Student: Katherine Jernigan
Graduation date: May 2015
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2012
Summary
Humans domesticate livestock for a variety of reasons, namely for sources of meat and dairy as well as raw materials such as leather, fur, and wool. Humans and livestock have been interacting for much of human history, as records show that some species have been domesticated for human use since before the Neolithic age (Zeuner 1963). 1.3 billion people worldwide depend on livestock for their livelihoods (de Haan 2007), and increases in demand, as well as cheap input costs and improved transportation have shaped new patterns of production and consumption of livestock and livestock products (Galloway et al. 2007). In order to maintain economies of scale and increase efficiency, many developed nations have developed systems of large industrial animal husbandry practices (Yount 2007). The economic benefits of large-scale animal husbandry systems are the main reasoning behind such practices. These systems use the commodification of animals to produce meat and animal products at low prices while simultaneously providing the livestock with protection from several dangers including weather, attacks from predators, and some diseases (Yount 2007). However, these industrial animal agriculture systems are changing human-animal relations in unprecedented ways, in the shift away from family-owned livestock to large industrial systems calls for an examination in the changes in the ways humans interact with the animals they rely on.
Situating this concentration in industrialized nations allows for a comparison and contrast of the varying cultural aspects of an industrialized system. It is conducive to a study of the patterns of production, processing, and consumption that an industrial livestock system creates. It also allows for a comparison with alternative methods of animal husbandry that exist in these countries and why those methods are used as supplements to the industrial system. Furthermore, many industrialized nations have similar consumption cultures. The way these animal products are marketed and sold in these nations has an effect on the demand for them and the moral psychologies of consumers and producers (Dolins 1999).
Using livestock in the commodity exchange market has various ecological and environmental repercussions, as well as ethical ones. Globalization has increased the ability to sell and transport animal products worldwide, creating commodity chains that have environmental externalities (Galloway et al. 2007). The production and processing of these products also has environmental and human health externalities (Chen et al. 2006). In addition to considering the human and marketing side of the animal industry, it is also necessary to consider the animal rights ethics involved in animal husbandry systems and the role of confinement and transport of the farmed livestock (Degrazia 2002) as well as the nature, purpose, and value of animals and rights of their possessors (Yount 2007). As population and urbanization increases, the demand for livestock is increasing (de Haan, 2007), which makes it ever more necessary to study and evaluate the livestock systems in developed nations which have set the stage for handling large-scale operations.
Two countries that have adopted these systems are the United States and Australia. It is useful to compare these two specific nations because of their similar histories of colonization and Anglo-American settlement. These histories have helped shape the countries’ relationships to the animals they rely on and to the environment as a whole (Butzer et al. 2005). Globally, these two nations are top consumers of animal products, and in the past, the Australian economy has been supported strongly by its meat and livestock industries (Franklin 2007). However, more pronounced nativism in Australia has created a different relationship with animals from other western nations (Franklin 2007). It is useful to compare nations with such histories to industrialized countries with very different histories and cultural values such as Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. The Japanese population, for instance, has many Buddhist ties and therefore has an interesting relationship with using animals for personal benefit. However, Japan is a key importer of meat and thus benefits economically because its land and resources are not devoted to raising the livestock they import as meat (Galloway et al. 2007). France has a culture built in food and culinary arts, which has impacted people’s views of using animals for meat and cheese as well as animal legislation (Johnston and Baumann 2009). The United Kingdom, finally, has been raising cattle and sheep since before the eighteenth century and thus has a very rich history of animal husbandry (Trow-Smith 2006). Through a comparison of various industrialized nations, one can see the differences in culture and history that influence people’s relationships with livestock and the way livestock systems develop.
Butzer, Karl W., and David M. Helgren. 2005. “Livestock, Land Cover, and Environmental History: The Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, 1820–1920.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 95 (1) (March): 80-111. a9h. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.2005.00451.x.
Chen, H.-L., and L. D. Burns. 2006. “Environmental Analysis of Textile Products.” Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 24 (3) (July 1): 248-261. doi:10.1177/0887302X06293065.
DeGrazia, David. 2002. Animal Rights : a Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dolins, Francine L. 1999. Attitudes to Animals : Views in Animal Welfare. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Franklin, Adrian. 2007. “Human-Nonhuman Animal Relationships in Australia: An Overview of Results from the First National Survey and Follow-up Case Studies 2000-2004.” Society & Animals 15 (1) (March): 7-27. a9h. doi:10.1163/156853007X169315.
Galloway, James N, Marshall Burke, G. Eric Bradford, Rosamond Naylor, Walter Falcon, Ashok K Chapagain, Joanne C Gaskell, et al. 2007. “International Trade in Meat: The Tip of the Pork Chop.” Ambi AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 36 (8): 622-629.
de Haan, Cees. “Livestock’s long shadow.” Environmental issues and options Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) http://www. virtualcentre. org/enlibrary/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00. pdf (2006).
Johnston, Josee, and Shyon Baumann. 2009. Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape. 1st ed. Routledge.
Trow-Smith, Robert. 2006. British Livestock Husbandry, 1700-1900. Taylor & Francis US.
Yount, Lisa. 2007. Animal rights. Infobase Publishing.
Zeuner, Frederick Everard. 1963. A History of Domesticated Animals. New York: Harper & Row.
Questions
- Descriptive: In what ways do industrialized nations rely on animals for food and products? When and how did humans begin domesticating animals? What are common approaches to animal husbandry in industrialized nations? What are the economic benefits, drawbacks, and trade-offs of industrial and small-scale animal agriculture?
- Explanatory: How does industrial animal agriculture impact consumers? How are animal products marketed and sold? How has the domestication of animals corresponded to the growth of industrialized nations?
- Evaluative: What are the ethical implications of using animals for their products? What are the psychological impacts on both producers and consumers who use animals for their products? What are some environmental and labor externalities of industrial animal agriculture?
Concentration courses
- SOAN 489, Animal Studies, 4 credits, Spring 2013 This class examines western thought surrounding the relationship between man and animal and then how this relationship has shaped how we treat animals today. It would allow me to see the history of human relationships with animals and how those relationships have changed over time as well as the impact of such relationships. It is taught in correlation with the law school.
- SOAN 249, The Political Economy of Food, 4 credits, Fall 2012 This course assesses extensively the role meat and dairy products play in people’s lives as well as the commodity chains associated with each. The course also addresses social inequalities and power relations involved in the systems.
- SOAN 200, Qualitative Research Methods, 4 Credits, Fall 2013 This class, focusing on interview methods and participant observation, will prepare me for research that I will complete in Australia and possibly during my thesis research.
- ENVS 499, Study of the Australian wool industry, 4 credits (2+2), Fall 2013 and Fall 2014 Doing an independent study of the wool industry in Australia would allow me to better understand Australia’s approaches to animal husbandry in a demanding market because Australia is the number one exporter of wool in the world. I will be involved in participant observation as well as conducting surveys and interviews.
Arts and humanities courses
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- PHIL 103, Ethics, 4 credits, Spring 2013 This introduction to ethics will allow me to assess the basic ethical questions surrounding eating and using animals, as well as the farming practices of confinement, transportation, and antibiotic use.