To the Editor:
Re “Banned From the Barn” (column, July 6):
While I applaud Mark Bittman’s exposure of the secrecy and deception carried out by the animal agriculture industry, I disagree with the suggestion that more transparency is the answer.
In the United States alone, 10 billion farm animals a year are unnecessarily slaughtered. These are social and sentient beings that live short, miserable lives that end in a violent death—all in the name of convenience and the satisfaction of our taste buds.
The answer to these horrors lies in the universal application of the golden rule; we simply need to treat others as we would like to be treated. A civilized society need only expand the concept of “others” to include the animals with whom we share the earth. Whether it is for food, clothing, research or product testing, animal exploitation is wrong.
Adopting a vegan lifestyle is not only beneficial to one’s health and the health of the planet, it is also the morally right thing to do.
CHRISTOPHER SETTINO
Lloyd Harbor, N.Y., July 7, 2011
The writer is a board member of Karuna for Animals: Compassion in Action.
To the Editor:
Mark Bittman brings attention to the shocking nature of industrial agriculture and its “ag gag,” which prevents the public from finding out. Exposés like “Food Inc.” or “King Corn” have enlightened us about the appalling and secretive nature of corporate farming. The question is, How did we get here?
Most people will blame the market, its excesses unchecked by regulation. A more robust explanation is that our farming industry has become a creature of the state. Agricultural subsidies have turned farming—a trade historically opposed to corporatization—into a political leviathan.
More landowners are farming simply because the government will pay them, regardless of actual consumer demand. These payments are concentrated toward the largest farms, which offload their costs onto taxpayers.
When government, not customers, is paying the bills, there’s little incentive to keep a tidy shop, and every incentive to lobby Congress to keep the barn doors shut.
RYAN SAFNER
Arlington, Va., July 7, 2011
The writer is a Ph.D. student in economics at George Mason University.
