I'm a Vegetarian

So I've made the next big step and formally become a vegetarian. Feels good I have to say. I don't really allow myself to feel guilty, it's a self-indulgant emotion that achieves absolutely nothing, but the facts about the meat industry were plain to see and weighed heavily upon me.

I urge everyone to watch the videos found on the home page of Chooseveg.com. Even if you aren't interested in becoming a vegetarian, everyone should be aware of where your food is coming from and what the animals endured to feed you. "Meet your Meat" is especially powerful, it moved me to tears a few times.

Now granted these videos contain a dose of rhetoric and the site does try to play the "meat isn't as healthy for you as you think" angle which is not particularly correct IMO, but the videos are powerful nonetheless and do a fair job of jolting you into recognizing how your food is "processed". The videos also speak to dairy cows and egg chickens who have it even worse than the meat animals.

Watch them, please. Don't turn away. Pull your head from the sand.

I urge you to watch it so that at least, at the very least you will stop eating non-organic, non-free range meats and dairy. Now I know what you are saying, that it is too expensive to eat organic, and you're right. "Organic" is a buzz word and food companies are certainly not above cashing in our altruistic and well meaning intents to eat while keeping the animal in mind. But there are alternatives, even if it means abstaining. Eatwellguide.org is a US/Canadian site that will allow you to find local sustainable farming operations where you can buy free-range, non-hormoned, humanely treated meats and dairy that are not exactly "certified organic". It is affordable and you help keep a very important economy alive rather than continuing to hand over your money to uncaring major corporations. Sure it will take a little more planning to shop, but at what point do these sorts of excuses just stop holding water? This site will also show you stores that sell organic products and restaurants that cook with organic and/or free range ingredients.

These animals suffer, folks. Their pain is unimaginable, their suffering is inexcusable. You can play the ostrich all you want, but at some point we as a culture are going to have to face what we support, even if its with our inaction.

I have chosen to go vegetarian because I can no longer expect another lifeform to die so I can eat. I don't need it. The animal is dying for no other reason than because I want it to, because I like the taste of their flesh.

The next step for me is to give up seafood. Whereas the cruelty shown to fish is on a much smaller scale, the devestation wreaked by the fishing industry on our oceans and lakes is terrible. The final step will be to avoid byproducts of the meat industry like leather, and this step is truly difficult.

I have said before that a society can be judged based on how it treats its animals. Please watch the videos and visit these sites. If you decide to continue to eat meat, so be it. At least you will be aware of what you are supporting rather than pretending it does not happen, and for that at least you will have my respect.

Peace and blessings to all God's creatures. It is their right.