Thank you for asking. These are the words of Kathy Stevens, the Director of the Catskill Animal Sanctuary.
Fallout for animals:
"Gestation crates. Veal crates. Tens of thousands of chickens grown in a single building, sitting in their own filth, the ammonia from their excretions damaging their eyes, lungs, and throats. Grown so quickly that the chicken industry now knows the percentage of birds that die of violent heart attacks because their organs can't handle the stress of being forced to grow to slaughter weight in just six weeks. People chop off animals' tails, chop off their toes, chop off their beaks, all without anesthesia, because on modern farms, animals packed together peck and claw and bite each other . . . and god forbid the meat be damaged. Every aspect of agribusiness is designed to maximize efficiency and profit despite the costs to the "product" (in this case living animals) and the consumer."
Fallout for us:
"I think most of us even know that the consumption of animals products is killing us. Certainly the link between many forms of cancer, heart disease, stroke, obesity, type 2 diabetes, gout, high cholesterol, and other diet-related health problems Americans suffer from has been part of the public conversation, despite the fact that the medical establishment and the pharmaceutical industry might prefer it not be. They make money from our sickness."
If you choose to eat animal products then please educate yourselves as to where they are coming from. Buy them from the Green Market system if you need to eat these things. The Green Market has a rigorous vetting process whereby the nasty stuff is weeded out.
You can check out their suppliers here:
http://www.grownyc.org/greenmarket/ourfarmersAll I'm saying is that if you choose to eat these things then please do so in the most informed way possible. The meat available in Jackson Heights (not the Green Market at Travers Park) is probably from questionable sources at best. If anyone in JH Life is in the local restaurant business and would care to comment, please do.
For 97% of the animals products consumed in this country please watch this video - Glass Walls - by Sir Paul McCartney:
http://www.meat.org/I do not want to consume suffering, stress, adrenalin, antibiotics, pesticides and fungicides in my food. I also do not want to exploit the workers in these environments. The only thing worse than cruelty is delegated cruelty. No thank you.
I'm glad you asked this important question.