Friend or Food?
How 4-H organizations indoctrinate and desensitize children
Several news outlets recently wrote about the case of a nine-year-old girl in Shasta County/California who had raised a baby goat as part of a 4-H “youth livestock project”. Her mother had bought the seven-months-old goat named Cedar, and the little girl took care of him, fed him, and walked around with him on a leash. Needless to say, they became very attached to each other. When it was time to present the goat at the local county fair to be auctioned off as, well, meat, the little girl changed her mind and wanted to keep her pet.
This set off a chain of events that involved a police raid with two deputy sheriffs driving over 500 miles across six separate county lines in order to confiscate the little goat and ended with a federal lawsuit filed by the girl’s mother, and, of course, with a dead Cedar.
The case got a lot of media attention: “A family tried to save their auctioned goat from slaughter. Now they are suing police who took it”, “A girl wanted to keep the goat she raised for a county fair. They chose to kill it”, and “A Fair Auctioned a Beloved Goat. Its Owners Filed a Federal Lawsuit.” are some of the emotional headlines from some major news agencies. They blasted the excessive cruelty directed towards the little girl and her mother, and the callous response from the Shasta District Fair Chief Executive Officer to the plea to spare the goat: “Making an exception for you will only teach our youth that they do not have to abide by the rules that are set up for all participants.”
Of course, I feel sorry for the little girl, and even more sorry for the poor animal. But here’s the thing: according to 4-H, the goat was livestock, which means it never was anything else than “meat”. The goat had become a pet for the young girl, and everybody knows that one doesn’t kill and eat a pet; that’s what was upsetting the newspapers. But what about all the other animals that are killed by 4-H programs all the time? Maybe there are many other kids who feel attached to the animals they care for, but they have “to abide by the rules”?
According to Wikipedia, 4-H is a network of youth organizations which is managed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and more specifically by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Say what? 4-H is part of a government agency and belongs to the Department of Agriculture? I had no idea. From NIFA’s website: “Raising livestock and producing animal products is a multi-billion-dollar-per-year industry and a significant part of U.S. agriculture.” Well, there you have it: 4-H helps industrial agriculture to raise more meat and make more money. Animals are living beings only as far as they need food and water to grow up. Better care results in a better product, meaning more money.
To be honest, 4-H doesn’t hide its goals, on the contrary – it is very clear about the final destination of the animals which the kids raise to be shown at County Fairs. They’ll be auctioned off and end up at the slaughterhouse. They’re listed as livestock; cows are beef, chickens are poultry. In the 4-H youth livestock program boys and girls raise cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep in order to reach the highest financial gain for their product, which is the value of the meat once the animals are killed.
One can assume that there’s an internal conflict between caring versus killing that the young people have to deal with, because in general, kids love animals. Maybe that’s what attracts them to the livestock programs in the first place. But part of the 4-H learning experience is for the participants to distance themselves, so they don’t become attached to their animals. I studied the Sheep Curriculum from the 4-H Livestock Program offered through the Utah State University, Davis County Extension. While there is much to recommend about the skills and efficiencies being taught (more about this further down), it’s absolutely clear that the focus is the market value of the animal. It is a commodity, not an autonomous being with an inner life and feelings. It is similar to a bicycle or a new wristwatch, a thing that just happens to walk by itself.
For younger children in particular this might be difficult. They spend a considerable amount of time with their animal, several months in general, when they have to interact with and care for it every day. They befriend the animal and treat it like a pet, giving it a name, for example. However, once they’re older they know better; feeling sad is a sign of being immature, a “cry baby”. It’s a weakness that the youngster actively tries to change. A study I found, Reproducing Dominion: Emotional Apprenticeship in the 4-H Youth Livestock Program, states that the young participants learn to create the “market animal”, which is something that is used for food; that is its purpose. It’s a way to objectify the animals, to see them as products, as goods.
Although their destiny is to become meat, however, they also embody and evoke numerous experiences, accomplishments, and milestones for the 4-H’ers, the achievement of a sense of self-worth among them.
Because of this, it is possible to feel sad about the loss but accept it as something natural, “that’s the way it is”. The financial gain from auctioning off a well-raised animal helps too, of course.
Not everybody can shut their feelings off; Alena Hidalgo from Pearland, Texas couldn’t bear to let her pig Gizmo be sold for slaughter. After spending all this time caring for him, she had learned that he was a being with his own personality, not a product. She fought very hard to save him, and eventually managed to send him to Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, founded by a cattle rancher’s wife who refused to see the herd go to slaughter. She convinced her husband to rescue all the cows, became vegan, her husband joined her, and the Rowdy Girl Sanctuary was born.
A quick word about the 4-H projects: the name of the organization refers to “Head, Heart, Hands, and Health” and its mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development"1 The Utah State University website claims that “The youth learn essential life skills such as communication, cooperation, responsibility, along with the humane treatment of animals… They learn cooperation, leadership and community service through participation in 4-H clubs.” Those are wonderful goals, and the organization offers a wide variety of programs such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Civic Engagement, and Healthy Living. It’s just that they follow an outdated world view, one that unquestioningly accepts the exploitation of animals. This is not only morally wrong but is unsustainable in light of a growing global climate emergency. Plus, it’s unhealthy.
There should be programs similar to 4-H where children and youth learn to care for and love animals without having to suppress their empathy; on the contrary, compassion should be enhanced. Where children and youth learn that humans and nonhuman animals are not so fundamentally different after all, but share the same feelings of joy and sadness, the same bonds with family and loved ones, the same physical pain when they’re hurt. I don’t know how this could be started, but it could be a significant contribution to a more humane world.
Any ideas? Please share!
This is such an important article, Jessica. Think the mind conditioning of kids and society as a whole that other animals are 'livestock', mere commodities to animal agriculture, rather than the individual, sentient beings they are, is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome, to strive to getting to a world where we do not raise other living beings for meat, eggs, dairy, leather, fur, testing and more.
A few years ago I made a "more accurate" 4-H logo meme. I wanted to share it with you here but I guess I can't share images.