As cheesy as this series may be, I feel as though its point is getting across quite well...
"The Meatrix", a spin-off of "The Matrix", features three undercover animals, Moopheus, Leo, and Chickity, on their adventure to expose what is really happening in the meat processing industry. They all begin under the illusion that all meat comes from healthy and perfectly treated animals and brought to the store from family farms. They believe the meat is all natural and healthy to eat. Once they take the "blue pill", they are able to see what is really happening.
The animals are not treated humanely because they often lose their beaks, are grown to fast that they can barely stand, are seperated from their mothers way before it would naturally be time to do so, etc. Once they are grown to the full unnatural size, they are sent to slaughter houses. These slaughter houses are nasty; oftentimes spreading E.Coli throughout the meat and providing such dangerous work conditions that employees are hurt along the way. Also, the animals are pumped full of antibiotics which we ingest causing our bodies to slowly become immune to antibiotics we may need later in life to save us that now will not.
In Georgetown, Guyana, the meat industry is actually safer than can probably be found in the United States right now. The safety standards are the same of the U.S. but because of lack of funding in Georgetown, money for antibiotics and hormones can not be found. Their animals are fed what they are supposed to be eating and by the time it makes it to the store, it is actually very safe to eat and free from the additives that we have in the United State. Because it is unsafe to drink the water that is used in meat production, it is not safe for international travelers to eat unless the meat is found at a reputable restaurant directly in the city. It is just very surprising to me that meat coming from a third world country would actually be healthier for its citizens than meat from the United States, who boasts all of the lavish things it has to offer...
Yeah, I definitely agree with everything Lauren has said. The way these animals are being treated is just sickening and wrong. Where is the boundary between right and wrong? Chickens are all born with a beak and 2 legs, is it fair that people take this god given gift away from them? Lauren goes on to state how the meat industry is safer in Guyana than it is in the U.S. I mean when you force feed your animals antibiotics, steroids, and food they do not naturally eat, how can it not be safer? The Meat industries ways currently is reckless and irresponsible. Something needs to change.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that a third world country could have healthier meat then one of the riches countries in the world. It really opens your eyes to how bad this factory farming has gotten in America. I know I had no idea that this was going on. I didn't even really know what factory farming was until this class. I was never a big animal rights activist but to see the effects that this can have on humans is horrifying. The video, Food Inc., we watched in class the other day talked about a boy that simply ate a hamburger and with 12 days he died from e. coli. poisoning. America needs to take a stand a put an end to this.
ReplyDeleteLike in Guyana, Hungary still has a very local, industrialized farming system. My aunt in Hungary actually used to have a "pig house" in her back yard (until a few years ago as they were sick of the smell) where the pigs were free to move around and they consumed natural food without any antibiotics. Hungary is not a third world country, but it is a second world country. I think it is astonishing that we (in a first world country) would be consuming such a terrible quality meat.
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