282 | Food Animals: Ethics and Methods of Raising Animals happen in a proper dust bath and not on a wire cage floor Nest building behavior results in creating a secure and comfortable place for the sow to bear her young, which can only happen in a natural or artificially-enriched production environment and not in a farrowing crate Decisions about Methods and Systems of Raising Animals for Food Decisions might be taken from the perspective that humans are better off spiritually, economically, physically, morally, or ecologically if animals raised for food are provided with positive life experiences, genetic resources are managed so that animals are healthy and self-sustaining, and death comes to them swiftly and without fear or pain or arguments could be made that animals ought to be afforded these things because animals themselves have direct moral status However, without the power to command humans to respect their rights or their moral status, the possession of rights may have as little practical advantage to animals as the possession of human rights appears to have to oppressed peoples Legislatures in major farm states in the United States, at industry urging, have enacted legislation exempting animals raised for food from protections afforded other animals under state anticruelty statutes (Wolfson, 1996) Hence, at least in those states, without legal mechanisms in place to protect animal rights, arguments from this position may have insufficient practical value to make a difference in animals’ lives A growing number of people, including many farmers, appears to accept that animals have a moral status in which their interests count directly in the assessment of actions that affect them, but not count for as much as humans’ interests (Wilson, 2006) They accept that animals are raised for food for humans, but also desire that animals have lives worth living and come to their deaths without fear or pain In a lecture to veterinary students, Waldau (2005) notes that “what is at issue for many people today is not necessarily the value of traditional practices, but, rather, the ethical dimensions of certain modern practices and methods chosen because they create economic efficiencies.” Since the publication of Animal Machines: The New Factory Farming Industry by Ruth Harrison in 1964, much attention has been devoted to the conditions to which animals raised for food are subjected Animal Machines directly influenced the development of a new scientific discipline, animal welfare science, which in the intervening years has produced a vast literature on the biological and behavioral needs of animals raised for food This body of research has gone a long way toward illuminating conditions that can afford such animals a life worth living Harrison herself advocated an ethic of fair play as the only way humans can repay animals for the sacrifices humans ask of them Several sets of criteria have been put forth regarding the adequacy of farming systems for meeting welfare needs of animals raised for food The most well-known of these is the Five Freedoms enumerated by the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) in the United Kingdom: Freedom from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort Freedom from pain, injury, and disease (including parasitical infections)