The IFAP and Our Relation to It - Alex Fenichell

I don’t think IFAP is sustainable, but I am having a hard time explaining why. In other words, if I had to convince all those involved in IFAP to stop what they’re doing, I don’t think I could do it. Except for an appeal to the morality and humanity and empathy of IFAPers, I know of no effective methods. From the movie we watched, I am most struck by a few things. First, the animal waste confinement farms produce and how poorly managed that waste is. Second, I am struck by the density and poor living-conditions of animals in factory farms [huge space + high density=woah]. Third, I am struck by the corporation-dictators who determine how smaller serf-like farmers work and thus live. Fourth, I am struck by the manipulative power of corporate “bucolic dairy farm” propaganda. Finally, I am struck by how attractive the pasture system and other alternative animal food production methods appear in the film. If IFAP is unsustainable, then I think an alternative for meat and dairy would look like a nation-wide local-as-possible pasture system, with a larger percentage of the population working as farmers.

As consumers: Buying and eating are voting; they are political acts. To avoid contributing to the faults of IFAP, if we eat meat and dairy in the first place, we can eat less of it. If we can afford to, we can buy meat and dairy sourced from independent farms. We should avoid contact and involvement with IFAP as much as possible as consumers, but as citizens we should involve with it by trying to improve it or replace it with more sustainable alternatives.

Alex's post on Pollinators (and compost).

On our thursday class we learned about pollination. On our tuesday class we learned a) about the odorous and noxious problems of putting too much chicken poop into compost, and b) what it must have smelt/felt like to be a feudal dung-shovelling serf! As profoundly humbling as learning about pollinators was -- humbling because although humans can be pollinators, MOST pollinators are insects, non-human animals, winds, and rains, so that we can't give ourselves credit for everything that benefits us and we should be humbled and grateful -- I found the compost experience more valuable and edifying. I will NEVER put that much of an odorous substance into compost ever again. On a more serious note, well-done compost is very helpful for us as humans and environmentally helpful a smart use of waste. However, as we learned on Tuesday, well-done compost demands a careful BALANCE of components that simply was not there with that demon-stuff we shoveled. I actually have no idea if the overly-nitrogenous compost will work well as a fertilizer, but as Tess said "Compost is not supposed to smell like that!" I suspect that a good compost smells better than that fowl-feces-fiesta we worked with. I propose that we discuss what makes a good compost in class. Now I will stop the compost-bashing (I am also in no way blaming the awesome people at the park we go to--thank you for working with us guys!).

A note on the pollinators: I am always surprised every Spring by how few pollinators I see compared to how many flowers I see. What a beautiful, subtle, and healthily transformative process for flowers to bloom in Spring all with the 'help' (unwitting or unconscious) of pollinators! I can easily imagine how people could think of a god or divine force causing the Springtime bloom. Also, it is amazing the sort of co-evolution that has happened between pollinators and plants: I recommend looking up videos of this amazing subject! Thats all folks, :)

Food Animal Production

          Industrial Food Animal Production (IFAP) is basically a method of farming that is supposed to help "improve" the production of farming. However, it is actually a very unethical method because this system involves raising thousands of the same time of animal, in a very packed environment. The animals are not treated too well and are also over fed and given growth hormones. In the film we watched, there was a woman who was very against this system. Instead of completely excluding meat or dairy in her diet, she decided to start her own farm. She claimed that people will never stop eating animals, so what needs to change is the production process of animals. IFAP is obviously not the method of farming we all want to have, but asking people to step away from such a technologically advanced and highly profitable system is very unrealistic. Hopefully, people will slowly start changing their ways and will revert to the safer and simpler way of farming. This will not only help our own environment and health, but possibly other countries as well because our behaviors will have an influence on theirs. What we can do as consumers is make sure we know exactly where our food is coming from. Making sure to buy food from small farms rather than buying food that came from a big factory.

Food Animal Production

Food Animal Production

Food Systems and Politics

Industrial food animal production (IFAP) is no longer sustainable or good for the environment, agriculture or human safety. The movie suggests that in order to attain a sustainable food animal production process, society must come up with one that is both ecological and preserves and does not limit biodiversity. A dream process would be that all farms move to pasture base production instead of factory base. Although many would call switching non-realistic, this common misconception is famous because industrial food animal production has been perceived as more productive and an easier way to raise animals in a shorter amount of time. The movie provided an inspirational example about one man who did make the shift over to the good side when he switched from factory base to pasture base production. He remarked that not only did pasture base farming hardly require more work than his pervious system, factory base, but that he also felt satisfied that he was doing something good for the environment, agriculture business and human safety (all the things that industrial production cannot supply). People are caught in this rhythm of the factory in the new industrial system and they don’t know how to get out because it is hard, but this switch helped prove the stereotype wrong, which will hopefully persuade others to follow in his footsteps. Essentially, the movie implies that we should go back in time to the 1700s where the industrial period in America had not taken place and farming and food animal production was carried out without all the modern technological agricultural items available. One of the risks of this factory-based system is that it is being spread to other countries around the world and being adopted as the primary process. This is why it is so important to stop it now. It is important not to contribute to the harmful animal production practices, which can be ensured by not supporting them as consumers. We should not buy from any farms that are not pasture base and use our power to support a process in which is safe for human health, agriculture and the environment.

Jenna M