Both factory farming industry and the prison industrial complex are built upon models of captivity that turn large profits for corporations.
Today when we hear the term “abolitionist,” it often refers to prison
abolition. However, it can also refer to abolitionist veganism. Although the
factory farming industry and prison systems may seem removed from one
another, both of these movements seek to liberate beings from cages, whether
humans or non-human.
Both factory farming industry and the prison industrial complex are built
upon models of captivity that turn large profits for corporations. In the
United States, modern industrial agriculture’s violence dates back to its
early colonial roots, when Africans were captured and shipped across the
Atlantic to labor as slaves on colonists’ farms. After Emancipation,
southern economies were in jeopardy and used a loophole in the 13th
Amendment that excludes prisoners from slavery. Farms and other industries
turned to convict leasing, where states could sell prison labor to them.
Profiting off of this, the meat industry employs prisoners to work on the
kill line, where they can earn a meager 94 cents per hour after fees and
deductions. Slaughterhouses are so desperate for workers that they end up
being some of the only places that will hire ex-prisoners.
These massive industrial powers both hold significant capital in today’s
United States. For the factory farming industry, this capital comes in the
form of land. Forty-one percent of US land is devoted to animal agriculture
(livestock feed, pastures, farms). For comparison, only 4.1% of US land is
used to grow the food US residents directly eat. As the factory farming
capitalizes on US land, the prison industrial complex relies on human
capital to sustain itself. The United States is home to 25% of the world's
incarcerated population, even though only five percent of the world
population lives in the country.
Like factory farms, prisons also have deleterious effects on the land they
are on. Typically owning thousands of acres of farmland, they have
historically transformed the rural communities they infringe upon. Despite
these large presences, both industries remain mostly hidden from the public
eye. Both are large, windowless facilities often located in rural areas,
inaccessible to the general public. Diseases such as COVID-19 have been able
to take advantage of these dirty, confined spaces, as evidenced by the
skyrocketing COVID-19 cases among both slaughterhouse workers and prisoners.
These industries have successfully normalized and legitimized violence
towards domesticated animals as well as humans, many of whom are Black,
Latino, and Native American.
There is huge potential for solidarity for the fight against the caging and
exploitation of animals and humans.
The prison industrial complex helps protect industries by targeting animal
liberation activists among other activists. For animal activism in
particular, “Ag-gag” laws criminalize whistleblowers of factory farms and
slaughterhouses, which allows companies to hide reality from the general
public. Corporate interests were instrumental in passing The Animal
Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2006, which criminalizes anyone who damages or
interferes with the operations of an animal enterprise. Individuals who do
face the system may face long sentences if imprisoned.
There is huge potential for solidarity for the fight against the caging and
exploitation of animals and humans. Anti-prison and animal liberation
activist Sue Brown suggests a change in our rhetoric so as not to
criminalize those who cause harm to animals, and adopt a broader analysis
that focuses on the systemic problems and root causes of violence. For
example, working in a slaughterhouse has been found to increase violence,
sexual assault, and drug use due to the social and psychological
consequences of the work.
How can one get involved and start work against these systemic and
institutionalized issues? One tactic is divestment, “the action or process
of selling off subsidiary business interests or investments.” Prison
divestment has been a tactic for a long time, but recently gained popularity
under the phrase “defund the police.” Factory farm divestment campaigns also
exist, although to a much smaller extent. The idea behind these demands is
to take our money out of unjust systems and re-allocate them to other areas
where it’s better suited, such as for rehabilitation, education, health
care, and other social services. These campaigns illuminate undemocratic
power structures and suggest that we must change how money flows through our
institutions, advocate for community control, and a democratic process of
allocating funds.
Another method is to target the companies reaping profits from the prison
industry. The “Big Three” food providers in the United States, Aramark,
Sodexo, and Compass Group, all have deep ties to both the prison and factory
farm industries. Aramark and Compass Group are one of the largest providers
of food services to prisons in the U.S and abroad, while Sodexo runs private
prisons and detention centers abroad. If you are a college student, we
recommend checking out the organization Uprooted and Rising. They are
“building a movement committed to ending higher education’s support for Big
Food corporations and white supremacy in the food system by directing the
energy of our generation towards food sovereignty.”
In response to the injustices exposed by the current pandemic, people are
beginning to reevaluate our current systems of oppression that exploit both
the environment and its inhabitants. Matthew Kelly of Collectively Free
believes, “Reform can be helpful, but only if those concerned with the
wellbeing of the caged recognize that the cage is the problem and see reform
as a means to eventually end it.” In the same way that animal activists
reject “humane” and “cage-free” labeling, prison abolitionists renounce
calls to expand and increase funding for policing and prisons.
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