Bathrooms, Civilization, and Factory Farming

Let’s talk about bathrooms. Since I have an extraordinarily small bladder (always much to the dismay of the poor fellow in the airplane aisle seat next to me), I have spent quite a bit of time in public restrooms. So, maybe I have contemplated the nature of communal lavatories more than most. But, have you ever thought about how strange and ridiculous they are? I mean, essentially, bathrooms are a series of metal stall doors and walls shielding people sitting on toilets all lined up in a row. I’m all for decency and privacy but, I can’t help but chuckle when I think about it. It’s like, these stall doors make it perfectly acceptable and unquestionably normal that a bunch of strangers are doing their “business” in a rather tiny and compact room. But then again, people love building walls and shielding themselves from unsettling realities. It’s what we do. Just as Jack Nicholson famously declares in A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth!”

Although a seemingly crude example, bathrooms really do paint a beautiful image of our modern human society. Mankind has “progressed” by distancing ourselves from “harsh” temporal reality, namely, “wilderness”. We built empires and civilizations trying to elevate ourselves to a place above the Earth. Created “in the image of God”, the heavens are where humans ultimately belong, not in the mud and dirt below our feet. Coliseums, steeples, cathedrals, and skyscrapers all reach up to the swirly blue sky above us.

But, nature is reality. We are nature and nature is us. “Civilization” is merely a series of stall doors shielding us from what we truly are. In consequence, our constructed realities have prevented us from seeing the devastating, disturbing, and downright gruesome effects of our modern society.

Our propensity to overlook the rather horrific truths of contemporary human society is no better demonstrated than with our consumption of food produced through industrial, factory farming methods.

Most people have undoubtedly seen images or heard stories of the grisly conditions in which factory farm animals are kept. Students across the country have read The Jungle and Silent Spring. Citizens are generally aware of the basic negative impacts industrial farming methods can impose on human and environmental health. So, why aren’t more people out on the streets demanding serious change?

It’s those darn bathroom stalls! People refuse to believe that the food they buy, the food they eat is grown in these destructive ways. People unquestioningly consume meat and other food products grown industrially, choosing safe and comfortable passivity over active interrogation and thought. Interrogation will only lead to an unpleasant truth. This is something a person would rather not know. Just construct some nice, solid “Hide-a-Hiny” walls and no one has to think about a thing!

According to The Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, founded by UC Berkeley alumna Katie Cantrell, “95% of people want farm animals to be treated well,” and yet “99% of farm animals are not”. This means that the vast majority of our milk, chicken, burgers, etc. are coming from animals that spend their entire lives in confined, dirty, smelly, and shockingly tiny cages. Not to mention, 100% of people want to consume healthy, uncontaminated foods and yet 70% of ground beef is sprayed with ammonia gas, 70% of our processed foods contain GMOs, 95% of the eggs we eat are produced in farm “factories”, 50% of all antibiotics produced are fed to farm animals, and the list goes on and on. The harsh reality is, an overwhelmingly large percentage of food available to Americans is produced through deleterious and inhumane factory farming methods.

Organizations, like The Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, prove that humans are capable of breaking down the bathroom stalls shielding us from society’s difficult truths. These grim actualities are inseparable from a society that views nonhuman life as simple commodities to be sold on the imperial marketplace that keeps our “civilized” society strong. We need to critically reevaluate the way we view ourselves, the way we relate with nonhuman life, and the way we grow and produce our food.

Humans, a recent evolutionary development in the scope of time, have survived the past millenniums solely because of our adept minds. First used to build tools and protect against predators, then used to both physically and mentally construct “civilization”, and now used to shield ourselves from the gruesomely cruel truths of the modern society we have built. But, we need to break free of our constructed barriers and recognize the cruelty we are imposing on both human and nonhuman life. Think on that the next time you are sitting inside the Dwinelle Hall bathroom stall!

This coming Wednesday, December 5^th, take a break from studying and “BART” on over to SF for a sure-to-be amazing discussion about the issues associated with factory farming and how society and individuals can address these issues. (While on BART, look for the 40 station ads and 120 car ads The Factory Farming Awareness Coalition recently won in the BART Blue Sky contest in September.) More info on the event below:

Hidden in Plain Bite: Overlooked Opportunities for Food System Reform

Wednesday, December 5th from 6:30-9pm

371 10th St., San Francisco

“The Factory Farming Awareness Coalition and Food Shift are excited to present a delicious and thought provoking event, “Hidden in Plain Bite: Overlooked Opportunities for Food System Reform.” Speakers from local organizations will discuss everything from food waste to slavery in the chocolate industry, and present innovative ways to fix our food system. The evening will also feature organic food and a decadent silent auction. Tickets are $8 online, $12 at the door. For more information and to buy tickets, please visit this link.”

 

“Like” and follow The Factory Farming Awareness Coalition on Facebook! Also, look out for the Coalition on campus! Since the inception of the organization two years ago, the Coalition has given over 100 presentations (mostly to UC Berkeley classes, student groups, co-ops, and residence halls). The Coalition is also partnering with student groups, Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy (BOAA) and Residential Sustainability Program (RSP), to bring Meatless Mondays to the Cal Dining Halls.