The Culture and Agriculture of Animal Production

David Fraser
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Centre for Applied Ethics
University of British Columbia, 2357 Main Maill - Suite 248
Vancouver V6T 1Z4, Canada

biography

Contemporary beliefs about the proper treatment of farm animals involve deep cultural roots. One of these is the "agrarian ideal", described by Paul Thompson, which attaches moral importance to the individual farmer or farm family living in harmony with farm animals and the land. Even deeper roots are found in the Abrahamic religions which, having emerged in pastoralist cultures, legitimize the ownership and use of animals, but also attach moral value to diligent care of livestock. Some contemporary methods of animal production clash with these traditional beliefs. Beliefs about animals have also been influenced by developments in science, including the recognition (in the 16-1700s) that humans and other vertebrates share a common anatomical template, and the growing acceptance (in the 18-1900s) of common phylogenetic ancestry. More recent research on animal behavior has emphasized complex cognitive processes, social relationships, and individual "personality" in other species. These developments have helped to erode the perception of human uniqueness, and have lead to a rethinking of the ethical treatment of animals. Beliefs about animal agriculture have also been shaped by the current debate between the critics and defenders of intensive animal production. Critics have promoted the view that animal production (1) is detrimental to animal welfare, (2) is controlled by impersonal corporate interests, (3) is motivated by profit to the exclusion of ethical principles, (4) causes increased world hunger, (5) produces unhealthy food, and (6) harms the environment. Agricultural organizations have responded with vehement denials of these charges and with promotional materials portraying animal agriculture in a strongly positive light. The result is a growing division in public perceptions of animal agriculture and its moral standing. These conflicts create a need for leadership by the scientific and academic community (1) to better articulate Western cultural norms regarding farm animal care, and to develop forms of animal agriculture that will be consistent with these norms, (2) to better understand the cognitive processes and emotional states of farm animals as a basis for decisions about their care, and (3) to replace the current, polemical debate with more nuanced understanding of the effects of animal agriculture, as a basis for policy development. David Fraser has had a life-long interest in animals. He grew up on a farm in the Niagara Peninsula and studied animal behavior at the Universities of Toronto (B.A. in psychology) and Glasgow, Scotland (Ph.D. in zoology). From 1971 to 1975 he was on the staff of the University of Edinburgh conducting research on the behavior and management of farm animals. From 1975 to 1981 he worked in wildlife research, specializing in the behavior and management of moose. From 1981 to 1997 he was a research scientist at the Canadian government's Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa where he worked on behavior, management, and animal welfare problems of pigs and other farm animals. Since October 1997 he has been Professor of Animal Welfare at the University of British Columbia, cross appointed between the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and the Centre for Applied Ethics, as part of the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Animal Welfare. He lives a happy but conventional life in Vancouver with four children and one wife, and subscribes to a philosophy of cautious optimism in all matters except the environment, population growth, food security, minority rights, and world peace.