Cowspiracy - Study Questions Azha Aslam
1. This statement about “Cowspiracy” depicts how animal agriculture is an overlooked factor towards many environmental issues. It shows us how breeding animals and growing them for the human population causes deforestation and water consumption to name a few. What 's most surprising about this is that it isn 't being acknowledged as a significant factor towards these environmental issues, even though it clearly is. I feel as if I have been fooled by those who are trying to sweep this under the rug and pretend like the problems associated with it don 't exist. I feel cheated knowing that regardless of how much effort I put into doing my part towards helping out earth, my contributions
It’s completely unacceptable and suspicious of environment activist and organizations, such as Greenpeace, to avoid addressing animal agriculture as a very big problem towards the health of our planet. These organizations don 't want to talk and publicize anything related to the issue of animal agriculture because they care more about their own sustainability than that of the Earth. They say “[we] don 't like to dictate people 's behavior”; however it must be noted that informing and instructing are two very different things. I think Anderson definitely is brave and courageous for venturing off into the mysteries behind the strange perspectives people have about the animal agriculture industry. As soon as he was faced with resistance against what he was trying to do, instead of backing off, he pushed forward and that 's daring if anything. He was also warned many times that what he was doing was dangerous and that he should think very hard before continuing the film. It 's all about how one deals with adversity and Anderson is surely very good at that. I think if I were put in his situation, without a great amount of motivation, I wouldn 't have been able to do what he did. He had a plan and stuck to it till the end and until he was satisfied. Additionally a factor that may have led to his determination was how he was personally affected because he didn 't know about the impacts of the animal agriculture industry. He definitely also felt cheated because he wasn 't
I think what 's important is to inform as much people as possible and they will make some sort of change. Whether that 's just being more conscious of how much meat and dairy they consume or actually becoming a vegetarian or vegan. The problem with this is that food is a huge part of most a Canadian’s day and meat is a huge part of that as well for a lot of us; and getting rid of that overnight is simply not going to happen. In addition, there are numerous companies that thrive on meat based food and won 't be too happy about everyone becoming vegetarians. These companies also hold significant power on our society, so they have the power to easily influence people to continue eating meat. What’s important at this point is to consistently remind people where their meat is coming from and the effects that the process has on our planet. With that I believe people will become more aware and slowly begin to control what they 're eating, baby steps are needed, this won 't happen overnight. I think everyone in the right mind would want to make a change, it of course is more easily said than done, as many things are. We all wish to not have this problem in the first place and hope someone will figure out a magical way to fix it. That obviously doesn 't seem to be happening and that 's something we need to stress at this point. We have to make sure that people aren 't thinking that they can just continue on with their lives and everything will be okay, that 's not the case. I want
On the topic of environmental impacts due to “industrial farming”, Bill McKibben and Blake Hurst share completely different perspectives. McKibben believes that industrial farming has simply left an unexcusable bad impact on the environment, saying that it is unethical and that the meat we eat is potentially killing our environment and us as well. McKibben states that “we should simply stop eating factory-farmed meat, and the effects on climate change would be one of the many benefits.” (page 201). McKibben addresses that the techno fixes brought in industrial farming are simply not enough to help our environment.
.... People do not have to become vegetarians, but people should consider other meat and food as alternatives. Ultimately, if a majority of people chose organic farms and foods it would put a heavy hit on the meat production business. People will be eating healthier, and they will be doing their healthy part in the ecosystem and that will help to lower greenhouse gas emissions and greatly improve treatment of animals. The prices of organic food just need to come down dramatically for people to buy it. Methane from liquid manure, nitrous oxide from manmade fertilizers, carbon dioxide from machines are why people have put themselves and animals into a dilemma and made it into a never-ending continuous cycle.
In “Omnivore’s Delusion,” Blake Hurst, a veteran famer, calls attention to the “agri-intellectuals” who are critiquing farming when having no experience. First of all, the author wants “Agri-intellectuals” to take a walk in a farmer’s shoes. Throughout the article, Hurst throws jabs at the people criticizing choices a farmer makes, for example, he says, “It is important, though, that even people riding in airplanes know that there are environmental and food safety costs to whatever kind of farming we choose” (4). The author says this to show his anger and suggest to these critics they should know what they are talking about before they talk about it. Secondly, Hurst points out the food animal endangerment. The author tells his readers
Food, especially meat is such a central part of human society that it cannot be ignored. Just as big minds came together in the 60’s to make a better chicken, they can come together to solve a crisis that harms every person living in this country. Jonathan Safran Foer’s book gives an important look into what goes on behind the scenes of factory farms, and offers logical solutions. However, it will take more than this, and more than just vegetarian encouragement to make any lasting changes. It will take the votes of consumers both in the supermarket and on ballots to evoke a better system. Take a look at what is on your plate next time you sit down for a meal. Did you vote well?
The next time you go to sit down and enjoy a nice juicy steak, take a moment to think about how that piece of meat came from a cow and became your rib eye steak. Many people in our nation have no idea where their food comes from, what exactly is in the food they consume, and the effects it has on their health and the health of our environment. This is largely due to the industrialized, factory farming way of producing our meat and poultry. It has left our bodies sickened and our earth battered but with an elimination of animal products and an addition of a more plant based diet we can begin to restore …..
Throughout history, societies have been faced with many social issues affecting their citizens. Martin Luther King Jr, a civil rights leader for African Americans, was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement, a movement that fought to undo the injustices African Americans endure by American society in the 1960s. Martin expressed his disgust with the social inequality among citizens when saying “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (PETA). Taking the prominent leader’s words into consideration, we should progress as a society by participating in the animal rights movement that strives to extend the same compassion, felt by Martin Luther King Jr, to all living things (PETA). Popular criticisms report that animals are inferior to humans because they are a source of food, but I will argue that they are victims of social injustice. Validity for my animal rights argument will come from individual and organizational expert accounts and by Bioethicist Peter Singer, Author Francis Fukuyama, New York Time’s Mark Bittman and also Animal Rights organizations, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and Animal Equality, to help prove my argument. Animals are silent victims who are loudly crying out for someone to stand up for their rights; rights that can no longer be disregarded by being overlooked. It is my belief that animals should be respected, and afforded ethical and human treatment by society instead of being looked at as a source of food. In a society where animals have no voice, it is everyone’s civic duty to participate in the animal rights movement and acknowledge animals as living beings, which...
Many people nowadays try to be conscious of their impacts on the environment, but what if one of the main contributors of environmental destruction was something that the vast majority of people contribute to everyday, without even realizing the detrimental effects it has on the environment? In conversations about lessening one’s personal environmental impacts, some common points are using renewable energy, recycling, taking shorter showers, and not littering. While these are great steps to take, one subject rarely thoroughly discussed is one’s consumption of animal products. Switching to more sustainable meat is suggested by numerous environmental organizations, but
We care so much about what the food is and how it is made that we overlook about where the food had come from. According to the reading selection, “Killing Them with Kindness?” by James McWilliams, an American history professor at Texas State University, states “animals raised in factory farms have qualities that make them worthy of our moral consideration…[and yet, we] continue to ignore the ethical considerations involved in eating meat” (311). This exhibits that when Americans are so engrossed in healthy eating, our morals about animal rights are neglected. Most of what we eat are animals, and animals like we do have emotions, interests, and possibly goals in life. We pay no heed of the animal’s interests and it should not be that way since our interests are no more important just because we are more superior, intelligent beings should not give us the right to perceive animals in such a manner. In addition to paying notice of the origin of where the animals come from, we need to be aware of what killing animals will do to the earth. In the TedTalk, “What’s Wrong with the Way We Eat,” Mark Bittman states “10 billion animals are killed each year for food and they represent 18% of the harmful greenhouse gasses” (Bittman). This reveals that our careless consumption would not only lead to the suffering of animal deaths but the suffering of our world and our imminent death. As we increase our progression with our unhealthy obsession over healthy eating, there will not be any positive effects for the body, the animals around us, or the world. If we were to be conscious about the source of our food and the consequence of eating then we will be able to eat healthily and
There are people do who do not like the Agriculture industry;some of these people are PETA, and there is tension between the two groups and I will be discussing the tension. So before you read this essay you may be thinking “ Who is PETA?” Well I will provide a little background information on who PETA is, PETA ( People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals) is a animal rights activist group who zone in on certain groups of people. One example of one of those groups would be the 4-H and the Agriculture world. So now that you know some basic background information, let’s go into some topic that have caused problems between the two sides.
A United Nations report states that land used for animal agriculture, both for grazing and production of crops fed to livestock, takes up an astounding 30% of land on Earth. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") To meet the industry’s demands, over 260 million acres of forest in the U.S. have been cleared to grow grain fed to farm animals. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") With that in mind, the meat industry also dumps disease-causing pathogens through animal waste that pollutes water and forces the need for waste lagoons to be constructed, which are susceptible to leaking and flooding. ("Facts about Pollution from Livestock Farms”) Scientists say that about 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases are released by said agriculture industries, which is a growing concern for climate change and global warming. (Silverman) The meat industry uses one-third of all the fossil fuels consumed in the United States. (Moore) There is no question that farming animals has a negative effect on the environment and steps should be taken to mitigate air and water pollution risks and future deforestation. If animal agriculture was phased out, land used for animal grazing could be returned to forest land and some of it converted into fields for cultivating crops for humans. A global shift toward veganism, resulting in the elimination of the meat and animal agriculture industries, would protect the environment from various detrimental effects.
Like many other industries, the farming industry has evolved into big business, “Animals on factory farms are regarded as commodities to be exploited for profit.” In each industry from clothing to instruments, the bosses want to make a profit. The more they can supply with the least amount of waste, the more profit they make. The same goes for factory farming. However instead of humans being the ones directly affected by big bosses, the animals are. They don’t have a voice, and can’t stand up for what is right or wrong. These animals are manipulated in every way to make a better profit. Factory farms mass produce animals for ...
... decomposing manure and other factors, including the energy needed to store and transport meat’’ were all responsible for that18% of greenhouse gas emissions in the estimations. The amount of gas emission from these factory farms has accelerated climate change faster than all of the ways in which we burn fossil fuels to create energy. Even with these high numbers, people are still continuing industrial agriculture and there aren’t enough concerns out there to show how serious this situation is. Meat is equivalent to cars, which both are deeply set in American culture. Not much protest was hold strongly against the production of meat because many environmental groups realize that people may get very upset if meat production was cut off. This is only because they aren’t well aware that meat is slowly killing our planet and should be taken care of before it’s too late.
This is a much bigger deal than people think. In fact, according to an article by Peta, How Does Eating Meat Harm the Environment, it has such an effect on the environment that the Union of Concerned Scientist list meat eaters as the second biggest environmental hazard facing the earth. The number one affect being fossil fuels produced by cars. It was also found in a report published by the Worldwatch Institute that nearly 51 percent of all greenhouse gasses are produced from animal agriculture. This is a very staggering number when a lot of research is being done to make vehicles more environmentally friendly when we could make a huge impact just by changing the way we eat. It is even more astounding that it takes the same number of fossil fuels to produce one hamburger as it takes to dive one car 20 miles (Peta How Does Eating Meat Harm the Environment). The production of this meat is also a big cost. It takes more than 80 percent of the corn we grow and more than 95 percent of oat are feed to livestock. The world’s cattle alone are feed the equal amount that would be needed to feed 8.7 billion people. That’s more than the entire world population. If we cut back on our consumption of meat we could take corn and oats that we produce and feed the world. When producing meat many of our natural resources are used. We use water, fossil fuels and top soil, and we are
...ming I will be willing to contribute in any way that I can, and becoming a vegetarian will help the environment a great deal. Becoming a vegetarian can also lead to becoming a healthier person and living a healthy lifestyle. And lastly, the way animals are killed and treated in factory farms are unethical and they should not be treated the way they are just to create a meal for the next person.Consider that the animal you are eating was a vegetarian and the meat contains all the minerals and vitamins of the plant foods it ate when you eat it. Along with fats yourbody needs in substantial amounts to stay healthy.....more on the fats later. Meat is as close to a complete meal as you can get because of this.
Every person has the ability to make their own choice of whether to eat meat or not. However, eating meat is directly tied to negative health effects, pollution leading to a depletion of ozone, and the depletion of hundreds of thousands of acres of land “wasted” on animal production when they could be used to solve the hunger crisis or lower emission levels. What humans eat is no longer a matter of choice; it has become a matter of life and death. Literally, the future of the whole planet rests on the decision of whether or not to eat meat. If humans chose to eat less meat the world that wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences (outlined above.) Vegetarianism is one possibility, as is Veganism; however the world would be