“America’s Factory Farming Is Just As Despicable As A Wet Market” Says Bill Maher
Maher condemns both wet markets and factory farms in a stunning viral video as part of his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher.
Credit: Sharon Graphics
The current coronavirus pandemic has brought into the spotlight the relationship between our consumption of animals and the spread of infectious diseases.
Shockingly, more than 6 out of every 10 known infectious diseases in people can be spread from animals, and 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
That’s why comedian and political commentator Bill Maher has launched a scathing attack on our current food system - one that not only relies on the mass slaughter and consumption of animals, but one that also causes the majority of new infectious diseases including SARS, AIDS, and now COVID-19.
During his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, the host explained that you can’t condemn wet markets in Asia without also condemning factory farms, because both are incredibly cruel to animals and both are harbingers of infectious and deadly disease.
His address to America has gone viral, receiving over 1 million views already. Watch his incredible speech here:
Explaining the horrific, crowded, and unhygienic conditions which factory-farmed animals must endure, Maher says “now to thwart the coronavirus, we’ve been told to create distance, avoid others who are sick, lower stress, and exercise. Are you surprised that diseases flourish amongst animals when they are forced to live in conditions that are the complete opposite of all of that? They are on top of each other, they can’t move, they are stressed out. I’ve seen airports treat luggage better than we treat animals.”
He goes on to contrast the ‘openness’ of wet markets with the ag-gag laws of America, saying “if you think the market in Wuhan is gross, you should visit one of our giant poultry processing factories but of course you can’t because we have ag-gag laws that make it a crime to report the crime …and it is a crime of animal abuse that goes on in our food industry.”
Maher’s speech represents a wider shift in public opinion as food industry analysts claim that the pandemic has caused a “growing awareness of industrial meat’s connection to outbreaks”. With the public more alert to the environmental and health concerns surrounding the meat industry, demand for plant-based meat has soared during the pandemic.
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