There is a very sober challenge at the end of this for anyone interested in serious opposition to factory farming.

The Meatrix is a very clever and entertaining swf, and I commend it for making the subject matter entertaining enough to spread virally to the average consumer, but it does a disservice to the factory farming debate by again casting the antogonists as the greedy corporations who'll do the unconscionable to turn a little (inherently evil) evil profit

As an environmentalist and a humanist, and an engineer and small business owner, I urge readers to consider the following nuances.

Point 1: Who owns the corporations? The profit goes to you and me the shareholders who own mutual funds and 401k retirement accounts.

Point 2: The "advent" of factory farming, if one can be pinpointed, is one increment along a continuum that included the invention of the plough, the introduction of draft horses and oxen, the invention of the grain silo, the thresher, the tractor, the milking machine, etc.

The survival-driven advances in efficiency that have created factory farming are the natural result of competition in a free market.

Since the free market and our inattention to it as consumers created factory farming, let's use the free market to stop it.

I challenge anyone interested in pouring their life's energies into the battle against factory farming to found an audited, transparent organization that certifies humanitarian farming practices, without government involvement. Charge the producer for certification; they will pass the cost to the consumer; if we care enough, we'll gladly pay the price. If your certification process or organization becomes corrupt or opaque, a greener competitor will rise in your place.

A more comprehensive expansion of this post is archived at http://www.opusworks.com/posts/meatrix.html

If the market is so free, why does it cost so much?

Industrial agriculture receives billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidy. Ag subsidies dispropotionately go to the top producers, creating an unlevel playing-field for America's traditional family farmers.

Consumers should make more informed choices, yes. But they shouldn't blind themselves to govenremnt manipulation of market forces through poor public policy. There are responsible corporations out there. But, at this point, they are not getting a fair shake...and there's nothing free about the market in which they operate.

If you watch The Meatrix all the way through and click on the red pill at the end, it takes you to an action page that is all about consumers and the free market. You can put in your zip code and find stores, farms and restaurants in your area that sell sustainable meat. It links to the Eat Well Guide - www.eatwellguide.org.

There are already a lot of labels and certifications out there and all of them have some problems - even ones that are not regulated by the government. Bottom line is that consumers need to know where their food comes from. They should be able to call up the farmer and visit the farm to see how the animals are raised. If that's not possible, they should have a local butcher they can trust, someone who has access to the farm and farmer. People should also frequent farmers markets - many of them sell meat now.

The Meatrix is all about increasing demand for sustainably raised meat. And I agree with Own Your Life that it's only us consumers that can change the way things are now. And if we think the meat costs too much - eat less! Americans eat way too much animal protein as it is. Just cut back and buy healthier, more sustainable meat.

But, bottom line is that we must know where our food comes from. We need to reconnect back to the land and to how our food is raised.