Welcome to my blog! Ahora en este espacio me dedico a escribir sobre mi país, sobre Venezuela y sus problemas para unirme a otras voces que compartan mi ideología y mis preocupaciones y deseo de ayudar a nuestra gente a salir de esta época tan oscura de nuestra historia.
viernes, 19 de octubre de 2012
I am saying NO to meat!
My thoughts for today are many but this morning I reflected more
conscientiously about my consumption of meat, pork, and chicken, especially the
most recent cochon du lait I ate at the Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival in
New Orleans this weekend. Granted, I am already one who eats meat very
sporadically, but nevertheless I do. On my way to school this morning, a young
man handed me a brochure/booklet from a vegan organization depicting the
cruelties of factory farming with graphic photos of poultry slaughter and
castration of piglets, to name just a few of the horrors of that industry. I
stopped to read and to see the pictures and was overcome by a sense of shame and
deep conviction for how I contribute to such cruelty. I had seen such pictures
before and I was aware of such farming processes, but sometimes one thing leads
to another, and one right moment may lead to change. I had that moment this
morning, for some reason that did it for me. I hope I am still thinking this
way a week, a year and decades from now. I know becoming a vegan is not for
me, but maybe I can begin to more fully embrace a pesquetarian diet. To that young man handing out vegan booklets so early in the morning I say, keep it up!
3 comentarios:
I can respect that.
As a student I worked in a poultry factory to work myself through college ($3/hr). 32 chickens per minute behind the assembly line. If it is done the correct way, the animals do not suffer. We had government checks all the time, including people who ensured there was no animal cruelty. I know it is not like that everywhere. Your actions are laudable. Perhaps another level of effectiveness could be in regulations. My brother is active in animal rights and helps the formation of laws. He also eats meat.
I must say, however, that vegetables have a story of their own as well. not to speak of coffee and the like. Just up the road from where my husband grew up live lots of people under horrible living conditions to . . . pick American-grown tomatoes (mostly Mexican people). And way about imported bananas from Africa? Hard labor often. Our clothes, made abroad, especially the fancy brand names . . . made under inhumane circumstances? Dutch television did a series on these types of matters. A group of young people worked in various places in the world where their favorite brand products were produced--they joined in the production process. They ate, slept, and lived with the laborers. It was extreme poverty. Clothes, shoes, vegetables, meat, purses, etc. Life can be overwhelming.
Then again, we are a family who fish. I make sure the fish are killed right away but it is not always that easy. At least we try:)
Again, good stuff. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for your comments Renate. My heart aches for those defenseless animals who suffer under the cruelty of wholesale farming production. I saw horrific pictures that cannot begin to compare with some of those other issues, of which I am fully aware. But I hope those crude images stay on my mind for a long long time, specially when I am tempted to eat meat. :-)
Your caring heart never ceases to impress me.
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