In January 2008, one of Katie Couric’s top features on “CBS Evening News” was a story surrounding an animal abuse case in a California slaughter facility. Video clips taken by an anonymous person showed plant workers physically abusing “downer” cows (cattle unable to walk as a result of weakness or sickness) in order to get them to the slaughtering station.
Throughout the two-minute video, emotional clips flashed between the abuse and other resources, including the president of the Humane Society of the United States, who made statements concerning the neglect animals face in these situations. As the last clip showed a cow being dragged by her front leg, Couric’s voiceover said, “The most shocking part about this video is that it happens all of the time.”
As the sixth generation to live on my family’s beef cattle farm, I was appalled. My family takes great pride in being able to feed our community, our country and our world. A video such as this, targeting families much like my own, creates a blanket statement that practically says, “All farmers abuse their animals.”
It seems to be a current campus trend, especially since last semester, that more and more students are interested in where their food comes from, as evident in the local food movement and the common book, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” This eventually leads to an investigation of who produces that food. Unfortunately, the most publicized agriculturalists are a very small minority that poorly represent our industry and oftentimes portray farmers as unintelligent, ignorant rednecks in overalls.
What today’s media fails to report are the actions farmers take to ensure a quality life for their animals, the efforts they take in improving the environment and the technological advances within the agriculture industry.
Programs such as Beef and Pork Quality Assurance train farmers to properly provide health care, nutrition and transportation handling to livestock; all in a way that is both beneficial to productivity and the life of the animal. Soil and water conservation districts have recognized the importance of agriculture as the No. 1 industry in Virginia.
They have teamed up with farmers who wish to fence off streams from their animals, which improves water quality for both livestock and people. The growth of population and decrease of farmable land has led to technological advances such as the use of GPS to record crop yields and genetically modified seed to reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides.
I don’t remember any of that being mentioned in the evening news.
Consider this when you see media portraying farmers in a bad light: If you hear of a bad procedure by one dentist, does it mean that you will never go to a dentist again? If a dentist completes a faulty operation, he as an individual is charged with malpractice. Why is it acceptable to assume that the minority of farmers who mistreat their animals are a quality representation for the agricultural community as a whole?
A version of this article appeared in the Jan 25 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Look I'm sure you're well intentioned but that news story was aired three years ago. Everyone that's not PETArded knows that animals are treated well or don't care about animals. That's the sentiment of mainstream America we know or we don't care. The demo you're going after won't be convinced because they are set in their ways on the subject and insist that they are right. The article then ultimately is a waste because 1 it's outdated and 2 wont effectively be received by your target audience.
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The purpose of this article was not to highlight that particular news story, it was to illustrate the point that agriculturists are misrepresented with either little or no knowledge about the industry and it's workings. Granted that the Katie Couric's story is not current, the aftermath of that news clip, and ones that are aired or published everyday across the country, leave many with an opinion of agriculture that might be very different if the good things they do were properly showcased.
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you're PETArded and outdated
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Your mom is PETArded and outdated.
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The American public doesn't want to see "safe and proper" practices in any industry on the news, and we haven't for the longest time. Since "The Jungle" and the reports of other muck-rakers, all the news will report is the horrible things that happen. One horrible act always outweighs everything else an organization does. Even tech is still known mostly for 4 years ago.
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It sounds like the video was criticizing slaughterhouse practices, not the practices of farmers. The vast majority of our beef is processed through large-scale slaughterhouses, not local farmers who slaughter their own cattle.
The reality is that the unnecessary mis-treatment of animals DOES occur and we can do better. Farmers like you can stand up and demand the humane treatment, in the final minutes of their lives, of the animals that they have tenderly raised...
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"What today’s media fails to report are the actions farmers take to ensure a quality life for their animals, the efforts they take in improving the environment and the technological advances within the agriculture industry.
Programs such as Beef and Pork Quality Assurance train farmers to properly provide health care, nutrition and transportation handling to livestock; all in a way that is both beneficial to productivity and the life of the animal."
"The life of the animal." Are you really, really certain you mean to say that calling animals "livestock", and making their destiny a visit to the slaughterhouse/knock-box/bleed-rail/head-dropping station etc. is concern with the "life" of the animal? I suppose with friends like this - Who needs enemies - Right?
Thanks for inviting comment.
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The most refreshing thing about this article is someone actively engaged in agriculture is willing to reasonably share their conviction about the value of what they do. Too often the "uncaring" public recieves soundbites only from the extreme right or left utilizing red herring tactics and ultimately turning the listener off. American farmers are some of the world's worst self-spokespersons despite their service which of course is providing the safest and most affordable food supply in the world. News has become increasingly sensationalized in the Internet age and bad agricultural news ultimately becomes represented by the farm, despite the industry. Old news, new news, bad news and good news aside, dialouge has to start with the advocates, not the activists.
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Excellent article about a very topical issue! Keep the good articles, like Ms. Slaven's, coming Collegiate Times!
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I wouldnt buy anything that was fed GMO or grown with GMO seed. BAD BAD IDEA!
Check out Joel Salatin and his practice of raising animals....that is the way that it should be done.
http://www.polyfacefarms.com/
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When people hear the term GMO they freak out for no good reason. Many of our food crops today have been genetically modified through hybrid breeding programs to create foods that are better for us. Just because it isn't labeled a GMO, doesn't mean that it hasn't somehow been modified. Most people don't realize that corn is one of our earliest genetically modified foods and the corn we buy in the grocery store doesn't even resemble the corn that the Pilgrims and Indians had.
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When people hear the term GMO they freak out for no good reason. Many of our food crops today have been genetically modified through hybrid breeding programs to create foods that are better for us. Just because it isn't labeled a GMO, doesn't mean that it hasn't somehow been modified. Most people don't realize that corn is one of our earliest genetically modified foods and the corn we buy in the grocery store doesn't even resemble the corn that the Pilgrims and Indians had.
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