Factory Farms: An Exposé Of the Realities Of the Animals' Lives

Look me in the eyes.

Source: Isabella La Rocca González.

When I first learned of Isabella La Rocca González's highly acclaimed and unique new book titled Censored Landscapes: The Hidden Reality of Farming Animals I couldn't wait to get my eyes on it. I'm thrilled I did for it is an eye-opening testament to the profound impact of art in unveiling the hidden truths of our world. Among the most disturbing unseen truths concerns the mistreatment of so-called food animals who, despite being highly sentient, feeling beings, are treated as if they are unfeeling objects whose only purpose in life is to provide food for humans.

Through powerful photographs, insightful text, and detailed research, Isabella exposes an industry built on webs of social inequality and injustices and the exploitation of innocent animals. With meticulous attention to detail and poignant storytelling, Censored Landscapes invites readers to confront uncomfortable truths with empathy and compassion. It not only informs but also draws the connection between animal agriculture and every facet of our lives.¹

Marc Bekoff: Why did you write Censored Landscapes?

Isabella La Rocca González: Censored Landscapes grew out of my trip to photograph an egg farm where fifty thousand hens had been abandoned without food or water, crammed into the rusted battery cages where they’d spent their entire lives. The empty, filthy warehouses I photographed told a story of immense suffering. Even after a year, the ammonia stench of urine still lingered. I decided to continue to photograph the banal warehouses and fenced in wastelands where vast numbers of nonhuman animals are bred, confined, and slaughtered. To emphasize that the animals in these facilities are complex, sentient individuals with emotions, desires, and relationships, I made portraits of animals confined in or rescued from such facilities.

As the project developed, I felt compelled to fully portray the reality of this unnatural, ruthless, and secretive industry with research, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Censored Landscapes is the book I would have liked when I was learning about this industry and, more importantly, to communicate to others the complex web of connections between animal agriculture and the most pressing issues of our time.

Source: Lantern Publishing & Media/with permission.

MB: How does your book relate to your background and general areas of interest?

ILRG: Ever since I can remember, I have loved literature and art. Art translates conditions that enchant, confound, disturb, or horrify us into a language of metaphor, light, color, and beauty. With Censored Landscapes, I want to contribute to the evolution of American landscape photography, with its history of advancing conservationist, environmental, and social justice causes.

I’ve also long been interested in our food systems. My parents were emigrants from Mexico and Italy, respectively. I spent much time as a kid in their countries of origin. Food is one of the essential elements of a culture, which led me to consider my family’s way of eating in comparison with the American diet of many of the kids I went to school with.

Also, like many kids, I felt a special affinity with nonhuman animals, which has prevailed throughout my life. As a teenager, I became a vegetarian after reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Diet for a Small Planet by Francis Moore Lappé. Eventually, of course, I became vegan. Censored Landscapes integrates these lifelong pursuits in an endeavor to holistically explore the hidden reality of farming animals.

MB: Who do you hope to reach with your book?

ILRG: Censored Landscapes illustrates that the animal agricultural industry affects every one of us every day. The industry negatively impacts our health and our environment. In addition, in one the most dangerous industries in the country, the workers—mostly people of color—are poorly compensated and egregiously exploited. They, their families, and their communities also suffer emotional trauma and diminished health because of the industry. And of course, trillions of nonhuman animals are atrociously exploited by the industry.

MB: What are some of the major topics you consider?

ILRG: Storytelling is at the heart of Censored Landscapes. Stories intimately engage the reader and create trust and empathy. The book includes poems and stories about an opaque and exploitive industry, stories of existential crisis, of connection with all beings, of precolonial America, of conflict with livestock operators, of greenwashing, and of love and sanctuary. Interspersed with the photographs, personal narratives, and poems is meticulously documented research.

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Each landscape is captioned with the number of animals bred, confined, or slaughtered in the facility. Collections of facts and research reveal the merciless treatment of animals exploited by the industry, impacts on human health, environmental and wildlife impacts, and economic and political structures that prop up the industry and make its products artificially cheap. The book also includes well-researched descriptions of the practices involved in breeding and slaughtering farmed animals.

MB: How does your book differ from others that are concerned with some of the same general topics?

ILRG: I have the utmost respect, admiration, and gratitude for the photographers and journalists who infiltrate animal agricultural facilities to expose the barbaric conditions endured by the animals confined there. This is not one of those books. I am not brave enough and I do not I have the heart. Nor is this a book about the bad apples—it’s not about any specific business or incident of horrifying cruelty, though there are countless examples. The grim architecture within these landscapes insinuates everyone and everything into its abyss. Censored Landscapes scrutinizes standard industry practices—business as usual.

MB: Are you hopeful that as people learn more about the hidden realities of farming animals they will pay more attention to who they include in their meal plans

ILRG: Absolutely. We are in the midst of an unprecedented ecological emergency. Human-caused climate change, deforestation, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction, and mass species extinction pose an existential threat. It will take time and billions of dollars to switch to renewable forms of energy and to more environmentally harmonious ways of living. Certainly, we must push those in power to make these changes. But we don’t have to depend on corporations and governments.

We have the power to change the world every day, several times a day, with our choice of what we consume. It is my fervent wish that Censored Landscapes helps to inspire a transformation from systems of exploitation and domination to a culture of cooperation and compassion. Every one of us has the ability to expand our circle of love beyond our friends and family to include all living beings.

You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one. ~ John Lennon and Yoko Ono