Undercover at the Pig Farm: This Is Where "Bacon" Comes From

Yesterday, Mercy for Animals gave Fox News the exclusive on its latest undercover investigation -- at a standard pig farm. And Fox News put it right in its Web site's top story spot, hopefully catching the attention of many people. The video is certainly disturbing, heartbreaking, horrifying; Fox wouldn't even air portions of it. Indeed, knowing what I was going to see (and hear), I couldn't make myself watch it until today, which I felt I had to do before asking readers to watch.

If you haven't seen footage from previous investigations (or, for that matter, even if you have), and you're still eating animals, you owe it to the animals and yourself to watch the video, included at the end of this post. There's no excuse for not educating yourself on what exactly it is you're involved in and paying for.

I won't repeat all that you can read about the investigation at MFA's site for it, but I will comment on one objection to how animal advocates often present these investigations and touch on something the Discerning Brute has just discussed as well in this context: people's (or at the very least, Americans') bizarre obsession with bacon in recent years.

First, the bacon. It's been everywhere the last few years (see the Discerning Brute post for some visuals). Many vegans (and vegetarians) are accustomed to the experience of gritting their teeth while friends, family, and acquaintances tease about bacon, sing the praises of bacon, and insist they "couldn't live" without bacon, as a defensive counter to vegans' way of living and eating or in an attempt to rile them up. And when you know what happens to pigs, to those sensitive, smart, feeling animals, for people to get bacon, let's be honest -- it can be hard to resist the in-the-moment urge to flip people off and tell them what monumental jerks they are.

Because the video and the details of the undercover investigation? That is bacon. Bacon is full of physical suffering and mental anguish. Of abuse and pain. Of screams that will haunt you. Of beatings and, obviously, of death.

And if you think you'll really miss BLTs, you have animal-friendly options; from Smart Bacon to tempeh bacon, the vegan world has you covered.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, I will make note of one objection to how the investigation is being presented in some places. Too frequently, animal advocates use the term "factory farm" while failing to clearly acknowledge that many of these very same practices can and do take place in small operations as well. Beyond the gestation and farrowing crates, nothing this video shows is wholly absent from the overwhelming majority of small or so-called humane farms. The "tagging," the castration, the brutal killing of piglets who don't make the cut -- it's all standard, across the board. Animals are commodities on small farms just like they are on large ones. And obviously, you can't escape the killing -- the killing of babies and adolescents at that -- no matter where you go.

Much of what happens on "factory" farms happens on small farms, and what happens to animals raised for their flesh happens to animals raised primarily for their milk, eggs, and wool as well. Please remember as you watch the below that you have a choice not only in whether you eat pigs and financially endorse and support their suffering, but also in whether you endorse and pay for the suffering of the other animals whose bodies are used to provide so-called foods too.

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Photo and video courtesy Mercy for Animals' Pig Farm Investigation Web site