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Why did this sort of thing happen in the US? As far as I can tell nothing like it has happened in Europe. We also have all sorts of subsidies and controls on
by kwhitefoot 6y ago
Why did this sort of thing happen in the US? As far as I can tell nothing like it has happened in Europe. We also have all sorts of subsidies and controls on agriculture.
Our supply chains here (Scandinavia specifically, but as far as I know in most of Europe as well) have been functioning almost as before except for a few minor hiccups in the first couple of weeks of the restrictions due to COVID-19 (flour and yeast were in short supply for a couple of weeks).
Is it because Europe has stronger animal welfare provisions? Or something else?
- akudha 6y agoag-gag laws is one reason. Many people don't even realize the cruelty that is happening, let alone on an industrial scale. The meat industry has a powerful hold on politics, gets a ton of special treatment (compared to fruit and veggie growers). I pay 3$ for a single big organic cucumber (not a pound, a single cucumber). Compared to this, meat is so cheap here, especially chicken. People are used to cheap meat for so long. It is going to be very difficult to loosen that dependence. So in effect, even if some people are aware of the cruelty, they choose to ignore because they get cheap meat. Another problem is consolidation. A few companies control a large portion of the food supply and we have the "too big to fail" problem.
- makomk 6y agoThat is a very good question. There have definitely been large coronavirus outbreaks in slaughterhouses all over Europe that have disrupted operations, maybe not in Scandinavia but certainly in countries like Germany and France.
- kwhitefoot 6y agoBut did they disrupt things so badly that massive numbers of livestock had to be just destroyed?