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Animal Acres
. Animal Acres is a lovely, inspiring farmed animal sanctuary. .-
- EthicalVegan
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Harling Farm Exposed | Inside the British Pork Industry | Graphic Underground Video
YouTube...
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Harling Farm exposed | Inside the British Pork Industry
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Animal Equality has carried out an intensive two-month undercover investigation into Harling Farm, belonging to A. J. Edwards & Son. Harling Farm is typical of a farm in Britain.
Over 200 hours of footage and recorded conversations, and 335 photos provide a shocking insight into the British pig industry and demonstrate that regardless of whether a farm is labelled as 'Quality Assured' there exists pain, suffering and exploitation on a huge scale.
.YouTube... . Harling Farm exposed | Inside the British Pork Industry .... more-
- EthicalVegan
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Dead Cow Walking: The Case Against Born-Again Carnivorism
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The Atlantic
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Dead Cow Walking: The Case Against Born-Again Carnivorism
By Marc Bekoff
Dec 27 2011, 8:53 AM ET 614
Pigs, chickens, and other animals raised for food are sentient beings with rich emotional lives. They feel everything from joy to grief.
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"Eating Animals," by Nicolette Hahn Niman, a livestock rancher, with help from deer hunter Tovar Cerulli and butcher Joshua Applestone, caught my eye because, at first, I thought this essay was authored by Jonathan Safran Foer, who wrote a best-selling book with the same title. While Niman and her friends do rightly argue against consuming factory-farmed animals -- who live utterly horrible lives from the time that they're born to the time that they're transported to slaughterhouses and barbarically killed -- these three born-again carnivores, all former vegetarians or vegans, now proudly eat animals and think that it's just fine to do so. They gloss over the fact that even if the animals they eat are "humanely" raised and slaughtered, an arguable claim, they're still taking a life. These animals are merely a means to an end: a tasty meal.
The defensive and apologetic tone of this essay also caught my eye, as did the conveniently utilitarian framework of the argument. The animals they eat were raised simply to become meals because Niman and others choose to eat meat. I like to say that whom we choose to eat is a moral question, and just because these three now choose to eat animals doesn't mean that other people should make the same choice. Note that I wrote "whom" we eat, not "what." Cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals raised for food are sentient beings who have rich emotional lives. They can feel everything from sheer joy to deep grief. They can also suffer enduring pain and misery, and they don't deserve to have the good and happy lives provided by Niman and others ended early just so that their flesh can wind up on what really is a platter of death.
Wolves, lions, and cougars are not moral agents and can't be held accountable for their actions. But most humans know what they're doing and are responsible for their choices.
Cows, for example, are very intelligent. They worry over what they don't understand and have been shown to experience "eureka" moments when they solve a puzzle, such as when they figure out how to open a particularly difficult gate. Cows communicate by staring, and it's likely that we don't fully understand their very subtle forms of communication. They also form close and enduring relationships with family members and friends and don't like to have their families and social networks disrupted. Chickens are also emotional beings, and detailed scientific research has shown that they empathize with the pain of other chickens.
Raising happy animals just so that they can be killed is really an egregious double cross. The "raise them, love them, and then kill them" line of reasoning doesn't have a meaningful ring of compassion. And this isn't mercy killing (euthanasia) performed because these animals need to be put out of their pain. No, these healthy and happy animals are slaughtered, and if you dare to look into their eyes, you know that they're suffering. If you wouldn't treat a dog like this, then you shouldn't treat a cow, a pig, or any other animal in this way.
As a field biologist who studies animal behavior, I feel that the authors' appeal to what happens in the natural world -- "life feeds on life" -- is an illogical justification for their food choices. I've seen thousands of predatory encounters. I cringe when I see them, but I would never interfere. Wild predators, unlike us, have no choice about whom or what they eat. They couldn't survive if they didn't eat other animals. And indeed, many animals are vegetarians, including non-human primates, who eat other animals only on very rare occasions.
Jessica Pierce and I wrote about how appeals to nature are misleading and illogical in our book Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals. We argued that wolves, lions, and cougars, for example, are not moral agents and can't be held accountable for their actions. They don't know right from wrong. On the other hand, most humans do know what they're doing and are responsible for their choices. When it comes down to whose flesh winds up in our mouths, we can make choices, and in my view, eating animals is wrong and unnecessary, even when they are "humanely" raised and slaughtered. Let me add a caveat here because, as a world traveler, I do know that many people do not have the luxury of making a choice about their meals and must eat whatever is available to them. However, those who do have that luxury can easily eat an animal-free diet. And we can work to show others that a vegetarian or vegan diet can be very economical and healthy.
Niman and her friends also note that vegetarian and vegan diets have "never really taken hold." So what? This hardly means that we shouldn't try to do the right thing. They write, "The vast majority of Americans who do try vegetarianism or veganism -- about three-quarters of them -- return to eating meat. Rather than urging people to consume only plants, doesn't it make more sense to encourage them to eat an omnivorous diet that is healthy, ethical, and ecologically sound?" No, it doesn't. What it means is that these people should try harder and not give up just because it might seem difficult to change their meal plans. Perhaps they just need more time and encouragement from other vegetarians who can show them how easy it is to stop eating animals.
It's easy to add more compassion to the world and to expand our compassion footprint. Excuses such as "Oh, I know they suffer, but don't tell me because I love my burger" add cruelty to the world, even if the animals people are eating weren't raised on factory farms and killed in slaughterhouses. You're eating a dead animal who really did care about what happened to him or her. When I ask people how they can dismiss the fact that an animal was killed for their pleasure, they usually fumble here and there and offer no meaningful answer. When I ask them if they'd eat a dog, they look at me with incredulity and emphatically say, "No!" When I ask them why they wouldn't eat a dog, they can't really tell me, offering statements laden with dismissive phrases, such as "Oh, you know...." Because I often travel to China to help in the rehabilitation of Asiatic moon bears who have been rescued from the bear-bile industry, people sometimes ask me, "How can you go there? Isn't that where they eat dogs and cats?" I simply say, "Yes, it is, and I'm from America, where they eat cows and pigs, who are no less sentient and emotional beings." Animals really are very much like us.
No matter how humanely raised they are, the lives of animals raised for food can be cashed out simply as "dead cow/pig/chicken walking." Whom we choose to eat is a matter of life and death. I think of the animals' manifesto as "Leave us alone. Don't bring us into the world if you're just going to kill us to satisfy your tastes."
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Image: Kurt De Bruyn
.. The Atlantic . Dead Cow Walking: The Case Against Born-Again Carnivorism... more-
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U.S. Humane Society Files Complaint Against Smithfield Foods for "Animal Welfare" Claims
Chicago Tribune...
Humane Society files complaint against Smithfield Foods for animal welfare claims
PHOTO: Sows in gestation crates at an Illinois farm. (Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune)
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November 02, 2011|By Monica Eng | Tribune Reporter
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A day after Smithfield Foods launched a campaign to illustrate its commitments to sustainability, the Humane Society of the United States filed a complaint to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charging that Smithfield--the world's largest pork producer--is making false claims.
In question are the claims that Smithfield producers provide their hogs with "ideal" living conditions and that their animals' "every need is met." The HSUS believes these are not supportable when "the vast majority of its breeding sows are confined in gestation crates — metal cages that virtually immobilize animals for nearly their entire lives."
Gestation crates--in which sows are impregnated and remain for most of their pregnancy without the ability to turn around-- have long been targeted by the Society and other animal rights groups.
On the company's new smithfieldcommitments.com site, it says that it is trying to phase out gestation stalls at company-owned sow farms, as opposed to those of contract producers, and replace them with group housing.
"By the end of 2011, we will have 30 percent of sows on company farms in group gestation housing facilities. We have been making significant capital expenditures to increase the number of farm conversions."
Smithfield responded to the report with a statement saying:
"We are proud of our unparalleled track record as a sustainable food producer and stand confidently behind our company’s public statements concerning animal care and environmental stewardship."
As in the past, the HSUS is urging large food service companies, including McDonald's, to use their buying influence to pressure suppliers to change animal welfare practices more quickly.
“McDonald's has publicly recognized that these crates are not good for animals, but it still buys pork from pigs bred using this cruel system,” stated Paul Shapiro, senior director of farm animal protection at The HSUS. “It’s time for McDonald’s to get gestation crates out of its supply chain.”
This afternoon McDonald's Susan Forsell, Vice President of Quality Systems responded by saying:
"McDonald’s has been a long-time supporter of alternatives to gestation stalls, and we will continue to support the efforts of Smithfield Foods and all of our suppliers to phase them out. Smithfield Foods was the first major pork producer that committed to phasing out gestation stalls, and we support the company’s transparency and progress toward this goal.
"More than a decade ago, McDonald’s developed Animal Welfare Guiding Principles in conjunction with leading independent animal welfare experts, including renowned scientist Dr. Temple Grandin. We expect our suppliers to follow these principles, adhere to our commitment to continuous improvement and incorporate industry-leading management practices in animal welfare. We hold our suppliers accountable for compliance with our principles."
.Chicago Tribune... Humane Society files complaint against Smithfield Foods for... more-
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U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Treatment of Pigs | And So THIS Would Be Humane?
Los Angeles Times...
U.S. Supreme Court takes up treatment of pigs
The National Meat Assn. challenges a California law that says slaughterhouses must remove and 'humanely euthanize' animals unable to walk.
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By David G. Savage, Washington Bureau
October 29, 2011, 6:17 p.m.
Reporting from Washington—
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The Supreme Court has decided plenty of cases concerning cruelty, inhumane treatment and executions, but until now, none was about pigs.
The case of the "nonambulatory pigs" involves a dispute between California and the pork industry over how to handle pigs unwilling or unable to walk when they arrive at a slaughterhouse.
The issue, which the justices will take up next week, has already gotten the Obama administration in trouble with the Humane Society of the United States, which faulted government lawyers for joining the case on the side of the pork producers.
Under a 3-year-old California law, a slaughterhouse operator must immediately remove a "nonambulatory animal" from a herd and "humanely euthanize" it.
Federal law says animals that are lying down must be removed and inspected, but most need not be kept from the slaughterhouse.
"Sometimes the pigs are stressed or fatigued from the trip, or they're just stubborn. Usually, they recover, and if they're fine, they go into the food supply," said Minneapolis lawyer Steven Wells, who represents the National Meat Assn.
"We're not concerned about a pig who is taking a nap," said California Deputy Atty. Gen. Susan K. Smith in Los Angeles. "Our definition of a nonambulatory pig is one who is unable to stand and walk without assistance." She said the state's law, which is on hold pending the legal challenge, would protect the human food supply and prevent animal cruelty.
The lawyers concede there is no happy end for the pigs regardless of which side prevails. The pigs are either euthanized separately or sent into a slaughterhouse.
Wells, of the meat association, said there would be a "severe financial impact" on the pork industry if a typical slaughterhouse were forced to cull 200 to 300 pigs a day because they were lying down.
He is urging the high court to strike down the California law on the grounds that it is preempted, or trumped, by the federal law.
Under California's approach, the sick pigs "will be euthanized, but it ends their suffering," Smith said.
Though the case before the court is all about pigs, it began with shocking scenes of weak and wobbly cows being prodded, dragged and bulldozed into a slaughterhouse in San Bernardino County. A secret surveillance video showing the abuse was released by the Humane Society in January 2008.
The revelations triggered the largest meat recall in American history. They also prompted President Obama to issue an order in 2009 that forbids "downer" cows from being sent to slaughter. Because mad cow disease can be transmitted to humans in rare instances, all sick cattle must be kept from slaughterhouses, federal officials said. However, no such ban was imposed for pigs and other farm animals.
That disparity set the stage for the legal dispute over California's broader ban on downer animals at slaughterhouses.
The National Meat Assn. sued on behalf of the pork producers and argued that California did not have the authority to impose its rules on slaughterhouses. Their lawyers insisted the federal regulation was better because it required inspections of sick animals rather than automatically killing them. These inspections of live pigs are crucial for detecting swine diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, that can devastate a herd, they said.
A federal judge in Fresno agreed with the industry and barred the state from enforcing its law, ruling California lawmakers had overstepped their bounds.
"Hogwash," wrote Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 3-0 decision siding with California. He said states have always had the authority to say that certain animals, such as horses, may not be slaughtered for food.
Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said the major pork producers "have a history of mistreating downer pigs, often while USDA inspectors are present." He cited reports of "conscious pigs being dragged from trailers" at a slaughterhouse in Los Angeles County.
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PHOTO: California's deputy attorney general says the new law, which is on hold pending the legal challenge, would protect the human food supply and prevent animal cruelty. Above, pigs at an Oklahoma farm.
J. Pat Carter, Associated Press
.Los Angeles Times... U.S. Supreme Court takes up treatment of pigs The National... more-
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"Why Love One But Eat the Other?" Billboards Stir Controversy in Toronto Subway System
treehugger...
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"Why Love One But Eat the Other?" Billboards Stir Controversy in Toronto Subway System
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They are pretty careful about who gets to put ads up in the Toronto subway system, and animal rights activists usually don't make the cut. But through September and October, subway riders have come face to face with a powerful campaign to convince people that if they like cute kittens and puppies, then they shouldn't be eating chickens and pigs. Kimberly Caroll, an organizer of the campaign says:
Pigs, cows and chickens are remarkable beings," says campaign spokesperson Kimberly Carroll. "Cows will walk for miles to reunite with a calf after being sold at auction. Pigs have intelligence beyond that of a 3 year-old human. Chickens mourn the loss of their loved ones. We hope that in connecting with these animals and the grievous suffering that is behind every burger, omelette, and hot dog, people will be motivated to make more compassionate food choices.
I was surprised that the campaign got approved at all; Kimberly explained:
We ran a similar campaign back in 2009 on the TTC at about a quarter of the size of the current one. At that point the ad had to go through various levels of approval while we waited on pins and needles, but it was approved! This time around, it seems there were no concerns. We've been very impressed with the TTC for this. We believe this is the first animal rights campaign to run on the TTC.
While the puppy and pig comparison is probably not a stretch for most people, the kitten and chicken one is probably a bit more difficult. But they make a case that chickens are "inquisitive, affectionate and personable."
It is not a new message, that animals are animals and it is crazy to treat one kind so differently from another; the British Vegetarian Society did it decades ago. But it is new, seeing it in Toronto plastered all over the subway, where the TTC says it will be seen by 5.7 million people every week. Kimberly says that it is effective; she is getting "several emails, posts, and twitters a day from folks saying they're going veg after seeing the ads."
.treehugger... . "Why Love One But Eat the Other?" Billboards Stir... more-
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5 Smart[ass] Answers to 5 Dumb[ass] Questions About Veganism
From The Veganomaly...
5 Smart[ass] Answers to 5 Dumb[ass] Questions About Veganism
13 May 2011
PART ONE...
This is the first installment of ’5 Smart[ass] Answers to 5 Dumb[ass] Questions About Veganism’, a Q&A written by me and my partner Joseph (vegan for 22 years!) in the hopes of offering some catharsis to vegans everywhere, as well as practical answers to those often loaded questions that can come out of nowhere and leave you unsure of what to say. And because the people asking them tend to either be genuinely curious or openly antagonistic, we’ve created separate responses for each. The ‘Smart’ answers are designed for the well-intentioned omnivore, while the ‘Smart-Ass‘ answers are reserved for the pseudo-curious interrogator who really only wants to get under your skin.
This will be a regular feature on my blog, and here’s the exciting part– YOU can send in any question/comment you want addressed. Got an uncle who likes hunting and insists on rubbing it in your face? How about a coworker who stares at your quinoa salad like you’re from a different planet? Or what about the 100′s of good-hearted people who seem to ask the same dumb-ass questions over and over again? Send them to us! We’ll do our best to craft a clever response and hopefully make you laugh while we’re at it! Just fill out the form at the bottom of this post, with the question or comment you want answered.
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Question One: Where do you get your protein?
The Smart Answer: Lots of places! Whole grains, legumes, nuts, tofu, soy milk, hummus, falafels, veggie burgers, bean burritos, pad thai – just to name a few. It shouldn’t be that surprising to learn that plants offer up lots of protein; if they’re good enough for big, strong herbivores like gorillas, elephants and rhinos, why wouldn’t they be good enough for us?
The Smart-Ass Answer: Where do you get your nutritional propaganda? Kwashiorkor, also known as protein deficiency, is all but non-existent in the developed world; it’s unlikely you’ll ever meet anyone who has suffered from it, vegetarians and vegans included. The real issue at hand is where YOU get YOUR protein, as it’s most likely from the body of a sick, suffering animal raised for the sole purpose of selling cheap, unhealthy food.
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Question Two: But I’ve been to family farms and seen animals that have a pretty good life. What’s wrong with that?
The Smart Answer: I don’t blame you for thinking that the farms you’ve seen are fair to the animals while reflecting an industry norm. After all, the animal foods industry spends tens of millions of dollars a year trying to convince you that modern animal farms are happy-go-lucky places where kind, old farmers attend to their animals’ every need. The sad reality is that 99% of the animals raised for food in this country are raised in factory farms, most confined their entire lives to tiny cages or stalls where the vast majority of their most basic needs (comfort, freedom of movement, foraging, socialization, access to fresh air and sunlight, and so on) are never met.
People want cheap animal products from healthy, happy animals, but few realize that the two are mutually exclusive. Over 10 billion animals are killed and eaten each year in North America; numbers like that simply cannot be sustained without treating animals like machines. That is why at the end of the day, it’s not really the meat or milk or eggs that need to be marketed, but the myth about how they were produced. This is why it is relatively common to be offered a free tour of a ‘friendly’ farm showcasing a handful of ‘happy’ animals, but completely impossible to get a tour of a factory farm. The industry doesn’t want you to know the truth, because the truth would bankrupt them.
The Smart-Ass Answer: People said the same thing about human slavery. That didn’t make it right, and the fact that some farmers are ‘nice’ enough to give their animals food and room to walk around doesn’t make their exploitation right, either. The bottom line is that in 99% of all cases, farmed animals are raised for the sole purpose of marketing their flesh, milk, eggs, skin or hair at a profit, and if anything gets in the way of that (vet bills, high quality food, spacious housing), it will always be the animals who suffer. That is why even on the most ‘humane’ farms, practices like castration, dehorning and tail-docking are performed without anaesthetic; unwanted baby males are discarded or butchered; unproductive (read: not productive enough) animals are sent to slaughter; and so on.
If it was really about the animals’ comfort and wellbeing, the animals we’ve selectively bred to maximize productivity (at the expense of their physical and emotional health) would cease to be bred (read: artificially inseminated), and those that remained would be allowed to live out the rest of their lives in peace at places like Farm Sanctuary. Anything less than this is exploitation and abuse in the name of profit, pure and simple.
CONTINUED...From The Veganomaly... 5 Smart[ass] Answers to 5 Dumb[ass] Questions About... more-
- EthicalVegan
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Whole Foods Market Scam: Why Animal Welfare Isn't Animal RIGHTS
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Please click on the above link, so you can see for yourselves their bullshit ratings charts for what they think of as animal welfare. These poor animals are still killed, and that makes this an issue for animal RIGHTS.
Don't buy into Whole Foods Market's approach. Killing is killing. Exaggeration is exaggeration. Selling is selling. Slaughterhouses are slaughterhouses.
WARNING! There are four graphic photos following WFM's grandiose 5+ steps.
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From their website........
"The more you know about our meat, the better"
At Whole Foods Market, we're dedicated to helping you make informed choices about the food you eat. It's often easy to forget that the burger, steak or drumstick on your plate was once an animal. How was that animal raised? How was it treated? Where did it come from? What about added hormones and antibiotics? Was its growth artificially accelerated to get to market sooner and reduce feed cost? We are committed to answering these questions.
The 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating Standards
Global Animal Partnership
We've chosen to partner with Global Animal Partnership to certify our producers' animal welfare practices. We're rolling out their 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating Standards in every Whole Foods Market store in the United States.
Global Animal Partnership is a non-profit organization dedicated to continually improving the lives of farm animals. They have developed the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards that rate how pigs, chickens and cattle are raised for meat. Standards for other species (turkeys, lambs and others) are in development, so stay tuned and be sure to look for Global Animal Partnership 5-Step ratings the next time you stop by our meat department.
It's important to note that getting to Step 1 is a great accomplishment! Step 1 requires more from our farmers and ranchers than we have ever asked before. The Step ratings are assigned by independent third-party certifiers using auditors trained by Global Animal Partnership.
Look for this rating system when you choose our beef, pork or chicken. It's your way of knowing how the animals were raised for the meat you are buying.__________________________________________ Please click on the above link, so you... more-
- EthicalVegan
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6 Things Oprah Viewers Should Know About Veganism
Catskill Animal Sanctuary Director and Huffington Post Blogger Kathy Stevens shares a few practical tips about veganism with Oprah viewers taking the vegan challenge.
Originally posted at: http://casanctuary.org/2011/02/6-things-oprah-viewers-should-know-about-veganism/
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m excited about the attention that Oprah’s Tuesday show is bringing to veganism, a lifestyle to which I’m passionately committed. And I’m equally excited to do my part to support anyone eager to consider making this life-affirming, health-affirming, planet-saving change! So here, in no particular order, are six things you need to know about veganism.
1. Help is everywhere you turn! There’s a whole web-based world eager to THANK YOU and to hold your hand on this exciting journey! If you’re inclined to begin at the beginning and learn what we’re doing to the animals, I heartily recommend these books: Eating Animals, Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals, Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy, and The Food Revolution. There are countless others. Do your own google search. Rather watch a film? Try: Death on a Factory Farm, Glass Walls, or Earthlings. Want to bypass the suffering and instead see cows, pigs, and chickens (and a host of other critters) for who they truly are? Check out my books: Where the Blind Horse Sings and the newly-released Animal Camp: Lessons in Love and Hope From Rescued Farm Animals. Don’t think it’s possible to love a pig? You’ve got some surprises coming!
2. You CAN treat your tastebuds! At least once a month for the last dozen years, my dad calls and asks, “Whatcha havin’ for dinner tonight? Sticks and leaves?” Folks: let’s dispel the myth that veggie cuisine is bland!! For general info and advice about nutrition, try the Vegetarian Resource Group, Savvy Vegetarian, VegSource, or The North American Vegetarian Society. To bypass the BS and get right down to cookin’, try these recipe databases: VegWeb, International Vegetarian Union, and VegFamily. Finally, check the Catskill Animal Sanctuary website, for regular updates from Chef Kevin Archer, director of Compassionate Cuisine. Far as we know, Catskill Animal Sanctuary is the only sanctuary in the world to offer a vegan cooking program. Join us, either onsite or via podcast, coming in February!
3. You can date without committing! Not sure you’re ready to strip the fridge bare? There’s nothing wrong with dating before you commit. Try choosing vegetarian restaurants to discover how varied and delicious veggie diets can be! Happy Cow is a database of vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly restaurants around the world. Just plug in your city or zip code and the distance radius you wish to search. If you’re a New Yorker, you’ll love SuperVegan’s “The Amazing Instant New York City Vegan Restaurant Finder“.
My advice? Choose the vegetarian and vegan restaurants rather those that have “vegan options.” You’ll find that restaurants truly committed to the lifestyle offer far more inventive, satisfying meals. Go ahead: tantalize your tastebuds!! Check out the menus from my favorite local restaurants: Garden Café in Woodstock, Luna 61 in Tivoli, and Karma Road in New Paltz.
4. A word of caution: Vegan does not equal healthy. There’s a lot of processed vegan CRAP out there filled with ingredients I can’t pronounce (and I ain’t stupid!). If you want to use this opportunity to take charge of your health, focus on simple, whole foods. Want some great advice? Grab a copy of my pal Kris Carr‘s just-released, New York Times-bestselling Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!
5. A new, better you awaits! I may not know you, but I know this about you: you’re a good person who values kindness, and who likely works hard to ensure that your actions embody this highly-cherished value. Just for a moment, let in the uncomfortable notion that every time you eat an animal, you’re subjecting an innocent sentient being–an animal who, when you get right down to it, is very much like us in ways that count–to a level of suffering you wouldn’t wish upon a child molester or rapist. Acknowledge your role in the suffering, and when you choose to go vegan, celebrate your choice to honor not only the animals, but also, and most importantly, yourself, for in embracing veganism, you’ll be aligning your lifestyle with the values you prize most deeply. And that feels good.
6. It’s okay to stumble. Let’s face it: change is challenging! Even vegan poster girl Alicia Silverstone has stumbled a few times – and that ‘s OK!! As someone who took several years to go vegan, I know what the resistance is about: habit, convenience, concern about family members’ reactions, lack of knowledge about what else to cook. If you decide to take the plunge, or even just to dip your toe in the water, be prepared to encounter resistance, even if it’s just from, well, your own noggin. Be kind to yourself in your heroic effort to be kind to all beings and to the fragile planet we inhabit..
The vegan train’s pullin’ out of the station people! Grab a seat for the ride of your life, and be sure to tell us about your journey.Catskill Animal Sanctuary Director and Huffington Post Blogger Kathy Stevens shares a... more-
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Undercover investigation of Smithfield Foods reveals factory farm horrors
The Humane Society of the United States says its undercover investigation documents inhumane treatment of breeding pigs and piglets at a factory farm in Waverly that's owned by a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.
At a Wednesday morning news conference, the HSUS says its investigator spent a month working inside the facility and found many incidents of abuse.
"We conducted this investigation to shine a very bright light on this very dark world of animal abuse that exists in these operations in which gestation crates are used," said Senior Director, Factory Farming Campaign, HSUS.
For example, HSUS alleges that three times, the investigator informed employees that a pig was thrown into a dumpster alive. The animal had been shot in the forehead with a captive bolt gun, which is designed to render an animal unconscious, and was thrown in the dumpster still alive and breathing.
Other incidents HSUS says it documented were female breeding pigs crammed inside "gestation crates" so small the animals could barely move and employees mishandling piglets and tossing them into carts.
HSUS says the company, which is among the nation's top animal agribusiness, pledged in 2007 to phase out the use of gestation crates within 10 years, but that last year, the company changed its mind. Citing the economic climate.
Shapiro, "the company can not rely on the economic recession as an excuse for failing to allow its animals merely the ability to turn around when the company just posted its highest earnings last quarter in the company's entire 74 year history."
Smithfield Foods said care and safety is its top priorty and that it began an investigation since learning of a possible incident through its animal welfare hotline.
Shapiro said other large pork producers, such as Maxwell Foods, are already gestation crate-free.Cargill is 50 percent gestation crate-free.
HSUS says seven states across the country have already banned the use of gestation crates.
Shapiro says gestation crates are not illegal in Virginia and Smithfield Foods doesn't face any criminal charges.The Humane Society of the United States says its undercover investigation documents... more-
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Piggy Gets Warm Bath (VIDEO) - The Daily Blender
A warm bath means a happy piglet. A VERY happy piglet. I love piglets.-
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A Brief Criticism of Animal Sanctuaries
Corey Wrenn
* Roanoke Vegan Examiner
A brief criticism of animal sanctuaries
* November 15th, 2010 12:40 pm ET
Photo: Two lucky chickens at Farm Sanctuary, Watkins Glen, NY
Photo: Corey Wrenn
While non-human animal sanctuaries play a very important role in providing homes for rescued nonhumans, it is unfortunate that very few, if any, hold a much needed strong abolitionist stance.
Most sanctuaries like Rikki’s Refuge in Orange, Virginia may open its doors to any species of non-human animals, but fail to recognize how critical vegan education is to preventing many of the animals from ending up at their door in the first place. Having met representatives of the organization at the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival, I was encouraged to attend an open-house with promises of free food. I asked if the food was vegan. It was not. It’s quite curious how a sanctuary maintains goals of rescuing non-human animals while continuing to promote the consumption of those same non-humans.
More importantly, however, those sanctuaries which do attempt to adopt a vegan message often confuse the message terribly. United Poultry Concerns in Machipongo, Virginia and Woodstock Animal Sanctuary and Farm Sanctuary in New York are three influential sanctuaries falling short of a hardline abolitionist stance so necessary to promoting equal consideration of other species and abolishing non-human animal use.
These self-proclaimed vegan-based sanctuaries and others like them support single-issue campaigns which single out specific practices or industries which gives the illusion that these issues are more important than others. Most of these campaigns simply focus on issues which are already agreed upon by most to be unacceptable and fail to make any substantial challenge to public thinking. Furthermore, campaigns can sometimes contribute to preexisting racism, sexism, or xenophobia which is problematic for humans as well as non-humans. For example, the United Poultry Concerns runs a campaign against the use of chickens in the Jewish ritual of Kaporos. Why focus on an obscure Jewish practice when the vast majority of suffering is on the dinner menu of the average American?
These sanctuaries support legislation which generally does very little to advance non-human animals. For example, Woodstock Animal Sanctuary takes issue with tail-docking. Certainly, ending this practice means a tiny improvement for cows, but does little to challenge their use. Instead, a focus on ending a small percentage of the cruelty done to non-humans might have the effect of making the public feel better about the use by giving the impression that the important cruelties are being addressed by non-human animal groups and that use is itself not the issue.
Finally, these groups may claim to take a strict vegan approach, but they continue to promote vegetarianism. Vegetarianism, of course, addresses only a fraction of the non-human animal use we wish to abolish. On my visit to Farm Sanctuary, I was quite discouraged to see them selling vegetarian books, stickers, etc. in their store. They also operate a Veg for Life campaign which promotes vegetarianism alongside veganism. The rescued battery cage hens and dairy cows on their farm are a testament to the inadequacy of vegetarianism.
Finally, some, though not all, sanctuaries fail to seriously address the inadequacies of "humane," "free-range," or "organic" non-human animal production. Farm Sanctuary, with its heavy focus on combating factory-farming is an important contributor to the public confusion over "happy" exploitation.
The reality is that, as a movement, we have extremely limited resources. Every minute, every dollar spent on a confusing or counterproductive messages or methods is a minute and dollar taken away from important, clear vegan outreach. Gary Francione has written extensively on the practices of animal sanctuaries and other animal welfare organizations (See also Rain Without Thunder 1996). Terming the phenomenon “new welfarism,” he argues that these groups may promote veganism and state an aim of ending animal use, but their message and methods speak otherwise and are often counterproductive.
It’s a tricky thing to criticize a sanctuary which is often very underfunded and does in fact work diligently to provide homes to animals immediately in need. Adoption is a very important direct action. However, given the limited resources available to the animal movement at large, we should always be open to the possibility that what little we have is being squandered on mixed messages and counterproductive actions. What's more, many of these organizations fail to engage in the discourse. No movement is perfect and every movement sorely needs to be open to self-criticism if it ever hopes to improve and grow. Sanctuaries are at a unique advantage to promote a clear abolitionist vegan message. With the public looking to them with hearts opened by real victims of institutionalized non-human animal use standing right in front of them, is that really the time to suggest vegetarianism, humane use, or ineffectual legislation?Corey Wrenn * Roanoke Vegan Examiner A brief criticism of animal... more-
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Piggy Banks Being Made Out of Actual Baby Pigs
November 10th, 2010
12:41 PM ET
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Piggy bank made of actual piglet sparks death threats
Thecheeky.com wants $4,000 for one of its Piglet Banks, which take a year to make.
Piggy banks have been used for centuries to save money, and more recently, to teach children the merits of saving portions of their allowances.
The often-cute devices are typically made of clay or porcelain and rarely, if ever, incite controversy – but, of course, that may be because they are typically made of clay or porcelain.
Thecheeky.com’s piggy bank is made of a real piglet, but fear not, pleads the site: The animals were turned into piggy banks after dying of natural causes.
“It’s a real piglet that has been taxidermied and inserted with what all piglets probably dream of as babies, a coin storage unit and a cork plug,” the Vancouver-based site said, using an altered photograph of a live piglet in its pitch.
The pig takes a year to make after it is ordered, and thecheeky.com wants half of the asking price - $2,000 – up front.
The Winnipeg Humane Society is not amused and is calling for a letter writing campaign to Vancouver Magazine, which recently ran an ad for the piggy banks.
“While animals are routinely killed for their meat and hides, this is a particularly callous and demeaning exploitation of a baby animal's dead body. It trivializes the life (and death) of a sentient being,” the animal rights group said on its website.
The Vancouver Sun’s Peter Fricker explored why the pigs are offensive in an article last week and eventually sided with the Humane Society’s - after playing devil’s advocate.
“I suppose it could even be argued that the taxidermied piggy bank is at least honest about its origins. Unlike your animal-derived purse or wallet you have to look the product in the face,” Fricker wrote. “But somehow taking the dead bodies of baby pigs and turning them into novelty gifts for rich people to put their loose change in seems especially indecent.”
The Sun linked out to the British Columbia Agriculture Ministry site, which explains the breadth of products derived from pigs.
In addition to the obvious – pork chops and bacon, et al. – the ministry pointed out various parts of pigs are used for weed killers, rubber, floor wax, crayons, make-up, plastics, chalk, antifreeze, glue, protein for animal feed, leather-making substances, gloves, shoes, garments, paint brushes, insulation, upholstery, bone meal, water filters, insulin for diabetics and ventricles for special heart surgery.
Colin Hart, who told The Toronto Star that he created thecheeky.com for his more outrageous ideas (such as suitcase stickers designed to make your luggage look like it contains a body or bricks of cocaine), seemed surprised by the backlash.
“Most people understand it’s a bit of a joke,” he told the newspaper. “We’re not harming any animals. We’re not even considering it. It’s quite ridiculous what’s happening.”
He also noted that, at $4,000, it’s priced “a little out of the reach of people. Anybody, really.”
Hart, 34, told The Sun he was receiving hate mail and death threats, despite having yet to sell a Piglet Bank.November 10th, 2010 12:41 PM ET , Piggy bank made of actual piglet sparks death... more-
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So WRONG ! -Piglet seized to recover woman's debt
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) – This little piggy went to market -- to pay off a Russian woman's overdue debt to a bank.
Court officers in far eastern Russia have seized a piglet from a woman who owes a bank 13,000 roubles ($432) and put it up for sale to recuperate some of the money, the regional branch of the Federal Bailiffs Service said on Thursday.
The woman had been given the seven-month-old piglet for safekeeping, but it was taken away after a court survey of her property found it to be her most valuable possession, the bailiffs service said in a statement.
The piglet was seized after the woman failed to comply with a court order to pay off her debt within 10 days, it said.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101014/od_nm/us_piglet_debtVLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) – This little piggy went to market -- to pay off a... more-
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U.S. Meat Farmers Brace for Limits on Antibiotics
U.S. Meat Farmers Brace for Limits on Antibiotics
Photo: At Elite Pork, a large pork farm in Ralson, Iowa, pigs are fed antibiotics for weeks after weaning to ward off possible illness.
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: September 14, 2010
RALSTON, Iowa — Piglets hop, scurry and squeal their way to the far corner of the pen, eyeing an approaching human. “It shows that they’re healthy animals,” Craig Rowles, the owner of a large pork farm here, said with pride.
The questions over antibiotics come at a time when animal confinement methods and other aspects of so-called factory farming are also under attack.
Mr. Rowles says he keeps his pigs fit by feeding them antibiotics for weeks after weaning, to ward off possible illness in that vulnerable period. And for months after that, he administers an antibiotic that promotes faster growth with less feed.
Dispensing antibiotics to healthy animals is routine on the large, concentrated farms that now dominate American agriculture. But the practice is increasingly condemned by medical experts who say it contributes to a growing scourge of modern medicine: the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including dangerous E. coli strains that account for millions of bladder infections each year, as well as resistant types of salmonella and other microbes.
Now, after decades of debate, the Food and Drug Administration appears poised to issue its strongest guidelines on animal antibiotics yet, intended to reduce what it calls a clear risk to human health. They would end farm uses of the drugs simply to promote faster animal growth and call for tighter oversight by veterinarians.
The agency’s final version is expected within months, and comes at a time when animal confinement methods, safety monitoring and other aspects of so-called factory farming are also under sharp attack. The federal proposal has struck a nerve among major livestock producers, who argue that a direct link between farms and human illness has not been proved. The producers are vigorously opposing it even as many medical and health experts call it too timid.
Scores of scientific groups, including the American Medical Association and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, are calling for even stronger action that would bar most uses of key antibiotics in healthy animals, including use for disease prevention, as with Mr. Rowles’s piglets. Such a bill is gaining traction in Congress.
“Is producing the cheapest food in the world our only goal?” asked Dr. Gail R. Hansen, a veterinarian and senior officer of the Pew Charitable Trusts, which has campaigned for new limits on farm antibiotics. “Those who say there is no evidence of risk are discounting 40 years of science. To wait until there’s nothing we can do about it doesn’t seem like the wisest course.”
With the backing of some leading veterinary scientists, farmers assert that the risks are remote and are outweighed by improved animal health and lower food costs. “There is no conclusive scientific evidence that antibiotics used in food animals have a significant impact on the effectiveness of antibiotics in people,” the National Pork Producers Council said.
But leading medical experts say the threat is real and growing. Proponents of strong controls note that the European Union barred most nontreatment uses of antibiotics in 2006 and that farmers there have adapted without major costs. Following a similar path in the United States, they argue, would have barely perceptible effects on consumer prices.
Resistance can evolve whenever drugs are used against bacteria or other microbes because substrains that are less susceptible to the treatment will survive and multiply.
Drug use in humans, including overuse and misapplication, clearly accounts for a large share of the surge in antibiotic resistant infections, a huge problem in hospitals in particular. Yet biologists and infectious disease specialists say there is also enormous circumstantial and genetic evidence that antibiotics in farming are adding to the threat.
Livestock and poultry have been identified as the most likely sources of drug-resistant strains of microbes like salmonella and campylobacter that have caused outbreaks of severe intestinal illness in people and of E. coli strains that cause serious bladder, blood and other infections. (Resistant strains have not been implicated in the recent outbreak of salmonella contamination in eggs.)
In a letter to Congress in July, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cited “compelling evidence” of a “clear link between antibiotic use in animals and antibiotic resistance in humans.”
As drug-resistant strains of microbes evolve on the farms, they are passed along in meat sold in grocery stores. They can infect people as they handle the uncooked product or when eating, if cooking is not thorough. The dangerous strains can also enter the environment via manure or the clothes of farm workers.
Genetic studies of drug-resistant E. coli strains found on poultry and beef in grocery stores and strains in sick patients have found them to be virtually identical, and further evidence also indicated that the resistant microbes evolved on farms and were transferred to consumers, said Dr. James R. Johnson, an infectious-disease expert at the University of Minnesota. Hospitals now find that up to 30 percent of urinary infections do not respond to the front-line treatments, ciprofloxacin and the drug known as Bactrim or Septra, and that resistance to key newer antibiotics is also emerging. E. coli is also implicated in serious blood, brain and other infections.
“For those of us in the public health community, the evidence is unambiguously clear,” Dr. Johnson said. “Most of the E. coli resistance in humans can be traced to food-animal sources.”
The proposed Food and Drug Administration guidelines focus on the use of antibiotics to speed growth. Just how antibiotics have this effect, which has been known for decades, is unclear, but scientists suspect that the drugs improve the absorption of nutrients as they prevent low-grade disease.
Mr. Rowles, the proprietor of Elite Pork and a trained veterinarian himself, estimates that by feeding his pigs an antibiotic in their final months he is saving $1 to $3 per animal in feed costs. For the consumer, this is negligible, but from his perspective it looms larger because, he said, in good years his net profit is only $7 to $10 per animal.
More contentious is the routine use of antibiotics to prevent disease, as Mr. Rowles and other pork producers do with newly weaned pigs.
Dr. James McKean, an extension veterinarian at Iowa State University, said experience in Denmark, Europe’s leading pork producer, showed that ending the practice would result in more illness, suffering and death among pigs, and cause a jump in antibiotic treatments of actual disease. Dr. McKean estimated that a ban on most nontreatment uses of antibiotics would raise the cost of pork by 5 cents a pound.
Others counter that farmers in Denmark have learned to hold down illness in young pigs by extending the weaning period, altering feeds and providing more space and veterinary scrutiny of the animals. Some of the drugs used in prevention by farmers like Mr. Rowles would also be permitted under the measure before Congress because they are not used in human medicine.
“In the end, the producers will do what is right,” Mr. Rowles said. “We will make sure we deliver a product that meets the needs of consumers.”
“My only concern is that we make decisions in a scientific fashion, not a political fashion,” he said.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/09/15/us/15farm-span/15farm-span-articleLarge-v2.jpgU.S. Meat Farmers Brace for Limits on Antibiotics Photo: At Elite Pork, a large... more-
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Illinois Hog Farmer Switches to Vegan Diet After Battling Cancer
Hog farmer switches to vegan diet after battling cancer
lemandiet.jpg
DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STAR
Fred and Brenda Leman of Forrest often meet for lunch in her office in Forrest where she sees clients. She is a certified health coach and helped her husband, a LIvingston County hog farmer, transition to a vegan diet after his cancer diagnosis.
By Clare Howard
GateHouse News Service
Posted Aug 16, 2010 @ 12:57 PM
Lunch was Greek cabbage salad sprinkled with pumpkin seeds, Ezekiel sprouted wraps, walnuts, raw almonds and a glass of hot purified water.
The setting for lunch was a renovated iron-front building with a sign out front: “Best of Health, Nutrition & Fitness.” Location was Forrest, Ill., a small farming community 60 miles east of Peoria surrounded by corn and soybean fields stretching to the horizons.
Diner Fred Leman, a 53-year-old central Illinois hog farmer who used to eat meat at nearly every meal and sugary snacks in between, now considers this lunch among his favorites.
The transformation of Leman’s diet came after a cancer diagnosis last year, treatment at a cancer clinic in Mexico and new insights into the connection between diet and disease.
The change in diet was facilitated by Leman’s wife, Brenda, a licensed practical nurse who was enrolled in a one-year, long-distance program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City when her husband was diagnosed with cancer.
She was hearing lectures from leaders in the field of integrative nutrition including Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Walter Willett, Dr. Neal Barnard, Sally Fallon, Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Deepak Chopra and John Douillard among others. She was delving into scientific connections between processed foods, sugary foods and disease.
The Lemans both recognize that diet alone was not going to tip the scale for Fred Leman. He had 10 radiation treatments and a number of other procedures.
“We knew we needed radiation. You’re not going to get ahead of this with just diet,” Brenda Leman said. “We know this (diet) is not a cure-all, but it gives us some choices.”
Fred Leman said within 10 days of starting the new diet, his craving for candy, cookies and ice cream was gone.
“My blood sugar levels used to be going crazy,” he said. “My tastes have changed so much. I feel liberated because I don’t crave those sugars and sweets anymore.”
He follows a vegan diet with no animal products or processed foods. Brenda Leman still eats small amounts of meat, primarily chicken. Vegetables are at least 80 percent of their diet and instead of iceberg lettuce, they eat dark leafy greens.
“Drinking hot water throughout the day is important to keep the lymph system flowing,” she said. “Hot water helps hydrate and detoxify the body. Keeping the lymph system flowing is a big part of fighting cancer and inflammation.”
Despite living in the heart of corn and soybean country, corn was one of their first targets, eliminating all high fructose corn syrup, which means nearly all processed foods, soda, juices and even applesauce.
Brenda Leman, now a certified health coach, tells her clients that high fructose corn syrup disrupts the appetite hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin suppresses food hunger, and ghrelin increases the desire for food.
“Your body can live but you don’t feel optimal when you eat processed foods versus real foods,” she said. “Eliminating all processed food is nothing radical. This is the way people used to eat. Once you eat this way for a certain length of time, your body starts talking to you.”
Besides processed food, the American diet includes too much carbohydrates and protein, she said, advising that protein be limited to about 27 grams per meal.
“Too much protein creates an acidic body that leads to inflammation,” she said, citing research that links inflammation with arthritis, joint pain, cardiac problems, asthma and cancer.
In addition to working with clients on changing their diets and coaching them about lifestyle changes, she has two whole-body vibration machines in her office. Clients reserve time on the machines, which are based on the theory that vibration can stimulate bone strength and muscle tone.
For the past year, Lisa Aberle, 30, has seen Leman for help making changes in her diet. Aberle was overweight, lacked energy and ached in her muscles and joints.
A radiography teacher, Aberle said she’d get to work and do the basics at home, cooking and cleaning, but never had much energy for anything else.
“Improvement came slowly. Brenda set a few goals every few weeks,” Aberle said. “I haven’t totally eliminated meat and dairy but probably should. I’m walking more now and have lost 29 pounds. I have a lot more energy and don’t feel that morning achiness.”
Despite the improvements, Aberle said it’s difficult to stay with the diet. By contrast, Fred Leman has no problem sticking with his new diet. He is no longer receiving radiation, but he considers the diet part of his defense against a recurrence of cancer.
Before his cancer diagnosis, he’d get a little overweight, eliminate flour and sugar from his diet, lose 10 to 15 pounds and then resume his previous eating patterns.
“I had no commitment to keep going with the diet. As soon as I had a piece of pie, I’d go back to the old rut, almost like alcoholism but with sugar,” he said. “This diet is nothing radical. I’m just trying to make the best choices. I’m not doing this to make a statement. I’m just trying to survive.”
Before he was diagnosed with cancer and started eating differently, he felt he needed protein from meat to keep his strength up.
“Now I get my protein from nuts and vegetables, and that hasn’t hurt my strength,” he said. “Before, I ate supper and I’d nap for an hour. Now I don’t run out of energy. I work a full day on the farm.”
Brenda Leman said, “Whether you’re a cancer patient or not, your body can live but you don’t feel optimal eating processed food versus real food. Now we eat to live, not live to eat. When you can get to that point, you feel very blessed.”Hog farmer switches to vegan diet after battling cancer lemandiet.jpg DAVID... more-
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The Beings We Eat | VeganMeans
PART ONE...
The Beings We Eat
Worldwide, more than 80 billion land animals, of many kinds, are raised and killed each year as food for one particular group called Homo sapiens. Similar numbers of animals are taken from the water, so humans eat around 160 billion animals each year. In comparison, just about 100 billion humans have walked this planet in our known history.
We present these facts not to make ourselves or our readers feel overwhelmed. No one wants to feel bad. We can, however, feel responsible. Think of it as the power to change things, beginning today. Because we can, by becoming vegan.
Here is an overview of the realities of animal farming. Goats, sheep, and other animals not covered here are also respected by vegan values. These beings are just a few of the many conscious beings humans have dominated and now use daily. This domination and use is not inevitable, so you need not accept the objection that vegans are idealists and the world won’t go vegan overnight. The world of one person changes with each individual who does opt out of animal use, and that’s just what a movement means.
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The Chickens and the Eggs
Of the 80 billion land animals killed each year, well over half are chickens. In the United States, nine billion out of the ten billion land animals killed each year are chickens raised for their flesh, their ability to reproduce, and their eggs.
The chickens bred and confined to lay eggs are commonly referred to as battery hens. Most are kept in small, wire cages; a small number are kept in crowded sheds, and a tiny fraction of the overall number have some access to the outdoors. Nearly all of them have much of their beaks seared off (to prevent pecking), and are quickly exhausted from the egg-laying, and at that point slaughtered for their flesh. Osteoporosis and frequent bone breaks are the norm for their bodies, purpose-bred to lay egg after egg.
Male chicks are not wanted in this business. They may be suffocated or ground alive to be used as fertilizer or feed. Egg production is a deadly business for birds.
Some feminists -- including Priscilla Feral, Lee Hall, and Richard Twine -- have pointed out the commodification of the female reproductive system in the egg industry, as well as in the dairy industry, is, and should be treated as, an issue of exploitation every bit as oppressive as the production of flesh.
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Cage-Free Eggs?
The idea behind eggs marketed as “cage-free” is to switch from keeping hens in a wire cage to keeping them in a shed or on the stacked floors (known as tiers) more common in Europe. Then the customer feels that the conditions were improved. Some proprietors keep birds in both sheds and cages to take advantage of both markets.
The conditions found in cage-free operations are virtually identical to the conditions endured by chickens raised for their flesh. These “broiler” chickens spend their days in one big cage, often with many thousands of other birds, the air heavy with dust and ammonia from their waste.
So “cage-free” is no bargain for the chickens, and removing these purpose-bred animals from cages can actually increase bone breaks, stress, and competition for food. Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral visited a company considered a pioneer in this market, and asked the tour facilitator to please pick up some of the dead birds whose bodies the crowded birds had to walk around and over, and the facilitator did so, without any sign of surprise at the dead birds. Priscilla noted that these birds too had much of their beaks taken off. The males were mostly missing. Priscilla remembers this as an appalling scene. “And they all get slaughtered at the end.”
“We have no need for eggs,” continues Priscilla. “So the vegan thing to do is to advocate peaceful and respectful alternatives. I urge everyone who is thinking about vegan living to learn how to cook and bake wonderful foods, including egg-free desserts, from Dining With Friends: The Art of North American Vegan Cuisine.”
CONTINUED...PART ONE... The Beings We Eat Worldwide, more than 80 billion land animals, of... more-
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Help End Farm Animal Abuse
Not only is meat hard on the environment, a lot of conventional meat and dairy production is cruel to the animals involved. Animals in factory farms live in horrendous conditions, receiving copious amounts of antibiotics to mitigate the diseases that these conditions breed.
If you want to do your part to help these farm animals, there are a few things you can do:
http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2010/07/06/help-end-farm-animal-abuse/Not only is meat hard on the environment, a lot of conventional meat and dairy... more-
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Why Factory Farms May Finally Be Held Responsible for Their Polluting Waste
In a groundbreaking legal settlement, the EPA has agreed to identify and investigate thousands of factory farms that have been avoiding government regulation for water pollution.
June 3, 2010
Photo Credit: Farm Sanctuary
In a legal settlement that could affect the entire U.S. meat industry, the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to identify and investigate thousands of factory farms that have been avoiding government regulation for water pollution with animal waste.
The settlement requires the agency to propose a rule on greater information gathering on factory farms within the next 12 months. It will require the approximately 20,000 domestic factory farms to report such information as how they dispose of manure and other animal waste.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Waterkeeper Alliance filed the suit in 2009 over a rule that exempted thousands of factory farms from taking steps to minimize water pollution from the animal waste they generate.
"Thousands of factory farm polluters threaten America's water with animal waste, bacteria, viruses and parasites that can make people sick," said Jon Devine, an attorney with the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.
"Many of these massive facilities are flying completely under the radar. EPA doesn't even know where they are," said Devine.
More than 30 years ago, Congress identified factory farms as water pollution sources to be regulated under the Clean Water Act's permit program.
But under a Bush administration regulation challenged by the environmental groups in this lawsuit, large facilities were able to escape government regulation by claiming, without government verification, that they do not discharge into waterways protected by the Clean Water Act.
Under the settlement reached May 26, the EPA will initiate a new national effort to track down factory farms operating without permits and determine if they must be regulated.
The specific information that EPA will require from individual facilities will be determined after a period of public comment. But the results of that investigation will enable the agency and the public to create stronger pollution controls in the future and make sure facilities are complying with current rules.
"The EPA's rules have failed to protect our rivers and lakes from polluting factory farms," said Ed Hopkins, director of Sierra Club's Environmental Quality Program. "Gathering more information to document factory farms' pollution will lay the groundwork for better protection of our waters."
The National Pork Producers Council expressed "deep frustration and anger" over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's continuing efforts "to develop costly agricultural regulations that provide few if any additional environmental benefits."
"With this one-sided settlement, EPA yanked the rug out from under America's livestock farmers," said Michael Formica, NPPC's chief environmental counsel. "NPPC is looking at all appropriate legal responses to EPA's disappointing course of action."
Factory farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations, CAFOs, confine animals on an industrial scale and produce massive amounts of manure and other waste that can pollute waterways with dangerous contaminants.
These CAFOs apply liquid animal waste on land, which runs off into waterways, killing fish, spreading disease, and contaminating drinking water. The plaintiff groups cite EPA estimates that pathogens, such as E. coli, are responsible for 35 percent of the nation's impaired river and stream miles, and factory farms are one of the most common pathogen sources.
"This agreement sets the stage for new Clean Water Act permitting measures that will add to producers' costs, drive more farmers out of business, increase concentration in livestock production to comply and hurt rural economies," said Randy Spronk, a Minnesota pork producer who heads NPPC's environmental committee. "And the measures will do nothing really to improve water quality.
"Additionally," said Spronk, "the settlement was negotiated in private and without consultation or input from the regulated farming community. This flies in the face of the Obama administration's pledges to operate government more transparently. And, in this economy, the administration should be enacting measures that create jobs, not implementing regulations that put American farmers out of business."
Today there are more than 67,000 pork operations compared with nearly three million in the 1950s. Farms have grown in size; 53 percent of them now produce 5,000 or more pigs per year.
"The record is clear -- large CAFO operations, and many medium and small operations, commonly discharge pollutants into the surrounding environment," said Waterkeeper Alliance attorney Hannah Connor. "What is also clear is that if we want to continue to drink, fish and enjoy water that is not contaminated with raw animal excrement, these discharges must be stopped."
"We believe that the terms of this settlement will help reverse this industry's history of bad behavior by improving implementation and enforcement of the law," Connor said.
Litigation brought by these three groups has forced the EPA to revise its CAFO rules twice within the past decade to tighten the pollution control requirements on these facilities.In a groundbreaking legal settlement, the EPA has agreed to identify and investigate... more-
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Karma Meets Bret Michaels' Face
Conor Knighton looks at the star of 'Rock of Love' getting nailed during the Tony Awards in his weekly roundup of the crazy world of 24-hour media madness. This week he also looks at Spencer and Heidi Pratt's love of God on 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here,' 'Gene Simmons Family Jewels,''Brooke Knows Best,' 'Kendra,' 'Denise Richards: It's Complicated,' 'Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,' Dolly Parton, 'Bridezillas,' Cap'n Crunch and David Carradine.
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at http://current.com/infomania/ or on Current TV. And make sure to check out our facebook profile for special features at http://infomaniafacebook.com.Conor Knighton looks at the star of 'Rock of Love' getting nailed during the... more-
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