7: Use of Animals - Lecture

Question 1

Lappé’s protein theory - Diet for a Small Planet Book

Answer 1

• 1971
• popularized health and ecologically-based vegetarianism in North America

1. scarcity of food in the world
2. animals are fed excessive protein in order to grow meat protein
   
   • ex. chickens ea 8lbs of protein feed to produce
     1lb of meat
3. humans don’t need to eat animal protein to be healthy
   - would be healthier if we eat non-meat proteins
   we feed chickens

CONCLUSION: eating animals is short-sighted and harmful to us/others

Question 2

According to Agriculture Canada (2018), in a year the average Canadian (+18 years of age) will consume: (each animal)

Answer 2

1. Chicken - 30.6 kgs
2. Beef - 30.0 kgs
3. Pork - 28.1 kgs
4. Turkey - 4.3 kgs
5. “Mature Chicken” (???) - 1.7 kgs
6. Veal - 1.1 kgs
7. Lamb - 1.0 kg

Question 3

average Canadian (18+) will consume a GRAND TOTAL of ___ kg of meat/person/year (___lbs)

Answer 3

96.8kgs or 213lbs

Question 4

since 1972, chicken consumption has increased __%, and everything else has stayed the same
(except ____ in the last 2 years which has declined ___%)

Answer 4

84%
(beef, 24%)

Question 5

T or F: the demand for meat is decreasing with deluge of plant-based alternatives

Flexatarians at __%
__% Canadians

Answer 5

F: Demand is rising

Flexatarians at 12%
20% Canadians

Question 6

ecological impacts of animal farming

Answer 6

• claims on overpopulation of cattle and methane
  explusion’s effect on ozone
• fecal run-off into water supplies
• grazing lands for cattle causing permanent
  damage to land surfaces
  (can’t grow anything else on land even after beef
  farm disappears)

Question 7

what is the answer to ecological damage

Answer 7

consume in a way that produces less damage

Question 8

___% of Canadians buy organic every week

Answer 8

56-66%

Question 9

USDA version of organics & difficulty

Answer 9

codified validity to products being organic
- difficult to ensure there is no contamination, regardless if practices are organic

Question 10

T or F: organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods

Answer 10

T

Question 11

T or F: consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Answer 11

T

Question 12

zoonotic infections

Answer 12

crossover from animals to humans
- SARs
- bird blue (eat feces of chickens)
- COVID (bats??? tf)

Question 13

xenotransplantation & risk

Answer 13

growing human tissue on non-human hosts to make it easier for transplant
- can’t raise humans to be organ donors

risk: might create extremely dangerous zoonotic infection

Question 14

commercial vs medical research uses

Answer 14

medical: cure for diseases that uses animals, high value **
- benefit is so good, saves lives, we can sacrifice more animal lives

many animals are used for consumer products
- medical beneifts humanity, more okay that commercial

Question 15

beliefs of Peter Singer (Animal Liberation book)

Answer 15

• “personhood” could include higher-order mammals but also exclude some disabled or damaged humans
• equality is about the equal consideration of interests, but humans ignore the interests of higher order mammals in order to suit their own comforts/pleasures

Question 16

T or F: Singer is a utilitarian

Answer 16

T: believes in greatest good for greatest #
- he is expanding the membership of “greatest #” to mammals, not just humans

Question 17

speciesists

Answer 17

one who discriminates against another’s rights by virtue of their belonging to another (non-human) species
- compare with racists, sexists .etc

Question 18

Singer’s concept of personhood

Answer 18

a person is any creature (human or non-human) who meets criteria:
1. feel pain
2. make own decisions
3. foresee a future
4. able to communicate
5. ability to reason
6. self-aware
7. autonomous

Question 19

T of F: a severely brain damaged man wouldn’t be a person but a tuna could be

Answer 19

T: if a human didn’t fulfill this personhood category (PVS, Alzheimer’s .etc) they would not be entitled to “personhood

Question 20

animal attributes documented at research symposium London, UK (2005)

Answer 20

• sheep develop deep friendships
• cows are problem solvers
• animals have both reason and emotions in a relationship similar to ours
• cows’ brains show signs of anticipation and excitement while waiting for food reward in classical conditioning experiment

Question 21

what would singer’s conception of personhood do for the following topics
1. abortion
2. euthanasia/assisted suicide
3. xenotransplantation
4. animal research

Answer 21

1. abortion = acceptable
   - humans don’t reach personhood until at least 3 months after birth
2. euthanasia/assisted suicide = acceptable & encouraged
   - humans who slip below personhood status should not occupy resources that can be used for other people
3. xenotransplantation = disallowed
   - mammals who qualify for personhood can’t have their interests defiled for another ‘person’ (even of he/she is a human)
4. animal research = disallowed
   - since monkeys could be persons, you could no more use them for research than you could any human

Question 22

flaws with Singer’s theory + Richard Posner’s synthesis

Answer 22

‘synthesis’: compromise between 2 opposite POVs - ‘thesis’ & ‘anti-thesis’

= “ we should alleviate those pains [of animals] without substantially reducing our standard of living and that of the rest of the world and without sacrificing medical or scientific progress”

Question 23

lab culture meat

Answer 23

the world’s first cruelty-free hamburger
- only 1 creature died to create unlimited protein
- real animal that produces same meat but origin and suffering is different

Question 24

In the article Annals of Internal Medicine article that compared the nutritional benefits of organic food over conventionally-grown food, which of the following IS NOT one of the findings?
a. There’s no strong evidence that organic food is more nutritious
b. Organic food might reduce the consumption of pesticides
c. Organic food might reduce the consumption of anti-biotic resistant bacteria
d. Organic food is more nutritious than conventionally-grown foods

Answer 24

a. There’s no strong evidence that organic food is more nutritious