Animal Abuse in the Name of Meat

Every day, anywhere from three to five times per day, we make important choices about the foods we choose to consume. What is going to fill our plates and bowls — beyond meeting the need to keep our bellies full and our nutritional needs met, is anything else important? I would certainly say so, given how much of the food that gets sold ends up in its tidy packaging on the store shelf.

Take your average turkey sandwich, for example. Nothing wrong with that, right? Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth as it was discovered in a rather upsetting video of a Butterball Turkey facility.

Earlier this week, animal rights group Mercy for Animals released a video documenting abuses at a Butterball turkey semen collection facility in North Carolina. Filmed by an MFA agent who worked at the facility for several weeks, the video shows workers kicking turkeys, bashing their heads with iron bars and dragging them by their necks and wings.

Does this sound appetizing to you? I would certainly hope not. Even if you are not a proponent of the vegan diet — and it surely is just a matter of time before you realize how much better it would be for you than a meat based diet — you can’t possibly read a description like that and think, “Yes, that is exactly the foundation I want for my sandwich at lunch — a bashed turkey head!”

This case does not seem like it is the exception but closer to the rule. If it took celebrities protesting against McDonalds in order to get them to find better sources for their food, you can only imagine that they were not going to budge had someone not spoken up against them.

I would say that the absolute best thing that you could do as the end consumer is to be educated about the food that you choose to eat and prepare at every single meal. What is the source of the food and how did it reach your plate? Did it involve locking an animal in a small cage for its entire life? Rather, wouldn’t it be best to sit down to a cruelty free meal?