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The author of "Eating Animals" came to the show to take a practical look at factory farming and what we can all do to help end it. He brought up real solutions that you can be a part of without having to make major changes.
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I am so happy to see this book "Eating Animals" come out. I am so afraid if anyone speaks out that it will turn into another Oprah vs. Cattlemen and I don't want that. The mentality of the people that live up here in northern MN however is something else. I'm afraid if I speak to loudly about the consequences of eating meat that harm will come to me. That is how strongly they believe in ranching/farming up here. I would like to see a program started in schools that teaches kids to be kind to animals and that eating meat is not the only answer. Right now it is just the way of life here and you just can't change their minds. I have watched neighbors starve their horses and have called the authorities twice on them but nothing is ever done. I've seen my neighbor hit his cattle over the head with a metal bar. I've also seen them castrate horses with no tranquilizer or meds of any kind. Can you just imagine the pain and suffering that these creatures endure up here and yet it all "seems alright" to these people. I wouldn't say people here are stupid but they are ignorant.
I really love this writer. I am trying to think of a way to say this without making atleast one person mad at me, but while doing his research he did visit actual family farms (like one I grew up on) that are operating wonderfully. I read the book and absolutely loved the fact that he gave both sides of farming. He is more against "Factory Farming" were we get almost all of our meat in this country. Please read the book before you judge solely on this interview. It is an amazing and very informative book.
Ellen I need an account number to comment you on facebook I added you but I can not comment you.Is my account number my e-mail name?
I posted earlier but keep coming back to read more comments and have been thinking of this so much.
Bravo Ellen for bringing this issue mainstream. If even one family makes a change in their buying habits to support sustainable farming versus factory farming, then you made a big difference. And, no doubt, the impact will be much further reaching!
You have a huge fan in me, and have inspired my path to a vegan lifestyle.
I love how the Bible and abortion suddenly come into play when you are talking about eating meat from an animal that has been injected with multiple antibiotics, medicines & growth hormones. Plain & simple, who wants to eat that?!
Not to mention the way the animals are treated before the slaughter. Do you know how dirty the slaughterhouses are? Do you know that you could be eating an animal that was "downed" due to illness?
It's not ALL about just being kind of animals but the quality of the items that are being sold to the American public. It's not pointing a finger at small, family farms. How many of these are fully functioning these days? They are usually going under because the bigger factory farms can do more for less, which is proving to not be a healthy option for anyone.
Some of you clearly only heard what you wanted to hear out of today's interview. I think you need to keep an open mind & if you have questions, check out the resources that are out there to INFORM YOU. Wouldn't you want to know what you are putting in your body? Or feeding to your families?
This has NOTHING to do with anyone's choice of religion or abortion choices.
And as always, everyone has a right to their own opinion & are allowed to live their lives as they see fit. As long as you are not hurting yourself or anyone else.
My choice to not eat meat was not born of animal rights but rather the concept of meat eating being just plain gross. Raised in the Midwest, Wednesday night was "Buck Night" at the drive Inn. All the people you could pack into your car for $1. The reason? Wednesday was slaughter day at the ranch across the street and the stench was unbearable. Raised on beef, biting into the occassional bone or foreign object made me nauseous. Watching people gnaw on a chicken leg was more than I could bear. By 17 I was driving through Burger King ordering a Whopper "hold the meat". My options were slim. I raised 4 kids as vegetarians and cheered when tofurky, fakin' bacon, and veggie burgers became more mainstream. I wanted to give my childen a better start in life & hedge against my family's history of heart disease. I appreciate the comments of Jonathan Foer yesterday. Small tweaks in everyone's diet would help the planet. Bringing great vegetarian dishes to potlucks and sharing recipes goes much farther to influence the masses than throwing a bucket of read pain on a fur coat. I'm turned off by sanctimonious comments and believe there's room for improvement in everyone's lifestyle...including my own. On a sad note, my grandmother died at 62 and my father at 72 of heart disease. Last month my brother-in-law, raised in the Midwest, died at 43 of a sudden major heart attack. One artery was completely blocked and plaque was throughout his system. While heavy meat eating likely wasn't the only cause, I do believe it was a contributing factor. He left behind two boys, 11 and 13. Keep the dialogue going, Ellen. Perhaps you could also influence a price reduction in packaged vegetarian (and organic) foods to encourage availaibility for the average family's food budget. Your comments (and nudging) will make a differnce to our world. And who knows...you just may save a life.
It is amazing to me that we can have all this conversation about eating meat, in a country that seems to think that abortion is ok for the most part, but killing animals is not? Does anyone notice a double standard here? I find it unfortunate that we have made animals our Gods and have checked our common sence at the door. And i agree with many of the comments that have been made about Holistic management..look into it, and also research all of the products that are made with animal biproducts and see if you can live without animals.
Quite frankly I found the whole themed message on this show insulting, especially from Ellen. She said she ate Cheeseburgers every day and realised she couldn't call herself an animal lover until she stopped. It sounded as though she was saying there was something inherently evil about eating animals. As a fellow New Orleanian I'm usually in her corner, but not this time.
Is there something wrong when a lion brings down and eats a gazelle? What about a cheetah bringing down a baboon? Do you think crocodiles should shed a tear when they drag a wildebeast off of a riverbank? What about a great white shark snacking on a seal? How do you feel about pythons? Some of the other larger primates are known to eat monkees, eggs, small chicks, insects, etceteras. Big fish eat little fish. Little fish eat krill. Are these creatures wrong because they devour other creatures? Do you know how many carnivores exist on this planet? The simple fact remains is that without the increase of protein in our diets from meat we would still be swinging from trees like our fellow primates. Our foraging for food allowed us to develop a more erect posture and the extra protein gave us bigger brains. Yet somehow because humans do it we're just horrible and not part of the circle of life. Give me a break!
A great concern for everyone... I am not going to try to sway anyone in any particular direction but I urge EVERYONE to research a company by the name of Monsanto. They are not the only company genetically modifying our foods but they do have a large foot-hold on our foods (fruits, vegetables and ingredients derived from them). I don't like being so vague but I have found that people learn more when they do research themselves as opposed to glazing over when information is rattled off to them.
If America becomes vegan, what will happen to all of these meat animals? Who is going to care for them? Are we suppose to turn them loose? Who will pay for the veterinary costs? Who will pay for their food?
Becoming vegan will not solve all the problems... farmers/ranchers/factory farms will not be able to afford to feed them. What is the solution for this problem? I only hear why factory farms are so horrible and why they should be shut down, what about all the meat animal producers that truly care for their livestock? Do you think livestock producers want to feed a tainted food source to their loved ones? NO!!! Some people earn their living from livestock, what will they do if they are all shut down? I enjoy eating meat and I will continue to do so. I raise cattle and I care for them well.
Ellen, I really hope you have another point of view on your show. I love watching you, you always make me laugh, but when you have segments on that are a misrepresentation of the food industry I have a hard time wanting to turn your show back on.
He's so right! When friends that get all defensive about their meat eating whenever the word vegetarian comes up I always say "you don't have to be a vegetarian, I am one by choice, but if you feel THAT guilty but can't miss your meat, you can always become a half vegetarian and purchase biological meat the rest of the week" In fact... Maybe I'd rather have 2 half vegetarians than a whole onem cause that'd mean 2 people are thinking about the environment and about the wellbeing of animals, and full on vegetarians tend to not inspire others daily,because of the defensiveness they trigger in others.
(I'm still staying full vegetarian/part vegan though, been vegetarian for so long I couldn't change back if I wanted to)
Hi Ellen. Today's show made me so happy. Thank you so much for not only caring about animals, but for trying to enlighten people on the subject. I've been a vegetarian for 18 years and vegan for 6. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see people changing and challenging this horrible business. Some of the comments on this page are annoyingly uneducated and some just miss the point all together. Foer is mainly talking about the factory farm business, not local sustainable farms. So for all of you that wrote in, saying my dad was a farmer and he never abused the animals...he's not talking about you. However, even these so called local farms still send their animals to slaughter where they are shoved in factories that are scary and cruel. These animals die scared. Also there is no way to produce animals on a local farm to feed the country the way people have been consuming meat. There is no need for it. We do not need to eat animals. Vegetarians and vegans are extremely healthy. The cancer society even has a message out saying that people should eat a more plant based vegan diet. Going vegan truly saves the world in every way. From the environment, to chronic diseases, to the health care system, to antibiotic potency...the list goes on. We can never be a peaceful society and never know true compassion until we stop KILLING.
Anyway I love you Ellen, you made my day. Please don't ever stop fighting for these animals. We should never bring a life in this world for the sole purpose of being killed.
Hi Ellen - regarding your segment with Jonathan Safran Foer - please remember your producers (ranchers etc) who's livelihood is dependent on sales of their product. I understand Jonathan's point but a holistic view would be appreciated and perhaps some consideration of the farmers/ranchers who's sales are affected by everyone eating 1 less serve of meat per week.
Thank you Ellen for having Jonathan Safran on! I have been a vegan for five months now, and I have never felt or looked better! Alicia Silverstone is absolutely correct when she says that veganism is the most compassionate diet because it shows compassion for animals and ourselves!
I watched your show today regarding farm animals and wanted to tell you about the little calf I brought to my place when he was a week old. I bottled feed him for about 4 months. He is a Scottish Highland and from what I am told is a prime beef. But this is one Highland that will never end up on a dinner plate. I would love to send you pictures of him since you are an animal lover. I think you would get a kick out of seeing pictures of him but I don't see a way to doadload them here so if you provide me with a way of sending you these picture I will be happy to do so.
Thank-you
This was the best show ever!!!! I am so Happy!!! it made my year!!! Finally a true book about eating animals is out!!! I loved the interview! Congratulations Ellen!!! You just won 100 million points from me! I just became your fa for bringing to the show a subject that really matters! Just looooved!!!!
Everyone - settle down! We all can have our own opinions on the subject, but the tone of some of the comments is bit too much. Very un-Ellen Show ish :)
And on the nutritionist comment, Mr. Foer had an unfortunate pause in his words that clearly left some feeling that he didn't believe he found any reputable nutritionists. If you watch that part back again, you'll see that he finishes his thought to explain that he couldn't find one reputable nutritionist who would say that a vegetarian diet isn't at least as good as a diet involving animal proteins. He wasn't bashing nutritionists, just bringing distinction between those who operate purely with professional knowledge and those who are influenced by animal agriculture industries through funding etc. He met and talked to lots of experts for whom he seems to hold respect.
I for one am glad that Ellen gets this issue talked about. It's clearly one that brings out tremendous emotion in many. Until it's all out there, not much will change about factory farming.
Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and make food decisions based on their own value system - we're in America after all! But most make their decisions without opening their eyes to new information. I believe that was Ellen's intent in inviting Jonathan back again.
I enjoyed the interview and hope Ellen continues to invite guests that spark interest in learning about new things (food and otherwise).
There go the meat eaters getting all defensive.
This is EXACTLY what JSF and Ellen were talking about. You can't even open a conversation about the topic because all of a sudden everyone is an expert on why we should eat meat. The pro-meat commenters don't want to be wrong about what they have been conditioned with as being right (which is all that it is, social, religious and/or cultural conditioning) and try to validate their beliefs with this reason or that.
I personally care about ALL the impacts that the factory farming industry has on us and our planet BUT putting aside the human health and environmental concerns they talked about, no one seems to REALLY want to know about the animals. Animals aren't food, they aren't meat. They are individuals, they are lives. They have intelligence and personalities. To think they are food is to think that everything that has flesh is edible.
I'm edible, my dog is edible, a pig is edible.
We're ALL the same.
Just because any of us CAN be eaten doesn't make it right.
After reading many of the comments I am extremely disappointed on how many people selectively heard what was said in the show today (because I assume they don't want to feel bad about or have to change their lifestyle). They were not saying that eating meat is wrong. Eating meat from a 'FACTORY FARM' though, absolutely and definitively is. And yes, if you call yourself an animal lover you are absolutely a hypocrite by supporting this industry. Do some googleing or read the book and find out for yourself how these animals live their lives and try to put yourselves in their place. No one can deny that animals feel, think and have emotions. Think if it was your dog or your cat having to live this hell on earth.
And to the viewer who thinks the only carbon emissions having to do with factory farming is driving livestock in trucks to slaughter - take a little time to educate yourself.
Animal agriculture is the leading source of methane (from factory farmed animals' digestion and the acres of cesspools filled with feces) and nitrous oxide (300 times more potent as a global warming gas than CO2) emissions, which combined with carbon dioxide, causes the vast majority of global warming.
I believe in the circle of life too..but as the supposed most intelligent species on earth, we have the obligation of taking care of those who give us nutrition and life and our ecosystem. Eating animals that do not see the light of day and are full of antibiotics and hormones is harming the health of out species too.
I too grew up in a farm in Saskatchewan. If ONLY farming was still like that but 99% of the meat in America is from factory farms. If you are buying meat from most grocery stores and restaurants, then you are supporting this industry.
I agree that they could have talked more about purchasing meat at farmer's markets (organic and free range) but to cover the whole gamut on this topic would take much more than 2 segments.
Try opening your ears and your minds.
I applaud Ellen for having the guts to put this information out to the public (knowing full well what the backlash would be). She is an example to all celebrities and just people in general who have the power to make a difference in this world. If only more people gave a damn...
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This is a great way you can "Conquer the world"!
Make a date once a year where no one eats meat...like the Earth Day when we all turn our lights off for one hour. That caught on all over the world and we are saving a lot of energy because of it. If you advertise a date where no one is to eat meat...it will spread through out the countries like wild fire, and for that one day, you will save a lot of animals and bring awareness to the situation. You can call it "send the love" day.
Hope you read this because I think it is a great idea and with your fan following, you will make a BIG impact! I eat meat all the time, which I am rethinking now, and I know that I would do it...you just have to figure out what day of the year to set for it.
Posted by Maureen Skrtich | March 14, 2010 7:16 AM