Food Chain Radio News
Food Chain Radio Host Michael Olson
Urban Farming Agriculturalist
OF AUTISM, ANIMAL WELFARE & DR. TEMPLE GRANDIN
How should we treat the animals we are to eat?
Guest: Dr. Temple Grandin, Professor of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University
This from the book of Genesis:
And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
And so he did, and so here we are, with all this dominion business to manage. Given the videos taken at animal processing facilities, its pretty easy to see we have not been doing a very good job with our dominion management, at least with respect to the animals we eat. What to do?
Dr. Temple Grandin does not read things in the normal sort of way. She is autistic, and comprehends in pictures instead of words. This ability allows her to see animal behavior, decode that behavior, and use that understanding of behavior to modify how we handle the animals we are to eat.
Dr. Grandin’s ability to see and comprehend animal behavior, together with the backing of some very big businesses, has allowed her to change how we treat the animals we are to eat, for the betterment of all concerned. And so we turn to her and ask…
How should we treat the animals we are to eat?
