My name is Freddy and I’ve wasted nearly a month of my life on this place ?? I found it after being recommended by a few friends who have been hanging out here for quite some time.

I am a writer, graphics artist, photographer and just about anything else that comes up around the office. Aside from the above interests i’m really into scifi as I know that is so much more out there to be discovered, and a feeling that the universe is just teaming with life.

Well, I hope that I get to know more people here, share some experience and start learning. Have a greay day!

More broadly, however, I think it’s important to recognize that the two issues are connected, the humans and the animals. A slaughterhouse that is appallingly brutal to animals can’t help but be so, on some level, for humans (unless, perhaps, it were thoroughly mechanized). The same goes for prisons. The people who inflict violence, whether on humans or on animals, become victims of their own violence. Violence becomes a way of life, and providing poor conditions for one’s employees is a matter of course.

I think that fundamentally, animal welfare must be about human welfare first and foremost—otherwise it would be crass paternalism, thinking we know what’s best for creatures that are not ourselves. It is about what kind of society we want and how we want to behave as neighbors and stewards of our fellow creatures.

Another thing that wasn’t spoken of that night, but something Aaron later pointed out, is their Michael Pollan-esque message of “Eat conscientiously—as few animals as possible, ideally none.”

I think this is definitely key and something they may want to consider pushing a little harder in future gatherings. Not only does it speak to the environmental cause of lowering greenhouse gas emissions, but it also addresses the only way sustainable farms can replace factory farms. There’s a reason the latter exist and it has to do with our unparalleled consumption of meat. Americans eat twice the global average per day. That number has to go down if sustainable farms are to stand a chance.