Food is a touchy subject. Look around, how many people do you see carrying little paper bags full of fries and burgers? How do you think some of those people would respond when you asked them not what are they eating, but WHO?
I recently read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and it is one of the most well written non-fiction books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. In short, he found out he was going to be a father and began to think of all the choices he would have to make on behalf of his child; food being the most urgent and important to him. So he goes on to research, ponder, and think over not only the factory farming industry of America, but also the tradition of eating and how it affects us and our future generations. Mr. Foer and I have a lot in common, reading his thoughts and his urgency to change his own habits made me feel like I was reading my own story.
In this post I'd like to quote (a whole lot, so get ready) some passages that really resonated my feelings and thoughts. I think everyone should read this book, along with watching the film Earthlings. Both of these materials have made substantial impacts on my thinking and ultimately my way of life.
Where do we learn to eat? Well biologically it's just a natural part of life. We are born and born hungry. There are many documented videos of newborn infants being placed on their mothers chest, and literally pulling themselves up to the breast and feeding. That simple. We must eat to live. But where do we learn our habits of what food to choose, how to eat it, or how much of it to consume? Easy, we learn simply by example. The question is what example do we want to set for our children, and for their children? Eating isn't just eating. It's about family, sharing, talking, and being able to provide a sort of companionship around a meal. We're told stories during meal times, told stories about where our food comes from, and ultimately told
"According to a study published in Consumer Reports, 83 percent of all chicken meat (including organic and antibiotic-free brands) is infected with either campylobacter or salmonella at the time of purchase. I'm not sure why more people aren't aware ( and angry about) the rates of avoidable food-borne illness."-Eating Animals.
I wonder this same thing all the damn time. People are told to wash the meat, wash the counters, wash their hands, wash any and everything that comes into contact with the meat. Doesn't this ever raise a red flag? I mean for me, I loved the switch to no meat. No more having to wash so many damn dishes, I'm just too lazy for that. It's sad that this statistic is simply growing and growing day by day. And more and more people are becoming resistant to treatment of these illnesses.
"...the Institute of Medicine(a division of the National Academy of Sciences) and the World Health Organization have linked non therapeutic antibiotic use on factory farms with increased antimicrobial resistance and called for a ban. Still, the factory farm industry has effectively opposed such a ban in the United States. And, unsurprisingly, the limited bans in other countries are only a limited solution. There is a glaring reason that the needed total ban on non therapeutic use of antibiotics hasn't already occurred: the factory farm industry (in alliance with the pharmaceutical industry) currently has more power than the public-health professionals. The source of the industry's immense power is not obscure. We give it to them. We have chosen, unwittingly, to fund this industry on a massive scale by eating factory-farmed animal products (and water sold as animal products)-and we do so daily." -Eating Animals
A-fucking-men. Sorry for all the outrageous swear words but it really just makes my blood boil to know that we literally have given up our power as a society and allowed money hungry bigots who could give a turd less about us, or our health, make such awful decisions on our behalf. And everyday no matter if you want to admit it or not, giving your money to these corporations is taking part in the cruelty, the uncleanliness, and the destroying of our nation, our world as a whole.
Next is the fact the the federal government now believes it has the right and duty to tell us what to eat and how much of it. No thank you. (P.S. End the Fed. Ron Paul 2012!!!!!!) I don't need your non-sense reasoning that I need milk from a completely different species to live and have healthy bones.
"Regarding US government recommendations that tend to encourage dairy consumption in the name of preventing osteoporosis, in parts of the world where milk is not a staple of the diet, people often have less osteoporosis and fewer bone fractures than Americans do. The highest rates of osteoporosis are seen in countries where people consume the most dairy foods. The institution we have put in charge of telling us when foods are dangerous has a policy of not (directly) telling us when foods (especially if they are animal products) are dangerous."-Eating Animals
Hmm..So after reading that the pharmaceutical companies are in bed with the government(AKA USDA) I wonder why they push dairy so much? Oh so they can make even more dollars off of you after you break a hip and have to take some Boniva. And also do you realize we are the only species that drinks another species milk? We need cows milk as much as we need zebra or giraffe milk; which is not at all. After we are weaned from our mother's milk, we no longer need any sort of milk to sustain or bodies. So are you willing to suckle from a cow's udder? Food for thought.
Not only are we murdering innocent beings, killing ourselves, but the planet is being destroyed right along with it.
"Nearly one-third of the land surface of the planet is dedicated to livestock."-Eating Animals
These farms are creating rivers of shit, lakes of blood, and masses of bi-product waste. In the book it details an account of several men drowning in a pond of pig crap. Literally one drowns, the other one jumps in to save him, and so on until all the men are dead. Death in shit. Sounds like a good way to go....NOT.
"The factory farm will come to an end because of its absurd economics someday. It is radically unsustainable. The earth will eventually shake off factory farming like a dog shakes off fleas; the only question is whether we will get shaken off along with it."-Eating Animals
This quote in particular is very harrowing. We are on the brink of a global crisis. Not only with factory farming, but with the voluntary pollution that we enable and organize. We know what we are doing is wrong. We just don't know how much longer the planet can actually take the beating that we put her through on a daily basis. But, this doesn't mean we should just give up and take part in the activities that aid in such destruction. It's time to make a stand. Make a change. Do something.
"Not responding is a response-we are equally responsible for what we don't do. In the case of animal slaughter, to throw your hands in the air is to wrap your fingers around a knife handle."-Eating Animals
Wow. I don't think I could have said it better myself. For so long I thought the same thing that many people think, "What difference do I really make?" But finally the fog cleared and I realized the changes that I make don't just change me. They change the people around me who see the metamorphosis that I've gone through. That is what makes the difference. Sure I may only have 4 people who actually click the "follow" button on my blog, but I get page views. Some posts more than others, but people are reading. They are listening. And some people are making changes. Some aren't, but at least there is some sort of awareness about them that wasn't there before.
I would love to go on and quote some more, but baby's nap time is just about up and that means Mama's gotta run!!!! I hope these quotes mean something to you. Whether you drop the knife and become a veg, or the next time you hit the pizza place you really think about the pig who lost his life to be your pepperoni, all I ask is that you put a little more thought into what and WHO you are eating.
