Being the only vegetarian in my family (along with Yannick) was something I got used to after the first year. With it came mostly curiosity and support, with a few patronizing comments from time to time. I’ve always been open about my reasons behind not eating meat, which are endless- moral, health, environmental, economic, etc- and I try to encourage my family and friends to be mindful of what they’re eating.
I am sure that most of the people close to me would easily consider themselves “animal lovers.” Many of them grew up with so many- dogs, cats, horses, frogs, snakes, fish, chickens, pigs, goats- and loved them all very much. It would seem like opting to not eat animals would be simple, right? Unfortunately not. And not for the majority of Americans.
After doing some research I did some math. Here is what I came up with:
312,800,000 – 15,640,000 = 297,160,000 Total number of meat eaters in 2011
Now, an average steer weighs about 1200 lbs, from which humans would take about 500 lbs of edible meat.
500 lbs people! If you ate a 6 oz portion every day, that would last you 1,333 days! What is happening with the rest of those millions of animals?
Now, I am very much against the leather and fur industries. In conversation, many people will ignorantly proclaim that wearing the dried skin of an animal is somehow justifiable because “wearing it means that the entire animal was used and not wasted.” Well, I’m sorry to burst your denial bubble, but that’s obviously not true.
Billions of animals are tortured relentlessly from the time that they are born to the time that they are killed, and millions of them are just thrown away. Thrown away. Killed for nothing.
This reminded me of a quote from Albert Schweitzer:
Nevermind the 1.3 billion people on our planet who suffer from starvation; people who could be sustained by the water and produce that we feed these animals.
By not supporting the business of factory farms, you are helping to not support the torture of animals, the waste of millions of lives, the waste of water and sustainable produce that can be used to feed people, and the destruction of our environment. If everyone changes their eating habits, factory farms will be forced to realize that people no longer want what they have to offer.
If you still want to eat meat, at least support a farmer who values the life of their animals and allows them to live an enjoyable life. One who doesn’t killed them with a machine with no detection of error (e.g ripping the skin off the animal before it is dead). It’s worth the extra measly bucks, isn’t it?
*Please check out this website. It’s a great website about compassion for our fellow non-human beings and gives some great information. And if you want to know what I’m talking about, you can watch this video, which reveals the true conditions of the animals that are killed for the meat you eat- the meat sold at the grocery store, McDonalds, In ‘N Out , Cheesecake Factory, and all other businesses that don’t sell grass fed, organic, (truly) free-range, cage-less meat.
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