To Eat or Not to Eat - McDonalds

A three-year-old sits in his playpen with a toy that teaches him the names and sounds of the barnyard animals. The fuzzy cow with soft eyes gently hums moo moo; the little pig with supple pink skin and a cute curly tail goes oink oink; the bright, colourful rooster sings cock-a-doodle-doo. The man who runs this happy haven is a nice farmer named Old McDonald who lives a humble life taking care of his happy little farm pets. All day, in his overalls and straw hat, he sings happy little jingles about his beloved pets and the adorable sounds they make.

Later that evening the boy and his family eat a hearty supper of pulled pork in sultry barbecue sauce with a side of mashed potatoes and beef gravy. The curious boy picks up a fork full of his pork and looks at his mother with curious eyes. He asks in a sweet voice "Mommy, where does this come from?". The mother cautiously plays through her word choice in her head so not to disturb the little boy's innocence. She responds with "Well, Old McDonald's farm, of course" in her sweetest voice she can muster. The boy dashes to the other room and returns with his arms full of stuffed farm animals and a book about Old McDonald's farm and, holding out all of his toys for his mother to see, says "Mr. McDonald would never give away his animals, right?". His dad stares, absolutely horrified that his son would be traumatized by the truth; the truth that no father should ever have to tell his son. That the boy is sucking on the delectable shredded shoulder of Old McDonald's loyal slaughtered hog.

The truth is, Old McDonald is not the nice, loving farmer who is always eager to care for his animals. He is nothing more than a business man who slaughters his pets. The humble stout farm is in fact a factory where Bessie the cow and Wilber the pig are raised for your dinner plates. The classic silos under a blue sky with a fresh mown field of grass and bundled hay are great for calendars and postcards but are not useful in modern animal farming. Happy life on the farm is replaced by rows upon rows of machinery and tiny pens and machinery in place of the farmers. Here, animals are treated like inmates on death row.

Some argue that because mankind has reached the top of the food chain, they have earned the right to raise other animals in treacherous conditions in bulk for food and money. Others believe mass producing animals and slaughtering them after a disturbing life is just ethically and morally wrong. Poor animals are raised in a mechanical world where they are held in cages too small to allow for their unnatural growth from hormones and plumpers. Their legs snap because they cannot lift the sudden weight gain and collapse under their weight. Finally, after a few long years of hate, they are loaded into a truck where they will soon find themselves in a slaughterhouse and, shortly after that, on your dinner plate swimming