The Great American Dairy Industry

[DeDukshyn]

And Trump can't figure out why Canada doesn't want their ****ty dairy products. Ever since he bitched about it I made it a point to never buy an "made in America" foods that have any dairy in it, never again.

WARNING! This video contains disturbing imagery from Fair Oaks Dairy Farm.

Do note that this dairy farm creates the milk branded "Fairlife Milk" (well isn't that disturbingly ironic). Please if you are American, boycott this brand completely.

Also note that Coca Cola is a business partner of Fair Oaks Farms.


https://vimeo.com/340292407/comments?fbclid=IwAR1c8OIgLG7wxwWUfg6wW_jIkxJUMW4y Xt6cFcGJlkYlXDud5qgiSyV_Srk

[ThePythonicCow]

WARNING! This video contains disturbing imagery from Fair Oaks Dairy Farm.
Double that warning for those who are fond of cows.

[Rawhide68]

This is horrible! , looks like a trailer for a documentary ?

[DeDukshyn]

This is horrible! , looks like a trailer for a documentary ?

Don't know ... doesn't seem to be advertising one, but I would think this investigation along with many others recently, would eventually find their way into one.

[Akasha]

This is horrible! , looks like a trailer for a documentary ?

Rawhide, yes this is horrible but don’t be under the illusion that this is limited to the US dairy industry. Cows have to be pregnant to produce milk and in every country in the world without exception, calves are ripped from their mothers hours or at best days after birth - it is simply not economically viable for it to be any other way if we are to consume that milk. If the calves are female they are put into the same cycle of abuse as their mothers, if they are male they are put into veal crates as in the video or alternatively bolt-gunned in the head immediately.

From the perspective of cruelty dairy is worse than meat. At least with meat the animals are not subject to repeated impregnation, having their children repeatedly stolen and being subjected to milking 2 or 3 times a day until they are “spent” - normally at between the ages of 3-4 years when they can live to 20, at which point they are sent to slaughter.

I posted the Fair oaks exposé on the vegan thread a few days ago but no-one noticed. I guess it’s just not on folks’ radar.

[Valerie Villars]

I saw the video you posted Akasha. I am at a loss as to how humans can inflict such pain and horror on a living thing, day after day, and somehow escape having nightmares every night. Some of the things I saw in that video flash through my mind on occasion and it is almost too much to bear.

There is a dairy farm right up the street and I wonder what goes on there. It's a smaller dairy farm and I often hear the farmer herding the cows in the morning. And it's such a beautiful area too.

[Ba-ba-Ra]

Being a lover of all animals, I could only watch a few minutes of the video.

My late husband's family were all farmers and ranchers, but would be considered small ventures in comparison to the corporate farms that seem to be taking over. I saw how they treated their animals, and it was nothing like what was shown on the video. The animals were valued and important assests.

I have suspected for a long time that corporate farms, where the "owners' are absent and have no connection to what's going on, other than the bottom line is the cause for this indecent behavior. As for the farm workers who are participating in these violent actions . . .it's beyond my comprehension. Is it the drugs, combined with how they are being treated by their employer?!?!?! But then I remind myself that some people are doing these things to their own children. What has humanity become?

[happyuk]

"But you can't stop progress!" is the war-cry of the inane.

Of course we can't stop progress, but we can all decide on the direction in which we wish to progress.

"But you can't turn the clock back!" is another idiot parrot-cry. I can't answer that one because it truly has no meaning.You can in fact
turn the clock back as I did mine in my car recently as it was a few minutes too fast.

Go to the nearest peasant country and compare the treatment of their animals. Yes I know, peasants in some countries can be cruel to their animals by beating, kicking and overloading them, but these are are occasional, sporadic cruelties, not to be compared to the life-long torture of the intensively-reared Belsen camps that our farm animals endure.

Unfortunately, the power lovers of this world would be dead against the Avalonion solution of decentralisation of giant agri-businesses and self-sufficiency. The one thing the power-mad want is more control. He wants to control as many aspects of our lives as is possible and the sure-fire way to do this is by centralisation. Above all things, he hates to see power devolve into the hands of people.

[DeDukshyn]

 
In line with Ba-ba-Ra's and HappyUK's posts just above ...

While Akasha would want everyone to turn vegan to avoid some of these monstrosities on animal well-being (nothing wrong with his motivations), I would appreciate even one small step to help alleviate this suffering. I was raised with and know many small time farmers and butchers, and none of them would EVER consider treating their animals like this. I have some relatives with small cattle farm in BC, and they treat their cattle like gold - every single one is precious, and not just for the money.

I challenge all meat eaters to find a small local organic grass fed farm, and start buying meat from them. Sure its expensive - just eat less of it (beef once a week is plenty), it'll taste way better, be way more healthy for you, won't give you cancer, and the animal will have lived a decent life.

Also, always thank and bless any animal you consume, it really is important to do this, to understand that a life was taken for you to have that - if you are going to eat it, appreciating it on this level is a must.

Disclaimer: I am not a vegan, nor am I trying to convince anyone to be, I am just a person trying to exercise some responsibility towards the planet and its inhabitants.

[Valerie Villars]

DeDukshyn, you have inspired me to go down the highway and ask those dairy farmers how they get milk from their cows. I'll do it in my best "aw shucks, I was just wondering how a Dairy Farm works and I hear you herding them in the morning" kind of way. I'm not a vegan either and don't mind when animals are humanely killed for our sustenance.

They are not a big operation. I live in a very rural area. And I do see them grazing every day. It will be interesting to learn something new.

[DeDukshyn]

DeDukshyn, you have inspired me to go down the highway and ask those dairy farmers how they get milk from their cows. I'll do it in my best "aw shucks, I was just wondering how a Dairy Farm works and I hear you herding them in the morning" kind of way. I'm not a vegan either and don't mind when animals are humanely killed for our sustenance.

They are not a big operation. I live in a very rural area. And I do see them grazing every day. It will be interesting to learn something new.

Yes! Even if a good number of us just starting making small steps like this - get the topic and the topic of alternatives on our minds a little, or get a little more curious on these topics, it will eventually make all the difference in the world. :)

[Akasha]

.....I'm not a vegan either and don't mind when animals are humanely killed for our sustenance.....

You won't mind watching this then. It's an industry training video, not an undercover "vegan activism" video.


isj-IYeCbnI

Although it is an Australian video, the methods are the same as those employed in the US. Read the following Michigan State University report (https://www.animallaw.info/administrative/us-slaughter-humane-slaughter-livestock-regulations) which lists all the "humane" methods to be employed for various types of livestock. You'll notice that gassing with carbon dioxide is one of the methods of "humane" slaughter even though it is anything but, normally resulting in an intense burning sensation in the lungs of the animals (usually pigs) as they suffocate to death.

[Valerie Villars]

Akasha, I'll take a look and I'm sure it will hurt. However, what I meant by humane is someone on a small farm putting a bullet through the head of an animal after thanking them for providing food. Something you almost never see happen. But, I was speaking in an ideal way.

[DeDukshyn]

Akasha, I'll take a look and I'm sure it will hurt. However, what I meant by humane is someone on a small farm putting a bullet through the head of an animal after thanking them for providing food. Something you almost never see happen. But, I was speaking in an ideal way.

Besides, eating live animals won't work - have to kill them first somehow, else they run away on you ;). But I do agree with Akasha, in the sense that large farms always opt for the cheapest methods in everything they do and often at the expense of the animal's well being and dignity.

[conk]

Processed dairy was the first health subject I dove into 25 years ago. With the birth of my first child good health practices become important to our family. Back then there was a very informative website called NotMilk.com. It taught us how milk and other dairy was a poor food product and actually harmful. Processed dairy doesn't remotely resemble fresh, raw dairy. Pasteurized and homogenized milk should not be considered food! It is so odd how the advertisements tout "ultra pasteurized" as a benefit. I guess it wouldn't sell much milk if they said, "extremely dead food product" instead. Homogenization could be even more harmful than killing off the beneficial bacteria by super heating it.

The Processed Dairy Council made a massive marketing push in the 1950s, moving some emphasis to Japan. Prior to that decade Japanese families practically drank no milk. There were few instances of breast cancer and young girl experienced the onset of menses at around 12-15 years of age. In only a few years after successfully marketing and selling processed milk in Japan, the population experienced large increases in breast cancer and the young women began their periods years earlier. Early onset is not a good thing, for many reasons!

Just say no to dairy and it's attendant mucus, cancer, arthritis, and digestive issues.

[Akasha]

Akasha, I'll take a look and I'm sure it will hurt. However, what I meant by humane is someone on a small farm putting a bullet through the head of an animal after thanking them for providing food. Something you almost never see happen. But, I was speaking in an ideal way.

"Putting a bullet through the head of an animal" being "ideal" aside, Do the human victims in this cycle matter? (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?83021-All-Things-Vegan-&p=1296727&viewfull=1#post1296727)

[Valerie Villars]

Akasha, after I posted that, I realized I would take some flak for it. I meant a farm that a couple or a person lives on, with a cow or two. The remark was completely misunderstood and I have no one to blame but myself for that.

For the record, I HATE when anything dies. It gets me upset. I used to work at a seafood market and would run in the front when they would boil the crawfish. I also hated fishing because it freaked me out to see them gasping for air. I am against ALL suffering. However, on this planet, we do all have to die. What living things don't have to do, at our hands, is suffer before they die.

[DeDukshyn]

Akasha, I'll take a look and I'm sure it will hurt. However, what I meant by humane is someone on a small farm putting a bullet through the head of an animal after thanking them for providing food. Something you almost never see happen. But, I was speaking in an ideal way.

"Putting a bullet through the head of an animal" being "ideal" aside, Do the human victims in this cycle matter? (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?83021-All-Things-Vegan-&p=1296727&viewfull=1#post1296727)

I rather come from the mind set that if you want to eat meat, you should be able to kill and dress (prepare for butchering) it yourself. I say this because that's how it was in the older days - if you wanted meat, you pretty much had to be a part of some part of that process, so you have a full unhindered view of what is required to eat meat. Nowadays the mass farming and convenience of just buying a neat nice looking package "dyed" red to make it look real nice and all, removes all visibility into what it actually takes.


On a slightly different note ...

I actually appreciate game hunters as "true" meat eaters -- they know what it is all about. My father was taught how to hunt game by some natives and they ensured to emphasize that at all cost try to ensure a one hit kill, because if a chase was involved or drawn out death would cause "fear" to get into the meat and ruin it.

[Akasha]

Akasha, after I posted that, I realized I would take some flak for it. I meant a farm that a couple or a person lives on, with a cow or two. The remark was completely misunderstood and I have no one to blame but myself for that.

For the record, I HATE when anything dies. It gets me upset. I used to work at a seafood market and would run in the front when they would boil the crawfish. I also hated fishing because it freaked me out to see them gasping for air. I am against ALL suffering. However, on this planet, we do all have to die. What living things don't have to do, at our hands, is suffer before they die.

Do you "hate when anything dies" more than a moment of taste pleasure though? That's what it ultimately boils down to. If you are truly "against ALL suffering" there is really only one option and I think you know what it is, right?

BTW did you manage to watch the short presentation on the ATV thread regarding slaughterhouse workers? It isn't graphic but everyone supporting that industry through their food choices (including dairy) owes it to these people to watch that presentation.