Occupy Wall Street: Do your homework next time.

In case you haven't noticed, the "occupiers" are still camping out outside of corporations and on public universities throughout the US. My college campus has had student occupiers since September... and they are still there- well, their tents are at least. As they will tell you, it is their right to occupy these areas and stand up for what they believe. It doesn't bother me one bit that there are people out there that will stand up for what they believe is right, I am glad that there are still people out there who will try to make a difference!
What I DO have a problem with is the general lack of knowledge that these occupiers have about the very issues they are standing up for. If you have not seen their "list of demands," you can see it at their website here:
OccupyWallStreet.org

Here are two items from their list that directly relate to agriculture:
"They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization."
"They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices."

Poisoned the food supply through negligence? Here’s a fun fact for you: The US has one of the safest food supplies in the world. When you go to the grocery store, you don’t have to worry about what kinds of diseases or pathogens may be carried by the food there, you just have to worry about what flavor or packaging you like best. That is because we have the technology available to grow safe food. Even after it leaves the farm, products are inspected for safety before ever reaching the grocery store shelves.

Undermined the farming system through monopolization? There are numerous organizations that work with the agriculture industry in order to support and get funding for research in order to better our industry. A monopoly is when one company or person has exclusive control over something… who then is controlling agriculture? Bottom line: agriculture is a consumer driven industry, not controlled by one person or company.

How about profiting off of the torture and cruel treatment of animals? If you can explain to me how an injured or neglected animal is profitable to a producer, I would love for you to help me understand. Healthy animals benefit producers, torturing them would be far from profitable. The occupiers lost a lot of respect from me for that statement alone.

As for confinement, there are numerous benefits for the animals AND for the consumer of animal products raised in confinement. The animals are not exposed to outdoor threats such as predators, hazardous weather conditions, and pathogens for disease. If you still do not agree with this practice, however, there are plenty of producers who raise their animals outdoors, and as a consumer you can choose which product to buy in the store. I understand that raising animals in confinement is a controversial issue, but listing it as a negative practice is simply not factual.

One last thing that I found humorous about this list of demands was their statement accusing the media of misinforming the public. This is a huge problem with agricultural issues such as animal welfare, and yet, they have used the misinformation supplied by the media to form items on their own list of demands. I guess that’s one way to prove your own point…
My point here is simple: I applaud the occupiers for standing up for what they believe is right, but get your facts straight before you make a national protest with weak arguments based on non-factual information.