So I’ve made the choice to be vegetarian. The reasons are several, and are listed below, but fair warning: if you really enjoy eating meat and don’t mind being ignorant to what you’re putting in your body, don’t read below, because you might be repulsed.
First, I’m an animal lover, and the slaughterhouses are inhumane and cruel. You know what they say, if slaughterhouses had glass walls we would all be vegetarians. This cruelty includes inhumane and extremely painful slaughtering processes, but also includes taking babies before they should be taken, leaving sick animals to stay sick, putting baby cows and lambs in tiny boxes for the duration of their short lives so their meat will stay tender, crowding them together in pens that are much too small, and more. All cruel and inhumane. Not to mention, the USDA’s humane slaughter regulations are being completely ignored. This article from HFA (Humane Farming Association) says:
“It is often assumed that farm animals are slaughtered in a clean, orderly
process that minimizes stress and pain. But nothing could be further from the
truth. HFA’s groundbreaking investigations have exposed the fact that farm
animals are routinely dismembered while still fully conscious in U.S. slaughterplants.”
What about veal? HFA has a whole page on veal facts. Here is how your “tasty” veal is made:
“Chained in tiny crates, veal calves cannot walk, turn around, stretch their legs, or lie down in a natural position. To obtain the light colored meat sold as “milk-fed” veal, calves are deliberately kept anemic.
Veal calves are denied all solid food.
Veal calves suffer from chronic diarrhea.
Veal calves are kept in darkness.
Respiratory and intestinal diseases run rampant among veal calves.
Veal calves are deprived of drinking water.
In a futile attempt to quench their thirst, the calves gain weight quickly by drinking more of their drug-laced liquid feed. Serious leg injuries are caused by a complete lack of straw or other bedding. To prevent muscle development and speed weight gain, the calves are allowed absolutely no exercise.”
Second, aside from the cruelty, the slaughterhouses are disgusting. If a restaurant’s kitchen was half as nasty as the slaughterhouses are, they would FAIL the inspection, but somehow it’s okay to bring dirty meat into those clean kitchens. And you eat that dirty meat.
Third, the animals are pumped up with hormones and steroids to help them grow fatter, faster. That means you’re eating steroids and hormones. Not to mention, if a cow dies, they grind it up and feed it to other cows. Are cows meat eaters? Heck no! The furthest thing from it! So we are eating sick cow meat by association. That’s how mad cow disease started. What about chickens? Even the eggs that come from these chickens aren’t safe. Here’s an excerpt from HFA’s egg industry page:
” ‘Anything goes with eggs’? Anything goes, all right – antibiotics, pesticides, food poisoning, “debeaking”
hens with hot blades, suffocating baby chicks, food and water deprivation, battery caging….”
Fourth, the organic and free range meat laws aren’t very specific. Organic I trust, but free range often means a 4 foot by 4 foot plot of land that chickens have access to for 20 minutes a day. That’s not free range, its mean teasing. Not to mention meat like that is very expensive, often 3 or 4 dollars more a pound than squished-4-to-a-cage factory farmed chickens. Don’t get me wrong, there are good places out there, but many are local and need sought out by research, not available in your local produce section.
Fifth, I want to try to be healthier. If I am going to eat meat, I want to be able to tour the farm and know what the cows eat so I can know what I’m eating. I want to know that conditions are sanitary (as sanitary as they can be in a barn) and that diseased cows are the exception, not the rule, as they are in so many factory farms. Plus, this way I’m forced to eat more veggies to get the nutrients I need. If you’ve ever heard the expression “strong as an ox,” then it might behoove you to know that oxen are herbivores.
So this was just a quick blog to share some inspiration to become vegetarian and some insight into things that maybe you just didn’t know. The FDA and USDA do not make these things public for a reason, so as humans it is our responsibility to reject the drivel they feed us and remember that we each have a brain that we can use to educate ourselves. I’m not trying to convince anyone to become anything; it is a big lifestyle change, and it should be taken under great consideration before you commit. I’m just trying to bring to light some things that are deliberatly ommitted from information given to the consumer. Comments, questions, criticism always welcome.
Here are some ideas of what I’ve been eating over the past two weeks (things I’ve ACTUALLY made and eaten):
Breakfast:
- Oatmeal
- Cereal (non-gmo with organic milk of course)
- Granola
- Yogurt (also organic)
- Grapefruit
- Banana
Lunch:
- Leftovers from dinner (below)
- Veggie & rice bowl w/ side salad from Jade Hibachi
- Hummus and Veggie Wrap from Tropical Smoothie
- Salads from home
- Delicious Veggie Panini from Wrecking Ball Tavern
Dinner:
- Veggie Quiche
- Beans and rice (made with peppers, tomatoes and onion) with tortilla chips and salsa
- Portabello mushroom with balsamic glaze with a side of quinoa with carmelized onions and green peppers
- Salad with chickpeas
- Chickpea and sweet potato tacos
- Pasta Primavera (with carrots, broccoli, red and green peppers, squash and zucchini)
Many of these were meat-eating-boyfriend approved, so I was happy with that. If you have any questions about where to find vegetarian recipes, let me know! I also just signed up for a box from Gary’s Organic – They deliver certified organic produce weekly or bi-weekly, and each box is different depending on what they have. I’m really excited to get my first box, because it will force me to eat all kinds of different fruits and veggies as well as learn how to cook creative meals. Woohoo!
Love, Peace, and Happy Eating!
Jillian's Journey to Health 
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