I am so excited because our Farmer's Markets open on Thursday! Last autumn, as many of you probably know, I read a wonderfully eye-opening book about the food we eat. And while I hesitate to agree with them 100% on the humans-aren't-carnivores issue, I am in FULL agreement with them on the health of the foods we put into our bodies. I cannot wait to get locally-grown produce and family-farmed meats and dairy and eggs!! YAY!
Now, many of you will roll your eyes at this post, especially those of you who knew the horrors of the animal-to-food cycle already – and if you did, SHAME ON YOU!!
I, however, was completely naive to the goings on in the factory farms. Oh, was I in for a very rude awakening! If you still do not know of what I speak, I highly recommend you get a copy of the book I read, The Skinny Bitch (thanks Corey and Mom for the book!). It will tell you all you need to know. It will also advise veganism, but I leave that to your own discretion. I am personally going with humanely-farmed and humanely-slaughtered meats and poultry, organic dairy, and cage-free eggs. You can also check out this guy: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/meat/ who is right on target with would say if I had all day to put it together. But really, he already said it, so why reinvent the wheel?
Okay, so now you are whining (uh-huh, whining) about the cost of going organic and cage-free, and I gotta tell ya, we have had a huge budget increase in the grocery area, but really, people, you are either going to pay for it in your food or you are going to pay for it in health costs down the line. Would you rather change the stuff you put in your body or fully finance a doctor's yacht? Okay, that was a touch sarcastic, but I am trying to make a point.
My point is this: the food we eat now is garbage. Animals should be treated humanely as they are raised and slaughtered for two basic reasons: A) we have a moral obligation to treat all living things with dignity, and if you aren't buying that, here's another one, B) the crap (yes, crap) the animals go through shows up in their meat, so stress hormones that are at high levels during the slaughter are in the meat you eat in your kitchen. Now, I don't know about you, but I have enough problems keeping MY hormones from killing me; I don't think I want the cow's and chicken's, too!
Oh, and if you are thinking, "our government is addressing this, so I am okay" – think again! Check these links out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humane_Slaughter_Act Hmm, does that photo of the cow being restrained for stunning look calming to you?? http://www.geocities.com/cyberactivist2003/index.html this guy used to be a slaughter worker. Now, he is a vegetarian. Hmmm. http://www.organicconsumers.org/irrad/insensibility.cfm older article, but still happening! The system is not fixed because consumers are placing their trust with governmental agencies who are big on promises and low on follow-through and truth.
Okay, I am climbing off my soapbox now. Got laundry to do. No surprise there.
See ya at the Farmer's Market!
Angie
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