Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Ignoring Reality

Hello all! I missed a day of blogging again. This week has been so crazy! School has been taking over my life.

I just read a blog about a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle and the reasons behind it. I found it to be very interesting. You can read it Here.

It really got me thinking about the whole subject and where I stand on all of it. To be quite honest I'm not sure where I stand. My mom has been a vegetarian for a while and I always grew up eating a healthy diet with limited meat. Even now, I don't eat much meat and I eat no dairy because I am allergic. I do eat eggs. I decided to do a little research on the top reasons for becoming a vegan/vegetarian so I could look at this subject from many angles.

1. For the Animals : Animals on factory farms are treated with extreme cruelty. Most farmed chickens, turkeys and pigs spend their lives in dark cramped warehouses where they can't even spread their wings. Many of them get their sensitive beaks seared off with hot blades and pigs and other cattle are castrated with no painkillers. They live in their own waste and many will become very ill from it. They are pumped with hormones so they will grow faster and larger. The only time they will see the light of day is when they hauled off to the slaughterhouse where they are hung upside down and their throats are slit while they are still conscious.

This to me is appalling, as it should be to everyone who knows about it. I do not think that is it wrong to eat an animal. If they are killed humanly in their natural habitat, I personally have no problem eating them. Also, in terms of eggs, I have a friend who has chickens and I have no problem eating their eggs because I know how they are treated. I think that a lot of people ignore what is happening to our food industry, I know I have. I have heard about these things and tried to push them to the back of my mind but to be honest I'm not sure if I want to keep living that way. If I was there, if I saw that, I would try to stop it so why then do I eat the meat of the animals that this is happening to? Just something to think about.

2. For Your Health : Some of the top killers in America such as heart disease and obesity can be clearly linked with a meat diet. Heart disease is caused by the build up of cholesterol and saturated fat from animal products in our arteries. I have always believed in everything in moderation. I don't think you will get heart disease from eating (free-range) meat every once in a while but I do think most Americans do not know what the word moderation means. The fact is by eating a high meat and animal product diet you are putting your body at risk. Is it worth it?

3. For the Environment : The animal agriculture business uses more than half of the water supply in the United States and because animals produce 130 times the amount of excrement than humans, our waterways are becoming polluted. Forests are being cut down to make room for animal factories which is really cutting down our oxygen supply and depriving native animals of their homes. Personally, anything that involves cutting down trees bewilders me.

Overall, I think I learned a lot from writing this blog and I hope you learned from reading it. Making the choice to become a vegetarian or a vegan is very personal and should be made based on your own feelings and not what other people persuade you into. Right now I would not label myself as a vegetarian or vegan but I am pondering the choices and I don't want to ignore the reality anymore.

What do you think? and be honest, all opinions are highly valued :)

xoxo Jessenia
(Most of the information used for this blog was taken from this Article)


4 comments:

  1. I'm a little biased, because I'm not one, but there is a REALLY good book about it. It's called "Skinny Bitch". It has a lot of good nutrition stuff in it. Some of it is backed by studies and some isn't. I got it from the library and read it in one sitting. I don't agree with a lot of the political-ness the author draws into it, but there is some REALLY good stuff in there. It's pretty funny too. I'd highly recommend reading it! (I have to admit, I read some of the vegetarian stuff but I skipped over most of it!! She writes a HUGE section on it). Read it and let me know what you think. You could probably get it off amazon for super cheap, too.

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  2. she's Pro-veggie, by the way. Didn't say that before.

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  3. Lots to think about. Since I am mostly a vegetarian I think it is a healthy way to eat. I feel good and that is what is important. It is not for everyone though.

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  4. Definitely! it's all personal preference.

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