[Vision2020] Co-op meat, animal rights, etc.

Tue Sep 5 19:32:08 PDT 2006

Donovan-
Perhaps you'd like to present your findings to the Co-op (might want  
to make sure your sources are legit and up to date of course) and see  
if they are willing to look into the issue more. They are usually  
open to feedback and concerns, and I'm sure they'd want to know about  
their suppliers. Maybe they'd even be willing to switch suppliers if  
you found some that were more humane.

But, as Keely pointed out, most animal rights activists don't support  
meat production at all, but certain meats can be argued to be a  
necessity, so it is difficult to attack every restaurant or store  
selling meat, and often we must pick our battles. If this is  
something you're concerned about, by all means, address the Co-op  
about it, they're the ones who ought to know your findings.

Keely,
I must admit I find your stereotyping of PETA supporters a bit  
offensive. Personally, I have experience as a day care manager, and I  
believe all members of a species have a natural inclination to hold  
their own species as special and important, so honestly I would save  
a child AND a puppy in a disaster situation. If I couldn't save both,  
I'd certainly save the child first. I have heard the misconception  
that animal rights activists put animals before humans or that they  
care about animals but not people, but this is simply not true. Maybe  
a few people think this way, but it's not mainstream in the animal  
rights movement. Humans are animals, and injustice and cruelty are  
injustice and cruelty, no matter what kind of sentient being they are  
leveled against. Many animal rights activists such as myself choose  
to focus on speaking up for animals simply because they cannot speak  
up for themselves, and most animal cruelty is so hidden and ingrained  
into our culture that people simply don't know or don't see what  
really goes on. There are many issues that tie into animal rights as  
well, most notably human rights, the environment, wildlife and  
habitat conservation, and world hunger. The people at PETA that I  
have met are the most compassionate people I've ever known, for all  
life and not just animals. The organization is simply trying to get  
people to open their circles of compassion up a little more and  
educate them about what really goes into their food and animal  
products. There are a lot of misconceptions and myths floating around  
about the movement and about PETA, perhaps you could listen to the  
interview Kelsey & I did on KUOI a few weeks ago, we had a great  
discussion about some of the myths surrounding PETA and dispelled  
quite a few rumors.

Have a lovely evening. :)
~megan

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------------------
Donovan, I wonder if it's occurred to you that vegetarian, vegan, and  
more
extreme animal-rights groups like PETA find the use of animals for human
consumption inhumane and morally wrong regardless of the circumstances?
PETA, for example, is opposed to eating meat, using animal products in
clothes, using animals in science, and even calling my beloved dog,  
Duffy, a
"pet" -- she is a "companion," because, evidently, "pet" is demeaning  
and
has an "owner-owned" connotation that PETA finds offensive.  That vegan
groups like PETA find even the most humane examples of animal  
processing for
food to be unwarranted and immoral isn't at all shocking, regardless of
whether or not you agree with them.

Consuming animal flesh is an act that occurs only after the death of the
animal.  Since animals don't commit suicide, and none are processed  
in the
US after dying natural, peaceful deaths, we can assume that the violent
death of an animal provides my dinner.  Perhaps none of us should eat  
meat.
As I've said before, it's something I wrestle with.  But when we do eat
meat, we should be encouraged to seek out the most humanely-processed  
animal
products we can.  It may be a perceived need, the eating of animal  
flesh; no
legitimate need is satisfied, however, by wantonly and gratuitously  
cruel
methods of slaughter and processing.

I applaud the Co-Op for working to find humane, clean processors of  
animal
products, and for the life of me I can't see why they should be  
harrassed.
I think PETA does a disservice to any group or individual it lends its
support to, and I'm beginning to feel that Donovan does the same.  I  
find
PETA's inability to grasp that humankind has a value that exceeds  
that of
any other created being more than a little maddening; paraphrasing  
another
pundit, if a PETA member were staying with your child and your Lhasa  
Apso
when a fire broke out, you'd be relieved for the puppy but concerned  
for the
kid.  Further, I'm puzzled by Donovan's inability to trust that  
others may
also hold pure motives and practice their professions honorably, and  
until I
go completely vegan, I'll withhold criticism of groups that do their  
best to
conduct business ethically.

keely

keely

      The Co-Op and Mad Cow
                  Mr. London, last week attempted to tell everyone  
that the
Moscow Co-Op doesn’t use suppliers that ever mistreat and abuse animals.

"The Co-op has a clear commitment to selling only meat that
has been raised in a humane fashion."
http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/2006-September/034975.html

       I took the liberty of looking at just two regular suppliers
of the Co-Op to demonstrate the invalidity his claims.
                     The first company I looked at was Northwest Premium
Meats,  LLC. Located in Nampa, Idaho. No website I could find.
              The second company I looked at was The Diesel Family  
Ranch,
located in Sonora,  CA. www.diestelturkey.com
                   Northwest Premium Meat LLC, which is a current  meat
supplier for the Co-Op, has been targeted and listed on vegetarian and
animals rights websites like this one;
http://www.vegsource.com/talk/madcow/messages/1000556.html
                       In fact,  this supplier for the Co-Op was  
suspended
for a period of time last year by the  USDA for violations related to  
9 CFR
Part 500.3, http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/fsis_food_recalls/ 
index.asp
    as reported in the FSIS Quarterly Report;

            “On 7/26/05, a  suspension action concerning Bovine  
Spongiform
Encephalopathy and Specified  Risk Material was taken in accordance  
with 9
CFR Part 500.3.”
        http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/QER_Q4_FY2005.pdf
                  Bovine Spongiform  Encephalopathy is also more  
commonly
known as Mad Cow Disease http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/bsefaq.html  .
Setting aside the huge potential health issues here had FSIS not come  
to the
   rescue, this does directly relate to the mistreatment of animals.  
Animal
rights  activists have made a big issue of this practice for a long  
time,
especially  since the recent outbreaks of Mad Cow in the United  
States that
have been hushed  up and the government has cut funding to find and  
stop.
http://organicconsumers.org/madcow.htm

            The Diesel  Family Ranch, www.diestelturkey.com  which  
supplies
the Co-Op with poultry products and boasts a great view and open   
space for
its turkeys, has also had a run in with animal rights groups for   
snapping
off the turkey’s beaks. In fact, in Sonora, California,  where the  
ranch is
located, it is illegal to clip off the beaks of birds unless  the  
animal is
going to going to be processed for consumption, which these  animals are
going to be. However, that doesn’t mean the animals don’t suffer  the  
same
consequences for a clipped beak just because they are not called   
someone’s
pet. Those that have has birds know beaks are a vital tool for   
animals for
cleaning, health, preening, straightening feathers, and preening  other
birds to build needed social relationships.
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/11.21.02/thanksgiving-0247.htm

          My point here is not to pick on the Co-Op as being an animal
abuser. My point is that Mr. London is obviously unaware of some of the
suppliers the Co-Op has and what they do, or is not aware of what
constitutes animal’s  abuse or cruelty. If Mr. London believes chopping
beaks off birds or buying  from suppliers that have gotten federal
suspensions for not controlling Mad Cow  is not violating animal  
rights and
a "clear commitment to selling only meat that has been raised in a  
humane
fashion,"  he has the right to  adopt that personal use definition.
         However, according the definitions of animal rights groups   
like
PETA www.peta.org ,  environmental groups like the Organic Consumers
Association http://organicconsumers.org/madcow.htm  , and the Federal
Government http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/QER_Q4_FY2005.pdf  ,  at  
least some
of the suppliers for the  Co-Op are not being humane toward the  
animals they
are raising.

            Bovine Appetite,
            _DJA