Written by Upton Sinclair, The Jungle is a book that made history. I'd heard about it before various times, but never took the time to read it. Perhaps I wasn't ready for the content. After reading a short segment of it, perhaps, I'm STILL not ready for it. Much of what we read talked about the working conditions and lives of the workers featured in the story. They were more than excited to have the job - they just wanted to make money to buy their house. The jobs were horrible and disgusting. There were descriptions of the conditions in the slaughterhouse and those were appalling. I was especially disgusted when it mentioned that the meat inspector casually skipped a dozen hogs a time when checking for TB.And apparently that's still happening today. No details were left out when describing the man and machine powered assembly line killing processes taking place day in and day out of the slaughterhouse. Thousands and thousands of cows and pigs were killed daily and butchered for meat to later be distributed. Blood and guts covered the floor continuously.
A section we read went into depth discussing the view point of the soon-to-be slaughtered pigs. What did they do to deserve this treatment.? "Is there no Hog-God?" Why are their lives not valued like ours? The workers couldn't even take the time to thank the pigs for their job well-done or so gratitude for their sacrifice before slinging them up and slicing their throats. All of this got me thinking deeply about these animals and their sad lives. I was very upset and came to realize that I hate what is happening to so many innocent animals out there. I recently watched a video that related directly to this subject - it brought me to tears. Watch it here.
The Jungle was published in 1906, but clearly conditions are still far from ok in these slaughterhouses and farms. Will the conditions ever be humane? I don't think they will. Over the last weekend, I made the final decision to no longer eat red meat. I told myself that starting on Monday, February 17th no more pork or beef would pass through my lips. After completing my reading of the passage from this book - I'm happier than ever with my decision and I'm dedicated to sticking to it.
I appreciated your comments on animal rights, both immigrants and animals were the ones mistreated! Bravo on your decision to cut red meat from your diet! I've been so much healthier and felt better being vegetarian and I know you will be happy you made the choice to reduce your meat consumption!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your decision to give up red meat, I think it's certainly healthier not to eat that stuff.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you for giving up red meat from your diet! It will definitely be healthy and I'm sure it'll be a good choice.
ReplyDeleteI read Slaughterhouse before the short section we had to read in this book.. It shocked me to read about how similar the conditions in those places still are to how they were so long ago. The only thing they really seem to have improved upon is the speed of production... That's the only thing they care about. I decided to give up meat, too, shortly after reading Slaughterhouse. I think you'll find that it's really not hard after gaining all this knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI watched the first minute of your video and couldn't finish it.. The site of seeing a baby pig being pounded against the ground.. I was horrified. Also props on giving up red meat I have been tossing around the idea as well and think by the end of this class I just might be fed up enough to do it.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for deciding to stop eating red meat. After reading the assigned selections this semester, I have really thought about what I eat. [Although I hardly eat red meat (I don't eat any pork at all).]
ReplyDeleteGood job abstaining from red meat! I a few weeks ago that I only want to eat meat that comes off of an actual farm, not from a slaughterhouse. I like that you brought up the animal rights issue mentioned in the Jungle. I thought that part was pretty interesting, I think animal life is underappreciated, especially by the food industry.
ReplyDeleteIt is so disturbing how the industry overlooked so many dangerous aspects of the meat they were packaging...
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh...I just watched the first 10 seconds of that video and I had to stop it. I started crying. The way they treat the animals is not okay. Now i'm all emotional and can't stop thinking about the baby pigs. But I am very happy for the choice you made about not eating red meat! You go girl!
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