Name Christian Carter Date 10/28/14

APESMr. Dillman Period 1

Questions for The Meatrix Trilogy http://www.themeatrix.com/

The Meatrix I
1. What is The Meatrix? The story we tell ourselves about where meat and animal products come from
2. What is a factory farm? Where most animal products and food comes from
3. What happens to the animals on a factory farm? They are put close together to the point where they can barely move,
antibiotic resistance is built up in animals, and the animals are treated cruelly.
4. Why are the animals given antibiotics? What is the problem with this? They are given antibiotics to fight off disease but
they are given so much that they become resistant to their helpful effects
5. What is happening to family farms? They are being replaced by factory farms
The Meatrix II: Revolting
1. What has happened in regards to sustainable eating in the past few years? Knowledge of factory farming has grown so
people are buying more organic products
2. What happens to cows in dairy factories? Calves are separated form mothers, tails are cut off, milk production
3. What is rBGH? Why is it given to cows? A growth hormone that has been banned in other countries and it is given to cows
so they produce more milk
4. What happens to the calves? They are separated from their mothers and fed a mixture of milk and cow blood
5. What can be caused by this? Mad cow disease can be spread
The Meatrix II 1/2
1. At this factory, how many cows can be processed in single day? 5000
2. What often happens to the workers in the processing factories? They can get injured and diseases from things like manure
3. Profit is the name of the game.
4. As a job, meat-packing is the most dangerous job in the nation.
5. Due to the speed of the processing, what gets all over the meat? What bacteria does this substance contain? What
problems can this cause? Manure gets all over the food which causes Ecoli which causes severe disease and death.
The Meatrix 360 Interactive Go to the following section of the site (or type/paste in this link:
http://www.themeatrix.com/interactive/index.html). Roll-over and click on the different parts of the scene. Read and take notes on
each of the following topics that are discussed:
1. The precautionary principle- If we think an action will cause harm we need to stop it before it happens.
2. Feed- Cows should be fed grass and silage but instead are fed factory-made feeds made with soy and corn bases that bring
them to market weight faster. Antibiotics are often mixed in with the feed.
3. Policy & legislation- Farming is very much connected to the economy. The government decided things like subsides are
what to ban.
4. Health- When a factory farm is built, the entire community is affected. The stench from the manure lagoons in unbearable,
the local economy stagnates, and property values drop. Also, animals become resistant to antibiotics and die from disease.
5. Community- Factory farms give severely low wages and hazardous working conditions. Local communities that work off of
farms need jobs when their farms are destroyed but they dont want to work in the factories. Also, farming factories reduce
property value and the factory itself makes it unbearable for the community.
6. Family farms- The US has lost many, many farmers over the years. People lose their jobs and even their land from these
factory farms.
7. Cows- Calves are separated from their mother at birth. Male calves are sometimes only kept alive a few days and then killed
for meat or they are raised and then killed later on to produce higher quality meat the market demands. Female calves are
used for breeding and to replace older cows in the milk production process. Dairy cows have their horns removed with a
hot iron and sometime they have 2/3 of their tails cut off to prevent diseases.
Name Christian Carter Date 10/28/14
APESMr. Dillman Period 1
Questions for The Meatrix Trilogy http://www.themeatrix.com/

8. Milk- The milk is filtered out of the cows by a machine to be mass produced. Calves are fed a mixture of milk and cow blood
which can spread mad cow disease. The industries have been using more machinery and chemicals to produce more
results, but it also creates poorer conditions.
9. Processing- Before being put in the store, foods are transported, processed, and then distributed.
10. Workers- Workers are given low pay, no health care, and dangerous working conditions.
11. Downer cows- Dead cows that blood is taken from to feed to the calves
12. Pesticides- Chemicals used to protect crops from insects that build in organic tissue and fat to have negative effects on the
cows.
13. Antibiotics- Animals are pumped with antibiotics to prevent disease but this creates super antibiotic-resistant bacteria
14. rBGH- A growth chemical that is banned in other countries. It is used to grow animals faster and so they produce more of
their product, like milk.
15. Agribusiness- The business of selling meat, their products, and other farm products. The companies meet the high demand
by using disgusting tactics and chemicals to speed up the process.
16. waste recycling- Manure lagoons are made where they dumb all of the waste.
17. waste- Manure lagoons are made where they dump all the waste.
18. water pollution- The waste can run off into the water along with chemicals and pesticides.
Write: Before viewing these videos, how much did you know about agribusiness? What was some new information you learned
from these videos? What is the goal of these videos? Do you think these videos will change how you eat? Why/why not?
Well these videos definitely opened up my eyes. I learned of all the horrible tactics that farms uses. The goal was to obviously stop
people from buying agribusiness products. My family already bought organic so this doesnt really change how I eat but I definitely
will push eating organic to other people.