Free Amphibian by Carla Gunn Page B

that’s good. So do you know that some people on the Green Channel may say things so that you and the other viewers get upset about the environment? That way they can get money for their projects or put more pressure on the government to support their projects. Do they do that – ask viewers for money?’
    I nodded my head.
    â€˜Well, the people on the Green Channel get more money from viewers if they can get them upset about animals.’
    That makes sense. Why would you bother doing something if you weren’t the least bit concerned about it? It’s easier to do nothing.
    Dr. Barrett asked me to tell him about one upsetting show I saw on the Green Channel. I picked a show about factory farms. That’s where mostly all the meat in grocery stores comes from. On factory farms cows and pigs and other animals are raised in tiny stalls. Their whole lives are spent standing, sitting or lying down.They don’t develop muscles in their legs because they never get any exercise. They get sores on their bodies because of the constant rubbing against their stalls. They spend their whole lives there. Their whole entire lives.
    Dr. Barrett said, ‘Hmmm. I bet they showed lots of pictures of animals penned in that way and it made you feel really sad, right?’
    I said, ‘Yes.’
    Then Dr. Barrett said, ‘Well, Phin, I think the story is a little more complicated than that. Factory farming is how many people around the world make enough money to feed and clothe themselves and their families. Was any of that discussed on the show you watched?’
    â€˜Not as much.’
    â€˜If you got the other part of the story – the part that I just told you – would you still think they should stop factory farming?’
    I nodded my head.
    â€˜But, Phin, what about the men and women and children who depend on farming in order to survive?’ said Dr. Barrett.
    â€˜My grandmother says organic farmers can make money. She said that by letting their animals move around in the fields, the animals are healthier and don’t need all those antibiotics and stuff to keep them alive. So that means the meat that comes from them is healthier for people. And even though they end up eaten, at least the animals are treated humanely.’
    I stopped for a second to think about the word
humane
. It comes from the word
human,
which sometimes makes it kind of ironic – like calling death a cure for a sickness.
    â€˜Well, Phin, I don’t want to disagree with your grandmother, but I think it may be even more complicated than that. I think the factory farmers are doing it that way for a reason. It may be the only way they can produce as much food as we need and make a good profit at the same time.’
    I didn’t believe him. I think they do it that way just because they can. ‘The Green Channel says it doesn’t have to be like that either,’ I told Dr. Barrett.
    â€˜Well, I would still argue that it’s much more complicated than what you’re watching on the Green Channel. Companies need to be able to make a profit to keep people in jobs so that they can support themselves and their families.’
    â€˜My grandmother says that less than .2 percent of the world’s people own more than 25 percent of the world’s wealth. So I figure mostly people can afford to make their stuff in a way that doesn’t totally destroy the animals and the environment,’ I said.
    â€˜Well, Phin, that would be nice for sure, but accumulating wealth is how our free-market economy is structured, and we can’t really change it.’
    â€˜Why do people tell kids that we’re all equal and to treat everybody equally if that’s not the way the real world is?’ I asked Dr. Barrett.
    When Mrs. Wardman talks about being considerate, the only kids who really listen to her are the considerate kids. The kids like Lyle don’t pay any attention. So what ends up