Hello there! (^^)/
Following my previous post about the meat debate, I’d like to write my impressions about a personal story.
Yesterday I was invited for lunch at some relatives’ place. Most of my close relations know I’m a vegetarian.
Still, when I’m invited, there are almost never vegetarian dishes on the table, wherever I go, so I eat the available vegetables or a salad. I’m not blaming anyone on the subject, I wouldn’t, this is not why I’m writing today (in fact I’m very flexible in these situations).
As a matter of fact, I’m writing because I’m wondering why people, in general, won’t accept differences, even the closest and dearest ones. Of course, I’m always asked why am I a vegetarian, as if I bear a huge difference. I don’t mind answering, but I can’t understand why no one wonders why are they eating meat, especially nowadays.
I think both questions are essential, but it’s always a one way conversation with a dead end, unfortunately.
I’d be glad to share opinions with open-minded persons who are willing to wonder too, because I’ve been there. I wondered why was I eating meat when I didn’t really need it, when I felt so much lighter and healthier without it. I researched and exchanged points of view with anyone who would want to.
For this lunch, they only had beef and pork on the table and asked me if I would take some. As usual, I declined politely, they knew why but still they kept asking. Then, as usual, they asked me why I didn’t eat meat and why I should (while I’m in a good shape). I didn’t take it wrong and tried to answer the best way I could, as usual.
In India, for example, there are some vegetarian people who cook some meat for their meat-lovers guests without asking why are they eating meat. In fact, it’s the other way around, the guests ask the hosts why are they vegetarians.
Why is that so? Has anyone wondered why eating meat in our modern and westernised society is normalized? And why vegetarians/vegans are considered different or even sectarian?
Yesterday, I gave one of my answers which is that I don’t want to finance factory-farming, the shame and cruelty it has towards animals. Their reaction was: “Why would you care? We don’t want to see what’s happening, we just want to eat without knowing a thing.”
I think this is very relevant of how modern society is nowadays. “We don’t want to know, as long as we can live comfortably and do everything we want.” I’m sorry but I have to disagree on this one with various arguments like I don’t see why we shouldn’t pay some respect to an animal that suffered to give us nutrients, therefore life. Well, they laughed, so I didn’t see the point of arguing with people who laugh at a living creature’s suffering and changed the subject to a lighter one.
They’re not the first (and the last) to react this way.
Would anyone care if the same cruelty was applied to their pet, whether it’s a bird, a rabbit or a horse? After all, they are edible. Why can’t we bear it then?
I don’t (and I wouldn’t) wish to transform the world into a vegetarian/vegan world. I think it’s not fit, because humans are “opportunist omnivores”. We eat according to our environment and our needs, no need to get extremist in any way. If you live in Alaska and have nothing else than fish, then you can only eat fish. But if you live in a tropical climate with fruits and vegetables growing everywhere, you wouldn’t want to eat meat. Each person has their own way to eat in a particular environment, we’re all different with different needs.
Making people believe they have to eat meat and dairies to be fit, everyday and in any part of the world, is a myth. Every serious and open-minded specialist or scientist can say so. Milk is naturally for newborns, have you seen a grown-up animal drinking milk? Then why should we? For calcium? Spinach, collard greens, almonds or chia seeds, just to note down a few, have much higher calcium levels. Consuming dairy products daily is nothing but a huge advertising program launched a few decades ago by the dairy industries.
I mostly agree with the following article written by Ingrid E. Newkirk from PETA, stating we shouldn’t be cruel to animals. Protests from PETA mostly urge big corporations to stop their cruel and unhealthy ways. As you should know, animals are stuffed with unhealthy grains and are given a lot of medications throughout the year. Chicken for example never see the sun and are piled up by thousands, it’s a real nest for dangerous viruses and germs. Farmers have to give them antibiotics and shots several times a year. Why would anyone eat such meat?
When a consumer buys a piece of chicken, the packaging pictures animals wandering freely in a meadow. This is precisely why they take the product, don’t they? What if consumers knew the meat they hold in hands comes from the unhealthiest environment, would they still purchase it?
This article sums up pretty well the major reasons why more and more people are seeking for a vegetarian diet. This more elaborate article is an FAQ about becoming a vegetarian and the prejudices and myths around it.
Not a single conventional meat industry would share what’s going on inside their walls, journalists can’t easily get permits. Mostly undercovered, activists and journalists are giving proofs all over the net, like this video (please be aware it contains seriously disturbing content).
No animal in factory-farming is in a meadow or in a healthy environment, it’s a fact.
Only the consumer’s choice supports this industry.
“So I am living without fats, without meat, without fish, but am feeling quite well this way. It always seems to me that man was not born to be a carnivore.” (Albert Einstein)
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