We are what we eat

Who could fail to be horrified by the animal farm conditions described in The Sunday Times' cows-wading-in-manure exposé?

There are two terrible aspects to the story: First off, the obvious misery of these cows which certainly bear no resemblance to la vache qui rit. Secondly the fact that one day soon they will up end as a steak on your plate. And frankly, I won't be the one to wish you bon apetit.

These cattle live on farms just beneath the notorious mountainous dumping site, where toxic waste has been seeping into the surrounding earth for the past 30 years.

For those out there who naïvely believe farms and landfill are two separate things, well you have it straight from the horse's mouth, as it were. According to The Sunday Times: "One path leading to a farm was created by digging up an old part of the dumpsite, exposing compacted waste and garbage bags throughout the wall lining the path."

Objectively, what nutrients can these manure-eating, rain-sodden, toxicity-exposed animals pass on when consumed? Or let's rephrase: what sort of scary stuff will they actually pass on?

Will meat consumers in Malta take off their blinkers and realise they have a right to good quality products and that that can only be achieved through improved farm-rearing conditions?

The Maghtab farms situation is not unique. Despite EU regulations, the boundaries of several livestock farms on the island are still dotted with rusty tanks, and cattle, when they have the freedom to roam and graze in between abandoned furniture and appliances.

Others, such as poultry, are subjected to mass 'factory' rearing - crammed by the hundreds, into almost windowless sheds, wire cages, gestation crates and other confined spaces. Just go to Ghammieri and pop your head round the pig sty - it certainly lives up to its name.

'Factory' rabbits reared for consumption purposes won't even get to feel the warmth of the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until their slaughter day.

This is not a tug at emotions. It's an appeal to logic. The minute a miserable animal is eaten, its misery will be passed on to the end user. Call it karma or the law of cause and effect, whatever you like.

One thing is for sure: think of all the factory farming-related diseases around the world - from foot-and-mouth to SARS and CJD, and of course the latest scare, swine flu. There would be none of these epidemics if animals were bred with respect in the first place.

Where are the organic options for meat consumers in Malta? In the UK this is a huge market, because consumers have demanded it: organic farm animals run across sprawling pastures and live a life in a perfect balance, making them nutritious candidates for consumption when their life comes to an end.

And I say this objectively: from a health perspective and not from the point of view of someone who doesn't eat animal meat. Although I'm someone who likes animals and I don't eat them for that reason, I'm not an obsessive.

Once an Irish friend asked whether I would consider consuming a piece of Irish beef ("The best in the world," he said) if he would guarantee that it came from an organic farm. Hmmm, I said, would he have proof that the cow led a happy life? "I'd get it from my cousin's farm - I can vouch for him, I can even get you the 'before' pictures'," he said brazenly.

The steak never came because Ireland fell into a recession, the cows got leaner and leaner and, as we all know, the Irish are back to having potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

But probably yes, I would have eaten it. Although I firmly believe that meat is no longer necessary in our diet. Our lifestyle has changed from the hunter-gatherer days. Our major survival hurdle nowadays is not food foraging but stress and for that we need a diet that makes us less aggressive.

Great humanitarians from Tolstoy to Mahatma Gandhi have argued that a meatless diet is what is needed to make the world a kinder place - it is healthy for our souls. We are after all, what we eat.

In the absence of a meatless diet, the least we could do it to treat our farm animals with respect. And there is no other basic humane respect than ensuring they do not live and sleep in their own manure.