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NY Times Inadvertently Promotes Consumption of Baby Cows Raised in Crates

August 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

In an article entitled Veal Farmers Adopt More Humane Methods, the NY Times gives people permission “to try veal again” by profiling a Kentucky veal company, which sells “pasture-raised” calves: “About 25 percent of the country’s veal comes from Strauss Brands, which, like many modern meat producers, has moved away from the methods that prompted outrage from animal-rights groups and diners alike.” It is only further down in the article, after many readers have moved on, that we learn that only 5% of Strauss’ calves are pasture-raised. So this begs the question: how are the other 95% of Strauss’ calves raised?

Photo: Tim Harris, NY Times

Photo: Tim Harris, NY Times

News & Opinion

Both the text and the photos in this NY Times story paint a picture of happy, free-roaming baby cows who suffer only at the end, when they are slaughtered at 7.5 months old. Of course, slaughter is a terrifying experience and is reason, in and of itself, to abstain from eating animals. But for those who don’t oppose slaughter but do who oppose intensive confinement, this article (inadvertently?) gives the impression that the baby cows who they eat now come from big green pastures. This is not the case! In fact, only 20% of veal calves are pasture-raised, according to the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, which means that majority of calves are probably raised in conditions like this.  In the meantime, these images of lush, green pastures “take away the stigma” of eating veal and “give people permission” to eat it again.


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