To start off, I am a vegi, and therefore I am biased, no matter how impartial I try to be, by definition of what I eat I am biased.
I hope those who eat mean will admit the same.
Ok to the question I asked in the title, why do we eat meat?
Is it for protein?, if so, we can easily get that from many protien rich products wich does not involve killing another life form.
Is it for mere taste?, if so, do you think another sentinent being should die because you like how it tastes?
Is it because you simply dont care about beings 'bellow' us?, if that is the case, there is not much I can say, if you dont care you dont care.
I ate meat untill I was 20, and then I started to read about how animals are reared and kept.
What turned me into a vegi, was not the idea of eating another sentinent being (although that came an issue for me later on), but the fact that we keep animals in such inhumane conditions.
Battery eggs are the first thing that jumps into my mind.
For just a moment (just a moment if you can spare it)
Imagine yourself, locked in a cage, hardly bigger than your body, so small you can barely move.
Imagine you are locked in that cage from birth untill death, in 24 hour light, 365 days a year(the cage is angled at a slant, so you cannot stand properly, as a result your legs begin to deform - into an incredibly uncomfortable possison, for life - because it makes eggs roll down easier.)
You get so frustrated you attack fellows arround you, so frustrated you start to bite yourself, and people in cages around you with your beak.
If you do, your beak is burnt off with a hot iron, (this is the usual practice for chics, although some farms let chickens mature with a beak, 60% of chicks who have thier beak cut off via heat die, but it does not affect profits as chicks are very easy to come by.
That is just chickens, helds and reared in such disgusting conditions, I decided to eat only free range eggs.
And that sent me off on an investigation of my own, on how other animals we eat are treated.
Pigs are thought to be as intelligent or more intelligent than a dolphin or a 5 year old baby.
In most countries, including USA and the UK, they are held in disgusting conditions. (and the french have been known to starve pigs untill they will eat raw sewage)
Many think pigs are unhygenic, but infact they are some of the cleanest animals in the world, the will roll in (clean) mud, to keep themselves cool and keep insects off them.
Unfortinatly, this has led alot of farmers to think pigs do not mind living in thier own filth.
Most of pigs in the UK and US are kept in ammonia filled pens, which are rarely if ever cleaned, the only time pigs find any comfort is the hosing down the get before being slaughtered.
If you was a inteligent, sentinent animal, kept in filth 365 days a year, untill you died, would you be happy?, are you happy eating meat that has been reared like that?
There are many many other case like this, chickens and turkeys that we eat are kept in massive pens, with 24 hour light(never ever real SUNLIGHT) from the moment they are born till the day they die, the live in misery.
If anyone wonders why anti biotics dont work as well as they used to (if at all) its because hows udders are milked so much, they start to scab and get infected. (cows are kept pregnant all year round to keep milk comming out, any calfs that are born are promptly carted off as veal - much to the wails of its mother - like any mother, who has been seperated from its baby)
Do the farmers give them a break or time to heal?, no, they are pumped full of anti-biotics, and it goes directly into our milk (and food) supply.
The more products we eat containing milk the less effective anti biotics are when we need them.
So why did I stop eating meat (and most dairy products)
The first reason was, because I could not find a store or farm that kept animals in a humane condition, and did not use products that where harmfull to long term human health.
As I searched, I began to realise how unique every animal is, how each has a different personality, temprement and intelligence.
It occured to me, I dont need any sentinent being to substain me.
Soya gives me protien.
Brocholia and various vegitables give me calcium.
Beans and red cabbage give me iron.
And all the other vegitables/fruits ect, give me everthing I need.
Ultimatly we must ask ourselves, does our diet justify keeping so many millions upon millions of animals in misery, if no, please do your best to find a place that keeps animals in humane conditions untill they die.
If you are thinking about giving up meat, then you will find it easier than you thought, i have not had a single hard day since I gave up meat, I dont even miss it.
To any who think im being judgemental about eating meat, I am not, I realise there are those who feel it is a natural part of life.
But to those who feel that, please do your best, so that those things you eat, are given the best life possible before they die for our consumtion.
It is only fair isnt it?
They die so others can live, at least do your best so they have a good existance before they die.
I hope those who eat mean will admit the same.
Ok to the question I asked in the title, why do we eat meat?
Is it for protein?, if so, we can easily get that from many protien rich products wich does not involve killing another life form.
Is it for mere taste?, if so, do you think another sentinent being should die because you like how it tastes?
Is it because you simply dont care about beings 'bellow' us?, if that is the case, there is not much I can say, if you dont care you dont care.
I ate meat untill I was 20, and then I started to read about how animals are reared and kept.
What turned me into a vegi, was not the idea of eating another sentinent being (although that came an issue for me later on), but the fact that we keep animals in such inhumane conditions.
Battery eggs are the first thing that jumps into my mind.
For just a moment (just a moment if you can spare it)
Imagine yourself, locked in a cage, hardly bigger than your body, so small you can barely move.
Imagine you are locked in that cage from birth untill death, in 24 hour light, 365 days a year(the cage is angled at a slant, so you cannot stand properly, as a result your legs begin to deform - into an incredibly uncomfortable possison, for life - because it makes eggs roll down easier.)
You get so frustrated you attack fellows arround you, so frustrated you start to bite yourself, and people in cages around you with your beak.
If you do, your beak is burnt off with a hot iron, (this is the usual practice for chics, although some farms let chickens mature with a beak, 60% of chicks who have thier beak cut off via heat die, but it does not affect profits as chicks are very easy to come by.
That is just chickens, helds and reared in such disgusting conditions, I decided to eat only free range eggs.
And that sent me off on an investigation of my own, on how other animals we eat are treated.
Pigs are thought to be as intelligent or more intelligent than a dolphin or a 5 year old baby.
In most countries, including USA and the UK, they are held in disgusting conditions. (and the french have been known to starve pigs untill they will eat raw sewage)
Many think pigs are unhygenic, but infact they are some of the cleanest animals in the world, the will roll in (clean) mud, to keep themselves cool and keep insects off them.
Unfortinatly, this has led alot of farmers to think pigs do not mind living in thier own filth.
Most of pigs in the UK and US are kept in ammonia filled pens, which are rarely if ever cleaned, the only time pigs find any comfort is the hosing down the get before being slaughtered.
If you was a inteligent, sentinent animal, kept in filth 365 days a year, untill you died, would you be happy?, are you happy eating meat that has been reared like that?
There are many many other case like this, chickens and turkeys that we eat are kept in massive pens, with 24 hour light(never ever real SUNLIGHT) from the moment they are born till the day they die, the live in misery.
If anyone wonders why anti biotics dont work as well as they used to (if at all) its because hows udders are milked so much, they start to scab and get infected. (cows are kept pregnant all year round to keep milk comming out, any calfs that are born are promptly carted off as veal - much to the wails of its mother - like any mother, who has been seperated from its baby)
Do the farmers give them a break or time to heal?, no, they are pumped full of anti-biotics, and it goes directly into our milk (and food) supply.
The more products we eat containing milk the less effective anti biotics are when we need them.
So why did I stop eating meat (and most dairy products)
The first reason was, because I could not find a store or farm that kept animals in a humane condition, and did not use products that where harmfull to long term human health.
As I searched, I began to realise how unique every animal is, how each has a different personality, temprement and intelligence.
It occured to me, I dont need any sentinent being to substain me.
Soya gives me protien.
Brocholia and various vegitables give me calcium.
Beans and red cabbage give me iron.
And all the other vegitables/fruits ect, give me everthing I need.
Ultimatly we must ask ourselves, does our diet justify keeping so many millions upon millions of animals in misery, if no, please do your best to find a place that keeps animals in humane conditions untill they die.
If you are thinking about giving up meat, then you will find it easier than you thought, i have not had a single hard day since I gave up meat, I dont even miss it.
To any who think im being judgemental about eating meat, I am not, I realise there are those who feel it is a natural part of life.
But to those who feel that, please do your best, so that those things you eat, are given the best life possible before they die for our consumtion.
It is only fair isnt it?
They die so others can live, at least do your best so they have a good existance before they die.
