This is a difficult question to think about feasibly because it seems as though industrial meat production needs a complete overhaul. The research on CAFOs reminded me of a statistic I read recently, that American's simply eat way too much meat. Specifically, about 50% more than the recommended daily amount, and about twice as much as people in other countries. (source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/08/13/too-much-protein-diets-_n_1772987.html) Simply, we can (and, according to those statistics, should!) produce less meat and consume less meat as well.
What I found particularly alarming that was discussed in both the reading and the documentary we watched last week was the manner in which meat production has been vertically integrated. The generally poor treatment of animals in this industry is a sad, but well-known fact, but many humans pay a toll in this process as well. I think meat producers should subsidize more of the costs that are incurred by CAFOs so those people can earn a living rather than amassing more and more debt. This could be accomplished through government regulation. Regulation could also require corporations to give farm owners a little more say in the way their farms are run, but this would be more difficult to make happen.
Again, though, what really needs to happen is for the meat production industry to be completely changed.
Q2: Of the types of farms in the
reading, which are the most green and why?
Doko Farm's animal pasture seemed to be particularly green, mostly because my reading of it was juxtaposed with reading about CAFOs. Animals at Doko Farm are not loaded with antibiotics, and are allowed to roam free outside rather than being cramped in lightless, crowded stalls.
Doko also acknowledges residential areas around it. It prides itself on managing itself in a way so that nearby residents are not bombarded with dangerous and overwhelming smells from the farm.
Doki
I came out of high school really involved in animal rights and anti factory-farm. It wasn't until I went on what was sort of an "under cover farm tour" that I saw the human toll. I always had this evil image of the humans working in these farms as the 'enemy'- but when I saw first hand the poverty, the domination, the lack of education and sheer mistreatment of workers I began disliking the industrialized meat industry for a different reason; one that centered on human rights as well.
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