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It might be the case that organic farms treat animals better than factory farms. But the reason factory farms exist is because the demand for meat is so high th

It might be the case that organic farms treat animals better than factory farms. But the reason factory farms exist is because the demand for meat is so high that non-factory farms simply wouldn't be able to meet it without using vastly more land and resources than we have available. So we can talk about customers should buy from "humane" farms and what not, but that has to be paired with a massive reduction in meat consumption for it to be possible. Society can't just keep eating the amount of meat they do, and at the same time only buy from "humane" farms.

mint2 6y ago
The demand would not be too high if it were not priced at that virtually requires extreme cruelty to both animals and workers. Americans also eat far more protein than reasonable. There is no reason the inhumane farms can’t be drastically reduced, except that people are accustomed to dirt cheap excess meat.
Melting_Harps 6y ago
> It might be the case that organic farms treat animals better than factory farms. But the reason factory farms exist is because the demand for meat is so high that non-factory farms simply wouldn't be able to meet it without using vastly more land and resources than we have available. I understand this question, but its made from the premise that it could deliver the goods during the pandemic; where in reality, it didn't. So mamy stores had shortages, and processing plants were shut down due to COVID related deaths and those that did deliver were in such short supply that stores had restrictions on how many a person could buy in one visit, further driving the argument that it didn't work. It also negates why Farmers are seeing all time high sales for their products [1]. > So we can talk about customers should buy from "humane" farms and what not, but that has to be paired with a massive reduction in meat consumption for it to be possible. Society can't just keep eating the amount of meat they do, and at the same time only buy from "humane" farms. I'll agree, N and S America consumes way too much meat than the rest of the World by a large margin, its unfathomable to me now, but when I first moved to Europe I was the same way. I was farming, so 12+ hours of labour a day, and by the end of the day my body was crying out for animal fat and protein and would suffer if it didn't as that was how I was raised most of my Life to eat: 2:1 protein to carb ratio, 1:1 meat to vegetable. It took a lot of work, but that is no longer the case and my health is way better for it; I now rely on a more plant fat based diet (olive oil, coconut) with animals based proteins being only eaten 2-3 times a week and carbs (rice, bread, potatoes) and vegetables to fill the gaps. I eat a lot more eggs and hemp based protein, but those are sustainable and renewable sources. I also mainly made my meals from the 'scraps' from working in restaurants as a chef over the years and I really only eat once a day, so in total it was a net negative footprint. I also fed a lot of younger people in FOH that way, too. I still have a freezer full of salmon and tuna in my freezer as there was so much of it. There is also this analysis on Tyson that I thought was a really good read [2]. 1: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/farmers-are-selling-more-csa-shares-than-ever%E2%80%94heres-why/ar-BB153fLn https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/farmers-are-selli... 2: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/analysis-tyson-foods-helped-create-the-meat-crisis-it-now-warns-against/ar-BB13mdpL https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/analysis-tyson-foo...

mint2 6y ago

The demand would not be too high if it were not priced at that virtually requires extreme cruelty to both animals and workers. Americans also eat far more protein than reasonable. There is no reason the inhumane farms can’t be drastically reduced, except that people are accustomed to dirt cheap excess meat.

Melting_Harps 6y ago

> It might be the case that organic farms treat animals better than factory farms. But the reason factory farms exist is because the demand for meat is so high that non-factory farms simply wouldn't be able to meet it without using vastly more land and resources than we have available. I understand this question, but its made from the premise that it could deliver the goods during the pandemic; where in reality, it didn't. So mamy stores had shortages, and processing plants were shut down due to COVID related deaths and those that did deliver were in such short supply that stores had restrictions on how many a person could buy in one visit, further driving the argument that it didn't work. It also negates why Farmers are seeing all time high sales for their products [1]. > So we can talk about customers should buy from "humane" farms and what not, but that has to be paired with a massive reduction in meat consumption for it to be possible. Society can't just keep eating the amount of meat they do, and at the same time only buy from "humane" farms. I'll agree, N and S America consumes way too much meat than the rest of the World by a large margin, its unfathomable to me now, but when I first moved to Europe I was the same way. I was farming, so 12+ hours of labour a day, and by the end of the day my body was crying out for animal fat and protein and would suffer if it didn't as that was how I was raised most of my Life to eat: 2:1 protein to carb ratio, 1:1 meat to vegetable. It took a lot of work, but that is no longer the case and my health is way better for it; I now rely on a more plant fat based diet (olive oil, coconut) with animals based proteins being only eaten 2-3 times a week and carbs (rice, bread, potatoes) and vegetables to fill the gaps. I eat a lot more eggs and hemp based protein, but those are sustainable and renewable sources. I also mainly made my meals from the 'scraps' from working in restaurants as a chef over the years and I really only eat once a day, so in total it was a net negative footprint. I also fed a lot of younger people in FOH that way, too. I still have a freezer full of salmon and tuna in my freezer as there was so much of it. There is also this analysis on Tyson that I thought was a really good read [2]. 1: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/farmers-are-selling-more-csa-shares-than-ever%E2%80%94heres-why/ar-BB153fLn https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/farmers-are-selli... 2: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/analysis-tyson-foods-helped-create-the-meat-crisis-it-now-warns-against/ar-BB13mdpL https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/analysis-tyson-foo...