It is almost a common occurrence in all of humanity that we can be individually selective in the horrors we believe to be acceptable, or more simply, there are particular issues, which are selectively never given any great force of conscience. This week PETA revealed an undercover video that was taken illustrating unusual cruelty in one of the KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) suppliers' factories in the U.S. Ironically, the site had been a recipient of a KFC 'Supplier of the Year' award and is seemingly a supplier of chicken to other fast food outlets. I also thought the name of the supplier, Pilgrim's Pride, was an exemplary example of a name that resonates so much of U.S. history: Turkey's, Thanksgiving et.al.

I was surprised to see both channel One and Three news services pick up the story given that PETA's presence is largely web based, however a great deal of U.S. based news, as was the case with this story, is being picked up from U.S. broadcaster ABC, a Disney owned company. Often the same stories you see on their 'ABC World News' programme, which screens after most have gone to sleep here, are either regurgitated or 'repackaged' by having a New Zealand 'journalist' redo the American voice-over, a voice-over that often has no difference from its original U.S. text.

The video of the cruelty is available on PETA's website and illustrates the most gratuitous cruelty to animals I have ever seen. My mouth was agape during the television broadcast, but the downloaded video provides a clearer rendering of sound and a chance to look more closely at the images. One thing that becomes most noticeable is the choice of music the factory workers have made. At times the soundtrack becomes extremely distorted and increases the horror of the images you're watching, at other times it is almost as if the actions have a soundtrack, albeit a soundtrack that represents my worst nightmares from the 1980's: working on a factory line listening to Guns and Roses and Bonjovi while animals are being killed, maimed and tortured. These images are of torture and worker frustration. The actions of the workers are truly inexcusable, but when I watch them I can't help but wonder how or why so many of the workers are doing what they're doing, and the culture of tolerance that obviously exists among those not participating in the violence.

My vegetarianism has been somewhat flaky since I began being vegetarian in 1991. I had, since adolescence, thought about vegetarianism a great deal, I was a huge fan of The Smiths and was anti-vivisection (a belief or movement that seems to have all but disappeared from public view here in New Zealand). Most of the reasons I had for becoming vegetarian were altruistic and politically motivated, I couldn't stand the objectification of animals as a source of 'needed' food; the means which are used to sustain, breed, keep and kill seemed horrifying and inhumane. The difficulty I had in maintaining my vegetarianism has changed little, the pressure from friends and family; trying to eat outside of home is still difficult in many, many restaurants etc. The hardest part is the amount of energy spent justifying why you are vegetarian and the sometimes weird feelings of guilt and shame you can have when someone you are close to engages you with looks or comments that make you feel as if you must be absolutely insane to merely eat what you eat. Or don't.

When I told my parents on a brief visit home in 1991 that I had become vegetarian, my father rolled his eyes and my mother's facial expression became serious. A deal was struck to either sometimes eat Fish or Chicken when I was home. What happened in reality is that for those first few years, every time I ate at home there would always be chicken or fish on the plate. Essentially that deal has been in place since 1991. From my mother's perspective there was the idea that I needed to look after myself, a healthy vegetarian diet could not be sustained, and Dad, well, he likes and believes meat to be an integral part of being alive. To this day, if I go home for longer than a week he still rolls his eyes if he has had to eat without red meat for 7 days and always has an accompanying quip about his deprived state.

I could give countless examples of other instances from daily life in the last 13 or 14 years, my point is that this kind of bargaining is no longer possible for me. The content of the Pilgrim's Pride tape is something I have always known, industrial farming and killing of animals is wrong. The tape, although extreme, is merely evidence of something we all know happens every day, the taking of something's life to (so goes the specious argument) sustain our own. It is wrong; I just hope my folks are going to understand the next time I go home.