So, with me choosing to be vegetarian, I get asked alot of questions about why I am doing this. Or how I can "force it on my family". I wouldn't be making food I didn't 100% believe was healthy for them, and they still eat meat. I'm not going to force it on them. However, if they ask me, "why do you want to be a vegetarian," I'll tell them. In addition to health issues, it also definitely became a compassion for animals issue.
My dog is an animal. But she definitely is capable of feeling love and is deeply loyal, and feels emotions. Anyone who has a dog knows what I'm talking about. I could never kill my dog and eat her or sell her for meat. So then, I had to ask myself, what's the difference? I grew up in a farming community. I grew up around farm animals. I grew up around people who raised animals responsibly and were not cruel or neglectful. So my choosing vegetarian is NOT saying people who eat meat are evil or terrible people. Most of my friends are farmers, many are hunters, at least 90% are definitely meat eaters. So alot of them are asking why? Like in, am I crazy? So for those who are wondering, this is why.
I grew up watching my friends raise calves or pigs for 4-H. They loved those animals. They got up early and stayed up late, training, feeding, bathing, and caring for their animals since birth. Those animals showed affection, and trust. I remember one friend refusing to eat beef after she had to sell her calf at the auction. So it got me thinking about it. I mean, they were pets. And it's hard on kids when they have to sell them. But you get told that's just the way it is. I mean, you NEED meat to be healthy, right? We need meat to survive, right? That's what we've all been told, all our lives. I initially told myself to stop being such a softy because that was life and I liked a burger just as much as the next guy, so I really couldn't feel bad about it.
But so many people are vegetarian and vegan and we now know you don't have to eat meat. Or any animal products, for that matter. So, I thought about this alot. I've watched videos of what happens to chickens, and pigs and cows in these slaughter houses. I've watched videos of male baby chicks be thrown live into crushing machines, just because they are male and won't produce eggs. Mass meat production farms where animals are packed into very tight spaces for all their short, miserable lives. And they're very, very hard to stomach. It's hard to stomach realizing this was what animals went through just so I could have a juicy burger, or some friend chicken. Seeing what happens to baby chicks is why I'm considering going Vegan. Right now I get free range eggs. Right now, the big compromise in our family is, at least we can eggs and dairy, so we'll try this. But this works for us. Compromise and working together as a family. However, I have been exploring alot of Vegan options and many are great, and tasty. It's a big process for this whole family. We're learning as we go.
Instead of having my 8 and 11 year old son's watch the videos, which are pretty traumatizing, We talked about how animals are capable of loving, and I talked to them about Kaos. My kids were pretty upset about the thought of someone eating Kaos. Because she loves us and we lover her, right? So I just asked them, what if Kaos was a calf or a pig? I talked to them about how kids raise their calves and pigs and are sad when they have to sell them. My 11 year old wanted to know why they didn't just refuse to sell them, or hide them. Because it isn't seen as an option. I mean, you can't keep an 800 steer hidden in your bedroom. But it made him think. He didn't like the thought of raising an animal as a pet and then having to sell it for food at all. Again, I grew up in a farming community. Raising an animal and learning to care for it helps a child learn responsibility. They learn to care for something other than themselves. They aren't doing it to be cruel or inhumane. But I always thought it was sad that the animal they loved had to be sold for meat. So for me, personally, the logical question then became, why?
My question became, if an animal is capable of showing affection and trust and happiness, then would they would also feel sadness and despair, just like us? Animals do show signs of depression and sadness when they suffer loss. We know this. Not just dogs and cats, but other animals. So then I had to ask myself, why am I okay with other animals being treated this way, if I think killing dogs and cats for food is inhumane?
But I want to give my kids that option. So, no. I'm not forcing them to do anything. But I am trying to teach them awareness, and compassion and to make healthy choices.
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