Both Chipotle and McDonald's got it wrong.
I know a lot of animal advocates got excited by the Chipotle commercial that aired during the Grammys. On the surface, it seems like a great message: factory farming has messed our environment, tortures the animals and dehumanizes farmers. Who can disagree? But the purported solution is to go back to the way things were - allow the animals to roam free, on green pastures. The tagline is "Cultivate a better world."
The problem is that we cannot go back to the way things were. We just can't feed animal products to seven billion people. Animal agriculture is inherently inefficient, and to lead the public into thinking that we can produce enough meat, eggs and dairy to feed everyone a standard American diet without confining the animals is deceitful. Factory farming wasn't invented by sadists; it was invented by scientists who saw the human population booming, and knew that we had to come up with a more efficient way to produce animal products if people wanted to continue eating meat.
Another thing missing from the Chipotle commercial? The slaughterhouse. No matter how much fun those pigs, cows and chickens have in those fields, they all end up in a slaughterhouse. The true solution, from both an animal rights standpoint and environmental standpoint, is veganism.
Similarly, we're supposed to get excited about McDonald's statement against gestation crates. Gestation crates are horrible. They are unbelievably cruel. But the McDonald's statement is vague and promises nothing. McDonald's says they will meet with their suppliers and ask for their plans to phase out gestation crates, but hasn't given anyone a deadline for getting rid of them. Saying you're opposed to something while you continue to do it is meaningless. Until there's a deadline, it's just a publicity grab.
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