Does Walmart Mistreat Farm Animals?
Images portray a perspective that written
description cannot illustrate. The variable uses of images in writing can be
maneuvered by a writer because an image with a caption establishes a sense
animosity. Contrary Errol Morris’ belief that states, “A captionless photograph, stripped of all context, is virtually
meaningless,” an image without context remains open to interpretation. It is
perceived differently by people depending on their beliefs and associations in
life.
The photo above was published by
Huffington Post covering a story called, “Walmart’s Animal Welfare Policy Among
Worst For Major Companies: Report” on their front page. According to the
article, the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal
Welfare ranked companies according welfare of their farm animals. It
stated that Walmart is ranked on the lower end of the list of companies who
treats their farm animals well. The fact that a British arm of Walmart sold horse meat
under the label as beef in Europe was provided to justify Walmart’s low
rankings. The content of the article was critical to Walmart’s animal welfare
policy, but it does not provide relevant support. Although the article was fairly short, the photo
that was associated with the article was misleading. The only correlation
between the content of the article and the photo lie in the fact that cow was
the farm animal used to hide the identity of the horse meat sold in Europe by
an oversea industry associated with Walmart.
Moreover, CNN published an article discussing the
topic of the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal
Welfare ranking companies based on their farm animal welfare policy. CNN
offered a less biased perspective because its title was “Food Chain Alert for
Investors” and did not target Walmart of displayed inaccurate photos. It
stated that Walmart received a low ranking because it lacks any farm animal
welfare policy on their business agenda. Overall, the content in the CNN
article contradicts the accusations made by the Huffington Post in their cover
of the story.
In my opinion, I interpreted more from
the photo of the cow on the Huffington Post than the actual article. My initial
response besides for bewilderment as to why a picture a cow was covered the on
the front page along with news about Obama’s administration and the Oscar
Awards was sadness. The photo of this cow drew empathy from me. From all the
pictures of cows that I have seen from farm animal picture books to milk
commercials, I have never seen a cow that look so unhealthy. It was very skinny
although its stomach sags from its waist likely due to lack of exercise or
mobility. It was obviously very skinny because its limbs and ribs looked very
lean and weak. Furthermore, the cow’s posture portrayed a weak image because
its head is cowered down. Although it is common for cows to eat grass in this
manner, the cow seems sad and its countenance is strained. The author chose to
display this picture because it typically causes people to react the way I did.
Without analysis of the context of the article, personal emotions,
associations, and beliefs will lead a reader to believe that Walmart was
responsible for the unhealthy state of cows such as the one in the photo.
All in all, the picture of the cow drew me into the article,
but I was disappointed to find that article was written poorly with respect to
the title “Walmart’s Animal Welfare Policy Among
Worst For Major Companies: Report”. The photo of the cow demonstrated stronger
conviction and support for the title. I interpreted more from the picture of
the cow than the words written in the article. The most surprising fact was
that this photo is not found on the page of the article. Maybe this article was
just quick news to inform the consumers of Walmart, but I felt like its
motivation aims to downgrade Walmart. This intent can be seen when the
Huffington Post writes, “Walmart did not immediately respond to an email from The
Huffington Post requesting comment.” In this manner, Walmart is portrayed to
seem guilty or at fault. Therefore, this particular article used the photo
to establish a mood that directly influenced the reader.
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