5-24-11
54-29 69th Lane
Maspeth NY 11378
Food Safety and Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington D.C. 20250-3700
Dear Thomas J. Vilsac secretary of the USDA,
I write this letter to address the issue of animal cruelty in factory farms all across the United States. I am currently an aspiring Veterinarian Technician at LaGuardia Community College and an old dog owner. Animals are living breathing creatures just like us and that means they deserve to have some respect because they are living beings. Our current agriculture has lost that integrity, the connection we humans had with nature. Since the days of the Native Americans, they revered how buffalo should be free and knew buffalo was also needed for meat along other purposes. The natives went through a lot of measures to kill only the buffalo needed and not to waste even a hair of the buffalo sacrificed for their needs. As humans, we are chosen to be the rulers of this planet with our intelligence and animals being meant serve us. But because animals are here for mankind is why we should cherish them because we need them as much as cows, pigs, dogs, cats, etc. need us to survive. We are entitled to protect animals so they can still be around for our needs such as meat, pets, services or resources.
At current times animals are raised in terrible conditions as most of them don’t see daylight. Aside from living in the dark, most farm animals are forced to live in their own waste and forced to eat food they are not by evolution supposed to eat. Cows are forced to eat corn among other scraps such as dead animals. Most cows and other farm animals are also in cramped area which is unsanitary because if one gets sick from let’s say E. Coli it is likely it will spread to every creature stuck in the animal factory. (Fast Food Nation 194) On top of all the unsanitary conditions farm animals are forced to take growth hormones to make them bigger so they can have more meat when slaughtered. Some chickens and other farm animals die since their body can’t handle their overgrowing bodies. It’s unnatural to see a chicken grow in a month instead of 3 months without growth hormones. Plus it is possible that some of the cleaning agents and growth hormones on the meat we eat pass on to children which might cause some health problems to the consumers of this factory made meat. With this industrial system food borne illnesses are far more likely because of the pollution in the animal factories and the food and water they drink is unsafe for them much less humans. With so much antibiotics and chemicals on the farm animals their waste can’t be absorbed fast enough by the soil and there is also unnaturally toxic to the air, soil and water ways.
Not only animals suffer from this system but workers who have to slaughter and butcher the animal meat also suffer. Who are we to use not only animals but our fellow human brethren who are also treated like garbage and make their only purpose for working and profit? 4 Meat companies such as Tyson control more than 80% of the meat market and to keep their outrageously high profits, they hire mostly illegal immigrant workers who will accept terrible working conditions and low pay. The slaughter house is now the most dangerous factory job in America (qtd.).
Business is mostly to blame for this system along with fast foods hording billions of dollars to keep their food at lowest prices and stop anyone from challenging their system. It is still possible to have a food economy that not only is profitable but also environmentally friendly and allow farm animals to live healthier thereby, healthier meat. An example of such a convergence of business and nature happens in Poly Face farms in Virginia (This farm was referenced in Food INC. a documentary behind the food industry). This farm has their farm animals live life in a open field. Most importantly this farm is all natural cycle of life, starting with cows eating grass, fertilizing the grass then chickens eating the animal and vegetable wastes are used for compost to repeat the cycle. Not only is it natural but Poly Face farms claims to be just as efficient as industrial farms without any of the nasty side effects of the industrial food chain.
I thank you for reading this letter and I appreciate your concern for not only the animal kingdom but also the people who work on the fields and work to feed our country. I promise you my continued support for a healthier cleaner farm and slaughter houses for all Americans to enjoy.
Sincerely,
Andrew Quijano
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