As the coronavirus rages around the world and the debate over Asian "wet markets" (where animals are slaughtered on demand) continues, I was surprised to find out
so many of them currently operate in America:
"Some so-called 'wet markets' in Asia, named for the common practice of hosing them down with water, stock exotic wildlife alongside live animals, providing a potential nexus for diseases to spread. This has led to growing calls around the world to ban them, even though the precise history of the coronavirus pandemic, widely thought to have originated at a seafood market in Wuhan, is still unclear.
But the term 'wet markets' has become confusing in the process, mixing up wildlife consumption with less exotic traditions, such as the poultry markets of New York. This has led to a situation where, in the rush to create a safer food system, culturally significant food practices, which pose comparatively minor public health risks, are coming under threat.
In New York, animal rights groups have begun campaigning vigorously on issues of food safety, including staging protests outside markets. A recent petition by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) urges officials to shut down 'blood-soaked slaughterhouses' in New York, specifically referring to the facilities as 'wet markets' in an accompanying video. Peta has also urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to denounce live animal markets globally. The WHO has resisted these demands, saying that live markets provide food and jobs for millions of people.
There are a ton of things intersecting here: animal rights, public health, and access to fresh food in poor neighborhoods. And who's not to say a freshly killed chicken from one of these dingy markets isn't
significantly healthier than the pre-packaged, steroid-laden chicken breasts from
a "clean" meat packing facility?
No comments:
Post a Comment