To continue from the food security discussions last week, some classmates have come up with interesting resources. Check them out and share your thoughts! Comment on any of the points below:
1. An ex-vegetarian’s thoughts on meat (article discovered by Megan)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2011/jan/19/vegetarian-animal-cruelty-meat
Following up on our discussion of Animal Food Production in class yesterday, I stumbled onto this lovely little article on mending the ways of productionist animal slaughterhouses by (get this) eating meat. It’s quite a different argument than the usual vegetarian protest argument and definitely worth a read. Actually, I find that the author’s argument fits along nicely with our $2/$5 egg debate – on making informed choice purchases when it comes to our food.
So here are a few thoughts that came across my mind while reading this: What constitutes ‘free range’/’organic’ farming? I’ve never seen any meat packaged locally or from ‘free-range’ farming – how can I tell what to get in the supermarket if I want to make an informed decision on meat?
My biggest question of all concerns vegetarianism/veganism and the reasons in which people choose such diets. Some people choose not to eat meat in protest of animal cruelty, some do it for ‘health’ reasons, etc. Either way, we’re making a radical choice about our own diets – whether this is effective enough to stimulate change in the current food system is debatable. Maybe the author is right – maybe it is better to actually eat meat from smaller farms. Maybe not.
Thoughts? Discussion? Arguments?
2. A peak at the role of antibiotic-use in meat production from Natasha:
“‘supporting’ large-scale animal farms can have broader negative implications on human health, aside from just eating them. I.e. chickens pumped with antibiotics → the antibiotics then get transferred to the environment (bad for the environment), allowing bacteria to ‘get smart’ and find a way to survive any antibiotics → bad for humans.” Find the article here.
3. Food Safety: Industry vs. small farms
Are food safety regulations creating food security problems?
4. Can we up-scale small farming practices without resorting to current industrial trends? Do you think that the fish farm described by Dan Barber in last week’s Ted Talk is an example of this?
5. Comment on this week’s readings (under Readings tab).