Two Sides to Every Story s1

Two Sides to Every Story: Meatrix vs. Smithfield – Case Study Write out the answers to all questions on a separate sheet of notebook paper. It should be neatly written and well-organized!!

Side One: The Meatrix…. The argument for sustainable agriculture 1) http://www.themeatrix.com/ Watch the video and then read the Introduction. Then click on the picture of the barn with the caption “the issues”. On the issue page, you will find the answers to the following questions. A. What is sustainable agriculture? Give some examples of sustainable agriculture. B. What are the three steps to sustainability. C. How does eating well and buying sustainable agricultural products benefit both the producers and consumers? 1) http://www.gracelinks.org/859/industrial-livestock-production  Read the articles on this page. A. According to this article, what are the elements of factory and industrial farming? B. How does the factory/industrial farm effect… The animals:

The consumer:

The community/ environment:

2) http://www.gracelinks.org/869/impacts-of-industrial-agriculture A. According to these articles, what are the issues with factory farming? (Click on each picture to get the details!) B. 3) Go back to the homepage listed in question 1 above http://www.themeatrix.com/ A. Explore the Meatrix website and a list below of allegations about the industrial (factory) farm of today. B. Using the information you have gathered so far, give a comparison of industrial/factory farming to sustainable farming.

4) On the website, there are several suggestions for how you can support sustainable agriculture. Make a list of 5 suggestions and then put a star next to the ones that you could actually do.

Side Two: Smithfield Ham… producing for millions. http://smithfield.com/ 6. What kind of impression do you get about Smithfield Corporation from its front page on its web site? Explain why.

7. On the top menu, click on About Us. Read about the company and “what they believe” and also click “Why Smithfield?” on the left hand tab. A. How does the Smithfield hog farm treat its livestock? B. Describe their commitment to agriculture. Now go to http://www.smithfieldcommitments.com/ and click on “animal care” and also “environment”. C. Explain Smithfield’s commitment to their animals. Give your opinion about the company with relation to animals. D. Explain Smithfield’s commitment to the environment. Give your opinion about the company with relation to the environment.

8. http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/our-commitments/

A. Click on the lefthand side of the page where Smithfield’s commitments are listed. Investigate Smithfield’s policies on antibiotics, growth hormones, and other additives. Click on the Animal Care icon and other icons to find out how sustainable their food products are. Summarize what you find. Defend the Smithfield Corporation in terms of high yield production and ethics.

9. After reviewing the Smithfield website (look at “Why we’re proud to be Smithfield Foods” and “Take a Tour”), summarize aspects of Smithfield Foods that would be evidence to refute the accusations made against factory and industrial farming (The Meatrix).

10.http://springermountainfarms.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc? Screen=cp_farming_practices A. Click on the link above and check out this local farm-jot down a few facts about their products.