Some Thoughts on the Treatment of Animals

I have been meaning to sit down and write about Clint and I's decision to not eat meat for us and maybe for others that want to hear about it. This weekend we went and saw his family at the lake house in Athens and we got a lot of questions about it. So here is what I have compiled from Clint and I's search.

Genesis 1:26 says "Let us make men in our image...let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the cattle and over all the earth...". The Message version says something along the lines of let us make man reflecting our nature... let them be responsible for the fish...the cattle...the earth.

So what is our responsibility when it comes to nature? For me, I don't fully know the answer to that but I do know God has charged us with this task. I also think it's something that we don't address much. I also know He has said to eat animals and that He has said that they are all clean to eat.

Romans 14:1-23 speaks to how I feel so if you really want to see where I am coming from I would look there. Specifically verse 14. I don't think meat in nature is unclean but we have exploited animals in our country to the point that I don't have a clear conscience about eating it.

So let me explain why I think animals are exploited. Most of my understanding of the treatment of animals comes from "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer, the movie "Food, Inc." and interviews I have seen by the author of "Omnivores Dilemma".

I think the worst treated animal is the chicken. First of all the chicken we eat today is nothing like the chicken they ate in the 1950's. Chickens now (as in almost all chicken we eat) can't reproduce naturally. That is now done in a lab. They also can't survive outside in what should be their natural environment. And even if they could they wouldn't be able to walk around because their muscles are engineered to grow at such a rate that their bones can't support them. This is so they can harvest that meat sooner than ever before. Chickens now do not live very long at all because of engineering. And that is a good thing because their short lives are pretty miserable. Most are raised on a "farm" which is just a long building, usually with no sunlight and a very poor ventilation system so poop, urine and any other bodily fluid can be kicked up and inhaled by the chickens. Because these chickens are cramped all together disease is a real problem. This means they must be given antibiotics on a regular basis. I know one farmer that appeared on Food, Inc. got Lyme disease and she almost died because she was resistant to a lot of antibiotics because of her chickens.

Swine are also kept in cramped conditions and again disease easily spreads. For female pigs life can be pretty bad because the "farmer" keeps her pregnant or nursing piglets most of the time. I think my heart goes out to pigs more because they are more like a pet. They are very intelligent, on the lines of dogs. I would still eat a pig though...if I knew it was treated the right way in life.

According to "Eating Animals" cattle are probably treated the best, which I can see. Drive around a farm to market road and you can see how cows are treated. Open spaces, grass to eat and water to drink. Sure country life isn't easy but at least they aren't shoved together and forced to breath in each other's poop. Life is okay, until the last 90 to 130 days of life. That's when the cows are shipped off to the feed lots and eventual slaughter houses. The treatment at the feed lot is pretty bad. Here they are kept in cramped conditions, disease now becomes a problem, they are standing in their own feces and they eat corn and animal by product. The corn helps fatten the cows but it is also fairly indigestible not to mention the animal byproduct aka bits of other cows. They think this is where Mad Cow Disease comes from. It's cannibalism. Yuck, no thanks.

And I haven't even touched the slaughter houses. I don't buy grass-fed beef because: it is very expensive and I don't know how the cows were slaughtered. Half of my problem with meat is the slaughter houses. I won't go in to this part because it's pretty awful. If you want to inform yourself about it read "Eating Animals". The guy that wrote it I trust, to a degree. He did a lot of investigation on his own or with the help of people that know the industry but I think everyone is probably biased when they do this kind of work and he definitely has his opinions on it. But I also think something has to be going on or you wouldn't see video coming out every few years showing downer cows, cows so sick they can't even stand up, being shoved through slaughter. If a cow is that sick I don't want it on my plate.

To me, the biblical definition of meat that comes from factory farming, and most of it is, is unclean. That is just me and I don't write this blog to tell others how they are wrong and I am right. I just want people to know where I come from. To hopefully convince others that I am not crazy. I once read that Leo Tolstoy went to a slaughter house and didn't eat meat after that. I don't know how accurate that is but it sure got me thinking. I know if I did the same thing, I wouldn't eat meat either. I am not a full out vegetarian. I consider myself a part timer. I don't eat meat at home. I just don't buy it. When we go out to eat, we will get it sometimes and when we are at other people's homes we will eat it. Also, we eat seafood and I will buy that at the store.

We try to eat organic animal products. For one thing, it makes me feel good to know that they don't give the animals hormones and excessive antibiotics. I love organic milk and yogurt. They taste so much better than the normal stuff. I don't mind spending a few extra bucks for it either. The money I don't spend on meat helps pay for the better quality fruits, vegetables and dairy products that I buy now. In general, from what I have gathered, organics products are about respecting the land, the animal and the farmer. I know this isn't always true but I would rather support that industry over the other. I am having my say by buying the products I believe in.

Eggs are another thing for me. The best is when I can get them from a friend of my mom who has chickens on her property. But otherwise I either don't buy eggs or I get the organic free range.

Another reason we cut meat is the health benefits. Saturated fat, which is found in all meat and animal products, is the biggest cause for high LDL (bad) cholesterol. It is also a major risk factor for heart disease. I just happened to get my cholesterol checked right before I started this and then again about 4 months in. Even though it was such a short amount of time my cholesterol ratio (good cholesterol versus the bad) had improved. Of course giving up meat for health reasons is only effective if done right. I make sure that we are getting enough complete proteins in our diet. Clint had a guest lecturer come one time who is a leading cardiologist in America. Based on his research he believes that people should eat meat in 5-7 meals out of the 21 they will eat in a week.

So here are some things you might try if you want to. For soups or stews, try substituting tofu for meat. It takes on the flavor of whatever you are cooking. Break it up into small chunks and you won't even know it's there. Beans are great! I love black beans. If I am making a Tex-Mex dish, many times I'll replace the meat with beans and mushrooms. Speaking of mushrooms, they provide a great bite and portabello mushrooms have a good meaty flavor to them. They hold up well in shrimp or chicken pastas. Try meat substitute products. Boca chicken patties are the bomb. They taste just like a chicken patty.

You may not believe it, but my grocery budget has actually dropped since cutting meat out and I even changed grocery stores to the more expensive place where they try to buy local fair and offer more organic products.