My journey begins...

So, this is a Blog about my journey. I am pretty much the average American.  I work full time, love my family, try to make time to stay involved with my friends and occasionally go out and have a good time (when my budget permits).  I am a pretty conservative republican who lives in a red state and believes in limited government and the right to bear arms.  I come from a family of cattle ranchers on my Mom's side and have always been a meat eater.  I'm not going to lie, I love steak.  I have probably lost some of you already.  How about we fast forward to why I am here, writing this blog.  A couple of years ago, my fiancé and I traveled back east, which we do quite frequently, and had dinner with some very dear friends.  Our friends are vegetarian and quite involved in the study of and practice of veterinary bioethics.  I talk a lot, maybe my dad should have skipped the Blarney stone on our trip to Ireland, and as usual I was full of questions for them.  They shared their knowledge without hesitation and most importantly without being pushy.  During the course of our evening one of our friends recommended a book, that book was Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.  This book changed everything for me.

 

The book that changed everything.

 

I bought the book as soon as we returned to Arizona. I started it with some trepidation. Did I really want to know? Was it really all that bad?   I mean, my family are good people and they were ranchers. I have been to working ranches and here is the deal, we have to eat.  I read and read and read.  The things I learned were horrible and tragic and even a bit overwhelming.  Before this book I had no idea that there was even such a thing as a factory farm.  The farms and ranches that I have known in my life are small, with cattle that wander the pastures and eat grass.  They are definitely not cement floors and steel cages, cattle prods and a life of torture, misery and abuse. I was horrified and the images seared into my brain would not leave me. I kept thinking, is the life of my dog worth more than that of a mother pig or her baby? Before this book I really had never thought too much about it. I had to learn more.  My next step was to rent Food Inc. (http://www.takepart.com/foodinc) and incredible documentary about where our food comes from and the impact of factory farming on our health, the animals and society.  This was pretty tame, but,  opened my eyes even more to an issue that effects every one of us.  The more I learned, the more I wanted to share.  Unfortunately, to my surprise, no one wanted to hear about it.  I was devastated.  I mean, I still ate meat (although at that point I had switched to grass fed, free range meat from places I considered to be somewhat more humane) I wasn't some crazed vegan tree hugger throwing red paint on people, I just wanted them to know.  But, nobody wanted to know.  If I brought up the subject to my friends I would hear "that's sad, don't talk about it" or "enough, I don't want to know that" I always thought and still think, why? Why would you not want to know where your food comes from? Is it better to live in blissful ignorance? Don't you want to make an educated decision about what you feed your family? The resounding answer was that it was better not to know, because the truth was "sad".

 

Food, INC. Seriously, watch it.

 

This blog isn't about changing your mind.  I am on my own journey.  I don't even know what is right for me yet.  What I do know is that factory farming is cruel to the animals, bad for the environment and really not good for our health. Health risks can include unnecessary chemicals in our food, an increased risk of e.coli and other ickyness. I also know that we can do something about it! We live in America and we have a say, we vote with our wallets every time we pick up a package of beef at the store.  Our nation is all about supply and demand and that is wonderful! If we demand that animals that sacrifice for us are treated well and slaughtered "humanely" then that is how meat will be produced.  I know that slaughtered humanely is an oxymoron and that it will piss some of you off, but, well, like I said before, this is my journey and these are my thoughts.  So, next time you are wandering the meat aisle at the grocery store, take just a moment to consider the source of your dinner and vote!