And Vegetarianism Begins Again

September 1, 2011

Ok, my eating meat phase is done. Finished. Over it. That was a good two weeks long??

         Today I was walking to a woman named Rita’s house with Kyle and Kelli (Rita is a friend of Kelli’s and her son is getting married this Saturday, so we went to help with last minute wedding decorations). We were walking down the street, when I heard a loud weird yelling sound and looked up to see what it was… a semi-truck was driving by with a flatbed in the back. On the flatbed were live goats laying on their sides, tied to the wooden truck bed with ropes around their bodies and necks, with their heads almost completely hanging off the truck. Their heads were bouncing with every pothole, their legs were kicking, their eyes were huge and full of fear, and they were screaming in their little goat voices.

         My eyes filled with tears and the image is still ingrained in my mind. I understand that there are people that have to eat meat to survive and I don’t condemn that. As for me, I can’t do it and I can live with out it.

         I remembered how I felt in 9^th grade when I first decided to be a vegetarian. Back then, it wasn’t like it is now where I also have environmental, economic, and political reasons for my vegetarianism. It was purely the life of the beings that were being consumed. The fear that they feel before they are killed, the confusion when they don’t know what is about to happen right before they lose their lives. Animals, just like humans, have nociceptors (nerves that feel pain). Even if they are being killed on a family farm, they feel a bullet crushing through their skull, they feel a knife slicing through their throats, trachea, esophagus. They also feel the fear and adrenaline when they know something is wrong and their brain starts to pump the “fight or flight” chemicals through their bodies as a result of the Sympathetic Nervous System. It is factual that they become tachycardic and the adrenaline that starts pumping through them when they know they are going to die makes the meat taste differently, this is why some meats are hung up to let those chemicals run out of them before they are sold.

         I just kept thinking about how the goat even got into that position. The person would’ve had to push it over, hold down it’s head and legs, tightly tie the rope around its skin while it was screaming and trying to run to save its life.

         There are many reasons to be a vegetarian: Acreages of land used for growing food that is fed to livestock – which should be used to grow food to go to starving people all over the world. The pesticides that are used on the grain and plants fed to the livestock that gets in our topsoil and our rivers. The pollution emitted into the air by slaughterhouses and factory farming institutions. Eating other species to the point of a threat of extinction. Our own personal health when we ingest meat that was injected with steroids and unnatural tablets.

         Lastly, is the murdering of animals for consumption. Yes there is a different between torturous, disgusting, inhumane corporately owned slaughterhouses and individual farming. I agree with that, and I agree that I would rather an animal live a happy life running around on a family owned farm and then be quickly shot and used for food… but for me personally, I can’t even do that. I just can’t support taking a living creatures life for my consumption when I can easily get my nutrition elsewhere.

         My compromise between my commitment to vegetarianism and my commitment to solidarity is to never use my stipend to purchase meat. Never purchase it in the markets or in a restaurant or eat it of my own accord. However, when it is offered to me by an individual or family who has specifically planned this meal for a special occasion and are proud to offer this meal they have prepared, I will respectfully take it and be gracious for their beautiful hospitality.

Some delicious colorful Peruvian veggies from the market



Sick.