The US is normalizing the cruelest mass killing method to stop bird flu
Last year, I wrote a great deal about the rise of “ventilation shutdown plus” (VSD+), a method being used to mass kill poultry birds on factory farms by sealing off the airflow inside barns and pumping in extreme heat using industrial-scale heaters, so that the animals die of heatstroke over the course of hours. It is one of the worst forms of cruelty being inflicted on animals in the US food system — the equivalent of roasting animals to death — and it’s been used to kill tens of millions of poultry birds during the current avian flu outbreak.
As of this summer, the most recent period for which data is available, more than 49 million birds, or over 80 percent of the depopulated total, were killed in culls that used VSD+ either alone or in combination with other methods, according to an analysis of USDA data by Gwendolen Reyes-Illg, a veterinary adviser to the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), an animal advocacy nonprofit. These mass killings, or “depopulations,” in the industry’s jargon, are paid for with public dollars through a USDA program that compensates livestock farmers for their losses.
The "ethical" food typically cost more -- what if they can't afford it? Would you give them financial aid, or does your preaching stop at words?
In case you missed it, I made a point of scoping this ethical question to people who do have the means to make choices with their consumption. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask people to make ethical choices provided that they are able.
I wouldn't tell someone not to shoot an oncoming attacker because murder is unethical. In the same vein if someone has no choice in what they can eat, it would be ridiculous to tell them to try to 'make ethical choices'.
Shooting an oncoming attacker isn't murder. Not a great comparison.
So not the point though
That's fine, you can pick your example of choice then.
Person A is presented with ethical dilemma X. They are in a position where they can freely make a choice.
Person B is presented with the same ethical dilemma X. They are not in a position where they are able to freely make a choice.
Person B is not obligated to try to pick the more ethical choice in dilemma X, since they are unable to freely make a decision.
Rice veggies and beans is among the cheapest of foods.
It's also great depression food if you eat it regularly!
And anyway, not everybody can eat all the same foods. Plenty of people can't eat beans without shitting their brains out, for example. Likewise with a lot of vegetables, though then it depends on the type of vegetable.
Honestly. I absolutely agree that it's a great cheap and healthy meal, and it's one I eat just about every day. But it tends to be the only suggestion I see people make in these threads. Like don't get me wrong, it's a great suggestion, but c'mon