All The Gory Details

Earlier today, I posted my Top Ten List of reasons why I became (and stayed) a vegetarian.

This post addresses Factory Farming.

Now, despite the title, I am NOT going into all the gory details about how we produce meat in this country in order to get you to convert from “Go Meat!” to “Go Meat-Less!”

Instead, I’m merely going to share a brief overview with you, and direct you to other resources for the nitty-gritty details.

Factory farming causes extensive environmental damage and inhumane living conditions for animals produced for human consumption.

The images shown on television commercials do not accurately depict the state of farms today.  For the most part:

* There are no cows grazing peacefully on a beautiful hilltop, calmly chewing cud.

* There are no chickens pecking around a little red barn.

* There are no calves kicking up their hills at play.

* There are no pigs rolling around in the mud, biding their time until the slop arrives.

Instead, factory farmers grow as many animals as possible in as small a space as possible.  Due to these crowded conditions, disease is rampant.

To counter disease, animals are fed massive quantities of antibiotics from birth, along with growth hormones designed to get them to the table as quickly as possible, before they succumb to disease.

Since humans are higher up on the food chain than these animals, we  ingest everything fed to those animals ~ including the antibiotics and growth hormones.

To get further educated on the “meat of the matter,”  check out the Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG), or the Humane Farming Association (HFA), and they will educate you about all the gory details . . . if you can stomach watching.

The more educated you become about this small planet of ours, the more likely you are to realize that being a vegetarian is better for you, better for the planet, and better for the animals you would otherwise be consuming.

Aah . . . that’s better!

NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE POSTING OF THIS SUBMISSION.