A cow jogged with me.
That is the answer I provide when asked why I don’t eat meat. I tell the story of my morning jog outside Woodstock, Illinois, when a cow jogged along side the road for a couple of country blocks. It was so much like a dog, I say, chuckling a bit at my bovine naivete, that I had to stop eating beef. From that experience, I evolved into a vegetarian. People think it’s cute, quirky, and not threatening at all.
It’s easier to be nonconfrontive for both people involved in the conversation. The questioner can return to his or her chicken parmesan, while I dig into my double serving of starches. I oppose fundamentalism of all kinds, and I am uncomfortable “preaching” about my religion of food. Live and let live, so to speak. (Tongue in cheek).
As Carter approaches the meat-eating age, I am faced with more questions. Will he eat Happy Meals? Will he be denied hot dogs and velveeta, a staple of my childhood Sunday afternoons? What will he do at birthday parties where pepperoni pizza is the main course? Will I raise a tofu freak, weak from lack of the proper proteins?
It is facing these questions that has prompted me to write this issue of the Mama Journal. For once, I am going to be honest about my feelings on eating meat. No feelings to be spared, I will not go my typical route of trying to make everyone comfortable, except, maybe, for Bessie the cow.
I don’t eat meat because I developed an awareness. Yes, the awareness may have been planted by the movie Babe, been watered and fertilized by Cousin Angie’s vegetarian beliefs, and sprouted by a jogging cow. But the bottom line is, I don’t want any living being to suffer unnecessarily because of me, and I am aware that when I eat meat, I directly contribute to the suffering of living, feeling beings.
Recently I spoke with a man I consider to be compassionate, principled and thoughtful. He is also a meat-eater. I asked him if he wanted to know the consequences of eating meat, for the animals, the planet, the consumer and the future. His response was no. A preference for ignorance shows up frequently. A person who could never stomach a visit to the local slaughterhouse is perfectly comfortable eating a cheeseburger. A family values conserving energy still contributes to the waste of resources caused by livestock factories.
My request: for the remainder of this Mama Journal, suspend your fears. Open yourself to being aware of the direct effects of society’s mass consumption of animal products.
Resources
- 7 to 16 kg of plant protein is required to produce 1 kg of animal protein.
- 1/3 of the world’s cereal harvest is fed to farm animals.
- 2/3 of the world’s agricultural land is used for maintaining livestock.
- 1 kg of beef requires 100 times the amount of water required to produce 1 kg of wheat, and 50 times the amount required to produce 1 kg of rice.
- The same land that produces 1 kg of meat could produce 200 kg of tomatoes or 160 kg of potatoes in the same amount of time.
- The increase in grains produced for livestock rather than humans has created higher needs for imported grains in many countries. An example would be Egypt, self-sufficient 20 years ago, is now importing 8 million tons of grain each year.
- 75% of Third World imports of corn, barley, sorghum and oats are for livestock consumption.
- A typical acre of land in Latin America can produce 1200 pounds of grain per year, but only 50 pounds of meat.
- Cattle pastures amount to 1/3 of the landmass of our planet.
Environment
- Farm animals are major sources of the greenhouse gasses methane and nitrous oxide; in fact, some estimates equate cattle breeding with automobile traffic when the clearing of forests for grazing land is included. Other estimates put meat production second only to cars and light trucks.
- Feedlots and slaughterhouses are the single largest polluters of the United States’ rivers and streams
- Ammonia released from manure is a contributor to acid rain.
- Ammonia is considered to be mainly responsible for the dying of forests is up to 85% a result of livestock emissions.
- In terms of water pollution, meat is 17 times more damaging to our water supply and 20 times more damaging to wildlife habitat than production of pasta.
Cruelty vs. Compassion
- Hens kept for egg production spend their entire lives in stacked cages that are too small to allow their wings to spread. Frequently, the hens’ feet become permanently attached to the floors.
- In order to reduce damage from aggression between the caged hens, their upper beaks are frequently amputated without anesthesia.
- Hens usually survive a year and a half, as opposed to their life expectancy of 15 to 20 years. Dairy cows survive six or seven years, as opposed to a life expectancy of 20 to 25 years.
- Pig factories have adopted many of the chicken production methods, keeping sows confined so tightly that they cannot move. Their piglets are taken away weeks after birth so the sows can be inseminated again.
- 50% of dairy cows develop udder infections. They are kept pregnant in order to insure lactation and spend their days distended and hooked up to mechanized milk parlors. After giving birth, the calves are taken away.
- Calves used to produce veal are kept in a crate so small they cannot turn around and fed an anemic diet to provide “gourmets” with white, tender flesh when they are slaughtered at 16 weeks of age.
Health
- Egg-farmers regularly lace hens’ food with antibiotics to lessen outbreaks of disease.
- People who derive most of their protein from animal products have 17 times the death rate from heart disease.
- Long-term, exacting studies of the Chinese population indicate that a grain-based diet results in a lower incidence of cancer than a diet high in protein and fat.
- A risk factor for osteoporosis is a diet too high in protein.
- Pesticide use in meat is estimated to be 14 times higher than plant foods, as a result of few restrictions on feed production and pesticides.
Spirituality
- Meat is no longer hunted as part of a spiritual journey of survival. The “circle of life” is contributing to pollution, hunger and cruelty.
- Some Christians believe Jesus would not support the modern factory farming due to its exploitative nature.
- Eastern religions have avoided meat for centuries, believing that a vegetarian diet increases “purity.”
There is a lot more information available on the web and in your local library about all of these impacted areas of our lives. I have compiled and summarized these statistics from the European Vegetarian Union website, the Vegan Outreach website, the Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook and Diet for a New World, by John Robbins.
All rhetoric aside, my reasons for avoiding meat products are directly related to my desire to live a life full of peace and love. It is important to me to be a model of tolerance as well. I cannot model unconditional love to my family and friends by demanding that they adhere to a strange new diet, and I wouldn’t try. I am madly in love with a meat-eater. All I am asking for is an increased awareness of the impact of our lifestyle. We should no more ignore the impact of our diet choices than we ignore how much we pollute, or the officials we elect to represent us.
“I can’t go without [fill in the blank].” Okay. Use your awareness to make smaller changes. Some studies have indicated that a complete vegan diet is not necessary to protect the environment. Here are some moderate alternatives:
- Cut down meat consumption. John Robbins estimates that if Americans could reduce meat consumption by only 10% it would free land resources to grow over 12 million tons of grain annually for human consumption.
- Try to eat only certified organic, free-range meat and eggs.
- Try to incorporate soy products into your diet where meat would usually be, for instance, try soy cheese in a casserole, or mock chicken in your soup.
- Experiment with a varied diet, trying vegetarian dishes from other cultures and countries. There’s more to a vegetarian diet than peanut butter and jelly.
- Be alert to the tendency of meat and dairy advertisements to obscure the real data on health and the environment.
- Avoid fast food markets that encourage the ravaging of rain forests for grazing land.
- Try new products, such as chocolate soy milk, or Boca Burgers (very tasty!).
