HUMANE FOOD POLICIES TAKE ROOT
IN ANIMAL STUDIES CONFERENCES
We’re here to talk about all sorts of things. And we’re going to see some things. And we’re going to hear some things. And we’re going to eat some things. No animals for the weekend though—we’ve gone all vegan because that is a powerful commitment to the lives of animals as animals and aslives that does not in any way, through any rationale, encroach upon their lively animacy. A welfare defense of using animals for food or other purposes still has at its core the claim that animal wellbeing matters—makes a difference beyond obligatory inter-human politicking. And so we want to be mindful of that claim on welfare and try on for size what welfare-all-the-way, beyond and after WELFARE, might look (and taste) like.
Animal studies is the burgeoning new field in academia that looks at animals in a wide variety of cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary ways. Think: literature, cinema, history, art, the sciences, and other areas of study. The field is sometimes also known as Human-Animal Studies, Critical Animal Studies, or Anthrozoology. As minors, majors, and even master's programs are being created in this vein, so are conferences.
And just what do you think these conferences might have on the menu for their hungry lifelong learners? Well in the case of the "All Things Great and Small" conference at the University of California - Davis, it was an all-vegan, four-day foodie extravaganza. Every morning featured a gourmet assortment of muffins and pastries. Lunch included soups, sandwiches, and fruit. As for break time—coffee and cake!
In his introductory welcome, conference organizer Ted Geier, put the event and the food offerings into context—
Welfare-all-the-way. We like the sound of that. Shouldn't animal shelters, humane societies, and rescue groups also try a ‘welfare-all-the-way’ approach? If the academics can do it, so can the welfare community.
Conference attendees enjoy a day trip to PAWS sanctuary in Northern California, an organization that endorses the Food for Thought campaign and maintains a veg policy for their sponsored events. Photo credit: pawsweb.org.