Page 107 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

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THE CONSCIOUS CARNIVORE:

ANIMAL WELFARE EDITION

n a nation that spends innumerable hours a year watching
cat videos and pampers its dogs with plush beds and toys,
Iwe treat chickens and pigs and cows in ways we would never
treat felines and canines. Or pet birds for that matter. And
then, we eat the animals we just did all that awful stuff to.
For conscious carnivores, it helps to be aware of the “Five
Freedoms,” which is considered the gold standard for animal
welfare. Since it was first proposed in the United Kingdom
decades ago, this framework has been widely adopted by
groups such as the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals that are committed to the fair treatment of
animals under human care. The Five Freedoms are:

freedom from hunger and thirst,
freedom from discomfort—meaning to be sheltered and
given enough space to move and rest comfortably,

freedom from pain, injury, or disease—meaning to be
treated expeditiously in the latter two cases,
freedom from fear and distress—meaning given condi-
tions that don’t cause psychological suffering, and
freedom to express the normal behaviors that a given
species would exhibit in nature, like walking around or
pecking or grazing.

96 how to be a Conscious Eater

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