PCC: a place for learning and getting a lot of pamphlets.

Today I received one about “being kind to animals” as the man put it. The front displays cute pigs and a chick (aw) then you open it up and are attacked with sad images of factory farm life (I now have lost my appetite for breakfast). Skip to the end and you find pages about the resolution to the cruelty is to just become vegan.

Here is where my problem is.

I absolutely have no problem with people choosing a vegan lifestyle. I, myself, was a vegetarian and then a vegan for quite some time. This is okay for some people but not for all. And by no means is this a solution to the problems of industrial agriculture today.

If people really want to stop the horrendous realties millions of animals face every day, is to choose better alternatives (no, this does not mean you have to stop eating meat). How about we invest in choosing animals that were humanely raised and fed a proper diet? People are willing to spend lots of money on great TV’s, cars, cell phones….but not the food you eat!? Food that is supposed to keep you alive AND healthy? 

Wake the fuck up.

I’m not saying we need to go into debt just trying to get some dinner. What I am saying is we need to get our priorities straight and pay a little extra for better quality food that will actually be of benefit to us. Sorry guys, McDonald’s Dollar Menu doesn’t do shit for you. And hey, guess what? When more people start demanding/buying better quality food things will start to change. These factory farms will no longer continue to run because they will be losing money cause no one wants that crap anymore.

Since when did food become so low on our priority list?

I posted a quote not too long ago about the REAL cost of food. You may go into a grocery store or fast food restaurant and think you are buying a cheap meal. But the hidden costs lie in the environment, animals, fossil fuels, and the quality of the food itself. 

So come on, do a favor for yourself. Give your body a little more respect. You can replace material things anytime, but you only get one body. Cheesy and cliche to say? Very. Is it true? Very.

danadabney:

I’m not a stay at home mom, so I don’t watch Oprah, but I have been hearing a lot about her eating habits recently. I think Oprah might have gone Vegan this week or something? Once again, I don’t watch Oprah, so I’m not sure of the details (and I’m not a stay at home mom so I haven’t had time to further research), but I did just see a link to this segment on her show. 

Somehow her cameras were allowed access into the colorado slaughterhouse, Cargill (“The biggest producer of ground beef on earth”). The video shows the “lifecycle” of a cow in a slaughterhouse-starting from the steps it takes to fatten the cow all the way until the meat gets put in a box and shipped to your local Kroger. If you’ve heard or read anything about the food industry in the past years, you would know that it’s nearly impossible to get footage like this. I’m pretty impressed that that company would actually agree to being on her show.

I’m not currently a vegetarian, but I do think people should know where they get their meat from and what it takes to get it. And also realize that this was a ‘made-for-tv’ video, so it might not be as realistic as it is in real-life slaughterhouses. (Now watch some video footage from the lifecycle of a chicken in a slaughterhouse and you might actually change your eating habits for the better.)

So watch the video, and if you haven’t already, actually look into where your food comes from. It’s pretty important. 

I can’t remember where I heard or read this quote but it went something like this…If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian.

True dat!

aneclairtoremember:

themattsmith:

sustainablesam:

Is Eating Meat the Best Way to Fight Factory Farms?

Now, all my dearest followers. I am posting this article because I found it very interesting. I recommend the Guardian article that they mention as well. Again, I just post these things so that you all may interpret and take the information in as you will. Read on, lovelies. 

Look, I respect vegetarians, in the same way I respect non-pushy Christians- I can respect someone who has a set of values that are important to them and follows them to their logical extreme… but we’re both fighting the same war here.  I’m gonna eat meat, but I’m gonna eat responsible meat.  You’re gonna eat no meat.  We’re both voting against factory farming with our wallets.  We’re on the same team, we just play different positions.

VOTE WITH YOUR WALLET.

I’m a vegetarian and I support Matt Smith.  I believe eating meat is a natural human habit, and when correct choices are made, there is nothing wrong with eating meat.  I chose to become vegetarian partly because I was raised on a diet not focused on meat and because, at that time in my life, my feelings towards animal cruelty were intense. Vegetarianism fits well into my lifestyle and my beliefs.  I don’t feel like meat is something I need for survival or happiness, therefore I chose to give it up completely.

Matt Smith, as I have gathered from tumblr, is a person who treats the meat he buys and cooks with respect.  He buys thoughtfully and prepares with care.  And I don’t see a problem with this.  There has to be someone who can teach people that there is an alternative to those poor caged piggies above.  

We forget the power is in the consumer and their choices. We can drive a change by making different choices instead of boycotting things altogether.

(Source: sustainable-sam)