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here's this photo:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1756&e=1&u=/060127/photos_lf_afp/06012718282100m3rzf5_photo0
notice the stacks of cages behind the main image; look how much space the animals (don't) have to move around. you think it's any different, with cows, pigs, chickens, here in the u.s.? think again.
of course, there's also something to say about the fact that this image, from china, is available, and is being widely reproduced through yahoo's news channels (it is one of the 3 most emailed pictures today; it was yesterday, too). americans find it shocking that people in other countries eat dog meat. so the shock value of this image is heightened when it is reproduced and circulated in a u.s. context, and it contributes to the exoticized "otherness" of chinese people and the nation of china, via these "foreign" food consumption practices. in short, the focus is on the fact that *dog* is being raised for *food*, not on the way the dog is being treated. my purpose here is to focus on how the dog is being treated, irrespective of how i or anyone else feels about it being used as food (to the extent that i can ever get away from that purpose behind the image's circulation, whether it's my intention or not)--in my opinion, there's no difference between eating dog, and eating beef, chicken, pork, horse, or whatever (even human meat, quite frankly--or the fish that i freely admit consuming myself). but ask yourself...why don't we ever see such images of u.s. slaughterhouses? the answer is that the companies raising and slaughtering meat in the u.s. are extremely careful not to let people in with cameras. whenever PETA produces documentary footage of slaughterhouse practices, they have to sent in people with hidden cameras. if you want to see some of their footage, look here: http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/index.asp at the bottom, right-hand corner of the page you can link to actual film footage taken inside of KFC slaughterhouses. but PETA has the reputation of being a big "extremist" or "fringe" group. well...look at the film footage. do you really want to eat meat from animals that were treated that way? do you think this treatment--along with the farming practices that characterized the animal's life prior to the moment of slaughter--have no effect on the nutritional content of the meat?
it's funny, i became a vegetarian simply because i lost my taste for meat, and because it's healthier; same applies now that i'm a pescatarian rather than a strict vegetarian. i have never been a so-called "ethical" vegetarian. that is changing. i still don't categorically object to the consumption of meat--as i have indicated, i eat fish, and i also eat eggs and dairy products (you can't eat eggs or dairy without being implicated in the meat industry)--but i think it's important for people to know where their food comes from, and how it was produced, including the farming and slaughtering practices. we are so far removed from that, now; how many of us (in the u.s. and other "developed" nations) have *ever* seen an animal slaughtered, or has any idea of the process by which an animal is raised for slaughter? it is extremely difficult to get that information. you can hedge it, by buying meat that's labeled as "free range," from stores that are committed to environmentalism and social justice, but even that's not a guarantee. even the PCC is in business to make a profit. maybe this is really cynical of me, but i firmly believe that *most* businesses, if they can cut a corner to improve the bottom line, will. see the recent flap over the duck meat sold at whole foods stores--there was a huge expose revealing that this so-called "free-range" duck actually came from a factory farm where the animals were housed in sheds, never saw the light of day, and had their beaks sliced off with hot knives to prevent them from fighting with each other or neurotically pulling out their own feathers because of the stress of overcrowding.
alienation...mass production...mass consumption...instrumental capitalism...
god, it's fucking depressing sometimes. i think the most depressing thing about it is how pervasive this shit is. you can't get away from it. there is no fully ethical form of consumption. it's all implicated in capitalism.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1756&e=1&u=/060127/photos_lf_afp/06012718282100m3rzf5_photo0
notice the stacks of cages behind the main image; look how much space the animals (don't) have to move around. you think it's any different, with cows, pigs, chickens, here in the u.s.? think again.
of course, there's also something to say about the fact that this image, from china, is available, and is being widely reproduced through yahoo's news channels (it is one of the 3 most emailed pictures today; it was yesterday, too). americans find it shocking that people in other countries eat dog meat. so the shock value of this image is heightened when it is reproduced and circulated in a u.s. context, and it contributes to the exoticized "otherness" of chinese people and the nation of china, via these "foreign" food consumption practices. in short, the focus is on the fact that *dog* is being raised for *food*, not on the way the dog is being treated. my purpose here is to focus on how the dog is being treated, irrespective of how i or anyone else feels about it being used as food (to the extent that i can ever get away from that purpose behind the image's circulation, whether it's my intention or not)--in my opinion, there's no difference between eating dog, and eating beef, chicken, pork, horse, or whatever (even human meat, quite frankly--or the fish that i freely admit consuming myself). but ask yourself...why don't we ever see such images of u.s. slaughterhouses? the answer is that the companies raising and slaughtering meat in the u.s. are extremely careful not to let people in with cameras. whenever PETA produces documentary footage of slaughterhouse practices, they have to sent in people with hidden cameras. if you want to see some of their footage, look here: http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/index.asp at the bottom, right-hand corner of the page you can link to actual film footage taken inside of KFC slaughterhouses. but PETA has the reputation of being a big "extremist" or "fringe" group. well...look at the film footage. do you really want to eat meat from animals that were treated that way? do you think this treatment--along with the farming practices that characterized the animal's life prior to the moment of slaughter--have no effect on the nutritional content of the meat?
it's funny, i became a vegetarian simply because i lost my taste for meat, and because it's healthier; same applies now that i'm a pescatarian rather than a strict vegetarian. i have never been a so-called "ethical" vegetarian. that is changing. i still don't categorically object to the consumption of meat--as i have indicated, i eat fish, and i also eat eggs and dairy products (you can't eat eggs or dairy without being implicated in the meat industry)--but i think it's important for people to know where their food comes from, and how it was produced, including the farming and slaughtering practices. we are so far removed from that, now; how many of us (in the u.s. and other "developed" nations) have *ever* seen an animal slaughtered, or has any idea of the process by which an animal is raised for slaughter? it is extremely difficult to get that information. you can hedge it, by buying meat that's labeled as "free range," from stores that are committed to environmentalism and social justice, but even that's not a guarantee. even the PCC is in business to make a profit. maybe this is really cynical of me, but i firmly believe that *most* businesses, if they can cut a corner to improve the bottom line, will. see the recent flap over the duck meat sold at whole foods stores--there was a huge expose revealing that this so-called "free-range" duck actually came from a factory farm where the animals were housed in sheds, never saw the light of day, and had their beaks sliced off with hot knives to prevent them from fighting with each other or neurotically pulling out their own feathers because of the stress of overcrowding.
alienation...mass production...mass consumption...instrumental capitalism...
god, it's fucking depressing sometimes. i think the most depressing thing about it is how pervasive this shit is. you can't get away from it. there is no fully ethical form of consumption. it's all implicated in capitalism.
