Behind Closed Doors

Today almost all meat is raised, fed, processed, and slaughtered through one large company, with ConAgra Meatpacking Company being the number one meat supplier (Fast Food Nation, 149). This large company, and a few others, is whom all the fast food restaurants purchase their meat from because these meat companies produce an enormous amount of meat every day thus driving down the price. For ConAgra to produce such large amounts of beef and chicken they must find a way to grow the animals quickly with the cheapest food possible. If you were to visit a ConAgra farm, there would be overcrowded feedlots with thousands of cows and these cows do not eat grass because of the cost, instead they are fed grain that fattens them quicker. During their nine-month stay at the feedlot, they are fed over three thousand pounds of grain and often hormone shots so they will grow quickly and thus cost less money for the company. After their nine-month stay they are shipped to the slaughterhouse to be killed (Fast Food Nation, 150). In the video below, you will see the terrible conditions that these animals must live in and the ease with which bacteria is created and can live.

The Lives of Animals Raised for Food

Once the cows have fatten-up and gained the appropriate amount of weight they are herded into the slaughterhouses and this is where the atrocities begin. Right before the cows enter the slaughterhouse they stunned to sedate them and placed on a hook that connects them to the assembly line where unskilled workers will dissemble them. The first slice into the cow is its carotid artery to kill it, and it continues down the line at a swift pace being disassembled into many pieces by overcrowded workers. The fast pace of the assembly line makes gutting the cows in a sanitary way extremely difficult. Cutting the intestines out is a precise job that takes concentration and time, but because the workers are rushed through the process the bacteria from the intestines can and often does contaminate the meat. The last step is to package up the meat and ship it off to the grocery store, public schools, or fast food restaurants 
(Fast Food Nation, 170-172). 

I want to add that I am not a vegetarian and I love to eat meat, but I do not condone the way most the meat we eat is made. I believe cows, pigs, and chickens should be treated humanly throughout their whole life.