Remi Zimmerman
I am currently a third year at Seattle University pursuing a bachelors degree in anthropology
I am in a dystopian literature course this quarter in which we study dystopian tendencies and disorderly desires through literature, films and facilitated group discussions. For our final project we were asked to create an advocacy piece around a disorderly topic in our society, and I chose to focus on the dystopian nature of the meat industry, specifically that of the beef industry. Our society has a disconnect between the meat we purchase and eat, and the way that meat gets to us. Many people choose to disassociate the food on their plate from the process of animal slaughter and abuse. They tend to be uninterested in the process of the killing. The reality is that animals raised for slaughter live in very poor conditions and are not treated as if they are living beings capable of experiencing pain. Some become upset when it is mentioned that hamburgers were once cows. It is ignorant to deny that eating meat is eating an animal that was once alive. Additionally, eating meat also has a massive impact on the environment and has been proven to be a big contributor to climate change. People need to stop disassociating meat and environmental issues with the meat industry.
As a student of anthropology, I have studied many societies different from my own. No other country in the world deals with the slaughtering of animals and mass meat production like we do in the United States. Most of the developing world does not practice industrial/factory farming, simply because they do not have the financial means to pursue such a practice. While living in Thailand, I noticed that the chickens there looked different than the chickens I see in the United States. It was uncommon to see beef on a menu in Thailand. They typically eat pork, chicken or fish, because it is financially infeasible for most to maintain cattle.
As a student of anthropology, I have studied many societies different from my own. No other country in the world deals with the slaughtering of animals and mass meat production like we do in the United States. Most of the developing world does not practice industrial/factory farming, simply because they do not have the financial means to pursue such a practice. While living in Thailand, I noticed that the chickens there looked different than the chickens I see in the United States. It was uncommon to see beef on a menu in Thailand. They typically eat pork, chicken or fish, because it is financially infeasible for most to maintain cattle.