You are what you eat.
Last year I made the decision to become a vegetarian again. Well, not a complete vegetarian as I do occasionally eat fish. So I am, technically, a Pescetarian. (I know true vegetarians often get their hackles up at people who still east fish calling themselves vegetarian, but even though I occasionally (when I can’t avoid it) eat fish, I do consider myself a vegetarian.)
I had been a ‘true’ vegetarian awhile ago for a few years, but at that time I was not properly prepared and found it too inconvenient, so I stopped. However after watching a documentary called “Earthlings” I was reminded of my utter disgust and opposition to animal cruelty and how, by eating meat, I was contributing to the market encouraging this cruelty to continue.
“Earthlings” is a graphic, emotive documentary commentated by Joaquin Phoenix which shows shocking footage from animal shelters, pet stores, puppy mills, factory farms, slaughterhouses, the leather and fur trades, sporting events, circuses and research labs. The documentary covers 5 main industries which humans use animals for, and how we abuse our position on this earth:
- Pets covered everything from puppy mills to euthanasia.
- Food was obviously the slaughter of animals for meat products, but also included other animal products such as milk and showed the diminished life of dairy cows.
- Fashion discussed the obtaining of fur and leather for clothing/furniture et cetera.
- Entertainment showed the use of animals in circuses and for gambling, and included the harsh training methods used.
- Science detailed how animals are used for scientific research and the effects of medicines and experiments on them which we are not normally privy to.
Earthlings was extremely graphic, and at times I was close to being physically sick. Now, I will admit they were perhaps trying to use shock tactics to convey their message. But the footage used was real, and I have no doubt it does happen, whether it is regularly or not. Either way it is completely unacceptable that humans feel they have the right to treat another living thing in such a way. It makes me sick to my stomach.
Would you eat him? Would you wear her?
Making the choice to become vegetarian/vegan is a big one, and one only you can make for yourself. My intention with this post was not to ram it down your throat like some extremist religious freak. I want to make people aware of how these products actually get to your plate. Steaks don’t just grow on trees, nor does milk just fall from the sky. Hopefully some of the information I provide will assist you in your decision, or at least give you something to think about (had the urge to say “food for thought” then but decided the pun might not be appropriate.)
Here are a few reasons to seriously consider a vegetarian/vegan diet:
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS:
“Animals on today’s factory farms have no legal protection from cruelty that would be illegal if it were inflicted on dogs or cats: neglect, mutilation, genetic manipulation, and drug regimens that cause chronic pain and crippling, transport through all weather extremes, and gruesome and violent slaughter. Yet farmed animals are no less intelligent or capable of feeling pain than are the dogs and cats we cherish as companions”. (PETA)
- Chickens killed for their flesh in the United States are bred and drugged to grow so quickly that their hearts, lungs, and limbs often can’t keep up.
- Hens used for eggs live six or seven to a battery cage the size of a file drawer, thousands of which are stacked tier upon tier in huge, filthy warehouses.
- Cattle are castrated, their horns are ripped out of their heads, and third-degree burns (branding) are inflicted on them, all without any pain relief.
- Cows used for their milk are drugged and bred to produce unnatural amounts of milk; they have their babies stolen from them shortly after birth and sent to notoriously cruel veal farms so that humans can drink the calves’ milk.
- Mother pigs on factory farms are confined to crates so small that they are unable to turn around or even lie down comfortably.
- Fish on aqua farms spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy enclosures, and many suffer from parasitic infections, diseases, and debilitating injuries. Conditions on some farms are so horrendous that 40 percent of the fish may die before farmers can kill and package them for food.
- Turkeys’ beaks and toes are burned off with a hot blade. Many suffer heart failure or debilitating leg pain, often becoming crippled under the weight of their genetically manipulated and drugged bodies.
When they have finally grown large enough, animals raised for food are crowded onto trucks and transported over many miles through all weather extremes to the slaughterhouse. Those who survive this nightmarish journey will have their throats slit, often while they are still fully conscious. Many are still conscious when they are plunged into the scalding water of the de-feathering or hair-removal tanks or while their bodies are being skinned or hacked apart.
ENVIRONMENT:
Our carbon footprints are all the rage at the moment in the media. All these fancy new ‘green’ cars et cetera. But did you know that :
Going vegetarian saves on average 100 (nonhuman) lives a year, and has been shown to reduce your carbon footprint by more than if you switched from driving a normal car to a hybrid.
- A United Nations (U.N.) report revealed that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.
- Fossil fuels needed to produce meat-centred diet v. a meat-free diet = 3 times more
- A vegan diet saves 1.3 million gallons of water per year – which is the same as running your shower 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
- The number one reason we cut down trees, including the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest, is to clear land to grow food for farm animals. Going vegan saves one full acre of trees per year.
- A pig farm with 5,000 animals produces as much faecal waste as a city of 50,000 people.
- Data indicates that the pollution strength of raw manure is 160 times greater than raw municipal sewage.
- Fishing methods like bottom trawling and long-lining have emptied millions of miles of ocean and pushed some marine species to the brink of extinction.
HEALTH:
The American Dietetic Association states that vegetarians have lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer and that vegetarians are less likely than meat-eaters to be obese. A proper vegetarian diet provides you with all the nutrients that you need, without all the saturated fat, cholesterol and contaminants found in animal flesh, eggs, and dairy products.
Basically (from www.goveg.com):
- Research has shown that vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, and they have 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters
- You reduce your risk of heart attack by 90% if you stop consuming meat, dairy and eggs.
- The consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products has also been strongly linked to osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, asthma, and male impotence.
- Vegetarians and vegans live, on average, six to 10 years longer than meat-eaters.
- Studies have shown that vegetarian kids grow taller and have higher IQs than their classmates, and they are at a reduced risk for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases in the long run.
- Scientists have also found that vegetarians have stronger immune systems than their meat-eating friends; this means that they are less susceptible to everyday illnesses like the flu.
Oh, and not forgetting the spreading of diseases, such as Swine Flu: Score one for vegetarians – Humans are responsible for swine flu.
Yes, the graphic video footage in “Earthlings” taken inside slaughter houses was shocking, yet I think everyone should be aware that these practices DO happen. If you can live with partial responsibility of that and continue to eat meat/animal products, then that’s your choice. But you need to make that choice once you are fully aware of the practices going on.
I want to strongly encourage people to access this documentary, or another one, and at least watch it so you are able to make an INFORMED DECISION on your impact on the earth.
Ignorance is no excuse.
Handy websites:
Tagged as Animal, Cruelty, Earthlings, Environment, Farm, Fur, Health, Joaquin Phoenix, Leather, Pescetarian, Puppy Mills, Science, Slaughter, Slaughterhouse, Television, Vegan, Vegetarian, Violence + Categorized as Me, myself and I