do you consider yourself an environmentalist?
i watched a very thought provoking documentary on global warming last night – ‘meat the truth’ – presented by Marianne Thiem - member of parliament for the Party for the Animals in the netherlands - "the very first party in the world to champion the rights of non humans in a national parliament"!!
you no doubt all know about global warming – believe that it IS happening… some of you may have even seen al gore’s documentary ‘an inconvenient truth’ where he exposes the problems of carbon emissions… you may also be aware that transport is responsible for 13% of all greenhouse gasses... but did you know that methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide?
and where does methane come from? the intensive farming of animals for human consumption - an industry that is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions! yep, that’s more greenhouse gases than every single car, bus, train, plane, tractor and scooter put together! (a very inconvenient truth for Al apparently, who totally ignored this statistic in his documentary - does that show the power, influence and fear exerted by the intensive (factory/battery/brutal) farming adherents?)...
as Paul Watson (founder and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) so eloquently puts it - "a vegan driving a hummer would be contributing less greenhouse gas carbon emissions than a meat eater riding a bicycle."
want more of this sort of information? 'meat the truth' has it...
for example, take the interview with Howard Lyman – known as the mad cowboy – i found it to be extremely encouraging...
“a fourth-generation family farmer in Montana for almost 40 years, I speak from a background of personal experience when I say that chemically based agricultural production methods today are unsustainable, and therefore ecologically disastrous. My experiences range from working in a large organic dairy to raising registered beef cattle to owning a large factory feedlot.
I was involved in agriculture at a time when the call dictated getting bigger and better or getting out. I was educated in modern agriculture, and I can tell you from firsthand experience -- it is not sustainable. I followed all the modern advice and turned a small organic family farm into a large corporate chemical farm with a thousand range cows, five thousand head of cattle in a factory feedlot, thousands of acres of crops, and as many as thirty employees. I saw the organic soil go from a living, productive base to a sterile, chemical-saturated, mono-cultural ground produced by my so-called modern methods.”
after an illness - his epiphany perhaps - howard became a vegan 20 years ago and hasn’t looked back… what’s more he’s become a voice for the animals!!!
"The question we must ask ourselves as a culture is whether we want to embrace the change that must come, or resist it. Are we so attached to the dietary fallacies with which we were raised, so afraid to counter the arbitrary laws of eating taught to us in childhood by our misinformed parents, that we cannot alter the course they set us on, even if it leads to our own ruin? Does the prospect of standing apart or encountering ridicule scare us even from saving ourselves?”
the lack of empathy for 'farm' animals is terribly disappointing and disheartening to say the least, and definitely hard to comprehend - it's strange to me that most people will make statements along the lines of "i love animals" yet ignore the cruelty involved in the intensive farming industry which inflicts heinous suffering on these beautiful, sentient creatures... but if you’re the sort of person who believes we need animal flesh and the 'by-products' of this industry to survive you might find yourself questioning that premise after hearing the people interviewed and the information they impart in this film…
and where does methane come from? the intensive farming of animals for human consumption - an industry that is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions! yep, that’s more greenhouse gases than every single car, bus, train, plane, tractor and scooter put together! (a very inconvenient truth for Al apparently, who totally ignored this statistic in his documentary - does that show the power, influence and fear exerted by the intensive (factory/battery/brutal) farming adherents?)...
as Paul Watson (founder and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) so eloquently puts it - "a vegan driving a hummer would be contributing less greenhouse gas carbon emissions than a meat eater riding a bicycle."
want more of this sort of information? 'meat the truth' has it...
for example, take the interview with Howard Lyman – known as the mad cowboy – i found it to be extremely encouraging...
“a fourth-generation family farmer in Montana for almost 40 years, I speak from a background of personal experience when I say that chemically based agricultural production methods today are unsustainable, and therefore ecologically disastrous. My experiences range from working in a large organic dairy to raising registered beef cattle to owning a large factory feedlot.
I was involved in agriculture at a time when the call dictated getting bigger and better or getting out. I was educated in modern agriculture, and I can tell you from firsthand experience -- it is not sustainable. I followed all the modern advice and turned a small organic family farm into a large corporate chemical farm with a thousand range cows, five thousand head of cattle in a factory feedlot, thousands of acres of crops, and as many as thirty employees. I saw the organic soil go from a living, productive base to a sterile, chemical-saturated, mono-cultural ground produced by my so-called modern methods.”
after an illness - his epiphany perhaps - howard became a vegan 20 years ago and hasn’t looked back… what’s more he’s become a voice for the animals!!!
"The question we must ask ourselves as a culture is whether we want to embrace the change that must come, or resist it. Are we so attached to the dietary fallacies with which we were raised, so afraid to counter the arbitrary laws of eating taught to us in childhood by our misinformed parents, that we cannot alter the course they set us on, even if it leads to our own ruin? Does the prospect of standing apart or encountering ridicule scare us even from saving ourselves?”
the lack of empathy for 'farm' animals is terribly disappointing and disheartening to say the least, and definitely hard to comprehend - it's strange to me that most people will make statements along the lines of "i love animals" yet ignore the cruelty involved in the intensive farming industry which inflicts heinous suffering on these beautiful, sentient creatures... but if you’re the sort of person who believes we need animal flesh and the 'by-products' of this industry to survive you might find yourself questioning that premise after hearing the people interviewed and the information they impart in this film…
having read extensively and viewed heart-wrenching footage on the subject over the years (hence my long-term vegetarianism and finally my total conversion to veganism) i was already aware of the cruelty of factory farming - i've also walked through an abattoir and been horrified and totally distressed at what confronted me - the sound of the animals keening, wailing, screaming broke my heart - so did the sight of the battery farm where i witnessed the appalling treatment of chickens - and we've all seen the horrifyingly cramped transport vehicles and smelled the fear of those destined for the slaughterhouse - yet still some things shocked me terribly in this 'expose' - the mutilations, the experiments, the unnatural foods they're forced to eat, the use of antibiotics, the anti-stress medication being given to pigs to "help them deal with their unnatural living conditions"!!!
i lived in the country for a number of years and was fortunate to have shared my life with many different animals - Millie the goat, a 'commercial milker' who after years of slavery providing kids and milk for humans to consume was to be sent overseas as part of the live export trade to face a terrifying death (needless to say that didn't happen!) - there was Xenobia (Nobes for short), another member of the 'menagerie' and goat company for Millie - then there were the many hens saved who were no longer 'commercially viable' and destined for a brutal death... there was Rudie, the biggest (scariest, and most psychologically damaged) rooster i've ever known, and Errol, the handsome bantam boy - there were Annie & Ishie, the sheep - to name a few...
i marvelled at their enjoyment of life, laughed at their idiosyncracies and funny antics, was amazed at how far the chooks ranged in a day and how protective the roosters were of the hens, and appreciated the serenity and equilibrium they brought to my life... i sooo miss the country - and no, i didn't want to come back to the city - but that's another chapter of my (her)story and not what this post is about!!!!
"our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter"... martin luther king jnr
by the way, there's a newly formed political party here in australia - the Animal Justice Party... i look forward to learning more about them as they establish themselves - who knows, i may even find that they're worth voting for - something i haven't had the inspiration or inclination to do since the 70s...
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