Treatment of Animals

In November, California voters will decide the fate of the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, a measure that is designed to make California the first state to bar the confinement of egg-laying hens and other animals to small cages.

Animal rights organizations such as PETA, along with smaller operations promoting vegan and vegetarian lifestyles have sparked the ire of the greater progressive left  with recent marketing strategies using female sexuality as a means to promote their message.

Not all ethical shoppers subscribe to animal rights ideologies that hold the raising and killing of animals for food to be immoral. For many of us, knowing that a cow had enough space to graze, or that an egg-laying chicken wasn't grown in a crowded factory is enough. Others are strict humanists, believing that our moral and ethical responsibilities apply only to ourselves and our fellow human beings. But what if eating meat were just as lethal to our bodies and our planet as it is to the creatures we turn into hamburger?

Bluefin tuna is the sushi lover’s sushi of choice—feeding a growing demand. Many sushi restaurants in the U.S. are called Bluefin. But the Atlantic-based fish is nearing extinction, a fact known for decades, but now is of great urgency. Despite international catch quotas set, bluefin tuna was over fished this year by 50 percent. The plight is now so severe that even chefs in restaurants and cooking writers are strongly advocating that consumers stop ordering Bluefin sushi.

The National Organics Standards Board recently met to decide whether farmed fish can qualify for the government's organic label. For many proponents of organic food, the debate provides another example of the watering down of both the concept and labeling of 'organic' food.