Canadian Vegan summed up my thoughts perfectly.

Thank you Ellen for having Jonathan Safran Foer on your show.

The complaints seem to be from people who are uncomfortable with hearing the truth. I wonder how many of you would have felt that there should have been "both sides" presented if Ellen had a representative of one of the major factory farming industries on?

It's apparent that those who are complaining about Jonathan's knowledge only want to hear about matters that you feel "comfortable" with, and that don't make you have to face truths that pertain to choices you make, that may contribute to the unpleasant truths Jonathan addressed.

I will never understand why some people simply refuse to acknowledge the suffering and cruelty that animals endure, as well as the devastation to our water, soil, and air that is caused by animal agriculture.

Animal agriculture is devastating our Earth, and overusing our resources. Eating animals is directly linked to the most serious health problems. Heart disease is the number one killer in the US, and it is a fact that consuming animals and animal products (dairy,eggs) are a major factor. Please do not ignore the facts that Jonathan is conveying. Animal agriculture, eating animals is damaging to our environment, human health, and is cruelty to animals.

What we choose to put (or not put) on our plates is such a simple, yet powerful choice. Please choose wisely and compassionately. Do it for your health, the Earth, and the animals.

Thank you again Ellen, and thank you for setting a shining example of being compassionate and eating a healthy vegan diet. YOU ROCK!!! :)

Hi Ellen,
I was watching your show about the animal farms. I think if you are making the choice not to eat animals and animal products that is a personal choice that works for you. I believe that these mass production farms do exist, but the traditional farms do exist too!!! It is not just in the commercials!!! If people are worried about where there meat comes from maybe they should check into it and make sure it comes from a good place instead of just not eating animal products. I live in Northern MN. Many of the people in my community make a living by farming. You are a very influential person and I would hate to see my neighbors and friends loose their farms because people don't want to eat animal products. I believe people should buy locally and be sure that their animals are being treated fairly. There are the Idealistic farms out there. Not as many as before, but they still exist. Maybe the focus needs to be put on the good farms so they can excel and they can take care of their families instead of scraping by. Because to good farm families do not make a great income they do it because it is what they know and what they enjoy! I would be happy to let your camara crew at my house as I'm sure any of my neighbors would too. Then everyone could see what a real farm looks like.

Hi Ellen,
I love your show and enjoy all the humor but today I was saddened listening to Jonathan discuss factory farming. I, like the other contributors, have an agriculture degree and grew up on a farm. I think it is important to ask the question "why did agriculture shift from rural farms to factory farms?". Our society has turned into this fast paced, never relent society where we are always wanting more, for cheaper and it must be safe to consume. Long ago in rural Canada you saw small farms producing small quantities at high quality, but upon this change in society, these farms got bought out by large corporations; these corporations could meet the demands of our society. So, don't blame the farmers, they were asked to provide a safe product, cheaply and this is what they could do. If society isn't happy, then start buying the natural products (pasture fed cows and chickens) and don't support the big corporations.

My experience as an undergrad agriculture student took me to dozens of chicken, pork, bison and beef farms so I can't understand why Jonathan had a hard time accessing them. He may want to consider that these farms are highly protected to ensure disease does not enter their barns and wipe out all their stock; again this is a mechanism to keep our food safe. I am in total agreement with many of your contributors, go visit a farm that has been suggested here. Come to Canada, our agriculture programs are phenomenal and our farmers are concerned about our food safety.

I hope that you can invite a knowledgeable agriculture representative who can provide some truths about the agriculture world.

I love the Ellen show, but I was really unhappy with the Jonathan Safran Foer segment. I would ask that if you are going to discuss the agriculture industry, you invite experts from BOTH sides of the issue to discuss it. This is a very complex issue, and not a case of "good vs. evil", as Jonathan would have viewers believe. There are solid, scientific reasons that animals are housed the way they are at the moment, and a lot of these have to do with actually improving the animal's health and quality of life. For instance, Jonathan didn't mention that free run hens will cannibalize each other, and uncrated sows will lay on their piglets and crush and kill them. I definitely think that animal welfare could be improved, but this is not just a black or white issue, and research is being done all the time by experts to try and improve animal welfare.

Also, did Jonathan consider that maybe the reason that he wasn't allowed to visit farms wasn't because producers were trying to hide anything, but was instead a biosecurity measure? The animals in the barns are kept free of disease, and having random people (who may be carrying any number of pathogens) enter the barn puts the animals at risk, as well as the farmer's livelihood.

All I'm saying is that this is a very complex issue, and if you want to discuss it on your show, I think you should have experts on the issue discuss it, rather than some random guy who wrote a book.

My husband is a farmer. We raise cows, soybeans, corn, wheat and alfalfa. Our cows are in the pasture all summer, in the fall after harvest they get their "treat" and get to go out in the fields to graze on the corn and bean stalks and clean up what the combine has left behind. Then when the snow is flying, my husband is feeding them alfalfa and corn. They reproduce "naturally" via the bulls (Charlie and Linus). One bull for each herd. We raise the calves with their mothers for about 9 months before they are seperated. We then feed these calves until they are full weight and they are then sold at a local stockyards. We take our own steer or heifer in to the local locker for processing. It IS different than the meat I used to purchase in the store (before I married my husband). It is better. I love to have a big T-bone steak on the BBQ grill, grilled burgers are also great. I don't have anything against a vegan diet, but once you have one of our "home grown" steaks it would be very difficult to be a vegetarian.

I'm so glad that others have commented on the interview with Safran Foer. I also have grown up in a rural community surrounded by farms and farmers. I've taken care of livestock on my grandmother's farm and many of my friends have raised cows and pigs and other animals. Safran Foer seems to have a very biased view of farms and I get the distinct impression that he's never cared for livestock in his life which will definitely give you a new view on eating meat, and generally not in the negative. He's focusing on the "corporate farms" and spending very little time on the farms that do it right and humanely. If you look for the bad, you're going to find it and create the panic you're going for. I have nothing against vegitarians and vegans and everyone has their own perspective but I resent that Safran Foer is saying that if you eat meat you're a horrible person or parent and you need to reprioritze your life.

The Eating Animals view was very one-sided. You need to invite a person representing the ag industry who knows what he is talking about.

The first assumption he made was that everyone believes there is global warming. That is a huge misstatement.

I have a friend who raises a 1000 pigs in an enclosed environment...yes, AC in the summer, heat in the winter, sanitary practices so no disease in the animals, and it is inspected regularly to protect the health of consumers. This mass production keeps prices low and meat safe.

The writer needed to back up his statement that the use of anti-biotics is ruining our population's health.

I am glad Ellen questioned him on the source of H1N1 because he definitely needed to cite articles he read for proof so we can check that ourselves. I don't think he answered that question at all.

Hey there Ellen! I just need to stress the disappointment of "supposed facts" by Jonathan Safran Foer. I live in Second North River, New Brunswick, Canada, and my husband and I are dairy farmers.

I would first like to clarify that dairy cows DO get to graze in the summer months, as soon as weather is permitting. They are also able to run free in the barn, this is called "loose housing", they can run till their hearts are content, though not on the hundreds of acres that they graze on, they still get to move around and dance just as we do! They are indoors mainly as their immune system is not as strong as beef cattle. They eat feed, which consists of grains, corn, barley, and this varies depending on the farmer.

The reason as well that dairy cows remain indoors is that due to extreme heat, and if they graze constantly, they do no eat the proper feed which keeps them healthy by providing the necessary nutrition they need to survive. The heat causes milk production to decrease sometimes drastically, which may seem selfish on the part of the farmer, but as anyone facing hard economic times, this is our livelihood.

His views were very unfounded in my opinion for the most part, I can only speak about the dairy cows as that is what we have. I am very disappointed that he would share such information without getting more facts together. We rely on milk sales, and we love our cattle, they are not mistreated or neglected and whether vegan or not, that is anyones' choice not to consume whatever they don't want to, but please don't attack peoples' livelihood, it just isn't right.

Thanks for listening!!
Sincerely, Audra Steeves

I love the practical jokes and games. There's nothing better in this world then laughter. I only started watching your show since you moved to 3pm cst and I didn't realize what I was missing. Thank you for making my day brighter.

I think Jonathan's views are interesting and need to be pursued further. I'm sorry he didn't separate opinion from fact -- I statements are respectful: "I believe" etc. I'm curious, too -- why are so many vegan/vegetarian foods packaged to look/taste like meat and poultry? It would seem to me that if I were to choose to not eat meat and poultry, I should give up the flavors as well.