Project Animal Farm summary

Many people break out in tears when they enter an egg factory for the first time. Why is that?

Well, the chickens in these factories are kept in tiny battery cages that are lightless and dirty. When Sonia Faruqi, the author, was researching egg factories, she found that four to eight chickens were sometimes stuffed into cages the size of a microwave. The cages are stacked on top of each other and rarely or never cleaned, with up to 300,000 animals in one factory.

The pig is one of the world’s most intelligent and social animals. They love to interact with others and can build strong, emotional relationships. So how are they treated in the factory-farm system?

The meat industry views pigs purely as tools of production, not as living beings, and it shows. Pigs are bred to give more meat and have bigger litters than usual; today, they’re fatter than ever and have piglets in more rapid cycles.

We’ve looked at the conditions for live animals, but how do their tragic lives end?

Unfortunately, the kill process is also very difficult for them. Slaughter is often done incorrectly and goes unchecked by inspectors.

When you go into the supermarket, you’ll find eggs with different labels. Some are organic and others are free-range, but what does “free-range” actually mean?

In the United States and Canada, “free-range” simply means that the animals have some kind of access to the outdoors. Outdoor access isn’t clearly defined, however, as the law lacks rules about what that access is supposed to look like.

We’ve seen that the United States and Canada have weak regulations when it comes to free-range farms, but sadly the laws for organic farms are still far from rigorous.

Organic dairy cows are treated better than cows in factories, but their treatment is still sub-par. You might assume that organic farmers want their animals to live happily because they allow the cattle to go outside for 120 days; the reality, however, is quite different.

In recent years, a new movement of small farms that want to care for their animals properly has emerged. Such farmers are against the horrible conditions animals are subjected to in factory farms.

Animals on these new farms are allowed to live the way they want. Roger Harley’s farm in Canada, for example, seems like heaven on earth compared to a factory farm. He’s an organic pasture farmer and his animals have enough space to roam for acres.

You’ve probably heard of avian flu or swine flu, which are both side effects of meat production.

The terrible conditions the animals are kept in are breeding grounds for disease. Animals are caged, mistreated, genetically modified and constantly under stress – a paradise for viruses!

Meat was a rare commodity a hundred years ago, but today most Americans eat it on a daily basis. This has profound implications for our future.

Meat consumption is increasing in many parts of the world. The wealthier people get, the more meat they eat. In Singapore, for example, the average meat consumption is 160 pounds per person per year – and it’s still on the rise.

We’ve seen several examples of bad farms, but what’s the answer to all this? What style of farming should we switch to?

There is a way to make use of farm animals without causing them any suffering. The author found one viable answer when she visited The Lemon Dairy and Egg farm in Belize.

We need to change a number of things about the food industry to ensure a healthier and more sustainable tomorrow.

First, we need a serious shift in our behavior as consumers. These days, most people base their purchasing decisions entirely on price. They don’t think too much about the lives of the animals that end up in their shopping carts.