Animalistic Behaviors - who really is the "animal" - What's going on your dinner plate or us? Part II

Happy Friday!

I happened to come across this random piece of historical information & I believe William Hogarth's prints of "The Four Stages of Cruelty" is a perfect way to wrap up my "who really is the animal?" thought - Hogarth portrays the inner violence/hatred & savage ways that we humans are fulling capable of & inflict not only to each other, but to other living creatures. I'm not much of a history buff or art guru, but I found these prints & the message that is being portrayed not only relevant to the root of my opinion, but also bitter sweet. I'm not really sure how I feel after studying his work - pity? Anger? Sadness? Maybe all of the above - it is disgusting to see what we are capable of & to know his behavior has been going on since the beginning of time. "Tom Nero" - the fictional character - is shown carrying out violent crimes that progressively get worse each print ultimately ending with his demise. Here's the break down of the prints:

First Stage of Cruelty:

In this first print, the character "Tom Nero" is shown, along with the aid of other equally disturbed children, shoving an arrow into a dog's rectum...ok, seriously? This type of disgusting behavior is still carried out today...not only towards animals, but humans too. It's sad to see that we have not come very far since the 1700s, yet we deem ourselves as superior & civilized? Hmm...
However, there is still a ray of hope for goodness through the one "good samaritan" shown, pleading for Nero to stop the cruel action towards the dog...this one "good" act really portrays how I feel sometimes when standing up for animal welfare. A lot of times I feel like the only who cares or "what can I do, I'm just one person?" or singled out because I'm not "following the crowd".
Of course, Hogarth portrays other acts of cruelty (barbaric & unnecessary violence): the burning of a bird's eye with a hot needle, cock throwing, tying a bone to a dog's tail, a pair of cats hung by their tails  & taunted by the crowd of boys, a dog set on a cat, & a cat being thrown out of a high window.

Second Stage of Cruelty:

Here, Tom is shown beating his horse without any regard to the broken leg or the fact he's put the horse's eye out. There are many different acts of cruelty against animals throughout this print: a lamb is beaten to death, a donkey is driven by force to keep moving, & a bull tossing one of its tormentors...this print also introduces the cruelty against people.

Third & Fourth Stages of Cruelty:

Tom has now moved on to robbery & murder. This print is pretty morbid if you ask me...and of course the last print does a fantastic job in portraying "Karma".

Animalistic Behaviors - who really is the "animal" - What's going on your dinner plate or us?

So, for some reason I decided to check out the news today - why I do that, I don't know. I live in my own little "bubble" and am not really up to speed with what's going on in the world around me...current events, what current events? 

Thought of the day: Why do the most human beings display more savagery & animalistic behaviors than the counterparts we believe are below us? I'm not by any means trying to say we are not "superior"...if you want to get down to it, yes I believe God gave us (since we were created in His image) everything to reign over...but with that comes responsibility. Unfortunately with that kind of power, combined with being flawed, selfish tendencies & the choice to do wrong, there are many creatures (human & non-human) whose lives lack any sort of respect & are viewed as "things" or "objects" - not another life force. This makes it easy or justifies the unnecessary slaughter of innocent lives.

Anyways, so I read up on the Ratko Mladic legendary war crimes/genocide - wanted for Europe's worst civilian massacre since WWII...absolutely disgusting. This is why I hate the news...I really don't hate it, but I like my own "bubble"...majority of the stories released only reinforce the hatred & violence that we humans are capable of & the unnecessary deaths of so many innocent creatures (yes, not only does this include humans, but non-human too). In the report, it shares just a fraction of the horrific events that were caused by Mladic, but what really got me was the murdering/mutilation/rape of women (and little girls - a 9 year old), children being shot in front of their parents eyes, a grandfather being forced to eat the liver of his grandson, a pregnant woman being ripped open & having 2 babies pulled from her stomach & beaten on the streets...and of course, the deaths of countless numbers of Muslim men & boys.
Call me crazy, but these acts I find to be very similar to the horrors animals go through on their way to our plates. This massacre shows the lengths at which we humans will go for our own selfish ego. (I hope that makes sense) To me, this "cleansing" was unnecessary (duh), benefitted no one & is a perfect example of the mentality needed to view others as "objects" with complete disregard for that life. This "object" is only for exploitation purposes (i.e. industrialized food supply) or a nuinsance that disturbs your quality of life & must be removed.

...sorry but my brain has completely shut down so I will have to continue this later, hopefully making more sense.

Mobile blogging

Ok - apparently I'm not the most technologically advanced & I can't figure out the stupid mobile blogging thing!
So I'll re-blog on the normal site :)
I made a fantastic sweet & sour vegetable dish last night - a new recipe I found & it was delicious! Wasn't too difficult to make nor did it take too much time. However, I do need to sharpen up my skills with peeling & grating lol I'm not so great at them :)

I am finally getting a chance to write down a thought for the day :)

I saw this wonderful story of a fawn, golden retriever & woman who showed compassion. It's refreshing to hear things such as this - and to see the fawn & retriever interact was priceless.

And on that note..."man shares the capacity of love, fear, anger, hate & loyalty with all living creatures..."

Until next time...

Agribusiness-Backed Bill to Keep Hens in Cages Signed into Law

Agribusiness-Backed Bill to Keep Hens in Cages Signed into Law

Wow, can I just say the factory farming industry is absolutely beyond gross, but it portrays human greed to its fullest! It is absolutely amazing to me to see the depths at which one will go for the bottom line - & how do workers continue to eat that product or feed their family after having first hand experience with handling it. Now I know you can go into a psychological or economical debate about this but I think I'll steer clear of that topic for now.

In the past couple of days I have learned interesting & morbid information about this industry - Factory Farming & I had to ask myself "Why in the hell did I not know about this before I put that food in my body?"...it's not like I do not have a vast amount of information at my finger tips & the freedom to explore, but like most, I stayed ignorant to where my "meat" came from & how it got there. That big chicken breast did not just grow in the grocery store - but why did it never occur to me to dig deeper? And the answer to that question is...I'm lazy, I grew up on a "meat & potato" diet & never questioned my parents...and ok, as a kid I didn't care about nutrition (I'm still learning!) & I probably would have continued that way until a health concern appeared (like high cholesterol). Instead, I found myself reading "Skinny Bitch" while eating a chicken (I think - that was a while ago) dinner, not really knowing what I was getting into, and BAM! just like that - I cried at the dinner table & that's where my journey began.

But think about it...we research & compare best car prices/deals/models (Consumer Report) when it's time to buy a new car, or which diet would work the best, or whatever else you would research before you bought...why not food? Even if you continued to eat meat, wouldn't you want to know where it came from? Be an informed consumer? Well obviously one of the big excuses is "ignorance is bliss" - it's a lot to stomach. It's funny how I've been teased so much with my food choice & lifestyle of support vegan/vegetarianism, yet do I poke fun at those who choose to eat meat? NO But people are just so quick to judge (even when you have no idea what you're talking about) & it's different. Or, it's defended by the idea that this mass production is the only way to feed the population (meet demand)...hello? This industry creates an enormous amount of waste & there are still people in the states starving & let's not forget about the other countries! Why do we have starving people if there is enough food for all?

Enough of my rambling...here are a few things I've learned about this topic:

These establishments are referred to as Concentrated (or Confined) Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO's) & if defined by the EPA as "new & existing operations which stable or confine & feed or maintain for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period more than the number of animals specified" which they categorize. "There is no grass or other vegetation in the confinement area during the normal growing season". - Now that's a different picture than what those "happy cows live in California" commercials (or whatever is said).

Large CAFO's: 1,000 cattle (not include dairy), 700 dairy, 2,500 hogs over 55 lbs, or 125,000 chickens (only if a liquid manure system is not being used)

Liquid manure system: when the animal's urine/feces are mixed with water & held either under the facility or outside in huge open air lagoons...sound yummy? But where else would the waste go some may ask...it's ok to just dump it anywhere because my tax dollars will help fund the clean up - woohoo! And on top of that, this just leads to contamination of soil, crops, vegetation, etc. which only increases our chances of food borne-illnesses & other diseases.

Medium CAFO's: between 300 - 999 cattle, 200 - 699 dairy, 750 - 2,499 hogs over 55 lbs, & 37,500 - 124,999 chickens.

Seriously, think about it - do you really believe after looking at those numbers that all animals are killed with the least amount of suffering, cared for in clean & healthy environments? Be realistic: if that was the case, I would think there would be tons of farm animals everywhere...and let's not forget that this industry sees these living beings as a mere item for profit...nothing more. There could be 1 million plus chickens in one place (egg-laying)! I can't even picture that, but I do know that's a lot of chicken poop & very little room.

That's all for today :) until next time...

Happy Mother's Day!

In honor of this mother's day - I will be baking my mom a vegan blueberry crumb cake - yum! So delicious! Now, my parents are both meat & potato people (which I was raised on) & this is the one thing I have baked that they have absolutely thought was awesome - they have been troopers and have tried other dishes, but always wondering where the meat/main dish is :)

It's definitely a step - not that I want to force my opinions/beliefs on them or make them feel as if I'm "judging" them because that is not my intent. I was just stoked they actually wanted to try it - I was never a very good cook...needless to say, I'm not domesticated :)

Plus, I'm introducing them to new foods, compassionate alternatives - I believe as you live out your truth & approach all in a compassionate, open way tends to more effective than using force.

That's all for tonight, I'm pooped - a long day of shopping & spending time with my loved ones.

Until next time...

Out with the old, in with the new...Time to begin!

Ok - so I'm not that great with this whole blogging thing...but I want to get better, so...I have decided the best way for me to tackle this is to write a little bit each day, focusing on one subject. I guess the reason I have a hard time with this is because there is just SO MUCH information out there! So much for me to learn - it's like information overload! And because of my personality I tend to jump from point A to point Z without stopping to think about the "middle" steps I skipped over...by that point I'm completely overwhelmed, I get frustrated because I can't know everything just over night (yes, I put way too much pressure on myself - I always have) so then I just end up quitting. I sometimes think "wow, it's amazing what that person/organization is doing" or "why can I not know everything overnight?" (like that is a healthy/realistic idea...um no) and I then start to down myself because I'm 27 years old and I feel like I've accomplished nothing important or had an impact in such a big way as some of the people/organizations I admire...then I feel hopeless, which leads to quitting, so on and so on. It never hits me that "duh, these people do this for a living" or it took hard work, countless hours of studying/learning, time and patience (patience is not a virture of mine) for them to get where they are and be able to give back.

Now don't get me wrong...I know part of the reason is because I'm lazy...how can I explain? Being someone who has struggled with depression (not just the "seasonal" or occasional blues - I'm talking total deep depression which if you have never experienced it or been around someone who suffers from it, you never quite grasp the enormity of it) I allowed this "illness" consume me. It became my crutch...my safety zone...as weird as that may sound, it's a lot like "battered wife syndrome"...you keep going back because that's all you know (regardless if it is healthy or not) and you know how to cope, etc. I don't like change and I'm terrified of the unknown...these things definitely did not help me want to "change" out of the toxic environment I was creating for myself. Also, depression can create symptoms of chronic fatigue, muscle pain, loss of apetite, and basically complete loss of any aspiration. I'm also a very anxious person - I can over-think things, or make them more difficult that they need to be...and last but not least, I had zero self worth/self esteem. That fed into the depression and anxiety and played a part in why I am hard on myself or expect way to much of myself (in an unhealthy way) and became a people pleaser. These things create a vicous and ugly cycle that I did not fully understand or really knew how toxic these behaviors are until my divorce. It took me hitting rock bottom (literally losing my mind - got to love depression) and going through a traumatic event for me to open my eyes and take a moral inventory of myself.

So long story short, I acknowledge my excuse of laziness and lack of motivation and am working on them - part of my "re-inventing" myself and looking to God for the answers.

With all that being said, I think the best way for me to focus, soak in information and learn, and not feel overwhelmed to the point I think I might spontaneously combust, is to write a little bit each day: writing down my thoughts, opinions, random tid bits or interesting facts I came across, etc.

I also need a way for me to get things off my chest...it's hard being in cattle country...there is no one around who shares my interests or view points so I feel like I have no one to talk to...where I am from, there are generations of people who still live here in this small town...everybody knows everybody and knows everything that's going on...and good ole' country/southern folk are stuck in their ways (I'm not saying that's a horrible thing), beef and hunting are the norm, and unfortunately (disclaimer: this is my opinion and my intent is not to put anyone down, but a mere observation) if you have lived here all your life and have never gone out to the rest of the world, you end up a little closed minded and ignorant to other social movements etc. Had I not moved away when I did, I would probably have ended up that way...go to highschool, then go to the community college, get married and have babies. Needless to say, any of this "tree-hugger" crap is pretty much laughed at, disputed with "meat is good" or "you have to eat meat because it's good for you", or not even up for discussion. It would be nice to be able to discuss and share thoughts regardless if you're a "veggie" or "meat-eater" because that's how you learn...appreciate your beliefs even more or raises good questions that make you dig more into it, etc. I'm not here to force any personal/moral beliefs or preferences...to each their own. But at the same time, I want to live my "truth" and lead a more compassionate lifestyle...but I find it difficult to "flourish" if you are the only one in the whole town who thinks the way you do.

Now that I have rambled on in different tangents, I hope the string of thoughts make some sort of sense in my new "blogging" approach (which applies to more than that in my life-take one step at a time)....but since it's way past my bedtime (yes, I'm an old lady :) LOL I have to have at least 8 hours of beauty sleep to be able to function for work) tomorrow I will start with my 1st topic - overview of industrialized farming.

Until next time...