Animal Rights Take Front Seat at Fordham
Activist and Author Gene Baur Speaks to Students
MICHAL NERIA
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: News
The largest beef recall in U.S. history this February would not have taken place without Gene and Michael Baur, brothers and co-plaintiffs in the case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which resulted in the banning of "downed" animals-animals that are too sick to walk or stand prior to slaughter-from human consumption.
On March 6, Gene Baur spoke to students and faculty at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) about animal rights, global warming and his new book, "Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food."
On Jan. 30, a video was released that captured farm workers abusing "downed" animals to make them stand up to pass a mandatory inspection implemented in 2003 by the USDA. The workers and animals featured in the video belonged to a farm in California known as the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company. The company slaughtered these animals for meat supply against the USDA's regulation, causing a recall of 143 million pounds of meat.
"I'm sorry to say that I don't believe that this is a unique case; what is unique about it is that it was videotaped," Gene said regarding the recall. He said that this video is just the tip of the iceberg and that forcing "downed" animals into the food supply is a much more common practice than what is currently known.
Gene is the president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, an organization that works to prevent inhumane farming practices. Michael, who received his law degree from Harvard, is a professor of philosophy at Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH).
Michael said that the reason it is so hard to document what is really being done to farm animals is because "cattle ranchers and factories are very aggressive about enforcing laws about trespassing." Moreover, Michael said "the farming industry in particular has a very strong financial interest in not letting people know how bad the conditions are, so it is not easy to get these videos."
Gene said that the mission of Farm Sanctuary is the follwoing: "To connect people to where their food comes from and encourage people to think a little bit about their food choices." Farm Sanctuary also operates two farm animal shelters in New York and California, where it provides life-long care for more than 1,000 animals that have been rescued from abuse and slaughter.
On March 6, Gene Baur spoke to students and faculty at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) about animal rights, global warming and his new book, "Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food."
On Jan. 30, a video was released that captured farm workers abusing "downed" animals to make them stand up to pass a mandatory inspection implemented in 2003 by the USDA. The workers and animals featured in the video belonged to a farm in California known as the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company. The company slaughtered these animals for meat supply against the USDA's regulation, causing a recall of 143 million pounds of meat.
"I'm sorry to say that I don't believe that this is a unique case; what is unique about it is that it was videotaped," Gene said regarding the recall. He said that this video is just the tip of the iceberg and that forcing "downed" animals into the food supply is a much more common practice than what is currently known.
Gene is the president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, an organization that works to prevent inhumane farming practices. Michael, who received his law degree from Harvard, is a professor of philosophy at Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH).
Michael said that the reason it is so hard to document what is really being done to farm animals is because "cattle ranchers and factories are very aggressive about enforcing laws about trespassing." Moreover, Michael said "the farming industry in particular has a very strong financial interest in not letting people know how bad the conditions are, so it is not easy to get these videos."
Gene said that the mission of Farm Sanctuary is the follwoing: "To connect people to where their food comes from and encourage people to think a little bit about their food choices." Farm Sanctuary also operates two farm animal shelters in New York and California, where it provides life-long care for more than 1,000 animals that have been rescued from abuse and slaughter.
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anonymous
posted 4/05/08 @ 8:37 PM EST
Great writing. It was so wonderful to open up a copy of the Observer today and read this article; to see that Fordham cares about these issues.
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