Down With Meat

I’ve been mostly vegetarian for over eight years, and I say “mostly” because I do occasionally enjoy fish. Anyway, I don’t complain very much about limited food options and definitely don’t judge others for eating meat, but I think if you knew what happened to get that crap into your mouths you’d scale back. When I tell people I’m vegetarian I’m always asked if it’s for political reasons, and I always say, “well, no, I think it’s repulsive, but I’ve come to find out that there are a bunch of good reasons not to eat it.” Like factory farming, otherwise known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Most meat comes from huge farms where the animals are not allowed to move freely, or move very much at all. They’re infused with hormones and antibiotics and are sometimes even fed the remains of their own species (which, most experts think, is the cause of mad cow disease). When they’re killed, they know they’re about to be killed which frightens them, infusing their muscles with adrenaline. I wouldn’t know, but cows that are killed humanely supposedly taste better because of this. Also, these operations result in soil, air and massive water contamination, producing 2.7 trillion pounds of animal waste each year. I don’t have a problem with people eating meat. I’m not in allegiance with PETA, but there is a huge problem with meat being produced on such a grand scale that you have no clue where it came from. In my ideal world there would be a bunch of smaller farms, owned by farmers in the state, not large corporations. People would eat hormone, adrenaline and antibiotic-free meats and much less meat in general. You wouldn’t put it in everything. For more on why you shouldn’t support factory farming, you can visit www.factoryfarm.org, www.meetyourmeat.com or www.sierraclub.org/factoryfarms/