____! It's what's for dinner...

Well, it's official, i've got Veganitis, aka. Vegan on the brain, known to most of the world as Vegentia. I would like to move more in the vegan direction i think. It'll be hard, but it seems worth it.

The more research i do on the meat market, the more eating animals absolutely disgusts me. Now, let me say here and now that i do not believe that eating animals is wrong. Physiologically we are designed to eat animal flesh, in moderation it is very healthy, and i don't think all animals are the same as humans and we should treat them like brothers. HOWEVER, and that's a big however, the modern meat market is a thing of shame, and the conditions the animals "live-in" (i should say exsist really, even if that...) are WRONG.

Quite frankly, the demand for meat is so strong that farms are forced to jam animals in together, use even the dead ones for food, not waste time cleaning and rush kill animals in order to meet the needs of the people. If you ask me, we should all as a whole be eating less meat anyway. It's not healthy to eat the way many americans do, and as the meat demand goes down, perhaps farms would then be forced to lower their animal counts and provide better living conditions and sanitation. (Yeah right, i know, like THAT will ever happen.)

There is ABSOLUTELY no reason why workers in filthy conditions have to shove a metal feed pipe down a goose's throat, most often breaking it's beak or ripping it's neck open from the inside, to forcefeed it grain so that it's liver becomes bloated, colorless, and painful to the animal so that we can have foie gras. (Foie gras is actually banned in many states, starting in cali in 2010 or 2012 [The Governator signed this one folks, good for him] it will be banned, and is outlawed in the UK as well.)

It's that kind of stomach-turning, tear-jerking, humanity-questioning violence that needs to stop. I'll let you in on some information about exactly what goes on in the farms and slaughter houses of the modern meat market, but until then, you might want to "Meet your Meat" here: http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp . BEWARE, it's not for the faint at heart.

My intention is not to turn the world vege/vegan, just to perhaps inform you on what you don't see when you pick up a steak at the market.

(And you can ask any of my friends that i've NEVER pushed them to become a veggie like me, and i never will. What you do is your own perogative, i'm happy to lend you some advice, but only if you really want it. But please, keep an open mind, it never hurts to learn!)

~The Toast (unbuttered)