Eating Animals

by Jonathan Safran Foer

  219 “all available evidence . . .” D. Pimentel and M. Pimentel, Food, Energy and Society, 3rd ed. (Florence, KY: CRC Press, 2008), 57.

  “First, the livestock effectively convert . . .” Ibid.

  Plowing and planting land . . . It destroys the root structures of naturally occurring vegetative cover, leading to wind and water erosion, the single largest cause of soil nutrient loss in the United States. Crop production is particularly damaging where topsoil is thin and where topography is hilly. On the other hand, such lands are well suited for livestock grazing, which, when properly managed, actually can improve topsoil and vegetative cover.

  223 Let me tell you how cattle . . . Personal correspondence.

  226 today they are slaughtered . . . B. Niman and J. Fletcher, Niman Ranch Cookbook (New York: Ten Speed Press, 2008), 37.

  Cattle seem to experience . . . G. Mitchell and others, “Stress in cattle assessed after handling, after transport and after slaughter,” Veterinary Record 123, no. 8 (1988): 201–205, http://veterinaryrecord.bvapub lications.com/cgi/content/abstract/123/8/201 (accessed July 28, 2009).

  If the kill floor . . . Ibid.; “The Welfare of Cattle in Beef Production,” Farm Sanctuary, 2006, http://www.farmsanctuary.org/mediacenter/beef_report.html (accessed July 28, 2009).

  227 They know the other animals . . . Cows remember as many as seventy individuals, work out hierarchies for both males and females (female hierarchies are more stable), choose particular cows as friends, and treat other cows as enemies. Cattle “elect” leaders that they choose on the basis of both “social attractiveness” and actual knowledge of the land and its resources. Some herds follow their leader virtually all the time, and others are more independent (or disorganized) and follow their leader about half the time. “Stop, Look, Listen: Recognising the Sentience of Farm Animals,” Compassion in World Farming Trust, 2006, http://www.ciwf.org.uk/includes/documents/cm_docs/2008/s/stop_look _listen_2006.pdf (accessed July 28, 2009); M. F. Bouissou and others, “The Social Behaviour of Cattle,” in Social Behaviour in Farm Animals, edited by L. J. Keeling and H. W. Gonyou (Oxford: CABI Publishing, 2001); A. F. Fraser and D. M. Broom, Farm Animal Behaviour and Welfare (Oxford: CABI Publishing, 1997); D. Wood-Gush, Elements of Ethology; A Textbook of Agricultural and Veterinary Students (New York: Springer, 1983); P. K. Rout and others, “Studies on behavioural patterns in Jamunapari goats,” Small Ruminant Research 43, no. 2 (2002): 185–188; P. T. Greenwood and L. R. Rittenhouse, “Feeding area selection: The leader-follower phenomena,” Proc. West. Sect. Am. Soc. Anim. Sci. 48 (1997): 267–269; B. Dumont and others, “Consistency of animal order in spontaneous group movements allows the measurement of leadership in a group of grazing heifers,” Applied Animal Behaviour Science 95, no. 1–2 (2005): 55–66 (page 64 specifically); V. Reinhardt, “Movement orders and leadership in a semi-wild cattle herd,” Behaviour 83 (1983): 251–264.

  227 As a rule, cattle have a heavy dose . . . “The Welfare of Cattle in Beef Production.”

  virtually all of them lose weight . . . T. G. Knowles and others, “Effects on cattle of transportation by road for up to 31 hours,” Veterinary Record 145 (1999): 575–582.

  228 “Slaughter,” Pollan reports . . . Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma (New York: Penguin, 2007), 304.

  “that’s not because slaughter . . .” Ibid., 304–305.

  “Eating industrial meat . . .” Ibid., 84.

  “The technique goes like this . . .” B. R. Myers, “Hard to Swallow,” Atlantic Monthly; September 2007, www.theatlantic.com/doc/200709/omnivore (accessed September 10, 2009).

  230 The side effect is that . . . Gail A. Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2006), 122.

  230 Several plants cited . . . Joby Warrick, “They Die Piece by Piece,” Washington Post, April 10, 2001; Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, “Rubashkin’s response to the ‘attack on Shechita,’ ” shmais.com, December 7, 2004, http://www.shmais.com/jnewsdetail.cfm?ID=148 (accessed November 28, 2007).

  the vast majority of . . . Temple Grandin, “Survey of Stunning and Handling in Federally Inspected Beef, Veal, Pork, and Sheep Slaughter Plants,” Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Project Number 3602-32000-002-08G, http://www.grandin.com/survey/usdarpt.html (accessed August 18, 2009).

  The USDA, the federal agency . . . Warrick, “They Die Piece by Piece.”

  has improved since then . . . Temple Grandin, “2002 Update” for “Survey of Stunning and Handling in Federally Inspected Beef, Veal, Pork, and Sheep Slaughter Plants.”

  still found one in four . . . Kurt Vogel and Temple Grandin, “2008 Restaurant Animal Welfare and Humane Slaughter Audits in Federally Inspected Beef and Pork Slaughter Plants in the U.S. and Canada,” Department of Animal Science, Colorado State University, http://www.grandin.com/survey/2008.restaurant.audits.html (accessed August 18, 2009).

  231 “Their heads are up . . .” Slaughterhouse worker Chris O’Day, as cited in Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse, 128.

  increased as much as 800 percent . . . Warrick, “They Die Piece by Piece.”

  Slaughterhouse workers . . . Ibid.

  ordinary people can become sadistic . . . Temple Grandin, “Commentary: Behavior of Slaughter Plant and Auction Employees Toward the Animals,” Anthrozoös 1, no. 4 (1988): 205–213, http://www.grandin .com/references/behavior.employees.html (accessed July 14, 2009).

  “More than twenty workers . . .” Warrick, “They Die Piece by Piece.”

  “I’ve seen thousands . . .” Ibid.

  I’d come home . . . Slaughterhouse worker Ken Burdette, as cited in Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse, 131.

  232 In twelve seconds or less . . . Warrick, “They Die Piece by Piece.”

  A cow has in the neighborhood . . . Monica Reynolds, “Plasma and Blood Volume in the Cow Using the T-1824 Hematocrit Method,” American Journal of Physiology 173 (1953): 421–427.

  233 “They’d be blinking . . .” Slaughterhouse worker Timothy Walker, as cited in Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse, 28–29.

  233 “A lot of times the skinner . . .” Slaughterhouse worker Timothy Walker, as cited in Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse, 29.

  “As for as the ones . . .” Slaughterhouse worker Chris O’Day, as cited in Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse, 128.

  234 sending chicks by mail . . . Humane Society of the United States, “An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues with Transport of Day-Old Chicks,” Dec 3, 2008, http://www.hsus.org/farm/resources/research/practices/chick_transport.html (accessed Sept 9, 2009).

  an even more serious welfare concern . . . Humane Society of the United States, “An HSUS Report: The Welfare of Animals in the Chicken Industry,” December 2, 2008, http://www.hsus.org/farm/resources/research/welfare/broiler_industry.html (accessed August 18, 2009).

  237 we will all farm by proxy . . . Wendell Berry, Citizenship Papers (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2004), 167.

  American Livestock Breeds Conservancy . . . ALBC describes itself as “a nonprofit membership organization working to protect over 150 breeds of livestock and poultry from extinction.” American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, 2009, http://www.albc-usa.org/ (accessed July 28, 2009).

  242 The ethical relationship . . . M. Halverson, “Viewpoints of agricultural producers who have made ethical choices to practice a ‘high welfare’ approach to raising farm animals,” EurSafe 2006, the 6th Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics, Oslo, June 22–24, 2006.

  Storytelling

  Page

  250 the only two written reports . . . “The History of Thanksgiving: The First Thanksgiving,” history.com, http://www.history.com/content/thanksgiving/the-first-thanksgiving (accessed July 28, 2009); “The History of Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims’ Menu,” history.com, http://www.history.com/content/thanksgiving/the-first-thanksgiving/the -pilgrims-menu (accessed July 28, 2009).

  250 the turkey wasn’t made part . . . Rick Sch
enkman, “Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving,” History News Network, November 21, 2001, http://hnn.us/articles/406.html (accessed July 28, 2009).

  Thanksgiving with the Timucua Indians . . . Michael V. Gannon, The Cross in the Sand (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1965), 26–27.

  They dined on bean soup . . . Craig Wilson, “Florida Teacher Chips Away at Plymouth Rock Thanksgiving Myth,” USAToday, November 21, 2007, http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2007-11-20-first -thanksgiving_N.htm (accessed July 28, 2009).

  251 first documentation . . . Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Livestock, Environment and Development Initiative, “Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options,” Rome 2006, xxi, 112, 26, ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0701e/a0701e00 .pdf (accessed August 11, 2009).

  saw the first major research institution . . . Pew Charitable Trusts, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Pew Commission on Industrial Animal Production, “Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America,” 57–59, 2008, http://www.ncifap.org.

  saw the first state (Colorado) . . . Humane Society of the United States, “Landmark Farm Animal Welfare Bill Approved in Colorado,” http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/colo_gestation_crate_veal_crate _bill_051408.html (August 19, 2009).

  saw the first supermarket chain . . . John Mackey, Letter to Stakeholders, Whole Foods Market, http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company /pdfs/ar08_letter.pdf (accessed August 19, 2009).

  first major national newspaper . . . “The Worst Way to Farm,” New York Times, May 31, 2008.

  252 after Temple Grandin reported . . . Temple Grandin, “2002 Update” for “Survey of Stunning and Handling in Federally Inspected Beef, Veal, Pork, and Sheep Slaughter Plants,” Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Project Number 3602-32000-002-08G, http://www.grandin.com/survey/usdarpt.html (accessed August 18, 2009).

  253 One time the knocking gun . . . Slaughterhouse worker Steve Parrish, as cited in Gail A. Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2006), 145.

  253 This is hard to talk about . . . Slaughterhouse worker Ed Van Winkle, as cited in Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse, 81.

  Down in the blood pit . . . Slaughterhouse worker Donny Tice, as cited in Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse, 92–94.

  254“systematic human rights violations” . . . Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Workers’ Rights in US Meat and Poultry Plants (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2004), 2.

  The worst thing . . . Slaughterhouse worker Ed Van Winkle, as cited in Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse, 87.

  255 “I have to say . . .” Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma (New York: Penguin, 2007), 362.

  she reported witnessing . . . Temple Grandin, “Commentary: Behavior of Slaughter Plant and Auction Employees Toward the Animals,” Anthrozoös 1, no. 4 (1988): 205, http://www.grandin.com/references/behavior .employees.html (accessed July 28, 2009).

  26 percent of slaughterhouses had abuses . . . Temple Grandin, “2005 Poultry Welfare Audits: National Chicken Council Animal Welfare Audit for Poultry Has a Scoring System That Is Too Lax and Allows Slaughter Plants with Abusive Practices to Pass,” Department of Animal Science, Colorado State University, http://www.grandin.com/survey/2005.poultry.audits.html (accessed July 28, 2009).

  live birds were thrown . . . Ibid.

  25 percent of the slaughterhouses . . . Kurt Vogel and Temple Grandin, “2008 Restaurant Animal Welfare and Humane Slaughter Audits in Federally Inspected Beef and Pork Slaughter Plants in the U.S. and Canada,” Department of Animal Science, Colorado State University, http://www.grandin.com/survey/2008.restaurant.audits.html (accessed July 28, 2009).

  256 dismembering a fully conscious cow . . . Grandin writes that the plant received “an automatic failure rating for cutting a leg off a sensible animal.” Temple Grandin, “2007 Restaurant Animal Welfare and Humane Slaughter Audits in Federally Inspected Beef and Pork Slaughter Plants in the U.S. and Canada,” Department of Animal Science, Colorado State University, http://www.grandin.com/survey/2007.restaurant .audits.html (accessed July 28, 2009).

  256 cows waking up . . . Temple Grandin, “2006 Restaurant Animal Welfare Audits of Federally Inspected Beef, Pork, and Veal Slaughter Plants in the U.S.,” Department of Animal Science, Colorado State University, http://www.grandin.com/survey/2006.restaurant.audits.html (accessed July 28, 2009); Vogel and Grandin, “2008 Restaurant Animal Welfare and Humane Slaughter Audits in Federally Inspected Beef and Pork Slaughter Plants in the U.S. and Canada.”

  “poking cows in the anus area . . .” Grandin, “2007 Restaurant Animal Welfare and Humane Slaughter Audits in Federally Inspected Beef and Pork Slaughter Plants in the U.S. and Canada.”

  There isn’t enough nonfactory chicken . . . Of America’s roughly eight billion broilers, roughly .06 percent are likely raised outside of factory farms. Assuming Americans eat around twenty-seven chickens apiece annually, this means that the nonfactory chicken meat supply could feed less than 200,000 persons. Similarly, of the nation’s roughly 118 million pigs, roughly 4.59 percent are likely raised outside of factory farms. Assuming Americans eat roughly .9 hogs a year, the nonfactory pork supply could feed almost six million people. (For numbers of factory-farmed animals, see note for page 12.) Numbers of animals slaughtered annually come from the USDA, and the average number of chickens and pigs consumed by each American was calculated on the basis of USDA statistics by Noam Mohr.

  258 Hitler was a vegetarian . . . The legend of Hitler’s vegetarianism is quite persistent and widespread, but I have no idea if it’s true. It is especially doubtful given various references to his eating sausages. For example, H. Eberle and M. Uhl, The Hitler Book (Jackson, TN: PublicAffairs, 2006), 136.

  “one must take a position . . . ” This Martin Luther King Jr. quote is widely cited on the Internet; for example, see Quotiki.com, http://www.quotiki.com/quotes/3450 (accessed August 19, 2009).

  260 Organized by religion . . . “Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents,” Adherents.com, August 9, 2007, http: //www .adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html (accessed July 29, 2009); “Population by religion, sex and urban/rural residence: Each census, 1984–2004,” un.org, http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybcensus/V2_table6.pdf (accessed July 28, 2009).

  260 one person is hungry . . . The obese quietly became a larger percentage of the world than the undernourished in 2006. “Overweight ‘Top World’s Hungry,’ ” BBC News, August 15, 2006, http://news.bbc .co.uk/2/hi/health/4793455.stm (accessed July 28, 2009).

  More than half eat a mostly vegetarian diet . . . E. Millstone and T. Lang, The Penguin Atlas of Food (New York: Penguin, 2003), 34.

  vegetarians and vegans . . . There is no reliable data on the precise number of vegetarians worldwide. There isn’t even a consensus on what it means to be vegetarian (in India, for example, eggs are considered nonvegetarian). That said, an estimated 42 percent of India’s 1.2 billion citizens, roughly 500 million people, are believed to be vegetarian. “Project on Livestock Industrialization, Trade and Social-Health-Environment Impacts in Developing Countries,” FAO, July 24, 2003, http://www.fao .org/WAIRDOCS/LEAD/X6170E/x6170e00.htm#Contents:section 2.3 (accessed July 29, 2009). If around 3 percent of the rest of the world is vegetarian, that grants vegetarians a seat at the table. This seems a reasonable assumption. In the United States, for example, between 2.3 and 6.7 percent of the population is vegetarian, depending on how you define it. Charles Stahler, “How Many Adults Are Vegetarian?” Vegetarian Journal 4 (2006), http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2006issue4/vj2006issue4poll.htm (accessed July 29, 2009).

  more than half of the time . . . FAO, “Livestock Policy Brief 01: Responding to the ‘Livestock Revolution,’ ” ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0260e/a0260e00.pdf (accessed July 28, 2009).

  If current trents continue . . . Ibid.

  261 more
than a third of restaurant operators . . . Evan George, “Welcome to $oy City,” Los Angeles Downtown News, November 22, 2006, http://www.downtownnews.com/articles/2006/11/27/news/news03.txt (accessed July 28, 2009).

  “add vegetarian or vegan dishes . . .” Mark Brandau, “Indy Talk: Eric Blauberg, the Restaurant Fixer,” October 22, 2008, Nation’s Restaurant News, Independent Thinking, http://nrnindependentthink ing.blogspot.com/2008/10/indy-talk-erik-blauberg-restaurant.html (accessed July 28, 2009). Also see: “Having Words with Erik Blauberg: Chief Executive, EKB Restaurant Consulting,” bnet.com, November 24, 2008, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_46_42/ ai_n31044068/ (accessed July 28, 2009).

  262 four times the amount of meat . . . Mia McDonald, “Skillful Means: The Challenges of China’s Encounter with Factory Farming,” BrighterGreen, http://www.brightergreen.org/files/brightergreen_china_print.pdf (accessed July 28, 2009).

  animal products still account . . . Junguo Liu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, as cited in Sid Perkins, “A thirst for meat: Changes in diet, rising population may strain China’s water supply,” Science News, January 19, 2008.

  By 2050, the world’s livestock . . . Colin Tudge, So Shall We Reap (New York: Penguin, 2003), as cited in Ramona Cristina Ilea, “Intensive Livestock Farming: Global Trends, Increased Environmental Concerns, and Ethical Solutions, Journal of Agricultural Environmental Ethics 22 (2009): 153–167.

  one hungry person . . . “More people than ever are victims of hunger,” FAO, http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/newsroom/docs/Press%20release%20june-en.pdf (accessed July 28, 2009).

  as the obese also gain another seat . . . Obesity worldwide is increasing rapidly. D. A. York and others, “Prevention Conference VII: Obesity, a Worldwide Epidemic Related to Heart Disease and Stroke: Group 1: Worldwide Demographics of Obesity,” Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association 110 (2004): 463–470, http://www.circ.ahajournals .org/cgi/reprint/110/18/e463 (accessed July 28, 2009).