Broiler chickens with just 7 weeks to live.
From chickens pumped with antibiotics to the environmental devastation caused by production, we need to realise we are not fed with happy farm animals. George Monbiot
“What can you say about a society whose food production must be hidden from public view? In which the factory farms and slaughterhouses supplying much of our diet must be guarded like arsenals to prevent us from seeing what happens there? We conspire in this concealment: we don’t want to know. We deceive ourselves so effectively that much of the time we barely notice that we are eating animals, even during once-rare feasts, such as Christmas, which are now scarcely distinguished from the rest of the year…..”
This article was featured in The Guardian; read more here.
VLA response:
As usual George Monbiot gives us a well written, reasoned piece. He’s not a vegan but is a champion of the environment and also of justice. He summarises very well all that is wrong with the meat farming industry from (predominently) the environmental and health perspectives. But he also touches on animal welfare and offers an opinion as to how we have ‘progressed’ into a culture where eating meat is seen as a right and one that people are unwilling to give up.
The piece provoked over 2,500 comments, which is typical of a piece that more or less says we should eat less meat. Comments are clearly divided between vegans/vegetarians and those adamant they deserve their pound (or 10 tons) of flesh.
It seems even in the face of the well exlpained, obvious downsides – in fact catastrophic downsides – pointed out in literally words of one syllable – people refuse to listen. Is it because the truth is just too terrible to hear and to acknowledge?
We believe wholeheartedly that if we can show there are alternatives to every single animal product (which there are, of course – we use them every day) then we can persuade people that they don’t need to be eating meat or using animals for any reason at all.
George makes the point that artificially produced meat could be a solution in the future – but we disagree, because the solutions are here today already! Right here, right now. Vegans are surviving and thriving and we don’t miss out on a thing. If you’re not vegan then please don’t critisise us, because, after all, our lifestyles are helping to save your world.
If you think we need to wait for artificial meat in the future then check this page out and think again…
Vegan Swaps.