Is Ignorance Bliss?

I did not think that the PETA documentary "Meet Your Meat" would be as upsetting to me as it was. Prior to watching the film I had seen similar clips of cows in factories being slowly left to bleed to death, and chickens crammed in cages never seeing daylight. But the squealing piglet, and sick image of chickens and cows will leave a mark in my mind the next time I go to eat these, but I know becoming a vegetarian isn't very realistic- at least for me. I don't think that the solution to the problem is for everyone to go vegetarian. I talked to some friends who had not seen the film, and they responded the same way I would have prior to the film "its only human nature to eat animals." But I don't think meat or dairy products would actually be appetizing or seem natural to people in the first place if they knew/accepted the unnatural methods (hormones) and cruelty that went into making it. Humans eating animals is not going to change, but in my opinion the ethical standards need to. But a good question is why would effort and money go into an animal if it is born to be food. And why would people pay the more money at the grocery store for something that tastes the same? And do people really want to know?

Foster Farms Chickens- always have those silly commercials portraying the dirty/homeless chicken image that do not stand for. How many American families out there would be willing to pay the extra money for chickens that had a good life, aren’t they just eating them anyways? I personally am horrified by the images of what I saw on the PETA film, and so I wonder if an animal has a good and healthy life- then is it okay to kindly and ethically butcher it, and then go onto consume it?

I think the real turning point for changing the way Americans think when purchasing meat will be knowing that the meat is not healthy: the animals were raised in disease, bacteria, and injected with hormones. In essence- that we as Americans are at a health risk. As the PETA film claims, meat with those conditions can get the USDA stamp of approval and go on the shelves. I think the healthier the meat is, the more likely the animals are to be treated, and a establishing a connection between the two would motivate change. Obviously the film is biased and does not display a completely accurate image of reality, but it still shows how food is legally buttered and consumed.

From WWU:
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivores Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin Press, 2006.

From Summit:
Mason, Jim.The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter. Emmaus: Rodale, 2006.