Meat industry could change

Michael Pollan is not trying to deter people from eating meat in his article, “An Animal’s Place,” yet rather give people the opportunity to realize what they are eating, and perhaps make them eat with a little more thought. The issues he is talking about, animal rights and the meat industry are topics that many people are taking into serious consideration; which they should. He mentions the horrific meat industries of America, and shows meat eaters exactly what is happening to those cows and chickens placed on their dinner tables every night. Pollan describes the entire argument in one sentence. He says, “These…don’t alter my essential point: what’s wrong with animal agriculture--with eating animals--is the practice, not the principle,” (Pollan par. 67). Being an avid vegetarian for several years, I could not agree with him more.

At a first glance, many readers may see the phrase “animal rights” and think of animals being given the right to an education or the right to vote. Although they are not taking it to that much of an extreme, animal rights supporters such as Peter Singer and members of PETA, are suggesting that some animals have the same capabilities and thought processes as humans and therefore, should not be eaten. However, Pollan is taking a much more realist approach to the situation. While sitting down eating a steak, he realized that problem is not with eating the steak itself, rather the process that that steak had to make in order to get onto his plate. Pollan accepts that people, including him, are always going to be omnivores. Therefore, he suggests that they are smarter, healthier meat eaters.

Throughout the article Pollan mentions the belief, according to Joel Salatin of the Polyface Farm that an animal should be allowed to, “‘fully express its physiological distinctiveness’,” (Pollan par. 46). Polyface Farm, along with many others, is beginning to be put this practice into full swing. Although the animals at these farms are still being slaughtered for meat, they are living as they naturally should. This is completely contradicting the ways of the factory farms which produce the majority of our world’s meats. Pollan describes in detail the gruesome conditions the animals face before turning into America’s dinners (Pollan par. 39). After reading things like that, many people may want to become vegetarians, and maybe even vegans, too. The Polyface Farm is an excellent role model of what the meat industry should be. Pollan notices that Salatin, the owner of the farm, allows people an insight into every aspect of the farm, including the slaughtering processes. However, the factory farms do not. So what exactly are they hiding? Things they know that if the average human sees, will make them never want to eat meat again. Here lies the problem; there is a purpose behind hiding things. The mass production of meat involves growth hormones, antibiotics, and other so called “supplements”. These then end up in our food, and in our bodies. The animals of Polyface Farm eat their natural food, which then makes natural meat.

Pollan states that, “no other country raises and slaughters its food animals quite as intensively or as brutally as we do” (Pollan par. 80). Once again, he is proving his thesis that eating the animals is not the problem; it’s the way they are treated before they are eaten. He also brought up the point of other cultures’ respect for the animals they eat (Pollan par. 72). Here in America, besides PETA members and vegetarians will chow down a hamburger without even thinking. He is not asking people to bow down and pray to their chicken sandwich, but just remember to respect the animal that is keeping you healthy and strong. He mentions that Americans were “feeling that our only choice is to either look away or give up meat,” (Pollan 73). Those are no longer the only two choices.

Pollan emphasizes being knowledgeable about the meat you eat and concentrating on human grown meat from trusted farms. Without people actually doing something to change the industry, nothing will ever happen. Even I can admit that someday, if I know exactly where that chicken came from and can trust that it was treated humanely, I will have my first chicken sandwich since I was twelve. Many vegetarians like myself and people like Pollan don’t oppose meat itself, just the meat process. If Americans show their appreciation of the farms like Polyface Farm and their increasing respect of animals, the meat industry will soon begin to change.