Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Factory farm?





Yesterday was our first of two days at the Friest farm, just up the road, where they raise thousands of pigs "farrow to finish" (I prefer "birth to butcher," and yes, I just made that up) each year. Mr. Brent, the son of the father-son operation, explained that, according to many regulations, they are considered a "factory farm," though they are much smaller than many commercial operations. Another key point to note is that Friest Farms Ltd. is a family farm in which they live on the property and do all of their own work rather than making it a large corporation.

The younger Mr. Friest took us around to all but a couple of his hog buildings to let us see what the operation truly looks like. I'll admit that it was a bit of a reality check for me - not that I was quite surprised by anything, but he did make some good points that I hadn't necessarily considered. For instance, it was fairly clean and well-lit, the hogs didn't seem angry or disobedient, etc. They definitely weren't torture chambers, anyway. However, he seemed defensive when explaining everything to us, trying to stay open-minded about things like liberals and vegetarians but clearly stating his own beliefs and reasons why before anyone had a chance to challenge him. He would emphasize things like the fact that child abuse is more common than animal abuse and that the hogs like being in their cages; therefore, they are not treated badly.

I generally agree with that. I don't really think that factory farming is inherently abusive; that only happens in special cases. My issue would be that it's unnatural. Sure, the hogs like being in the crates that are crammed together and too small for them to turn around in. If I had been born into a crate, led to a series of other crates or pens, and lived my whole life inside a building, I would probably go straight to what is comfortable, too. It reminded me of those movies in which a prisoner is subjected to solitary confinement in a dark, windowless, tiny room. When they are finally released, they resist the light, the outside, the freedom. However, humans are smart enough to run free of shackles and confinement, and pigs are smart, too. In nature, they roll around in the slop and having a pecking order of sorts that keeps them united. I don't know enough about imprisonment to know if that really happens, and I know that that is an extreme example, but that's the best way I can think of to articulate my views.

Everything at Friest Farms was very efficient. Mr. Friest explained that he does care about animal welfare, too - for economic reasons. That makes sense. If pigs are healthy and happy, they "perform" better, we kept hearing. Well, I have a hard time envisioning them as performers, for one thing, but I do appreciate the sentiment that he wants to take care of everyone. He also only gives them antibiotics if they are sick as an injectable rather than in their feed daily, which I really appreciate. We saw a few dead pigs yesterday that had been sick and unable to recover even after doses of medicine, which I suppose is truly more than nature would give them.

I can't quite explain why I value the natural world so much, but it seems to me that that is what we should continually strive for, even as we attempt to produce food for the masses. That explains my resistance to GMO crops, too, which is coming up in another blog post. I know that technology is a wonderful thing and has increased our yields and yadda yadda, but mechanizing everything seems to reduce jobs while producing more, and most people can agree that that's not a good thing, either.

In conclusion, I am very conflicted about everything I've seen. I don't see myself abandoning my vegetarianism or liberal beliefs anytime soon. All that the visit yesterday really succeeded in was making me want a pet pig. I'll continue my musings and maybe arrive at some answers throughout this May term.

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