Intensive Farming Flashcards
Accepting doctrine of animal rights
-Noexperiments on animals
-No breeding and killing animals forfoodor clothes or medicine
-No use of animals for hard labour
-No selective breeding for any reason other than the benefit of the animal
-Nohunting
-Nozoosor use of animals for entertainment
Killing animals is morally justifiable
-Higher up in the hierarchy of souls.
-Humans have rationality and a different intelligence to animals, so can use them as wish.
-High in protein – building muscle – healthy. Body is built / designed to digest proteins.
-Design of human teeth (canines) to rip apart meat.
-Meat tastes GOOD.
Killing animals isn’t morally justifiable
-If you justify eating meat because ‘it tastes good’, what is wrong with cannibalism?
-Plant based protein, that would mean eating meat is not needed (nuts soya).
-Just because humans CAN use animals, does not mean we should.
-Humans can survive from a plant based diet.
Violated interest
-Even the most humane forms of rearing and killing animals for food always violates the animal’s most basic interest - to continue living.
-Modern agriculture often violates other key animal interests as well - for example:
to live in natural conditions
to make free choices
to be free from fear and pain
to live healthy lives without needing medical intervention
to eat a natural diet
to enjoy the normal social/family/community life of its species
Eating animals poses two moral problems
-Is it wrong in principle to raise and kill animals so that human beings can eat meat and fish (so being used as a mean to human ends)?
-Does it stop being wrong if the processes involved are carried out humanely?
Intensive farming
-Intensive farmingis where a lot of money and labour are used to increase the amount of crops or animals produced in a specific area of land.
-The use of large amounts of pesticides for crops, and of medication for animal stocks is common.
Vegetarianism
vegetarianismis the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, and the flesh of any other animal), and may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter.
Veganism
Veganismis the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A follower of the diet or the philosophy is known as avegan.
Pescatarianism
Pescetarianismor pescatarianism is the practice of adhering to a diet that incorporates seafood as the only source of meat in an otherwise vegetarian diet. Mostpescetariansare ovo-lacto vegetarians who eat seafood along with dairy products and eggs.
Intensive farming facts:
-51% of greenhouse emissions are caused by animal agriculture.
-Factory animals are forced to grow three times faster than what’s natural.
-By going Vegan, a person can save 210,000 gallons of water.
-Fishing methods are destroying coral reefs and killing thousands of dolphins, sea turtles and fish.
-More than 80% of pigs are ill with pneumonia when they’re killed for their meat.
-In some Pork Industry Factories, Piglets have their tails and testicles removed, and their teeth are clipped shortly after being born.
-Globally, it’s estimated that around 50 billion farm animals are bred and raised for consumption annually.
-Throughout the world, two-thirds of animals raised for food are factory farmed.
What might intensive farming involve?
-Crowding animals closer together keeping them in cages.
-Using hormones to increase production (illegal in the EU, but widely used elsewhere).
-Using antibiotics to promote faster growth and control the diseases that can spread in crowded conditions
-Selectively breeding animals to grow faster or produce more milk or eggs.
-In future it may also involve genetic engineering and cloning.
Remove competing plants from the crop growing area.
-Herbicide spray.
-Allows more energy to be transferred to the crop.
-Reduces biodiversity. May have harmful effect on health.
Remove animals that feed on the crop.
-Pesticide spray
-Prevents energy being transferred from the crop to consumers.
-Reduces biodiversity. May poison helpful organisms.
Keep animals indoors.
-Battery’ farming.
-Reduces energy transferred to environment so more energy available for growth.
-Increased risk of disease. Lower quality product. Ethical concerns.
Land damage
-To make space for intensive farming, large areas of land are often cleared, leading to deforestation and loss of natural habitats.
Water pollution
The heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides in intensive farming can contaminate nearby water sources, harming aquatic life and ecosystems.
Climate change
Livestock farming in this system produces a lot of greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change and global warming.
Energy use
Modern farming uses a lot of energy, mainly from fossil fuels, contributing to carbon emissions and dependence on non-renewable resources.
Health risks
-In intensive livestock farming, the overuse of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is a threat to both animal and human health.
Cowspiracy
-Rearing cattle (such as cows), generates more (co2) than the entire transport sector (cars, trucks, planes, trains, boats), every year.
-Co2 (carbon dioxide) is harmful because it contributes to global warming; if there is more co2 in atmosphere the earth’s atmosphere cannot reflect away as much of the sun’s energy.
Animals dont have rights but…
-Many human beings don’t believe animals have rights, but do think that animals have important interests that should not be violated.
-But some of these people enjoy eating meat and fish, and so face a conflict between animal and human interests: the trivial human interest in eating meat versus the basic animal interest in staying alive.
-The human interest is classed astrivial because human beings don’t need to eat meat in order to live.
-The animal interest in staying alive is classed asbasic, because if the animal is killed then all its other interests are frustrated as well.
Peter Singer
-is an Australian moral philosopher.
-He specializes in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, utilitarian perspective. He is known in particular for his book, Animal Liberation (1975), a canonical text in animal liberation theory.
Peter Singer - personhood
-Peter Singer contends that many animals also display these qualities of personhood that seem to give human life value and make it worth living.
-Singer states that being persons should give animals rights and many humans ignore this.
Personhood
-the criteria for personhood should replace the sanctity of human life.
-There are qualities that comprise personhood and animals can exhibit them.
They therefore should be treated with respect.
-Same reason to denounce slavery of humans would be similar to denouncing the slavery of say ORCAS, AT SEAWORLD, WHO ARE VERY SOCIAL. HYPER-INTELLIGENT CREATURES.
-qualities: rational, self-conscious, sentient, communicate
Peter Singer quote animals
Their suffering isn’t just for a few hours or days, but for all their lives.”
Intensive farming practices
-Intensive farming practices include growing high-yield crops, using fertilisers and pesticides and keeping animals indoors. Food production is increased but there are unwelcome side effects.
-Organic farming bans chemical inputs and has a less harmful effect on the environment but often produces less, more expensive food.
Organic farming
-you can produce smaller amounts of more expensive but higher quality meat using free-range or organic methods which can improve the environment and the welfare of farm animals whilst providing more employment in the countryside.
Organic farming - manure
Replaces Fertiliser
Recycles waste, improves soil structure.
Difficult to apply and cannot control mineral content.
OF - crop rotation
Replaces Single crop.
Reduces disease and damage to soil composition.
Less productivity. Less efficient to grow different crops.
OF - Weeding
Replaces Herbicides
Less environmental damage, or health risk.
Labour intensive
For factory farming
-cheap meat production
-uncomplicated for farmers
-High profits
-space optimisation
-process around factory farming are optimised
-ensures large variety of meat products
-fast meat production
-high level of automation
-strengthen local economy
-meat supply for large number of ppl
-almost no geographic limitations
-meat production all year long
Against factory farming
Animals are treated quite poorly
• Animals might bully each other
• Low-quality meat
• Animals are raised to unnatural growth
• Fast family separation
• Some animals are killed solely due to their gender
• Unnatural form of animal raising
• Genetic engineering might be used for factory farming
• Fraction of fat in the meat is quite high
• Meat may be contaminated with antibiotics
• High level of water consumption
• Soil pollution
• Groundwater pollution
• Global warming
• Job losses through automation
• Small farmers may go out of business
