarily to an overproduction. This causes our system to kill animals always quicker to make as much profit as we can. What could we do at our scale ? I think we could decide to buy meat from local shops where animals are usually given more space to live and are killed more humanly. Unfortunately, this meat usually costs more money and not everyone can afford it. The final measure I could think of would therefore be to limit our weekly consumption of meat. This indeed can be done by anybody since it doesn't depend on money. If we try to eat one meal of meat less than in our usual diet, at a larger scale it could limit the overproduction of meat. This would grant meat companies more time to organize their production which would impact the way animals are raised and killed.
To conclude I think we could take concrete measures as students but things are always more easily said than done.
As for me , i believe that taking a decision about this is hard because it's probably impossible to convince each people of our school to stop eating process meat also I do know that there is some place /shops or vegan shop where you can find good meat or false meat . Futhermore there are slaughterhouse where animals are treated well but it os difficult to find one ...
ReplyDeleteI don't have plenty solutions but I think, like Clara that we can boycott some products in favour of farmers who treat well their animals.
ReplyDeleteAlso, people in general can demonstrate so a law could be voted : for a good treatment of livestock until they die.
I think meat can't disapear from our lives so it's impossible to forbid the production and stop consuming it, but we can limit the number of meals with meat.
Then, even if the taste is not really the same, we can buy "meat" with soja and non-animal products. It's a bit different but people who used to eat it said it was even better in terms of taste.
Lastly, I would like to say that bad treatment of animals don't only take place in industries and all that, but also in laboratoires where they are used for horrible experiences. The "reason" is the same : it helps humans to survive (for medical advances for example). So what so you think ?
Ok people, seeing what was suggested, I have a proposition for a decision :
ReplyDeleteWe could, all of us reading this, decide to eat meat, fish or eggs (rated 0 or 1 only) only 4 days a week.
That could be a start, a way to get used to not eating animal proteins at each meal, before hopefully contolling our consumption even better.
Who's in ?
As far as I am concerned, I think the problem here lies within the industry itself, and what I mean by that is how our world resolves around maximizing production. This race to profit always leads to the extinction of all ethical principles.
ReplyDeleteI must say, I've been shocked by some of these videos, and I understand perfectly people's reactions. However, this is a problem that's also present in other domain, with every large companies (especially ones relying on precious natural resources), so maybe we should take the issue at its core here. If we need to change something, it's the system on which those companies are built, because the highest number of outcome are not good for animals, worker's mental sanity and even the environment, with waste production seeing a rididiculous growth this last century.
Every day, all around the world, animals are beaten, neglected, or forced to struggle for survival. Left in unsanitary conditions with no food or water, they have little hope as they live out their days without the compassion they deserve. Some are found and rescued, given the chance to experience how great life and humans can be; others aren't so lucky. We recognize from now on that the vertebrate animals have sensations and feelings and possess cognitive capacities.Certain labels, as the bio or the Red Label, are specialized and against the mistreating of animals. With the current levels of consumption, it remains however imaginary to hope to improve the life of a so large number of animals, inevitably confined in restricted spaces. That is why to decrease significantly our consumption of animal products is essential,and turning away from products that come from the intensive breeding. For instance,we can buy meat that come from local shops. It is also possible to avoid contributing to the suffering and to the death of animals by not consuming their food, like being vegan.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Lucas by the fact to demand more inspections for school restaurants. Legally, these inspections have to be done for our health safety. However, I think these processes to inspect animal's conditions is quite expensive and maybe the state doesn't want to spend money for that.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Lucas' décision can be a good idea to eat only 4 days a week meat, fish or eggs. However, I don't know if everybody would like this idea because French people are really 'addicted' to these products. By that, a shocking campaign like the website can be a reason for some people to eat less animal proteins.
I haven't checked out the videos because I'm very sensitive when it comes to animal suffering, so I will tell my point of view only according to my knowledge and not to these videos if you don't mind.
ReplyDeleteI believe today humans are capable of everything. And when I say everything, I mean literally everything. We're always looking for more power, and what we already have is never enough. It even comes down to taking animals' freedom and respect. I'm a carnivore indeed, I eat meat and I love it I must say! But I always make sure to buy some fresh meat where animals are treated with respect and even if they're born to get killed for our survival (when I say our survival, I talk about human specie), then it's our duty to raise those animals in good conditions. Unfortunately it's not the case everywhere. Indeed I've seen many reports on foie gras and how some chicken can be force-fed. It is a terrible scene that shocked me a lot, and I told myself: how to prevent those actions? As students, we don't have much choice... If our parents decide to eat foie gras for Christmas, then, including the fact that I'm very fond of it, what shall we do? Well first, we can check out where those chickens come from and in which places they've been raised. Going to the butcher might cost a little more indeed like Gregory said, but at least we know that what happened to those animals wasn't illegal. Maybe we could restrain our daily diet to only three times meat a week, and diverse our food a little more (fish, salads...).
To conclude, I will say that there's always something to do to make our world progress and improve, even though our actions as students might not have a direct impact on force-feeding or other terrible killing conditions, it is our duty as citizens of the world to at least try.
Well,this ixist for a wild so I don't have the magical potion but we can do some things to improve the life conditions of animals.Firstly to my mind I don't think that everybody can be vegetarian,but we have to forbid the factory farming!Their methods are owful,I had seen a lot of videos of this massacres and I was shocked iven if I eat meat I 'am not agree with their methodsI know that in some slaughterhouse the animals are killed but they do not suffer a lot so I conclude to saying that the factory farming have to be forbid this massacre.
ReplyDeleteWell,this ixist for a wild so I don't have the magical potion but we can do some things to improve the life conditions of animals.Firstly to my mind I don't think that everybody can be vegetarian,but we have to forbid the factory farming!Their methods are owful,I had seen a lot of videos of this massacres and I was shocked iven if I eat meat I 'am not agree with their methodsI know that in some slaughterhouse the animals are killed but they do not suffer a lot so I conclude to saying that the factory farming have to be forbid this massacre.
ReplyDeleteTo start with, I would say that I have not watched the videos for fear of being shocked, but I have seen pictures of intensive breeding and I know what happens to animals when profit is more important than decent living conditions. Such practices should not be allowed, I don't understand how this can be legal, how mayors or whoever gave authorizations to breed, kill and deliver meat to supermarkets. This should be forbidden, but money, still money...
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, (I being my family and I), I eat organic food. Animals are treated in a more decent way. Hens have access to the outside for example and there should not be more than 6 hens per square meter. Antibiotics are forbidden and they should be fed with organic food too. The chicks come from slow-growth species (fast-growth species are fed with drugs, they develop cardiac problems or paralysis because their heart does not grow as fast as the thighs) and all must be done to avoid trauma due to transportation.
Eating too much meat is not good for the planet anyway because cattle needs to eat, and grass, corn and hay must be cultivated and watered. Intensive breeding is therefore linked to intensive agriculture.
So what should we do as students ? Reducing our consumption of meat is an important action. I disagree with Gregory when he says that it is more expensive because even if organic meat is more expensive, the fact of not eating meat everyday should not increase the price of the canteen. Seeds or soy can bring proteins too.
As a conclusion, I would say that we must ban any meat which is not Red Label, and choose the label "in freedom" or at least "in the open air" or better, organic food.
I would eventually say that we have power because we are citizens and we will vote for the 2017 presidential elections...
On the 19th January, Pamela Anderson, invited by the deputy Laurence Abeille, gave a speech at the Assemblée Nationale to denounce the force-feeding of geese. In fact, 1 out 2 French people is against this scourge and more and more people are trying to cast a new light on the matter even if the actress' visit has been an inconclusive approach. So, what concrete measures should we, us students, take ?
ReplyDeleteAt the wake of the COP21, even if a lot of people become aware of the scope of the problem, more and more animals are killed to feed humans : more than 1900 per second, which means 280 billion of kilos per year versus 44 billion in 1950 (and the surveys announce 110 billion per year in 2050), which lays the truth about overproduction of meet which grows as time goes by. I deem measures should be taken on a local scale at first. As for me, I have stopped eating meat for a few months now, but I don't think everyone should become vegetarian. In our high school, we should control the origin of the meet students eat at the canteen : a few bio breedings exist in our region, so the school should give propriety to that meet. But, of course, the "well-treated" meet is much more expansive, so I don't think the school could afford it. That is why, the government should give a further support to those bio breedings (but Stephane Le Foll doesn't seem ready to help yet!!).
To conclude, I would say that we can all have an impact, we should really reduce our meet consumption. It is not a big concession but it is vital. As students, but as responsible citizens too, we should also check the origin of the meet we eat and the government should enhance bio breedings in a country where hunting and foie gras have (unfortunately) been traditions for centuries.
It's true, maybe information concerning animal treatment could refrain people from eating so much meat. Good idea! Why not making it available in public places such as canteens or cafeterias?
ReplyDeleteJust remember:
When using "nous" as a subject keep using "we" ( look at the last sentence from the first paragraph).
Mind your spelling of some words ( ex:meat / expensive ).
First I'd like to say that after this type of video for 5 or 10 minutes I gazed...
ReplyDeleteI can't do anything else, it's really traumatic. 5 minutes ago I was hungry, now I'm not.
I supported L214 for 1 or 2 years and I really appreciate their work. Often I sign petition of this association.
I totally disagree with the agri-food,with the idea of production line for animals like pigs, chicken, cow or other animals.
The label Bio signified anything : for the agriculture nothing is totally Bio (for instance, if the field around the bio field use pesticide the Bio field is contaminated too, I hope it's enough clear )
For the livestock farming it's the same idea how can we be sure that the cereals for our cow is Bio we don't know. And if we heard the girl who spoke in the video she's true when she say that there is no "clean meat"...
The only solution is to stop eat the meat or fish and if we can't (like me...) just belittle...
Are you agree ?