goodbyes

[tino_bambino]

Yesterday was (probably) the last lab I'll have this semester in the dairy barn. I probably won't get to see the chicks again, or the piglets, or some of the cows. We went to weigh our chicks the other day and I said goodbye to them and the pigs. Chances are these animals will either be slaughtered in a few weeks or sent to be breeders, or maybe

Comments

[tino_bambino]

Yeah, I put my mood as 'blank' because that's exactly how I feel when I think about people not caring. I just can't comprehend how they can be so compassionate towards pets, wildlife, or even the baby farm animals and then turn around and pay someone to buy a piece of a creature that was basically tortured. It's just so confusing to me that I don't know how to react, you know? I just don't get how people can have this attitude. It's like, in some Asian countries people farm dogs & cats for their meat/fur/skin, but many north americans would be disgusted by the idea and not want anything to do with it. Yet in those countries, cats & dogs are seen as animals that are there for poeple to eat, just how we see pigs/cows/birds/etc. You could say that most people who live here "know better" than to think that those cats/dogs are there for that reason. I don't understand what the difference is when it comes to the 'livestock' we eat.

I also hate when people choose to remain ignorant. Honestly, a change of diet is one of the easiest & most powerful things you could do to live a kinder (and healthier and more eco-friendly) life, and people are just so lazy or gluttonous that they can't even be bothered to find out what they're paying people to do, let alone consider making more compassionate choices (even if it's something like buying free run eggs or replacing one meat meal a week with beans - how hard is it to do that?!)

Two of my roommates are vegetarians, which is really cool because we can relate to each other when it comes to food and animals. The third roommate is basically pescetarian. They all buy organic milk, soymilk and free run eggs, which to me is better than buying 'regular' of all those things. But I don't want to buy even organic milk or free run eggs because I know so many of the cruel practices still happen to the animals that supply those foods. They are a step in the right direction, maybe, but the standards don't satisfy my moral side enough for me to eat them without a guilty conscience. But I still think buying those products is better than buying 'traditionally grown' ones.

I know what you mean with the social thing too...this morning, (the morning after our house's big halloween party) my roommates and the two people who stayed over wanted to go out for breakfast. We went out to this place called Eggcetera, which is basically all eggs/bacon/hashbrown type food. I didn't know we were going there until we arrived and there was almost nothing on the menu I felt comfortable eating...and you know all the eggs come from caged birds since the restaurant took the time to put 'all our eggs are omega-3' on the menus, but not put anything about free run hens or anything like that. I ended up getting french toast, which I know still has eggs in it. I hate going out for food now because there is nothing to eat that hasn't been ill-gotten. At our party lastnight, my roommate Joseph did alot of baking and he used butter, cream, eggs, etc. in most of the food. I tried a cookie and ate some of the apple and pumpkin tarts, but it feels quite different when you go out and specifically order something from the kitchen that requires them to use these things. I felt a bit better knowing that Jose's desserts had organic milk and free run eggs and all that, because it was something he was making for everyone and he used the 'kinder version' of those ingredients, but they aren't things I eat on a regular basis and I don't feel right going out and ordering something from a restaurant that has those things in it, you know? I know the industry is very much ruled by consumers and the supply/demand system, and I want to take advantage of that and use what power (money) I have towards cruelty-free meals or whatever. I almost prefer making my own meals because I don't feel limited in my choices and I'm not forced to eat or buy something I don't want to. If it's an occasion like lastnight, where there are snacks out for everyone and some contain eggs or dairy, I might have some, but I don't feel good about it. But I know this whole veg*n thing isn't about being totally animal-free either, and that every bit helps.