Some USDA inspectors have expressed grave concern about the unhygienic conditions in meat plants, and yet they have little voice to enact change. They no longer have the authority to stop the line if they notice something suspicious, nor can they take remedial action. In fact, in order for a federal inspector’s complaint to be seriously considered, the company itself must agree that there is a problem.

THE YEAR 1977 marked the first significant victory in the history of the anti-vivisection movement, which had existed for over a century without stopping a single experiment. The campaign, run by activist Henry Spira, succeeded in ending experiments on mutilated cats at the American Museum of Natural History and was such a triumph that it mobilized the modern animal rights movement.

These roles can be played effectively or ineffectively. Problems arise when activists don’t play their roles effectively, or when they devalue the roles other activists play.

But mainstreaming the movement doesn’t mean changing the movement’s values. It means framing or presenting them in a way that speaks to the people it is trying to attract.

Why is it that we love our companion animals so much, animals that we call “pets,” and get so much deep human value from those relationships, but then we turn around and call other animals “dinner,” and by virtue of that semantic distinction feel entitled to treat those animals with any manner of cruelty as long as it lowers the price per pound?

The most effective way to distort reality is to deny it; if we tell ourselves there isn’t a problem, then we never have to worry about what to do about it. And the most effective way to deny a reality is to make it invisible.

Have you ever noticed that, though we breed, raise, and kill ten billion animals per year, most of us never see even a single part of the process of meat production?

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. – Mahatma Gandhi.

What is our group’s overall mission? Where are we now in relation to our mission? Where do we want to be in two, three, five, and ten years? How do we get there from here?

Sir Paul McCartney once claimed that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. He believed that if we knew the truth about meat production, we’d be unable to continue eating animals.