My friend doesn't believe that factory farms exist...
Well, she knows they exist but since she was in AG and the farm at her school was "pleasant" (i really don't see how ANY slaughter is pleasant) she thinks that that's how factory farms are too. my other friend looked at factory farm videos and she got mad at her for thinking that's how things are run! i told her that the vast majority, if not all, the meat she eats comes from a factory farm, and indeed, ALL those animals are tortured like they saw on the video. then she goes and gets even more mad because "of course PETA is gonna show the worst videos!" well, i can get a video from anywhere and it'll all be the same. and what really gets me is that she refuses to listen to anyone. i try to say something and she won't even let me get one word in before she says "no, no, i was in AG all 4 years of high school. it's not like that". i love her to death but can someone please give me advice on how to deal with it? i don't wanna change her way of life, but i wanna stand up for my own. :-\
help please? thanks!
Some people prefer to be in the dark about it. I've known several people who constantly challenged my beliefs and I just stopped trying. We just don't talk about it - at all. There's no use. All it does is upset me. Sorry I can't help more.
oh my... strangely enough I was just having a slightly similar convo with a friend of mine who is a die hard carni, but at the same time really loves all animals but continues to eat meat and cheese like its her last meal... we we're talking about "humane slaughter houses" and I was trying to explain that in my opinion there is no such thing but sometimes its like talking to a brick wall.
I honestly think its an easier option for people who eat meat to believe that its that natural order or food chain or that is an unfortunate necessity and most likely there is not much you can say to change their minds, and chances are that they see veganism as an unrealistic way of life or a form of extremism. The only thing I think you can really do in this situation is explain to your friend that you have done your research when it comes to the nutritional and activist part of being a vegan, that you understand if it may be something that she might not be ready to come to terms with because its an ugly and disgusting part of our society but that she needs to respect the way you live you life, like you do hers.
I always like to point out that one should never be criticized for trying to live a more compassionate life and a true friend would see that.
oh and I like to leave mags like AnimalTimes or VegNews laying around open to a good article or something like that because even a little bit of exposure here and there really can make a difference, it takes millions of grains of sand to make a beach!
and if all that doesn't work, say bygones, agree to disagree and let it go!
I'm still in high school, and the vast majority of teenagers think that.
"There are no such thing as factory farms. they don't kill animals like that anymore."
"WHAT?! are you kidding? there are definitely still factory farms."
le sigh.
of course, the general consensus is that in general.
people always seem to think "we" show the worst videos and that they are not the ones seeing the reverse... who is to say they're not seeing the "best" ?
Geeze, how can murder be good?
Whatttttttttt. Her being in ag should REINFORCE the fact of factory farms. I was in ag 4 years. It did that constantly. She was in a shotty ag program (Haha, i'm such an ag kid, the fact of what she learned in the classes makes me more ticked off than the actual thoughts)
thanks guys! yeah, we try to avoid the subject as much as possible but sometimes i think she brings it up in order to sart an argument. agh. lol. sarah, i knew you had been in ag and i thought that wouldve done it for her too, like it did to you. idk. whatever, im just gonna use my normal method and AVOID AVOID AVOID.
Go to a library and check out Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer (sp?). Show her Earthlings. Watch Food Inc.
There are plenty of sources of information outside of PETA.
And if she is willfully burying her head in the sand, just avoid the topic. You wont sway her opinion.
hey, what about that 30days episode where the hunter goes to live with an AR family and nurses that calf?
Go to a library and check out Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer (sp?). Show her Earthlings. Watch Food Inc.
There are plenty of sources of information outside of PETA.
And if she is willfully burying her head in the sand, just avoid the topic. You wont sway her opinion.
I agree with Food, Inc.
Earthlings was way too graphic for me I didn't watch more than like 20 minutes
if you dont mind saying. What school did she go to? Like, was she in ffa? I know most ffa chapters in florida. I'm just wondering. hahaha.
if it comes up again then ill def. suggest to her to watch all those. hopefully she will!
sarah- she went to southfork it's in stuart.
There was few clips on CBS news tonight that showed factory farms. It was a segment about the use of antibiotics in animal feed. I am pretty sure you can find this online.
Another good book is The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. There are a million references in it and many of them come straight from the industry's own literature. The industry actually puts it in black and white that this is the way to treat farm animals and that you should forget that they're living beings.
My dad is the same way. He thinks all these videos and stories are from a few "isolated" cases and that's it's not the "norm". Nothing I say will convince him.
My dad is the same way. He thinks all these videos and stories are from a few "isolated" cases and that's it's not the "norm". Nothing I say will convince him.
The thing is that it is the exact opposite... only like 10% of animals aren't "grown" on factory farms... the rest live in the nasty shitty conditions you see in the disturbing videos and these types on "farms" are the ones hidden from people
My dad is the same way. He thinks all these videos and stories are from a few "isolated" cases and that's it's not the "norm". Nothing I say will convince him.
The thing is that it is the exact opposite... only like 10% of animals aren't "grown" on factory farms... the rest live in the nasty shitty conditions you see in the disturbing videos and these types on "farms" are the ones hidden from people
thats what i try to tell her!! ughhh
I grew up near dairy farms. It was very obvious how those cows were raised - in crowded pins walking on their own feces. They definately do exist.
What I find incredibly sad is that pigs are supposed to be the third most intellegent species on earth, right under humans and dolphins, yet they the sows are raped repeatedly throughout their lives, arn't allowed to properly care for their young, draged to slaughter with hooks in their snouts, etc. That and I heard that because pigs eat a similar diet to humans, and have a similar digestive system, their meat tastes like human meat...yuk. I have no idea how they figured that one out, but it is no wonder that I never really cared for pork even when I was an omni!
My mom is the same way as your friend, I just avoid the subject with her. She thinks that peta shows the "worst case" and they are just "isolated incidences" and that that doesn't hapen in today's day and age, yadda yadda yadda.
But she things I eat "wierd" but she has FINALLY come to terms with my diet and does try to be respectful of my personal choices.
Just stand by your beliefs, eventually she will get tired of argueing and will just accept it. But to get to that point takes awhile.