Leading
animal rights activist Gene Baur examines the real cost of the meat on
our plates -- for both humans and animals alike -- in this provocative
and thorough examination of the modern farm industry.
Many people picture cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens as friendly
creatures who live happily within the confines of a peaceful family
farm, arriving as food for humans only at the end of their sun-drenched
lives. That's what Gene Baur had been told -- but when he first visited
a stockyard he realized that this rosy depiction couldn't be more
inaccurate.
Amid the stench, noise, and filth, his attention was drawn in
particular to one sheep who had been cast aside for dead. But as Baur
walked by, the sheep raised her head and looked right at him. She was
still alive, and the one thing Baur knew for sure that day was that he
had to get her to safety. Hilda, as she was later named, was nursed
back to health and soon became the first resident of Farm Sanctuary --
an organization dedicated to the rescue, care, and protection of farm
animals.
The truth is that farm production does not depend on the family farmer
with a small herd of animals but instead resembles a large,
assembly-line factory. Animals raised for human consumption are
confined for the entirety of their lives and often live without
companionship, fresh air, or even adequate food and water.Viewed as
production units rather than living beings with feelings, ten billion
farm animals are exploited specifically for food in the United States
every year.
In Farm Sanctuary,
Baur provides a thoughtprovoking investigation of the ethical questions
involved in the production of beef, poultry, pork, milk,and eggs -- and
what each of us can do to stop the mistreatment of farm animals and
promote compassion. He details the triumphs and the disappointments of
more than twenty years on the front lines of the animal protection
movement. And he introduces sanctuary. us to some of the special
creatures who live at Farm Sanctuary -- from Maya the cow to Marmalade
the chicken -- all of whom escaped horrible circumstances to live
happier, more peaceful lives. Farm Sanctuary
shows how all of us have an opportunity and a responsibility to consume
a kinder plate, making a better life for ourselves and animals as well.
You will certainly never think of a hamburger or chicken breast the
same way after reading this book.
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Farm Sanctuary
Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food
by Gene Baur
Touchstone,
2008
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a copy
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