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"millions of animals [...] will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities" I saw that in the article and just shook my head. Those ani

by zadkey 6y ago

"millions of animals [...] will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities" I saw that in the article and just shook my head. Those animals die whether the processing plant is opened or closed.

ceejayoz 6y ago
Yes, but they'll die in a particularly wasteful fashion if they can't be processed.
- zadkey 6y ago
  I certainly agree with you. The article could have phrased it better, but instead chose a very hollow appeal to emotions over accuracy.
  - scott_s 6y ago
    I didn't take that as an emotional appeal. If it was that, I would think they'd use a more charged expression ("die needlessly") instead of an industry euphemism ("depopulated").
  - throwaway894345 6y ago
    When has the general public responded better to accuracy over emotions? We've been told for years and in ever greater detail that environment is dying and we won't do anything about it, but we see a video of a turtle suffering because it has a plastic straw stuck in its nose and it's a major legislative issue.
Turing_Machine 6y ago
That's not the point. It's about the pipeline. Once the pipeline empties, it takes months to fill back up, because animals take months to grow to marketable size. Edit: to expand a bit, most meat animals are raised by a supply chain of specialized farms. Some specialize in breeding and birthing them, some specialize in raising them to marketable size (these are called "feeder" operations), and finally they go to a slaughterhouse/processing operation. If the slaughterhouse stops buying animals from the feeder operation, the feeder operation has to kill them and waste them. Now the feeder isn't buying feeder-sized animals, so the breeder has to slaughter and waste them. Now the supply chain is completely empty. When the processor opens back up after a few months, that doesn't magically cause market-sized animals to appear, waiting to be turned into meat. The breeder will have to breed more animals and wait weeks to months for those animals to be born. Then the feeder will have to feed them for weeks to months to reach marketable size. Only then can they go to the processor to be slaughtered and sent to consumers. So, yeah, if the supply chain empties out, it is a Bad Thing.

by zadkey 6y ago

ceejayoz 6y ago

Yes, but they'll die in a particularly wasteful fashion if they can't be processed.

zadkey 6y ago
I certainly agree with you. The article could have phrased it better, but instead chose a very hollow appeal to emotions over accuracy.
- scott_s 6y ago
  I didn't take that as an emotional appeal. If it was that, I would think they'd use a more charged expression ("die needlessly") instead of an industry euphemism ("depopulated").
- throwaway894345 6y ago
  When has the general public responded better to accuracy over emotions? We've been told for years and in ever greater detail that environment is dying and we won't do anything about it, but we see a video of a turtle suffering because it has a plastic straw stuck in its nose and it's a major legislative issue.

Turing_Machine 6y ago

That's not the point. It's about the pipeline. Once the pipeline empties, it takes months to fill back up, because animals take months to grow to marketable size. Edit: to expand a bit, most meat animals are raised by a supply chain of specialized farms. Some specialize in breeding and birthing them, some specialize in raising them to marketable size (these are called "feeder" operations), and finally they go to a slaughterhouse/processing operation. If the slaughterhouse stops buying animals from the feeder operation, the feeder operation has to kill them and waste them. Now the feeder isn't buying feeder-sized animals, so the breeder has to slaughter and waste them. Now the supply chain is completely empty. When the processor opens back up after a few months, that doesn't magically cause market-sized animals to appear, waiting to be turned into meat. The breeder will have to breed more animals and wait weeks to months for those animals to be born. Then the feeder will have to feed them for weeks to months to reach marketable size. Only then can they go to the processor to be slaughtered and sent to consumers. So, yeah, if the supply chain empties out, it is a Bad Thing.