Day 18: Meet Your Meat

     Most of you have seen the film “Food Inc” and heard a bunch of stories about how poorly all the farm animals are treated before we eat them. Like you, I too have watched the documentary and no matter how many times people tell me horror stories about what they do to these poor creatures it didn’t ever really hit home to me until I saw it with my own eyes.

    I recently watched the short video “Meet Your Meat” after Patti B. co-author of “How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even if You Never Want to Be One” recommended it to me. Up until I watched this video I was being vegan primarily for health reasons, and didn’t pay a great deal of attention to the animal’s involved in the process. As horrendous as that sounds it is the truth. After I saw this movie I knew this had to be stopped. I now feel very strongly against consuming animal products not only for the health reasons, but also to stop supporting the meat industry and their inhuman practices.

   This is a very graphic film that is heartbreaking to watch. If you have the stomach for it I included it below. I actually was unable to finish it for I found it to be too disturbing.

     For those who were unable to watch this short clip here are the highlights of the film

Chickens and Turkeys

·         Chickens and turkeys are now grown so rapidly with hormones that there heart and lungs are not developed enough to support the remainder of their body and as a result they often die before the slaughtering process.

·         A lot of chickens also are unable to walk for their small legs are not capable of supporting their abnormally heavy bodies.

·         Chickens are forced into their molting cycles to lay eggs by starving them for up to 12 days in order to stress their bodies enough to force them into another laying cycle.

·         Dead hens are also often left to decompose in cages with other live hens which are still producing eggs for human consumption.

Pigs

·         Baby pigs are castrated, have their teeth clipped, ears mutilated, and tails cut off without any anesthesia in order to conserve space as well as for identification purposes.

·         Many of the pigs that are too sick to be slaughtered are often shot in the head with captive bolt guns.

·         Did you know that pigs are actually smarter than most dogs or a human three year old?

Cows

·         In order to keep cows producing milk they are constantly impregnated. These baby cows go directly to the veal industry, so by drinking milk you are in fact supporting the veal industry.

·         Cows are forced to stand in their own waste all day and fed a diet that makes them sick.

·         Many sick and injured cows are unable to walk.

·         Veal cows are chained by their necks in tiny crates and fed an anemic-inducing diet.

Power of One – Did you know that the average vegetarian spares the lives of over 50 animals every year?  Think about that, if you were to switch to being a vegetarian right now how any animals would you save?