Duking It Out at Duke University

By Teresa Platt, Executive Director, FCUSA

In April 2006, cash from Bob Barker, host of "The Price is Right" game show, funded an Animal Law Conference at Duke University. You can listen at home, online, to the conference and its panel discussions. It's tedious listening but should be required for those involved in animal agriculture and all facets of food and fiber production and distribution. Farm Bureaus and 4-H leadership really should set aside the time.

Keynote speaker Gary Francione, a philosopher lawyer and vegan who desires the abolition of all ownership and use of animals by humans, stated several times that the only reason we eat animals is that "they taste good". We've heard this simplistic dismissal of an omnivorous diet from other vegans. Repeating it doesn't make it correct.

Global food and fiber policy relies on both plants and animals to provide for 6 billion people. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization does not endorse a vegan diet since such a policy could not possibly feed, clothe and shelter the world. In a nutshell, less that 3% of the Earth can support crops to produce food and fiber. The rest of the land supports grazers, birds, fish, all the animals that take inedible plants and organisms and turn them into food and fiber for us. That said, about 80% of our calories come from plants, so the world's diet is primarily "vegetarian" already. But that is not good enough for Francione who is convinced veganism is the way to go. Since fishermen, farmers, hunters and ag experts were not in the room, no one set the speakers straight.

The speakers did point out that we are using and owning more animals than ever in our history. This is correct. Modern man remains dependent on animals for his food, fiber and medical research. Without ownership and use of animals, a necessity along with plants, our civilization would collapse.

Not surprisingly, animal ownership was assailed by the speakers, with lots of spittle saved for corporate ownership. There was little discussion about wild animals and how they fit into the scheme of things, except for a cursory mention of fish by one of the panelists who pointed out that they are not included in the statistic that 98% of the animals we currently use are for food. There was no mention that every animal on the planet will die in its time (most of the wild ones in the first six months of life). There was no mention that, for organic life forms, such as man, it is natural, and good, for us to benefit from other organic life forms before they die and decompose.

Several speakers were convinced that farmers, who are focused on the bottom line and making a profit, can't possibly care about animals at the same time. There was no discussion about how withholding food or care from an animal will result in dead and diseased animals, a huge negative for any bottom line and a situation farmers work hard to avoid. Some of the statements made will irritate any farming family working 24/7, 365 days a year.

Panelists believed that the system has no incentives built in for quality animal care, that this can only be imposed from outside (consumer pressure, lawsuits, rules and regs, state initiatives). They were generally horrified at how animals are treated on large, modern farms, which is odd, since such farms are producing some of the finest animals on the planet. Modern animal ag is excelling at animal husbandry, the best since man domesticated animals 10,000 years ago.

Raising quality animals is such a defining part of what farmers do with their lives, but these panelists just simply don't believe it. And they are ready to litigate and legislate to move the world to veganism.

All wasn't doom and gloom. A highlight of the conference was provided by Francione, who stated, "[A]ll of the statistics show unequivocally that the fur industry is stronger today than it has been in a long time. … If anything the fur industry is stronger than it was 10 or 15 years ago." 

Since animal rightists continue to have doubts about this, thanks, Gary, for clearing that up.

See also:

For further discussion of food and fiber policy, see Let Them Eat Cake! PeTA sees foot-and-mouth disease as the final solution, by Teresa Platt, Apr. 24, 2001.

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