It's
not because it has always been that way that it's
good or necessary for human beings to eat meat.
In fact, removing animal proteins from your diet
(meat, poultry, fish, dairy products and eggs)
is a green and a healthy choice; it's respectful
towards the planet, the animals and yourself..
Choosing not to
eat animal proteins (meet, poultry, fish, dairy
products and eggs) is a gree choice and an act
or respect for ourself, the animals and the planet.
Broiler
chickens, that used to be raised on traditional
farms in the past, are now mostly raised on what
is known as factory farms. These animals, which
can live up to 15-20 years, have a life expectancy
of more or less two months.
Five or six individuals
are crammed into cages that are no bigger than
16x18in. - they will never see the daylight that
is so important to them, because there are no
windows in factory farms.
A
pig has a higher IQ than a dog. Pigs are sociable,
friendly animals that enjoy human's company.
Like chickens, pigs
in factory farms have to survive in a terrible
environment. Often they are placed in 'boxes'
that are piled up from the floor to the ceiling,
or in restrained spaces that don't give them the
freedom to move. Sometimes a group of pigs have
to live together in overcrowded spaces, and some
pigs panic. .
Many farmers are human
beings who got caught in the industrialized system,
and they have no choice but to follow the economic
trends set by agrochemical corporations.
Dairy cows can live
up to 20-25 years. In today's stressing conditions,
they are considered lucky if they reach their
fourth birthday.
Calves
Calves are taken away from their mothers soon
after they're born. Female calves are raised to
become dairy cows, while something else awaits
the males. They are sold in auctions when they're
only one day old. They're terrified and almost
unable to stand on their legs, their umbilical
cord is still attached to them and they're bought
to be raised for meat. They have more or less
four months to live, if they don't die before,
that is.
To produce foie
gras, young ducks and geese are force-fed more
than 4 lbs of corn through a metal tube that the
farmer shove down their throat, daily, for a few
weeks, until they barely can move anymore because
their organs are about to burst. If they weren't
killed, they would die from this treatment in
no time.
Nowadays, the industry almost
always uses trucks to transport cattle. The road
is a nightmare from the beginning to the end.
It smells horrible in the truck because of bad
ventilation. It's very warm in summer and freezing
cold in winter. Cattle can stay up to three days
without water or food. Travel fever is one of
the causes of death, but there are other causes:
the animals die from cold in winter and from dehydration
in summer, suffocate to death as the others step
on them. They are packed in too tight, not a square
centimeter is wasted because of overpopulation.
They animals that make it to the end of the trip
are not in good shape. They can suffer from transport
fever which is a form of pneumonia, or suffer
from contusions because they were hit during the
transport. The loss is predictable and normal
to the farmer, who includes it in the cost of
transport as he does for gas.
