 Jane Velez-Mitchell is the author of 'iWant: My Journey from Addiction and Overconsumption to a Simpler, Honest Life' and 'Secrets Can Be Murder: The Killer Next Door' as well as 'Addict Nation: An Intervention for America'. She hosts the Jane Velez-Mitchell show nightly on HLN at 7p ET. McDonald's says it’s phasing out pig gestation crates. When I heard that news, I almost started crying. I was so grateful because I have witnessed the horror. One look at a pig gestation crate and you will know exactly what I mean. A breeding sow spends most of her life in a tiny cage. It’s usually about seven feet long and two feet wide. She cannot turn around. She cannot scratch herself. She must urinate and defecate where she stands. Simply put, I believe she is tortured, day in and day out. Clarified – What are gestation crates? So, I was thrilled and filled with hope when I heard that headline that the company synonymous with fast food was committing to only buy pork from farmers that do not use gestation crates. But, then, I heard “by 2022.” I felt hoodwinked. I felt angry. If you know something is morally reprehensible then it is your moral obligation to stop it as soon as possible. If you see a child who is being kept in abusive conditions you don’t say, “Hey, I’ll be back in a decade and get you out of this jam.” You do something immediately. According to the Humane Society of the United States, studies show pigs are more intelligent than dogs and even some primates. Scientists have shown that pigs are capable of playing simple video games, learning from each other, and even learning names. I believe McDonald's, and all the other companies who are prolonging the process of ending this institutionalized torture, are foot-dragging despite the pleas of American consumers who are decent people and don’t want to co-sign or subsidize this incomprehensible cruelty. To quote Paul Shapiro, HSUS Vice President of Farm Animal Protection, “Forcing a 500-pound, social, intelligent creature to live 24/7 in a cage barely larger than her body is simply cruel and inhumane. These animals are essentially immobilized and lined up like parked cars for months on end.” Legendary animal welfare scientist Dr. Temple Grandin says, “We’ve got to treat animals right, and gestation stalls have got to go.” The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production - which was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and included the former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture - recommends all systems that "restrict natural movement,” including gestation crates, be phased-out. And I say, end them now. NOW! To those who rationalize, “Well, these crates are economically efficient and ending this system is going to drive the price of pork up,” I say: not so fast. Pigs in gestation crates are much more likely to get sick. A Humane Society report on gestation crates issued just this month said, “Housing the sows directly above their own excrement has been shown to expose the animals to aversively high levels of ammonia, and respiratory disease has been found to be a significant health issue for pigs kept in confinement.” The report, based on a study conducted by Donald Broom, professor of Animal Welfare at the University of Cambridge and Jeremy Marchant-Forde, now a research animal scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, delivers a litany of foot and leg disorders, body sores, urinary tract infections, cardiovascular problems and traumatic injury caused by being forced to stand and lie on a tiny rectangle of unnatural flooring often covered with residual feces and urine. The alternative “group housing,” allows pigs greater freedom of movement. Iowa State University conducted a two-and-a-half year long economic analysis of the issue and found that that a group housing solution resulted in a weaned pig cost that was 11 percent less than the cost of a weaned pig from the individual stall confinement system. It’s time to get real about the real costs of factory farming and its attendant cruelties. The United States, by far the world’s biggest meat consumers, is in the throes of an obesity crisis driven, I believe, by the availability of cheap meat via fast food. That obesity crisis is driving up the cost of health care and health care is a key factor in our government’s current struggle to get a grip on the nation’s ballooning deficit. If treating our fellow creatures with just a sliver of decency during the process of raising them to be killed costs a tad more, be assured there will be plenty of positive repercussions. The factory farm industry has gone to tremendous lengths to try to keep the secret of pig gestation crates from the American public. But, thanks to the work of the HSUS, Farm Sanctuary, Mercy for Animals and PETA, the secret is out. Americans have gotten a glimpse of this hidden horror and want it to stop. Not in 2022. Now. Read - Clarified: What are gestation crates? and Food safety doesn't end with S.510 and A day two pigs would die |
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THANK YOU Jane for what you do to help animals. Continue the good work you do !!!! No animal should suffer abuse . The animal lovers in the world want to help let us know what we can do.
GET THIS OFF THE AIR – IT'S NOT WORTH OUR TIME !!!! We have bigger problems.
Peace begins on your plate!
Be Vegan. Make Peace!
My grandpa, uncles and cousins have farmed all their lives. They have NEVER factory farmed and made a very good living. Their animals were truly "free range" except at milking time and then sent right back out to pasture. This is how all farms should be, period. Anything else is inhumane. And I do eat a lot of meat, thank you – I'm no bunny huger.
Tragically, Jen, your family's way of farming has pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird. Almost all farming now is done in factories. I'd advise you to take a look at some of the undercover videos from there. If that doesn't take away your appetite, you have no heart (nor brain).
Thank you Jane for helping to bring light to the atrocities that occur to the animals that become our food. Sadly, most Americans don't have the opportunity to know where their food comes from so that they can make educated eating decisions, whether that is to eat animal products or not. We definitively need more coverage of these issues!
I love pork. I don't care where it comes from, I love it.
In that case, I think it would be fair to say that you love all meat that tastes good to you, no matter where it comes from, therefore I strongly urge you to try human meat, well-cooked, since that's supposed to be among the best tasting. Perhaps it could come from convicted murderers and that might make it more palatable. Oh, so sorry, I forgot, you don't care where it comes from. Never mind, eat away.
Odd. I saw a pig enclosed in railings and she couldn't turn around or go anywhere. The farmer told me that it was to keep her from laying down on her piglets. The farm only had the one sow and had plenty of empty stalls. There were other animals and definitely no crowding issue. I accepted that it was for the protection of the piglets. When they were big enough, she would no longer be confined.
Between 60 and 70 percent of sows are kept in crates during pregnancy in the United States,[9] each pregnancy lasting four months, with an average of 2.5 litters every year.[10] Sows, which can weigh 600 pounds (270 kg),[11] spend most of their three or four years of adult life in crates,[11] giving birth to between five and eight litters. As the sows grow larger, they no longer fit in the crates, and must sleep on their chests, unable to turn, until they are slaughtered.[4] The crates are usually placed side by side in rows of 20 sows per row and 100 rows per shed, the floors of the crates slatted to allow excrement to fall into a pit below.
source: en. wikipedia. org / wiki / Gestation_crate
Have you ever had veal ? MMMmmmm...good.
Funny you should say that! I just replied to another post of yours where I mentioned that cannibals have said that human flesh closely resembles the taste of veal!!! I think I have your next meal planned for you!
You sound seriously immature.
I'm a vegetarian and routinely out-match meat eaters in strength and agility. People who think a plant-based diet leads to weakness need to do their research. Several Olympians have been (or are) vegan or vegetarian. Do you eat to live or live to eat? If you eat to live, you wouldn't have a problem with a plant-based diet.
Yes, but who enjoys what they eat more? I just had bacon, and may go back for seconds.
She equates these baby piglets to little children. So what, these are for eating not for having relationships with. Range free this and range free that, come on lady this is life and although you may not like it, it is here so shut up and enjoy your bacon, sausage, and Christmas Ham...
Wow Timothy, I'm astounded at how enlightened and compassionate you sound! I'm quite certain you are a very handsome, well-educated and kind-hearted man. Maybe we could meet? You might just be my dream man!
I agree with you. Folks that put human characteristics on pigs are crazy.
Notice to editor: "Gestitation crates" got changed to "Gestation Rates" on front page of headlines.
Yikes!
Sandra, I don't live in any alternative universe, I work on these issues everyday as a scientist and I evaluate the situation based on data. I agree with you farm policy and practices are driven in large part by economics, but I disagree that it will never change...it is changing as we speak. Why do you think that this issue is even on CNN, several years ago the general public wasn't aware of gestation crates, battery cages, or any of the other profit driven practices used by corporate factories. And as stated we vote every time we buy our food products...we can choose environmental pollution, microbial resistance, contaminated meat, food-borne illness...etc, or we chose local fresh food products...just look around your community and support local food. Also, anyone who actually believes that the cost of meat will go up substantially knows nothing about the food economy...more competition and local producers will stabilize both availability and costs, and we won't be exposed to the level of bacterial contamination that comes with massive processing where these bugs are spread to millions of pounds of meat at a time. Read the Pew Report "Putting Meat on the Table" as a start in your education (http://www.ncifap.org/).
Thank God there are people like JVM in the world to open people's eyes as to what is really going out there with the horrifying "lives" of the millions of animals who are tortured, mutilated and otherwise abused so the waistlines of obese Americans can keep increasing. Do all of you who would argue otherwise realize that "farms" today are no better than concentration camps for animals and that they are kept locked, sealed, and concealed from the world? If you truly want to know what the world of animal food production is like these days, read the extremely well-researched book "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer. Of course if you'd still rather be like an ostrich and bury your head in the sand while continuing to consume your fellow living, sentient, beings, well, I suppose ignorance is bliss.
I like the way you end your argument, by admonishing everyone. Brilliant.
Thanks, teach, I do agree that my argument is rather brilliant, and it's nice to be validated.
Again this article is misleading. The pigs I have seen in gestation crates are there for birth not for life.
Oh my.......
Please vegans, do the remainder of us a favor: eat your vegetation, turn pale and pasty white, wither, and die like a malnourished plant.
Don't worry- those malnourished vegans will still be around to witness your over-tanned cancer treatments, unsuccessful attempts to hide the rolls with spanx followed by gastric bypass surgery and early death from diabetes. Enjoy that juicy McFat burger.
Riiiiight. We all know that vegans don't ever get cancer. /sarcasm off.
What you is what you are...a pig.
Of course vegetarians get cancer, but meat eaters are 70% more likely to to do so.
guardian. co. uk / science / 2009 / jul / 01 / vegetarians-blood-cancer-diet-risk
Pigs are smarter than some people. As a science prodigy, (I went from 7th grade to college on a full academic scholarship), I worked in the field for years and studies confirm if animals are tortured like these pigs, they excrete dioxins, toxins, free radicals and other poisons into their systems which are then consumed by the public hence high cancer rates and other negative health ramifications. Blood samples should be extracted for forensic anaysis and to field out the appropriate DNA components nesessary for identification, this would subvert authority for a class action lawsuit against McDonalds for non-disclosure. I'm inclined to believe should consumers be informed of this predisposure to cancer and other significant ailments, sales would plummet. But since McDonalds would strongly oppose such efforts, people can just wise up and stop consuming this poison. But like I said, pigs are smarter than some people. Don't even get me started on the spiritual aspects but in one sentence, who knows, maybe karma or justice will have it that the idiots who condone such blatant cruelty will come back in their next life as a pig at a McDonalds factory farm....
From reading the posts it appears there is some confusion about the term "farm." CAFOs (concentrated animal feed operations), the primary perpetrators of crates and other "tools" of the trade are NOT farms. We must make the distinction. What we want and need are the millions of small farms back in business and the corporate model of animal agriculture disbanded. These operations could not exist without taxpayer subsidized grain, cheap illegal labor, and externalized costs to the environment (that we all end up paying for). They should have never come into existence and if anti-trust had been enforced they couldn't have. Please educate yourself and push for ag reform in the new Farm Bill! Oh and don't buy corporate meat, poultry, milk, or eggs. It's the only real way to vote!
Angel K. what alternative universe are you living in if you have even a moment's hope that "small family farms" will ever return!? Don't you realize that today's world is all about profit, profit, and more profit?? Now that big agri has seen the promised land of torturing and killing millions of animals at an ever increasing rate, thus maximizing the almighty buck, do you seriously think there is a snowball's chance in hell of ever going back? What man is doing to animals is disgusting beyond belief, and there is no going back.
There you go again. The real problem is what man is doing to man. Pigs are not pets, they are a food source. Just like all the other animals we have come to eat. I believe that the farmers are probably taking care of their livestock better than half the world takes care of its own. Humans let other humans die of starvation. Which is worse.
Thankfully I never had English teachers lame enough to leave a comment like that. What universe do you live in where people don't have pigs for pets? Or where farmers actually care about livestock? Pigs are quite commonly kept as pets, just ask George Clooney (I mention him as a person we are both familiar with, since you wouldn't know the other ones I know). It is a well-known fact that pigs are more intelligent than dogs, sensitive, and very friendly, and thus make great pets. Also, how could you be so ignorant as to state that farmers take care of livestock? Are you serious? Have you seen any of the videos taken undercover at these wonderful "farms" which constitute 99% of "homes" for these poor animals?? No matter whether you believe that dogs, cats, pigs, cows, ANY sentient being, is food or a companion, NO LIVING BEING DESERVES THIS KIND OF TREATMENT. I believe it was Gandhi who said the measure of a people is its treatment of animals, and boy do we fail that test. Pull your head out of the sand and get yourself at least a smidge better educated before you launch a career as any kind of teacher (I certainly hope you aren't one now).
So you believe we should only do something about the worst things. Great give me your address so I can come take all of your possessions. After all murder is worse than robbery so I am sure you won't try to stop me or call the police.
Now do you see how silly your post is?
Jane, A Professor of veterinary Medicine, University of California points out, signing the EGG BILL will keep Hens in cages forever. The language of the Bill is wrong. Read STOP THE ROTTEN EGG BILL combating the egg industry's attempt to keep Hens in cages forever, WE MUST INSIST ON GETTING RID OF CAGES ENTIRELY. If the Egg Bill legislation is passed the there will be no meaning full positive impact on the Hens. They will still suffer unimaginable suffering. Please read what this veterinarian has to say, Nedim c. Buyuknihci V.M.D. Professor of Veternary Medicine. STOP THE ROTTEN EGG BILL and let see if we should be doing something differant?
Again more propaganda, where is the link to the bill and where are your facts???
This is not worth a CNN vent site! If the blog author had any idea of the trail that all of her consumables endure, food included, she'd be overwhelmed and stunned at practices all over the globe. Those like her have narrow views and a narrow minded approach that they feel revolves only around them. It's ignorance.
The link should read CRATES, not RATES.
CNN, I'm going to start charging you for my services.
Get over it Jane – it's how the country has enough to eat
Bill, you dont seem like a very caring person! FYI I served in the Peace Corps helping others and know that Meat actually increases world hunger – we also eat more cooked flesh than ever in history which is killing our health care system too.
Every 10lbs of corn/grains fed to pigs/birds in unsanitary and cruel factory farms (MeatVideo dotcom must see) only about 1-2 lbs is converted to flesh. Like us, they eat and burn some off just living and exercising (they restrict with cruel crates) and poop some out. So lots of resources are wasted as well as time to care (if you can call it that) for the animals, transport to slaughter.
You need to think and act less selfishly others and more long term as most or our environment, health, billions of mammals will continue to needlessly suffer. Learn the truth – MeatVideo dotcom, movies Food Inc, Earthlings and Forks over Knives.
Again you are wrong. The animals are treated humanely, and the ONLY goal is to increase birth yield and to protect the young pigs from being killed or eaten.
This article is written by an anti-meat advocate with the intent of driving meat costs higher and making farming not competitive.
Wait until all your meat and fruits and vegetables are grown in 3rd world countries.
We will be importing diseases and parasites that do NOT exist in north america.
We will also be export TRUE cruelty. Animals and people are incredibly abused in other parts of the world. The west is a real paradise when it comes to animal husbandry and human rights. Go visit Asia or south america if you want to see brutality.
"Opinion: Abolish gestation rates"
I, too, feel we should ban gestation rates.
They fixed the typo.
The typo is still on the front page for me. One of the funnier typos I've seen in a while, btw.
After reading this article, I went and choked a chicken. Somebody stop me.
After reading your comment I threw up a little in my mouth.
I hope it was yours and not a little boys...
This is likely George Bush's fault.
I heard that JMV's ex-girlfriend reported her to the Humane Society of the United States for trying to eat her beaver.
But beaver abuse is ok if you've got your own television show, right Jane?
I say close the lid on JVM while she is dumpster diving,throw in a couple of pigs to join her and we will see who comes out on top.
I've eaten many a beaver in my day, and have never been reported to any Societies. I prefer the shaved variety.
If people (especially your lazy, oversized kids) would quit sitting in front of their computers all day typing crap on JVM's blog, playing video games and actually go outside and play- like kids used to do- obesity rates would plummet.
I'm not fat, I've got a gland problem.
NO, Pigs are not People (unless you think way, way less of yourself than most, and that's ok) pigs are ANIMALS! All you blithering morons out there in your "Gee,-I-wish-things-were-this-way universe just can't abide the fact that we USE THINGS! We eat cattle, pigs, sheep, birds and the like. Animals are not conscious of their own existence or mortality-they live second-to-second, not aware of lifespan, dangers or the farmer walking up to them with a gun. It's been this way foro thousands of years, and now, because every idiot with an opinion now has a sounding board, they think they have a legitimate cause. Well, YOU DON'T! Just because a hundred thousand idiots want to re-name fish "Sea Kittens" doesn't mean the idea has any merit-it just means "wow, I had no idea there were so many dumb-a$$e$ in the world" and, from these posts, most of you are in that group.
I completely agree with you Oscar. All the bleeding hearts need to go to the farm and interview the pigs and see what answers they get.
I like a good pork roast with mashed potatoes and carrots. I like bacon with my eggs in the morning. I like a good thick pork chop with fresh green beans and cool summer salad. I like pork sausage and pasta with a cream sauce. I like beef too, and chicken. I've eaten a duck before with wild rice . I like seafood, all kinds of it. I like vegetables too. I don't like food zealots, they taste like crap.
They all suffer the same. Just because we have done it for so long doesnt make it right. We have also waged war, enslaved and done many horrible things so they should continue too? When you have a heart attack (bill clinton went veg due to it as my thin and fit father after triple bypass surgery) you may wake up or at least get what you deserve. Its all unnecessary today, evolve.
You have got to be kidding me. Look, it's a crop. If you don't like the way the crop is grown, don't eat it. I don't eat pork myself, but if I did I really don't think I could complain about how we get enough of it to feed all the people who want it. And yes, I could eat only what some food nazi wants me to eat because they like what they eat and think everyone else should only eat what they eat because they like it. But, maybe I don't like what the food nazi likes. I don't ask them to eat my food. Why are they always trying to push their food down my throat? And where do we draw the line? Wheat is alive! Don't kill it for food. Do you know that corn is forced to live in unnatural rows all it's life and that those rows are for the SOLE CONVENIENCE of the killer (I mean farmer). It's barbaric!
What a stupid response. You're comparing a living thing, like a pig, cattle, etc., to wheat. Wheat does not have a brain, a heart, or any intelligence. If you want to compare a living thing to a plant you need to rethink your position.
Sure they should be treated humanely however, your definition of humane is insane. They are not people.
They need food, water and shelter. Sure they should wander around when NOT about to give birth, but the week or so before they need to be caged and the weeks afterwards.
I don't know what you uninformed people are complaining about. The farms I have seen dairy and pig are human and use breeding crates to PROTECT the pigs and piglets.
The sows when pregnant at the farm I visited this month wander outside in several fenced in grassy enclosures with water/mud wallows and electrically heated shelter for winter. Yes large industrial farms might use more enclosures but I doubt they keep every pig there every day of their life. It doesn't make sense to keep pregnant pigs in them. You put the pigs about to give birth in them.
Humans are ANIMALS. We're mammals to be more specific. Have you not taken biology in school?
Oscar, under your criteria for rights, we would be eating and experimenting on people in comas, those with alzheimer's, and the severely mentally disabled. You clearly have not thought this through. Also, non-human animals are well aware of danger, it's why hunters need guns to kill them...yes, many of them actually run away from you, or try to hide, when threatened (if they are not penned into a gestation crate that is). Your logic needs practice, do some sodoku or something!
The problem is you have live away from REAL nature and the reality of the world for too long in your suburban or city life.
Pablo you are the one who is completely disengaged from reality if you truly believe that any vestiges still exist of the idyllic "nature" conditions you mention. Nowadays it's all factory farms, all the time, and the fact that they even use the word "farms" would actually be pretty hysterically funny if it weren't so tragic.
In response to Sandra. I have lived on a farm all my life and it is by no means a factory farm. You clearly gain all of your information from CNN opinion pages. The fact of the matter is, pigs do not spend all that much time in these crates! Another thing I find funny is that anytime someone brings up this point, there is no logical argument to refute it. Please stop acting like you are an expert on the subject just as the author of this essay did.
Jane, you are truly an angel and hero to the animals who suffer. I watch your show all the time now because I saw you had the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) about this terrible torture and the pigs suffering from this horrible abuse in gestation crates. I watched this show. I also saw your show when the Organizer for "Last Chance for Animals" was on about exporting animals from Australia and the horrifying abuse and torture they go through as well. I will continue to always be a fan of yours because of your love for animals and providing these organization a forum to spread awareness to the public of these horrors. You have a big heart and we love you Jane. Keep up the wonderful work!!!
Many issues were introduced in Ms. Velez-Mitchel's article. America does have an obesity issue. How is it due to the production practices of swine farmers? America's obesity issue is due to their preoccupation with processed foods, and McDonalds is reaping the benefits. Ms. Velez-Mitchel and everyother blogger that has taken a stance against gestation crates needs to work on a farm.
RE: "I was so grateful because I have witnessed the horror. One look at a pig gestation crate and you will know exactly what I mean."
What farm did you visit? When I read these statements I have to ask because did you also talk with the farmer? Did you learn about why stalls actually help save the lives of sows? Did you meet the farm hands that help care for the sows?
Just asking.
Arch I'm having such a fun moment just now imagining you about a century and a half ago, wondering whether the plantation owners had been asked about whether it's right or wrong to torture slaves, or even keep them. I'm sure you would have whole-heartedly approved of their responses, because people like you, lacking compassion to the core, unfortunately have always existed and will always exist. Let's just hope that, like the slave owners, you're soon relegated to the minority.
What do pigs have to do with slaves. These obscene references and comparisons are totally without merit. Surely you can come up with something better.
Your ignorance is showing once again, teach. Pigs ARE slaves! And they are treated far, far worse than most human slaves ever were (or are, since they exist still in this wonderful world of ours). Just as the world's eyes were opened to the horror of slavery and thankfully most of it was abolished, so now the eyes of the world are being opened to what really goes on behind the sealed and bolted doors of the factory farms which have supplanted most of the family-owned farms. If you have an ounce of intelligence or heart, you should be fervently hoping that this leads to whole-sale changes in their slavery conditions too.
I DO eat meat, and don't want my bacon raised like this – and it's just wrong anyway. Great piece Jane.
Rememebr that, when the bacon you're eating costs a couple of bucks per slice...
Why do vegetarians eat animal flavored products. You know, like vegetarian bacon, vegetarian hamburgers, etc. ? I know they are not flavored by animal byproducts, but they are made to taste like meat.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO I QUIT EATING K.F.C. FOR THW THEY TREAT THEIR CHICKENS I FEEL THEY ARE INDEED GOING TO BE A MEAL FOR SOMEONE BUT TREAT THEM RIGHT WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE IT SURELY WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO CAUSE HE GETTING THING FROM THE RAINFOREST TO MAKE HIS BOXES, ALSO I DONT BUY QUICK FOOD AT MAC DONALDS ANYMORE BECAUSE THEY SUPPORT THE HORRIBLE WAY PIGS ARE TREATED, IF THEY DIDNT WE EOULDNT HAVE TO WAIT TIL 2022 TO HAVE THEM DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!! WHAT A JOLE YOU ARE SHAME ON YOU
Hey Sandra: I was just asking a question, geesh, don't go nuts about this.
Too late.
Good question.
I suppose if I was born and raised as a vegetarian, my tastes would have developed differently. As it is, I became a vegetarian when I was about 25 years old. Over time I have found or created a number of vegetarian dishes that do not resemble meat dishes. But, I still enjoy foods that I grew up with. Veggie burgers etc.
Morningstar Farms chick'n strips meal starter is great in stir fry, soup, salads etc. Their Bacon strips, on the other hand, are only slightly tastier than the packaging they came in.
After being a vegetarian for 27 years, about 25% of my meals are vegetarian substitutions.
Also, there are a number of veggie burgers that are not intended to taste at all like a hamburger. It's just a convenience to have a pre-made round patty that cam be microwaved and thrown on a bun.
There is nothing wrong with liking the taste of meat, if there is no cruelty or murder of an innocent, sentient being behind it. I'm sure most of us would like the taste of human flesh (cannibals have reported that it closely resembles veal). No one objects to the TASTE of meat, it's the murder we object to.
thanks for such an informative article! another inumane practice exposed. disgusting and disgraceful.
Greed rears its ugly head once again.
Jane, please tell us how to make our voices heard, to let the industry know this torture of animals must stop.
Go to a local hog farm and fart at the owner.
As for you, "Seriously," why don't you grow a brain before putting words in front of the world which seriously embarrass you?
JANE VELEZ MITCHEL IS AWESOME.....SO great that she does this kind of issue.
great article. i agree 100%. this is obscene and unatural.
Thank you for writing this!!
Thanks for writing about this, I hope they put an end to this cruel practice as soon as possible, pigs are incredibly intelligent creatures and shouldn't live a tortured life!
I join the above listeners/viewers who applaud Ms. Mitchell for her always stimulating appraisals of the vital litany of concerns animal advocates find so repellent from horse slaughter to puppy mills and here the loathsome factory farming industry. The crowded conditions of chickens, pigs and cattle are not only cruel and totally unnatural, but unhealthy for animal, slaughter worker and consummer. Antibotics , and other substances, must be fed to these creatures to fatten and sustain them thereby compromising national healthwhile ever fast kill lines harm workers and renders many animals still sensible to the knife. We are learning that there is indeed no CHEAP meat since the end product too often produces obesity in the comsumer which is burdenening our medical system and the only immediate winner is bigAG. Ms. Mitchell outlines all these concerns in no uncertain terms and her information is invaluable to all who consider themselves humane and desirous of a healthy body and healthy community. We must reform this system before it does even more damage! Thank you, Jean for leading the way to a kinder and better understanding of how to live a good and healthy life.
Jane!!! SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These farmers are not brain dead, they know that what they do is obscene cruelty. They do it for money. They are exactly the same as the humans who run puppy mills or parrot mills – they only care about money. Thank you for bringing this to the public eye Jane. Amazingly enough a lot of meat eaters haven't a clue where it comes from. You would be amazed when city kids go to dairy farms and learn where milk comes from.
Stinkin' farmers! What should we do with them?
Your ignorance is showing once again, "Seriously." If you "seriously" believe that the people who run these factories are farmers in the way we once knew the word, you have your head buried in sand so deep it's probably somewhere in China by now.
Excellent piece Jane. Not only is it wrong to treat living creatures so inhumanly, but unhealthy, unhappy animals are a nasty business in the human body. Tortured meat is just not that good for you. (you may also think NO meat is good for you, but on that we'll agree to disagree...:-)
Do you even begin to understand the gross stupidity of the phrase "treating animals inhumanly"? Why not just go full circle dumba$$ and say "treating those animals, like well, ANIMALS!"?
Humans are animals Oscar. Why have our school systems failed you so miserably. Humans are primates! Look it up in a children's book.
Hey Pitchfork, I would love to catch you alone in an alley
Well, you're kind of cute yourself, big boy.
Thank you SO much for this crucial article and giving a voice to these beautiful animals. Factory farms are inherently cruel, gruesome, and horrible for the environment as well as the millions who unknowingly support their continued abuse of animals and consume disease-causing products. Out with gestation crates!!!
Crucial! Absolutely crucial!
as a political science major i want to state that gestation crates are the most abusive brutal issue in america- ( battery cages for hens maybe worse) hard to know due to these lovely cratures being unable to talk with us- but thanks to CNN for taking this horror so seriously to continue to expose it... for photos of Minnesota farm animals suffering go to
photos – defendingfarmanimals.org go vegan to save the planet from climate change also... see The United Nations scientific study exposing animal agriculture as the biggest contributer to global warming.
Julie, it must be a very poor research: IF you believe in Global Warming, it is know that HUMANS contribute the most to global warming. By blaming a small portion of the population (agriculture) you can feel better that it is not your fault.
Janet, read "Diet For A New America" by John Robbins. He was one of the heirs to Baskin-Robbins and saw first hand the destruction dairy farms and other agri practices wreak on the world. It would behoove you to educate yourself first before posting general comments which are just embarrassing in their ignorance.
Sandria... Put down the Starbucks, leave the high rise and get your hands dirty. Writing or reading a book doesn’t mean it is true. People who do the work every day feeding the world know the truth. So don’t tell me “general comments which are just embarrassing in their ignorance.” when your soul job is criticizing others work .
As a Political Science major??
FARMERS DON'T USE THESE CRATES!!!!
This is MADE UP INFORMATION.
Learn to research and cite sources next time. It's a pity so many otherwise rational people believe this load of crap.
Important, eye-opening article, Jane. Every pig in such a gestation-crate is somebody's mother and no one should be subjected to this cruel and unusual torture. Factory-farming is out of line with our fundamental values. Thank you CNN for your courage, integrity, and uncompromising transparency in keeping us informed on issues we as Americans have the right to know – and care deeply about.
I proudly join all the above commentators who applaud Jean Valez Mitchelll who has been casting the spotlight on animal cruelty in all its many permutations – and there are MANY – for some years now! We are a tribal and lethal species as media reports and none more so than to the animals we look upon as 'food product' whom we kill in the billions every year! Some of us have the capacity for compassion and live accordingly. Ms. Mitchell and many worthy groups educate and encourage us to better behaviors and for her and those I am deeply grateful. We can lead healthy and satisfying lives without treating animals as we do . Surely that must be the goal!
Surely. That must be the goal. Sounds like white people's problems to me.
Seriously, "Seriously," you and your ignorant ilk sound like a problem for all people, everywhere.
I am so grateful that Jane Velez-Mitchell sheds light on the cruelty running rampant on today's factory farms, which agribusiness works very hard to keep hidden. Pigs are smarter than dogs, and keeping them in crates barely larger than their bodies, in which they cannot even turn around for their entire lives is egregiously cruel. Many countries and states, recognizing this, have banned gestation crates, and the pork industry as well as every meat retailer in the country should join the long list of companies (Kroger, Safeway, and many more) to boycott farms that use gestation crates.
Thank you for this article! I completely agree, although it may take some time to build the new facilities, 10 years is excessive. I am also afraid that because of having so long to switch over the factory "farmers" will not do ANYTHING until about 9.5 years from now & then claim they do not have enough time to transition & ask for an extension.
Been a Vegan for 30 years since my back began to fail on me and several other medical issues emerged. It was recommended to me by a Dr of all things. Since then all problems have cleared up and at 73, with my Vegan diet and exercise, I have maintained a very low cholesterol level as well as a 32 waist...while the rest of my friends in both my age group and younger are tubbys with man tits. Saving the planet and my health. Worth switching.
Also GREEEEAT food choices and recipes and Vegan restaurants.
Wow. I have a 32 waist, too. But I eat steak. Can we still be friends?
It's sad that the 11% more efficient argument was what changed corporate behavior regarding the move away from the crates. It's like screw the humanity, how much money can we make.
Because farmers should be philanthropists. How much of your workday do you expect to get paid for? All of it?!? You must be joking! Where's your sense of humanity?
You don't have to a be a vegan, animal rights activist, or even an animal lover to know there is something wrong with confining an animal, torturing her, and then brutally killing her. I'm so thankful Jane Velez-Mitchell is willing to shine on a light in a very dark corner and educate the masses about who our food is.
Don't forget frying her up in a pan and serving her up with some hash browns and good strong black coffee.
thanx jane for all you do for animal rights!!
Thank you so much for shedding light on this awful situation. While in my opinion no one should eat meat EVER, or dairy and eggs, these crates are just a horror show. Pigs are intelligent, loving, creatures with feelings and folks need to get some compassion and go VEGAN :)
Because you sound soooo compassionate.
Seriously, "Seriously," I don't believe you should be using words before you look them up in the dictionary, since obviously no one ever taught you proper use of the English language.
I agree completely with Patty: "Gestation crates are among the most egregious farming practices and it is high time for our country to do what all the other civilized countries have done and BAN THEM COMPLETELY! Pigs are smart, funny, and loving moms so they should be allowed to live lives that are natural to them and to have their babies with them, not separated by cold, hard steel cages. As Anthony Douglas Williams wrote- "Humans need to be humane for the sake of humanity!" Thank you, Jane V.M., for always shining a glaring spotlight on animal abuse!"
Holocaust for animals of any species; NO MORE!!!
How can we make these large, smart animals live in a tiny crate. Why are these companies dragging their feet. They don't need so much time to implement the changes as they have soooo much money. Anyway why would anyone want to eat an animal. It isn't geed for your health or theirs.
Better for mine than theirs. But really, what do you know about my health? Do you know people with Crohns disease or Ulcerative Colitis should stay away from high fiber foods? That being the case, and it unfortunately is the case, how do you expect these people to get protein? Are you simply uniformed when you say in a public forum that everyone should simply do what you want them to do, or are you being really really mean to other people?
Kudos to Jane for everything she does – for the passion she has – and for the lives of animals and people that she has changed with her influence.
Keep up the fantastic work Jane!!!
Thank you for bringing the horror of gestatuon crates into.the oublic eye. I hope there will be more exposes from CNN.
Gestation crates are among the most egregious farming practices and it is high time for our country to do what all the other civilized countries have done and BAN THEM COMPLETELY! Pigs are smart, funny, and loving moms so they should be allowed to live lives that are natural to them and to have their babies with them, not separated by cold, hard steel cages. As Anthony Douglas Williams wrote- "Humans need to be humane for the sake of humanity!" Thank you, Jane V.M., for always shining a glaring spotlight on animal abuse!
I too am proud to be a vegan, not just because it's healthier, but because I abhor cruelty to animals! Meat and dairy production destroys the planet, too. Thankfully, healthy and humane vegan foods tastes great.
Such an important issue for food safety and animal welfare.
great article.
I AM THE PROUDEST VEGETARIAN ON EARTH. and PETA RoCks!
The proudest vegetarian on earth??? That's saying a lot considering the endless trumpeting of one lifestyle as though it's the only lifestyle and the constant judgements by vegetarian about and against non-vegetarians. Most proudly judgemental people on earth, in my experience. And here you are saying you are the proudest! I'd like to meet you....... no I wouldn't.
Are you kidding me?!! Who the hell gave any human the right to impose our will on other living sentient beings. I'd like to know what it would take to wake people up to the simple consciousness of 'right and wrong'. Just because we were raised to eat animals by our parents and our society, does not mean we are powerless to at least TRY to live our lives on a higher level. If all else fails, just put yourself in the position of the pig or the cow or the chicken! At least be honest with yourself and say it's just too 'hard' to stop eating what you like to eat. But do acknowledge that you are not doing what is humane, fair or morally righteous. I'm still trying to improve upon my old ways. I know it is not easy for most of us to resist the bacon cheeseburgers on every corner. But, please don't be like the hunters who say they hunt for the good of the deer population... try a pinch of honesty. At least feel a twinge of guilt while you eat your ham sandwich.
That was me. I gave them the right.
Another tragic situation of 'abuse' and 'murder' exposed by Jane! Thank you.
Good use of quotes, Carol-e.
Great article, Jane! Thank you for speaking for the animals who are living miserable lives behind closed doors.
A very compassionate viewpoint backed by strong scientific evidence that ending gestation crates is the way to go – now. Once again Jane makes an excellent case for treating animals with respect.
Jane, thank you so much. Your article is so accurate and informative.
You're an amazing voice for these beautiful animals.
Jane, thank you so much. Your article is so accurate and informative.
You're an amazing voice for these beautiful animals. <3
What people need to realize is that transferring production methods like this can't simply be done overnight. It takes time and money to convert a barn, not to mention moving pigs in order to work, etc. I think that, for the most part, gestation crates will begin phasing out within the next few years. Not only this, but I find it interesting how dramatized some of the information is in this article. 1. You don't stack pigs. 2. That "screeching" is the natural noise a pig makes. To add to this, it is easy to see the kind of people who comment on here, never having any first hand exposure to agriculture in their lives, and don't realize at all what it takes to provide the country and world with food, fiber, and fuel.
@Kyle, what makes you so sure that none of these people has any first-hand exposure to agriculture? Just because they are morally outraged at agrifactory practices. Please, grow up. Just because you don't frequent these large, mass-production animal production houses does not mean you are not acquainted with agriculture. There's a big difference. These businesses would re-fit so fast it would make your head spin if there were a massive profitability advantage, it has little to do with feasibility. So let's mandate it, give them a year or hit them with massive fines. They have no soul, so you can only influence them through their pocketbook.
Kyle, I have an animal science degree and am a licensed veterinary technician. I have seen at close hand and worked with dogs, cats, rats, elephants, chimpanzees, horses, goats, sheep, hippos, lions, tigers, bears, chickens, turkeys, llamas, alpacas, wolves, and – oh, yes – pigs. The difference in my experience and that of a farmer is that I was never raising any animal to be turned into food. Pigs are amazingly lovable, funny, intelligent and curious – WHEN they are allowed space and freedom and have no fear of being abused or killed. Don't you dare say that none of us know what we're talking about. There are animals in this world who are not automatically "food", and there are plenty of people who love and respect them for their own intrinsic worth.
Sentient Being,
You must not be a Farm animal vet most domestic hog breeds are dangerous if left alone and free.
In nothern Indiana there was a mass release of some 100 sows with piglets back in the early 2000's. After about 6 months the sheriffs dept authorized homeowners in the local area that if they saw a hog to shoot it due to the danger they posed.
Secondly I myself will continue to use gestation crates they protect the piglets from being injured by the sow. However I must say that I have never seen any other hog farmer or myself keep their sows in the crates 24/7. I tend to keep the sows in the crates for about a week then start the weening process.
Hoosier Farmer:
Thanks for explaining the 1 week limit. I can understand the need to protect the newborn piglets I will bet that there are many Greedy Bastard hog farmers who may not be as close to the "animalitarian" side you have adopted. But where are the piglets going after the crate? Where and how are the older-than-piglets raised? And how do you handle the aggressive hogs/sows?
Been on a few WI farms near Oshkosh,
Jan
Sssshhhhhhhhh. They don't want to hear that.
Thank you, Jane, for bringing the cruelty of gestation crates to light. All factory farming is cruel (which is why I went vegan after seeing PETA's "Meet Your Meat" video years ago), but some practices are especially horrific - and gestation crates are one of worst.
The thought of trapping the poor sow like some piece of farm equipment to be a nursing machine is such a perversion of the mother/child bond. No, thanks. I'll stick with the fakin' bacon!
I, too saw the meet your meat video. Wasn't a huge surprise. Didn't change my eating habits. But what would you think if I were constantly trying to tell you that your eating habits were horrible and you should eat what I like to eat and for the same reasons? Would you think I was a truly compassionate human being or would you think I was an arrogant, judgmental bore?
If you were trying to convince me to sink my teeth into a creature whose life had been wrenched from it while it struggled in terror, I'd think you were far, far worse than a crashing bore. Does the name Luka Magnotta ring a bell? You should friend him on Facebook.
Jane,
Excellent covereage and good explanation to those unaware. We have been working with college campuses around the world to educate them of the many animal cruelties. Many are student groups who boycott their schools in efforts for the school systems to purchase local, farm friendly foods. Please continue to pursue these type of stories which have a major ripple effect on our earth and all of her inhabitants.
My best to you,
Jonathan David Lake
If I hadn't already stopped eating meat, the fact that pigs in gestation crates are forced to wallow in their own excrement–and then give birth in it–would be enough to put me off of pig flesh forever.
Preacher, meet the choir.
Go Jane Go!!!! Thanks for being the voice on this.
Big Agriculture profiteers want you to believe that there's nothing wrong with confining millions of pigs –highly intelligent animals –to entire lifetimes in crates so small they could double as coffins. It is hard to fathom how consumers could enjoy eating any animal product that resulted from such suffering.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/farmsanctuary1/2163448016/
I agree 100 percent, Jane. There is no excuse for keeping intelligent, social, feeling animals cooped up tighter than old shoes in a closet. If people insist on eating these animals, the least we should do is afford them space to turn around, a chance to breathe fresh air and feel the sun on their faces before we kill them. Of course, the kindest thing we can do for pigs, the earth, and our own health is to go vegan!
Thank you for opening people's eyes to this. I sincerely hope a large part of the reason this abuse continues is that many Americans remain unaware of how we treat sows and other farmed animals. Once consumers realize we're treating farmed animals like tools instead of sentient beings, they can start demanding change for this broken system.
thank you SO much for addressing this important issue! i love your show and you!
I too felt sick that the "phase-out" for gestation crates was going to be 10 years away. How many sows will live their entire lives in crates and die in misery in the next decade? If agribusiness needs help getting rid of the gestation crates I have a sledge hammer and I will make myself available at any time.
It is important to tell the TRUTH. People need to have the proper information in order to make their decisions. I think we should realize more that we are all connected. The lack of compassion and decency on how these animals are treated for profit is outrageous. Thank you CNN for getting the word out.
Heck, you should see how my boss treats people. We're put in tiny cells and forced to stare straight ahead performing physical functions that cause tendonitis and repetitive motion injuries for 45 years while we slowly go blind from staring into a light source all day. And FOR PROFIT! Actually I work for a non-profit, but you get the idea.
You have a choice. they don't.
Thank you Jane for caring and shedding more light on the horrifying treatment of these highly intelligent, social beings. Sow stalls / gestation crates need to go NOW!!! GO VEGAN!!!
The way we raise animals in our world is killing our planet. Meat and agribusiness is the largest contributor to greenhouse gases, causing climate change. The better animals are treated, the less stress and pollution it causes. This is a positive step toward that and if people choose to eat less meat and more vegetables and fruits (hello, we are herbivorous animals), the better for people, animals, and the planet.
I agree about the dispicable way our livestock is treated, but it IS NOT causing "climate change"! That is ABSURD! And by the way, humans are and have always been "OMNIVORES"!
Quiet!! They don't want to hear that. Just be quiet!
Many meat-eating people do not realize (or choose to ignore) the suffering of the animals used in food production. More media attention needs to be brought upon the cruelties of the slaughterhouse industry, as well as the medical and environmental benefits of vegetarianism/veganism. Remember that even cutting back on your daily meat intake makes a difference in your life, the lives of animals, and the lives of all the beings on this planet! Thank you for this article.
Realize it. Seen it. Not a problem.
Not only is it a problem, you are the bigger one.
Thank you for sticking up for our innocent animal friends! <3 Vegan love forever.
Innocent animal friends. Uh huh.
How sad Seriously that you've never known the unconditional love that only can come from the bonds we forge with the four-legged magical creatures who grace our lives. No wonder you have such bitterness and misery oozing from every post. You should try it, it might not be too late for you yet.
I love that there would be concern of cancer causing food rising in price. What an uproar to have to pay more for non-essential unhealthy food! I protest this! he he
Thank you so much for your thoughtful and humane analysis of this reprehensible practice. Gestation crates should be stopped immediately – no sentient being should be submitted to this kind of torture.
Until the public realizes where their food comes from, how it is produced, and the subsidizing of corporate farming resulting from PACs paying off our government representatives not much is going to change. The majority of people live in a urban environment and dont really care where their food comes from as long as it is available in its plastic wrapped package or cartons in the store. They cant even tell you what cuts come from what part of an animal. Corporate farming is driven by demand and to supply that demand animals have to be produced and raised that way to meet that demand. Most pigs produced today dont ever touch real dirt and if they did would probably die from disease as they have been genectically engineered to produce lean meat which has compromised their immune systems and they are fed feed which has come from GMO seed. Becoming a vegetarian is not necessarily the solution, but changing policy is.
Because if we only knew what you know we would do exactly as you do. Is there any more judgmental, self-righteous person that a vegan?
I'm horrified! I agree, Jane – get rid of gestation crates NOW! How can we call ourselves civilzed and still use such cruel devices on living creatures? Who invented these crates anyway? Dr. Josef Mengele? This is a truly sad footnote in the history of human'kind'. No sentient being should ever have to "live" in such shameful and cruel conditions. The more I learn about the workings of the food industry, the more disgusted I am.
Thank you so much for covering this incredibly important animal welfare issue.
Horrible, Horrible that any living thing would be put in a gestation crate. Makes me SICK! I'm totally against it and it needs stopped now!!
Thank you for speaking up for pigs, Ms. Velez-Mitchell. I haven't eaten bacon since I watched the video at MeatVideo.com. It's so great to see Kroger, McDonald's, Burger King, Safeway, and many other companies pledging to move away from gestation crates. The sooner these inhumane crates are done away with, the better!
Thank you Julie! Everyone should watch this and get a sense of where their food is coming from. I know it shocked me.
Thank you Jane, for always covering factory farming issues so thoroughly. Gestation crates are, by almost any measure, on the way out, and I say good riddance–they are one of the most cruel devices ever developed by the agricultural, or any other, industry. The pork industry likes to talk about "science" and "efficiency," but people are beginning to realize some important things: ethics cannot be completely boiled down to science; some things are simply wrong (like confining a sentient animal in place for months on end); we're also beginning to realize that the very confinement processes that create "efficiency" in the meat market are also at the root of all the many problems associated with factory farming–confinement requires antibiotics (which endangers human health), creates massive amounts of waste (waste that, in the old days, would be diffuse but is now confined to very small spaces), and is inherently cruel to animals.
Thank you Jane, and keep up the good work shining a spotlight on the American food supply!
Thanks for some insight into how our meat is being produced! I'll definitely be doing my research
Thank you for this excellent article. Factory farm animal confinement is a huge problem, and I appreciate you addressing it.
I agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Velez-Mitchell. They should be banned NOW. (Even better, leave meat off entirely. I never saw myself going in that direction until one year ago, when I saw numerous videos that outlined "standard animal industry practices." I was done and suspect many others would be done as well if they knew what they animals they consumed actually went through.)
Thank you, CNN, for addressing these important issues! I hope we'll be hearing more!
Awesome article!! Dead on!! I felt the same way.. WHY NOT NOW?? The analogy you gave regarding abused child, hits the nail on the head. When we know there is torture, pain, and suffering, WHY WON"T YOU STOP IT NOW??.. It just blows my mind...2022...It breaks my heart to think how we treat these innocent, and intelligent animals.. Shame on US!!! Jane Velez-Mitchell, thanks for bringing this attention to common man!! We all deserve to know what is killing us, killing the planet, and killing animals...
Hogs – Children. Same same.
If there is any hope for our country, it lies in messages like this. If we can work "peaceful" living into our world, everyone will benefit. Thank you, Jane Valez for your leadership
Thank so much. I saw this from the Humane Society of US a few weeks ago. Makes me ill to think that this can even happen. Please keep this in the public. No animal needs to be treat this way.
This is fantastic. Go Jane Velez-Mitchel!!!! We love your work!!!
hahaha! You can probably live on an all bacon diet... you should try it.. wow.
I said it before and I will say it again. If you choose to eat meat, you should treat the animal you are going to consume with great respect. They are giving their lives for you. Meat in moderation is fine. If we all followed that, we would not need to mistreat any animal at all.
Nailed it!
Excuse me, but the animals do not "give" their lives. Their lives are TAKEN from them, brutally and unnecessarily. An important distinction.
And tastily.
Apparently some of the tastiest animals are human. I think I've got your next meal planned for you, Seriously...it does seem to be catching on these days, must be some truth to it.
I never heard any Dr tell a heart patient to cut back on veggies and grains because they are clogging your arteries !???
Was that a statement or a question? Or an illegal use of punctuation?
"Meat is good, grains and carbs are not" – I have to admit, I laughed out loud when I read that. It depends on what types of grains, but typically whole grains are better for you than meat. It's truly amazing how misled some people are about nutrition...
We're all misled. Unless we think exactly as you do we're all misled. Or stupid. Or cruel. How about evil? Let's all think alike. What do you think we should think?
As a huge bacon lover, this is still good news. The better we treat our food, the better it is for us.
And its not cheap meat via fast food that is the problem, its subsidized grains that is the problem. Meat is good for humans, grains and carbs are not.
Matt your facts are all wrong.. Meat is good huh?? So you tell me what clogs our arteries animal fat or barley? You have ALOT Of learning to do. the govt subsidizes the meat industry more than any other AND if 90% of our corn and soy goes to feed the livestock can you imagine, even if your math was correct, that it is actually going TO the meat industry for feed. HOw does it make sense to you that it takes 19 times the resources to produce food for you so you eat from social and traditional convenience and habits? Do you r homework and be a responisble human being.. VEGETABLE DIET ONLY
Ripp ... anything in moderation is OK. Barley, which you used as an example, is made into beer. Alcoholics drink beer, so does that mean all beer is bad?
And perhaps you should do some research before spewing alleged facts.
About 37 percent of U.S. corn goes into animal feed, according to the Department of Agriculture.
ABout 54 percent of U.S. soybeans are crushed to make oil and meal. From that, about 39.8 million tons of meal are made. Of that, 78 percent is used domestically, which is to say in everything from industrial uses to animal feed. So AT BEST you could say that 22 percent of U.S. soybean meal MAY be used domestically including in animal feed. And that's if everybody bit of soybean meal went into feed. And even then, that's just the MEAL from the soybean, not the soybean itself.
So given your misinformation when you say "90 percent of our corn and soy goes to livestock" then how or why would anybody in their right mind who actually cares about facts believe you, especially when you say "Do your homework."
I'm not a hog guy and I am may not agree with gestation crates but it's people like you who DONT do their homework and make up statistics that make it easy for people on the other side of the debate to validate their arguments.
Ripp, You may want to "ease-up" on the all vegie diatribe! According to studies at the Mayo Clinic, Plant based fat and oil is just as likely to contribute to atherosclerosis as animal fat! In general, a vegetarian diet is usually healthier, but you must be very careful about what kinds of carbs, fat and protein you base your diet upon! Everything in moderation...
Ripp doesn't want to hear that.