How do you know this? From Singer's writing, it seems to me that (a) he advocates not consuming factory-farmed food since it inevitably involves gratuitous cruelty, (b) avoid consuming animals since alternatives are available. He also seems to be of the opinion that there is a scale in such things (i.e., it is not all or nothing). Hence AlterNet's correct identification that he has shifted the scale to strict veganism. Of course, Singer writes to the general case of animal consumption, which other than in negligible cases (such as yours), is made possible through horrific practices.
I have not read "The Way We Eat" and from AlterNet's summary, I tend to disagree with Singer's shift to a more strict requirement. I do not however think that he is some sort of feel good moralist (though there is nothing particularly wrong with that either, IMO, as long as its not expressed sanctimoniously or righteously).
> Once you start down the road of pretending that animals are humans,
> there is only one other alternative, extermination of humans.
This is a strawman. The exact opposite is the case: the argument is that there is no particular logical reasoning that extends certain considerations and rights exclusively to human beings, that does not logically entail extending the same to other creatures. This argument could be wrong (and folks like Bernard Williams have mounted critiques of it) but it does not suggest that animals are humans and hence deserve equal consideration/treatment.
> So its all
> madness, clearly animals are not humans, no more than soy beans and
> lettuces are humans. The only people who don't understand this are
> people who have been brought up without any contact with animals, except
> as pets.
This is trivially false since I can offer myself and any number of relatives as counterpoints. It is by living among animals that I (and mentioned relatives) have learned that they are deserving of our moral consideration. Such an attitude towards them is perhaps also why indigenous/native/tribal hunters offer prayers and thanks to the animals that they kill and feed on.
I liked your narrative. It was well written and gave me insight into the life of a Western (well Australian in your case?) farmer (or farm person, in case farming is not your primary occupation).
--ravi
-- Support something better than yourself: ;-) PeTA: http://www.peta.org/ GreenPeace: http://www.greenpeace.org/