Introducing.....CAFO

The introduction of The CAFO Reader is the topic of my blog. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations have replaced the tradition of agriculture and animal husbandry that was once good enough for Americans. CAFO creates cheap food in abundance, necessary to feed the growing population of humans, so why should the welfare of the animals being slaughtered, be a topic of concern? While discussing The CAFO Reader, one of the controversial issues has been whether or not animals are lesser beings, beneath us. Are they capable to feel the torture bestowed on them? Perhaps, they should just be considered objects, that are at the humans' disposal. On one hand, French philosopher Rene Descartes argued that animals are here simply for humans to use at their leisure. From this perspective, animals are raised so that we humans can have food to eat and clothes to wear, making them a commodity, another means to make money. However, Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher, would argue on the other hand, that although animals may not acquire the same ability as a human to rationalize, does that mean they don't feel pain? In the words of Descartes, "Animals are 'soulless automata' : merely complex machines. Because they do not possess consciousness, they cannot feel pain or suffer." According to his view, when the livestock cried while being slaughtered, it was considered just reflexes. Now, on the other end of this issue, Bentham states, "The question is not, Can they reason? Nor, Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?" Bentham predicted  an animal welfare movement in the future, one where all animals would have the same rights as those domesticated. In sum, the issue is whether or not we rank human life higher than we do those of other species. Is the treatment of these animals justified because they are lesser beings or do we consider that the food and by-products of livestock is beneficial to humans, therefore we should value them more. Honestly, I have mixed feelings on the issue. I do not feel that humans and animals are on the same level, per se, however, I don't consider them beneath me either. Though I concede that animals are here to be beneficial to humanity, I still maintain that they should not be subjected to the CAFO system. Although some may object that perhaps most humans have lost sight of the things we depend on for basic substenance - plants and animals, I would reply that whether we eat animals or not, they should be treated with the same dignity as human beings. This issue is important because in order for humanity to live beyond this CAFO era, we must realize the harm being done to our animals, just for a profit.