Followers

Friday, February 26, 2010

How Homegrown Can End Cruelty

OK people, hands up: how many people have a garden (or at least your parent{s} do) or even a working farm? Believe it or not, you don't have to live "in the country" to eat homegrown vegetables, at least. Rooftop gardens, square foot beds... the possibilities are endless as the country embraces the "slow food movement".

But none of that really applies to what animal cruelty, right?
Wrong.

Did you know that factory farming supplies 74 percent of the world’s poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs? It's much more just in America.
Did you realize that livestock in factory farms cover 30% of the earth's surface?
Did it ever occur to you that in America, only four companies produce most of the nation’s animal products, including 81 percent of cows, 73 percent of sheep, 57 percent of pigs and 50 percent of chickens?

Probably not. And I bet you didn't ever realize that not only is factory farming cruel and inhumane, it also contributes vastly toward global warming.
Not fun stuff.
At all.

But guess what?
You — yeah, you — can help stop it.

Check the package of that chicken at the store. If it doesn't proudly proclaim "free-range!" get one that does. (Whole Foods carries free-range meat.) Think before you ask to go to Burger King or McDonald's for a hamburger.
Perhaps adopt a whole other diet. I personally only eat meat I have seen alive and know lived a natural, free-range life. We order a cow, a pig, and some chickens each year. A couple years ago we knew the name of our cow: Ollie. We'd always thank Ollie whenever we had beef.
Maybe your parents aren't digging the (admittably expensive) extra cost of free-range. You could go to the extreme and become vegetarian, or even vegan. (If you try either of these, please, please research it very carefully and take the proper supplements. Veganism or vegetarianism when done poorly can have disastourous effects on your body.)

Factory farming, feedlots, and mass meat production are bad for the environment, for the animals, and for the people that eat them (factory-farmed meat is loaded with chemicals, including steroids, that in turn take their toll on the eater). The only people they benefit are the company owners... let's show them that we won't have any of it! As the next generation it is our job and our vital responsibility to make sure this world is run properly. Start young. Do the right think.

6 comments:

Eldarwen said...

Great post, Olive! Just one thing I want to share with you: A lady told us that Whole Foods is THE BIGGEST supporter of abortion (aka: killing your babies). We were shopping there for a while and when we found that out we stopped. I know, it's hard to find organic, healthy, free-range stuff at other stores. :/ I just wish they didn't support that!

Anyways, that was a really great post and I loved it! We have a "farm" and we used to have a garden until it rained for 2 months straight and the weeds took over. Ugh! lol =D Great post!

Love & hugs,
Eldarwen

Brooke said...

Well, even if it does, it doesn't matter one single bit. Thousands and millions of animal's health and happiness is worth WAY MORE than bad support. And who said that all whole food places are with that?

Well, great post!

P.S
To both Eldarwen and Olive Tree, badly cared for animals (like factory ones) are a BIG PART of swine flue, so whole foods are WONDERFUL for you. My mom has a friend that has a friend that gives my mom's friend fresh eggs from her chickens which sometimes my mom's friend gives to my mom. LOL! It's awesome. They are purple and green and all that stuff too! That's actually good though.

Eldarwen said...

Brooke: I'm not meaning to be rude, so please don't take this comment in that way. While I totally respect animals and am completely against animal cruelty, I am even more against abortion. Killing babies is way worse than killing animals. What if a woman had an abortion and killed a baby that might have been a wonderful human being and possibly grown up to fight against animal cruelty, just like us? I mean, I think that murdering a human (especially since the Bible says murdering is very wrong) is way worse. I know that some people [maybe you included] may not believe in the Bible, or may not agree with me, but I do believe in the Bible [Jesus & God included], therefore I won't support anything that supports something totally against God and His nature. I know animal cruelty is horrible, but don't you think that killing babies is even worse?

Brooke said...

No, I can't say that. I love animals too much. Think of it: if humans didn't exist, animals wouldn't have all of the hundreds of problems that we put on them. If one human is worth more than the lives of thousands of animals, I don't understand how that human could be more important. I think that humans put themselves as "better" or "more important" than animals, when yet all we do is destroy the earth and everything on it! We abuse our power 1,000,000,000,000 times over, no doubt.

Okay, you choose:
Not supporting, helping, and saving the lives of abused, beaten, in pain, burning alive, and skinned alive animals, or...
Not supporting, helping, and saving the lives of abused, beaten, in pain, burning alive, and skinned alive animals because somebody supports something you disagree with.

It's your choice.
~Brooke

Eldarwen said...

I have made my choice.

Brooke said...

Well, you do what you want to do-I'm sticking with the animals.

No hard feelings by the way :-) just standing up for what I believe in like everybody else on this blog.