Can one person make a difference?

In a recent conversation I had with another veterinarian, we were talking about the humane slaughter of animals. My friend was arguing that she can help ensure that meat animals are slaughtered humanely by purchasing meat only from butchers who assure her that the meat they sell is only from animals that were slaughtered humanely. I was highly suspect of her method.

My argument was that by refusing to eat meat, I'm making sure no animals were killed in order for me to eat. But she said that there will never come a time when everyone stops eating meat; that it's wishful thinking on my part, so my approach doesn't really have any force of impact.

Why I disagree. One of my past jobs was as a government regulator of food safety. In fact, I completed the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service's (FSIS) Public Health Veterinarian training. All meat inspection, by federal law, has to be performed by a veterinarian who has completed this training. As a result I've been to a lot of slaughter plants. I have first hand knowledge of our meat and poultry industries in the US. I can tell you that all animals (poultry are not considered animals under this law, by the way, so they have even less protection) are required by federal law to be slaughtered humanely. So you see, every butcher can tell you that all the meat they sell is only from animals that were humanely slaughtered.

I'm sure it's no surprise to you that what's required by law, and what actually happens are not one and the same. (Here's a link to a gruesome video of what initiated the largest meat recall in this nation's history - an undercover video taping of inhumane treatment of cows at slaughter. The meat of those cows, over 140 million pounds, entered our food supply.) Have these butchers been to the slaughter plants where the cows', sheep, and goats' meat comes from that they sell? Doubtful.

We both wonder about the other's method for affecting change in how animals are slaughtered. But hey, we're both trying. Can either one of us make a difference?

According to President Kennedy: "One person can make a difference. And every person should try." Keep trying girlfriend, and I will too!