Page 27 - IFV_Issue 7_2022

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Photo by Sven Brandsma

WHY THE STORY OF THE MEAT

YOU EAT IS IMPORTANT

t is hard to defend being a meat eater recommended five freedoms. But the Five Freedoms are a problem.
to those who graphically describe These are the Five Freedoms that have They lead to ‘humane washing’ through
Ithe inhumane treatment animals since been developed and adopted by the unethical practice of marketing with
suffer on the way to your plate. organisations and authorities in Europe misleading claims. Their weakness is they
But all that falls away if the animals and the USA: are vague and open to interpretation.
have had a life worth living and a • Freedom from hunger or thirst So while factory farms might provide
humane end. • Freedom from discomfort the appropriate facilities, they barely
Justine Reardon’s remarkable story of • Freedom from pain, injury or disease consider the animals’ well-being.
how she transformed herself from a third • Freedom to express normal behaviour The USA-based Humane League
generation fashion designer, cutting • Freedom from fear and distress points out that the Five Freedoms
and trimming material for dressing These are not only good for the minimise the negative but they do not
Jo’burg’s young social set, to cutting animals destined for the table, they promote the positive and it leads to
and trimming meat, has a foundation in are good for the people consuming animals surviving rather than thriving.
ethics and healthy living. the meat. “At the butchery where I In line with this, Justine believes
According to Justine, raising the bar worked in Morningside, you could tell that the suppliers to the Food Club she
for the humane treatment of animals the difference when an animal was is forming should be moving toward
in the food system began in 1965 slaughtered whilst in a fit of adrenalin- providing animals with a ‘life worth
when Irish zoologist Francis Brambell induced fear. The adrenalin changes the living’.
researched a basic set of standards for colour and smell of the meat and it is As the Humane League puts it, in
all animals under human control. He much tougher,” says Justine. addition to providing the essentials they

The Villager • Issue 7 2022 • 25