Friday 21 July 2017

Vegetarians VS Vegans... Is there a real conflict?

I would like to start off by saying: I do NOT like this picture...
I don't like this picture but not because it is "insulting" to vegetarians... I am sure that most vegetarians went meat-free for the animals... And the reason they join for example vegan groups is because they need the "kick" or help to give up the habit of eating eggs and dairy. Am I not right :) ? Or simply, they are not aware of the fact, that they are still contributing to animal cruelty. They don't know what is going on in the dairy and egg industry (that was me 3 years ago) :'(
I personally find this picture sad, because of the truth in it... Most vegetarians don't eat animals, because they don't want to hurt them (or pay someone else to kill for them). Simple as that.
However, many vegetarians and more aware meat-eaters are using the easy "excuse" when facing the reality of the dairy and egg industry : "I am only buying from humane farms, local farms, grandma's farm, free range, happy cows, oko, bio, organic, etc...".
And I know vegetarians (I was one of you couple of years back) want to believe that choosing "organic" or "free range" is better and the animals there suffer less... But to simply put: it is a lie. :'(
I started to work/ help out on "grandma farm", so I know how things are on a small family farm...
And I would like to share my experience with you guys.

Grandma is keeping animals for their milk or eggs, and that is it. There is no romantic reason (we love to romanticize small farms, and the conditions animals kept there).
The animals are used and kept as any other "property"... We love them or not is irrelevant (sure not for our conscience but the result and the reasons of keeping them are the same). Lets break it down to bite sizes, shall we?

Milk
* Grandma has to impregnate the cows each year to make them lactate... Yes, it was a big "WTF" moment for me when I realized, that cows are not magical creatures giving milk for fun :/
* So, a vet comes and brings a nice fist full of bull sperm
* Then the mom gets pregnant and gives birth
* The calf (or calves) is born
* If he is a male, that is it - grandma has no resources to keep him :( Think about it... Bulls are big and give no milk... No reason to keep them on a small farm :'(
* If it is a girl, maybe she can stick around, grow up and become a milking cow
* And stick around does not mean being with her mom... :( After some time (days or weeks, varies on each farm, but most small farms, especially if they are really dependent on the amount of milk production, separate them in the first couple of days so they can control how much milk the baby will get) they WILL separate them, as grandma needs the breast milk... Remember? :(
* Until she is giving enough for it to be "worth" having her on the farm... If she becomes too much trouble? Guess what? Grandma's farm is not a spa, or a sanctuary... She goes to the slaughter house :( - And again... personal experience :'(

Eggs
* Sure, I would say chickens are the "luckiest" (except cats and dogs) on most small farms, they can roam "free" and can stay with their offspring
* However, the problem with eggs is the same; these animals are kept for a reason to give eggs, if they don't, they "go to the soup" (It's a Hungarian village saying :'( )
* And we shall not forget what eggs are: they are the ovulation (similar to human menstruation) of chickens (unless there are roosters, then we don't always know whether the eggs are fertile or not).
* Laying eggs takes enormous energy and minerals out of the chickens to produce! We bred this "type of chicken" to the level that they produce instead of 20-30 eggs a year (as they naturally would), around 200-300 eggs per year!!! :( Which shortens their lives extremely! Instead of the 12 years a hen would live, they die in 2-4 years. And almost 100% of the cases it ends with a painful death (due to some serious disease of their reproductive organs or cloaca)...
* And many chicken rescuers are saying if you do NOT take their eggs, the chickens actually start to lay less, and if you feed the eggs back to them (which would happen in "nature", they could get back part of the minerals they have lost) - this could prevent premature death!

So, dear Vegetarians, I understand you! And I truly feel you.. I have been there! I really did! I didn't know all of this! But I am glad I know about all of this now and I could make an educated decision! I had to know all of this to make the change... for them...
For all the calves and mother cows who need to go through the loss of each other and for all the chickens who would have to suffer for us.

Be brave and start the change!
Push yourselves!
You totttttally can do it! ;)
And if you need any help or just wanna talk to someone... I am here :) We are here ;) <3
Talk to us!

3 comments :

  1. I don't want eggs,but I'm having a hard time eliminating cheese! I haven't found a satisfying substitute for the food complimenting taste and the protein it provides. I can't drink milk ( I use soy and nut milk), but for some reason I feel I need cheese. What can I do??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Robert,

    I hear you! I really do. Cheese was the very very last to go on our journey as well. The simple truth is: Cheese is addictive, it is like a drug (learn more about: betacasomorphin online, the morphine like natural substance in breast milk). And how to deal with such addiction? Well, I decided to grab it by the neck, I made a game out of it. :P I went out of my way to find vegan cheese alternatives (shop made and home made) and tried them all! ALL! Found some which I liked, which melted and crusted and was fatty and protein rich.
    And after some time I noticed... the craving has gone! GONE! I liked the vegan cheese we had but I was not "crack-crazy" about it, and as I gave some time to my body to "get off" bovine cheese, I stopped craving it all together. It was amazing! I felt free. As I soooooo much wanted to give it up, for the animals! And I felt so guilty that I could not... And by "cheating" myself into eating vegan cheese in abundance I managed to get off it... For myself and for all the mothers and their babies suffered for "my" cheese.

    So, I think best thing for you is to look around (online and local stores) for vegan cheeses available. Make it a game, try as many different cheeses you can get your hands on, compare them, rate them, melt them, crust them, enjoy them. Try the herb-y ones, the smokey ones, etc etc etc... :D

    Regarding the protein content: try not to worry about it, as if you eat the calories you need, from good, wholesome food (depending on your lifestyle and weight, maybe around 2000-2300 calories), it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE not to get enough complex, digestible protein. We, in the western societies are getting sick from abundance not from deprivation :/
    But dont believe me :) Check on cronometer: https://cronometer.com/ or read this very short article, based on 9 scientific studies on plant protein: http://thepotatoandtomato.blogspot.lt/2017/01/complex-complete-plant-proteins.html

    What do you think?

    ReplyDelete