The video titled ‘Factory Farming in 60 Seconds Flat‘ takes viewers behind the scenes of the dairy, meat and egg industry, uncovering the truth behind factory farming. After overwhelming success from the videos release in 2012, Peta have re-published the video in an attempt to generate viral notoriety and a change in consumer behaviour.
The demand for meat has seen production increase by over 20 percent in the last 10 years, to the point where farmers have no option but to introduce factory farming into their process. This means of farming is one of the leading causes of animal cruelty to date, and yet the trade is continually condoned through the lack of support for organic produce. Over time and through the accessibility of meat within supermarkets, humans have grown so distant from the realities of what they are putting into their mouths and the practices associated with generating it. For many people a video like this is the first time they are cognitively processing their diet, whilst staring into the faces of the animals they often see on their dinner plates.
There in front of them is the irrefutable evidence that their entrée was a cow who coughed and choked as the blood spilling from her slit throat ran down her face and covered the floor below, a pig who screamed and cried as he was burned to death in scalding-hot water, a chicken whose desperate squawks went unheeded as her broken legs were slammed into shackles and she stared past the long line of her comrades to the whirring blades that would end her life (Peta, 2013).
The video was created by a group of animal activists who aim for the world to see, the common practices that go on behind the closed doors of slaughterhouses. Every Saturday night a group of volunteers screen the video in Miami’s Lincoln Road for willing passersby to watch. Peta follower Andrew Kirschner captured viewer’s reactions whilst observing the confronting video for his blog Kirschner’s Corner. The images are accompanied by real-life accounts from U.S. slaughterhouse workers, that graphically describe the pain and suffering many animals go through in their last minutes of life.
Peta are asking supporters of the video to take the pledge and try a vegan diet for 30 days. By adopting a meat free diet for just one year, supporters have the potential to save the lives of 100 animals whilst taking a stance that factory farming is not a means of production. Peta are offering supporters a FREE Vegetarian/ Vegan Starter Kit full of healthy recipes, tips on eating out, health & body information along with videos. There is no better time than the present to stand up for a trade that we have helped grow.
Written by Michelle Moore for NFAW
News For Animal Welfare 