{"id":953,"date":"2012-02-15T12:02:33","date_gmt":"2012-02-15T17:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/?p=953"},"modified":"2012-02-15T13:20:10","modified_gmt":"2012-02-15T18:20:10","slug":"mcdonalds-and-hormel-to-end-use-of-gestation-crates-by-suppliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2012\/02\/mcdonalds-and-hormel-to-end-use-of-gestation-crates-by-suppliers\/","title":{"rendered":"McDonalds and Hormel to end use of gestation crates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Do you know where your bacon come from? Click the image to watch the video from the Humane Society of the United State's undercover investigation at two of the nation's largest pork suppliers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

McDonald\u2019s Corporation\u00a0and Hormel both recently announced\u00a0that they will\u00a0phase out the use of sow gestation stalls in favor of more humane treatment of pigs that become our food.<\/p>\n

A gestation create is a 2 x 7 crate in which a pig lives its entire live, virtually immobalized and unable to even turn around. impregnated over and over and over. A recent undercover investigation by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) offered an inside look Seaboard Foods and\u00a0Prestage Farms; Seaboard is the nation\u2019s third-largest pork producer, and a supplier to Walmart. Prestage is the nation\u2019s fifth-largest pork producer.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0HSUS press release explains:<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to the extreme confinement endured by animals at both facilities, the investigations found workers cutting piglets\u2019 testicles and tails off with no painkiller, injured piglets with their legs duct-taped to their bodies, gestation crates overflowing with feces and urine, and employees hitting pigs\u2019 genitals to force them to move from one crate to another.<\/p>\n

Because the abuse documented at the Seaboard facility is in stark contrast to statements on the company\u2019s website about animal care \u2013 which read, in part, \u201cdaily animal handling plant audits and employee training ensure proper animal treatment\u201d \u2013 The HSUS filed legal complaints against the company with the SEC and FTC urging the agencies to require that Seaboard stop misleading its shareholders and the public.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve talked to people recently who don\u2019t have a problem with gestation crates \u2013 for pigs or for commercial dog breeding<\/a>. I suspect, however, that those people don\u2019t actually know what a gestation crate is or how the pig (or dog) is treated. After watching the video above, if those people still want to argue gestation crates are humane, that\u2019s fine. They\u2019re entitled to their opinions. As long as they really understand what they\u2019re arguing for.<\/p>\n

In America, we\u2019ve become distanced from our food. For most of us, when you think \u201cbacon\u201d you think of the wrapped package in the grocery refrigerator section. We don\u2019t think about the pig that was actually killed \u2013 How was it raised? What did it eat?\u00a0How was it killed? How\u00a0does that\u00a0affect the quality of life for the animal? And how does that affect the quality of the food I\u2019m about to put into my mouth?<\/p>\n

We are what we eat \u2013 and we are what what we eat<\/em>, eats. Just because I\u2019m a consumer in a free country, does that mean I shouldn\u2019t consider the moral implications of the animals I eat?\u00a0That I shouldn\u2019t say \u201cno\u201d to something I might want\u00a0 because having it causes pain and suffering to an animal? And shouldn\u2019t I be concerned about the health of the animals I eat, and how their health affects my health? What role does my religious faith play in how I treat the animals I eat?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a coincidence that as Americans have become larger and larger consumers of factory farmed meats that we\u2019ve also seen a rise in health problems like cancer, heart disease and diabetes.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in learning more about animals and food, consider checking out Michael Pollen\u2019s thoughtful and well-balanced book, \u201cThe Omnivore\u2019s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals<\/a>\"\"\u201d or watching the documentary, \u201cFood, Inc.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not advocating for vegetarianism; I eat meat. But being more aware of what we eat can lead to a healthier lifestyle for us \u2013 and our animal friends.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

McDonald\u2019s Corporation\u00a0and Hormel both recently announced\u00a0that they will\u00a0phase out the use of sow gestation stalls in favor of more humane treatment of pigs that become our food. A gestation create is a 2 x 7 crate in which a pig lives its entire live, virtually immobalized and unable to even turn around. impregnated over and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[212,306,5,7,325,27],"tags":[757,309,308,453,452,443,167,307,457,454,456,455],"class_list":["post-953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-health","category-animals-and-food","category-animals-in-the-news","category-books","category-farm-animals","category-video","tag-books","tag-cafo","tag-factory-farming","tag-gestation-crates","tag-hormel","tag-humane-society-of-the-united-states","tag-mcdonalds","tag-michael-pollen","tag-omnivores-dilemma","tag-pigs","tag-prestage-farms","tag-seaboard"],"yoast_head":"\nMcDonalds and Hormel to end use of gestation crates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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