Fast food and animal rights: An examination and assessment of the industry's response to social pressure

Business and Society Review

Volumn 113, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 301-328

  Adams, Ronald J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 51449122306     PISSN: 00453609     EISSN: 14678594     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8594.2008.00322.x     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. See MSNBC, "Chicago Bids Frustrated Farewell to Foie Gras." Available online at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13840670/. Load date: July 13, 2006.
2. S. J. Engelsman, "World leader-at what price? A look at lagging American animal protection laws," (Fall 2005) Pace Environmental Law Review, v. 22, p. 343.
3. Foie gras has been labeled by PETA the "delicacy of despair." Allegedly, PETA investigations have revealed "barrels full of dead ducks who had choked to death or whose organs had ruptured during the traumatic force-feeding process." See: "Foie gras: delicacy of despair." Available online at: http://www.goveg.com/feat/foie/investigations.html.
4. MSNBC. Op cit, at n. 1.
5. Mayor Daley of Chicago has called the foie gras ordinance the "silliest law the City Council ever passed" and alleges that the action by the council has made Chicago "... a laughingstock all over the country." The mayor has called for a repeal of the ban. See "Natarus, stone seek repeal of foie gras ban," Chicago Sun-Times, September 11, 2006. Available online: http://www.suntimes.com.
6. For an excellent review of reported criminal actions against the industry, see National Animal Interest Alliance, "Animal rights and environmental extremists use intimidation and violence to achieve their ends," available online at: http://www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/ archives/arterror.htm. Load date, January 30, 2006.
7. In the context of animal cruelty, ethical consumption "may be loosely understood as consumer choice based on a good's or service's total effect on other sentient beings." Thus, from this perspective, consumers who patronize establishments with the knowledge that the food purchased was procured from factory farms are guilty of unethical conduct. Additionally, it can be argued that sellers have a responsibility to provide consumers with the opportunity to make ethical choices; e.g., by providing information pertaining to the way animals were raised and processed. See: C. Dillard, "False advertising, animals, and ethical consumption," (2004) Animal Law, v. 10, p. 59.
8. P. Singer. Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals, New York: A New York Review Book, 1975, pp. 96-97.
9. Although a precise definition does not appear to exist, CAFOs or intensive livestock operations (ILOs) have been characterized as highly efficient operations that emphasize high volume and profit "with minimal regard for human health, safe food, the environment, humane treatment of animals, and the rural economy . . ." Commonly, the corporation that owns or controls the factory farm also owns the feed company, slaughterhouse, and final stages of production. See "What is a factory farm?" GRACE Factory Farm Project. Available online at: http://www.factoryfarm.org/. Load date: July 26, 2006.
10. G. A. Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry, Prometheus Books, 1997, p. 164. Excerpts available on-line at: http://www.goveg.com/ slaughterhouse_excerpts.asp.
11. See PETA, "Cruelty to animals: chickens." available online at: http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_chickens.asp.
12. Subtherapeutic refers to the use of antibiotics for reasons other than the treatment of disease. See K. Midkiff, "The meat you eat: how corporate farming has endangered America's food supply," xiii (2004) as cited in R. Mallon, "The deplorable standard of living faced by farmed animals in America's meat industry and how to improve conditions by eliminating the corporate farm," (Summer, 2005), Michigan State Journal of Medicine & Law, v. 9, 389-415.
13. Id., p. 404.
14. D. G., McNeil Jr., "KFC supplier accused of animal cruelty," New York Times, July 20, 2004, Section C, p. 2.
15. J. Warrick, "They die piece by piece: in overtaxed plants, humane treatment of cattle is often a battle lost," The Washington Post, April 10, 2001, Section A, p. 1.
16. D. G., McNeil Jr., "Inquiry finds lax federal inspections at Kosher meat plant," New YorkTimes, March 10, 2006, Section A, p. 16.
17. T. Regan, Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights, Lanham, Maryland, Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, 2004, p. 89.
18. For example, a recent study documented a direct, significant association between the incidence of human Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (e-coli) and livestock (cattle) farming intensity.
19. See J. E. Valcour, M. Pascal, S. A. McEwen, and J. B. Wilson, "Associations between indicators of livestock farming intensity and incidence of human Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection," (March 2002), Emerging Infectious Diseases, v. 8, no. 3, 252-257.
20. See A. Mosel, "What about Wilbur? Proposing a federal statute to provide minimum humane living conditions for farm animals raised for food production," (Fall 2001), University of Dayton Law Review, v. 27, 134-187.
21. S.T.O.P. Information, "Foodborne contaminants frequently asked questions: How do our foods become contaminated before purchase?" Available online at: http://www.safetables.org/Foodborne_Illness/contaminant_faq.html.
22. R. Marks, Cesspools of Shame: How Factory Farm Lagoons and Sprayfields Threaten Environmental and Public Health (July 2001), National Resources Defense Council and the Clean Water Network. Available online at: http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/cesspools/cessinx.asp.
23. Midkiff, op cit, at n. 12, p. 25.
24. S.J. Havercamp, "Are moderate animal welfare laws and a sustainable agricultural economy mutually exclusive? Laws, moral implications, and recommendations," (1998) Drake Law Review, v. 46, 645-676.
25. T. G. Buchholz, "Burgers, fries, and lawyers," (February 2004), Policy Review, No. 123. Available online at: http://www.policyreview. org/feb04/buchholz_print.html.
26. Regan, op cit, at n. 17, p. 178.
27. Sierra Club, "Clean water and factory farms: keep animal waste out of our waters-stop factory farm pollution." Available at http://www.sierraclub.org/factoryfarms.
28. P. Walker, Book Review: Stull, Donald D. and Michael J. Broadway, American Meat: A Threat to Your Health and to the Environment Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America, (Winter, 2004), Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law and Ethics, v. 4, p. 181.
29. For an assessment of fast food responsibility for the obesity crisis see: R. J. Adams, "Fast food, obesity, and tort reform: an examination of industry responsibility for public health," (Fall, 2005) Business and Society Review, v. 110:3, pp. 297-320.
30. See Singer, op cit, n. 7, p. 179.
31. D. Beers, For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United States, Swallow Press (Athens, OH), 2006.
32. Id., p. 3.
33. For a description of the two movements, see: H. Silverstein, Unleashing Rights: Law, Meaning, and the Animal Rights Movement, The University of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 1999, pp. 29-34.
34. Regan, op cit, n. 17, p. 59.
35. T. Regan, The Case for Animal Rights, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1983, pp. 394-395.
36. Singer, op cit, n. 8.
37. L. Munro, Compassionate Beasts: The Quest for Animal Rights, Praeger Publishers (Westport, CT) 2001, p. 42.
38. R. Payne, "Animal welfare, animal rights, and the path to social reform: One movement's struggle for coherency in the quest for change," (Spring, 2002), Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law, v. 9, p. 597.
39. Much of the discussion in this section is derived from S. Engelsman, "World leader-at what price? a look at lagging American animal protection laws," (Fall, 2005), Pace Environmental Law Review, v. 22, 329-369.
40. W. Pacelle, "Introduction: Law and public policy: future directions for the animal protection movement," (2005), Animal Law, v. 11, p. 3.
41. See C. Nowicki, "The Animal Welfare Act: all bark and no bite," (1999), Seton Hall Legislative Journal, v. 23, pp. 446-47, for a discussion of the property status of animals.
42. Id., p. 450.
43. Engelsman, op cit, n. 38, pp. 343-344.
44. Mosel, op cit, n. 19, pp. 341-342.
45. The civil process is generally unavailable because animals do not have standing before the courts and this technicality prevents citizens from bring suit in their behalf.
46. Mosel, op cit, pp. 181-187.
47. Mosel, Id. p. 150.
48. th ed.), McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2006, pp. 184-185.
49. As quoted in E. Weise, "Food sellers push animal welfare," USA Today, August 12, 2003. Available online at: http://usatoday.com.
50. D. J. Wolfson, "McLibel," first published in Animal Law, v. 5 (1999) and available online at: http://www.mcspotlight.org/case/trial/ verdict/wolfson2.html.
51. See "What's Wrong with McDonald's?" Available online at: http://www.mcspotlight.org/case/factsheet.html.
52. Wolfson, op cit, at n. 49.
53. Id.
54. See "The verdict: Chief Justice Bell's verdict, June 19, 1997: Summary of the Judgement," available online at: http://www.mcspotlight.org/ case/trial/verdict/verdict8_sum.html.
55. Id.
56. Although an exact definition of "culpably responsible" is not provided in standard legal references (and, indeed, the expression seems redundant), "culpable" is formally defined as "1. Guilty; blameworthy. 2. Involving the breach of a duty." Source: B. A. Garner (Editor in Chief), Black's Law Dictionary (7th ed.), (St. Paul, MN) West Group, 1999, p. 385.
57. See, for example, McDonald's Corporation, "Responsible purchasing: animal welfare." Available online at: http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/values/ socialrespons/markethtml.
58. The FMI Animal Welfare policy and program components statement is available online at: http://www.fmi.org/animal_welfare/animal_welfare.htm.
59. Id.
60. Id.
61. FMI, "Interim report: FMI-NCCR animal welfare program," February 15, 2002, p. 1.
62. Id., Attachment.
63. See "Social responsibility: Yum! brands animal welfare guiding principles," 2005, for a detailed description of KFC initiatives. Available online at: http://www.kfc.com/responsibility/animalwe]fare_principles.htm.
64. For detailed information see "Springer Mountain Farms: about us." Available online at: http://www.springermountainfarms.com/about_us. html.
65. Charity Wire. "Springer Mountain Chicken qualifies for American Humane Association Free farmed label," Thursday, May 24, 2001. Available online at: http://www.charitywire.com/charity9/00160.html.
66. For example, in commenting on Wendy's "Animal welfare program fact sheet," Bruce Friedrich of PETA noted in July 2000 letter to Jack Schuessier, CEO of Wendy's International that there was no evidence that Wendy's had ever raised the issue of animal welfare with its chicken suppliers, let alone actually terminate a supplier for failing to adhere to animal welfare guidelines, stating "It is consumer fraud for Wendy's to misrepresent its record on animal welfare to its customers to this degree." Available online at: http://www.wickedwendys.com/pw07201letter.html.
67. MSNBC, "Chicago Bids Frustrated Farewell to foie gras," July 13, 2006. Available online at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13840670/.