PETA Is Not the Enemy.

[athena]

68. As far as I'm concerned, factory farming is the problem.

If you live in the U.S. and are an omnivore, it's virtually impossible to avoid supporting the factory farming industry. Unless you have your own farm, where you grow your own chickens, pigs, and cattle, chances are you're supporting the factory farming industry. And that industry is unspeakably awful.

For example, if you buy eggs that are marked "cage-free" or "free-range," that means nothing. There is no regulation of those terms. If you really want eggs from a company that doesn't kill male chicks, debeak female chicks, and confine chickens to tiny spaces, there is one source, which is a farm in Australia. (I believe I read about this in "Eating Animals.&quot The reality is, it's next to impossible to avoid supporting factory farming in the U.S., without switching to a plant-based diet.

I don't have an opinion one way or the other on non-factory-farmed meat. Such a huge fraction of animal products are factory farmed that the question of whether it's moral or immoral to eat animal products from one's own farm or one's friend's farm seems beside the point. For me, this is not a philosophical question. It is about stopping handing over one's money to the factory farm industry. It's like boycotting any other industry. That's why I switched to a plant-based diet. When I switched, I wasn't against eating animals in general. (I'm not sure where I stand on that right now.) I switched because I refuse to support that industry.

Note also that independent, humane farms are not a solution to the problem. Such farms can't possibly satisfy the demand for the animal products in North America. If everyone tried to eat from such farms, the prices would skyrocket. There is no solution but to reduce our animal-product intake drastically.