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Cheap shotWhen my least favorite organization took a cheap shot last week at two of my favorite groups, my blood boiled. If you've been reading this column for any length of time, you know I often share my passion for the agriculture industry and 4-H in this space. And I often am appalled at the antics of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Last week, guest commentary was published on the Chicago Tribune website, entitled, "4-H: Cruel to animals and kids." The commentary was written by Jennifer O'Connor, who is identified as a writer for PETA. O'Connor's stepdaughter, Bonnie, joined 4-H and accepted a loan of a cow from a local dairyman to use as her 4-H project. After a couple of years, Bonnie's cow was culled from the herd and sold to become meat because she was unable to breed. O'Connor says Bonnie was heartbroken and the experience turned her into a vegetarian. She also says the 4-H leaders dismissed her as being too sentimental. An excerpt: "Unfortunately, 4-H provides a mere snapshot of how we systematically desensitize ourselves to the origins of the chops, steaks and wings that we put in our mouths. If most kind people actually stopped to think about it, they'd balk at eating the body parts of an animal who has lived and died in misery." Any 4-H member who has ever had a livestock project has experienced the sentimentality that Bonnie experienced when her cow had to be culled. I remember watching my first 4-H lamb, Riley, being loaded onto the trailer and having that strange feeling in my stomach. I grew up on a farm where life and death is evident each and every day and still I was upset. My son (and his parents) had that same experience with his 4-H pigs. The difference between what I experienced and Bonnie's experience is how our parents handled the situation. My parents used the situation to reinforce the lesson: Food animals have a great purpose in life--to nourish the hungry. We have enjoyed their lives and have learned responsibility by caring for them and providing a safe environment but, ultimately, their job in life is to provide food. Bonnie's parents didn't say those things. I'm not sure what they said, but I could guess. Consequently, a young girl didn't understand her cow lived a great life while she was on this earth. She provided milk to countless people and, when she couldn't do that anymore, she was still able to provide meat. To me, that's a noble life. We know the agriculture industry feeds the world through hard work and excellent care of animals and land. We know animals don't suffer misery, as O'Conner claims, but they live a life in comfort and health where every nutritional need is given to them. We know 4-H teaches not cruelty to kids and animals, but responsibility and life skills like positive self-concept and sound decision-making. We know children take these experiences and become tomorrow's leaders. Bonnie continues in 4-H, O'Connor wrote, because she wants to make one cow's life comfortable every year. I can only hope her 4-H leaders are able to instill some of these life skills in her. I hope she can one day be an intelligent young woman, who makes good decisions based on fact, instead of sensationalizing an entire industry and slandering a fine youth program as her stepmother has done. The entire commentary by be found at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-200911020803mctnewsservbc-4h-peta-mct52338nov 0,0,1392195.story. Holly Martin can be reached by phone at 620-227-1806, or by e-mail at hmartin@hpj.com.
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