The Current State Of Americas Meat Industry - 1569 Words

Key to the current state of America’s meat industry, according to Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is the fact that it is primarily hidden from the consumer. The consumer, as well as corporations, have chosen to build walls instead of demanding transparency. The general public and journalists are not permitted to enter abattoirs of many corporations, leaving the judgement of how animals should be slaughtered to the businesses themselves. State and federal regulations are not often put into practice as they should be, enabling the corporation to decide what is ‘humane’ and what is not. Handing this judgement to a profit organisation enables the corporation to find the most efficient and most lucrative system, ignoring†¦show more content†¦Pollan argues that transparency in the meat industry would hold businesses accountable to regulations and to the desires of the consumer as well as preventing the abuse of our natural resources. Po llan’s statement in Omnivore’s Dilemma, ‘No other country raises and slaughters its food animals quite as intensively or as brutally as we do’, is not a claim to fame for the USA. Many Americans would not necessarily agree with this statement because they are ignorant of the system, they have chosen not to see what really happens to the animals they eat every day. Corporations have been permitted to pursue profit irrespective of the cost. Pollan explores the issue by discovering what he would consider the wrong ways as well as the right ways to slaughter animals for their meat. In his effort to find the right way, when working on Polyface farm, Pollan dreaded being a part of processing the chickens. Yet, he knew that because he ate meat, he needed an education in the reality of killing animals. He could not go on as a meat eater if he was not willing to be fully acquainted with what having meat on a dinner plate entails. By killing a chicken and coming to terms with how that made him feel, he could develop a personal insight into the ethics of eating animals. Pollan intended to continue eating meat but he could not ignore his own ethical quandary when faced with throwing the chicken guts into the compost. He