So I've got something to say, and I'm going to use my blog to do it.
I'm officially outraged by America's meat industry. When I speak of it generally, I'm regarding the monopolizing meat companies, not the little guys who give their blood, sweat, and tears to provide us good-quality products. A big "THANK YOU" is due to the farmers and workers who won't compromise our health for a bigger paycheck.
It's hard not to hear about the conditions of these "Optimus Prime" factories, working underpaid people around the clock. [Not to mention the injured animals thrown about and tumbling down chutes] Let me say right off the bat that I love my meat. I'm a meat-eater, and I always will be. I'm not trying to be insensitive when I say I love bacon by the truckload, and sausage on my pizza. [mmm, pizza] I was raised eating meat, and I plan to raise my family on meat.
But it's the quality of meat that is my concern.
I've just watched "Food Inc." It's a documentary about where America's food comes from and how it's all processed and made available. I avoid documentaries like these because I generally can't handle the scenes of animal exploitation. I'm the first person to run screaming from the room when the ASPCA commercials come on. [no joke, just ask Scott] The worst are the ones with Sarah McLachlan. [Ahhh!] I've got 4 animals of my own and I can't stomach animals abuse. But I committed to watching the documentary for my own benefit. I NEED to know what I'm putting on the table for my husband and I. I'm responsible for my own health, and for that of those around me.
You are, too.
I won't go into a lengthy detailing of the documentary, because I hope you'll take the hour and a half and do yourself a big favor in watching it. And although the animal cruelty is a HUGE reason behind my horror, its mainly the health issue. Who can argue with that? I doubt God intends for us to be stuffing our faces with genetically-modified meat. I'm not talking about just the preservatives that keep it on the shelves longer, I'm talking about the ammonia that it's doused with to kill the bacteria as it tumbles down the filthy conveyor belts. I'm talking about the carbon monoxide that its infused with just to keep its color. [Who cares?!] I'm also talking about the antibiotics that the meat's pumped with because the animals are sick and unsanitary. Apparently the way to fix the problem is NOT to give the animals better conditions, but to drown them in antibiotics so that we Americans can eat chicken and beef infected with dead E. Coli bacterium.
At least its dead..? [I'm being sarcastic]
To eat a piece of chicken breast has always seemed like a health-conscious option to me. I would think.. "lean protein!" But guess what.. YES, chicken in its natural state is an extremely healthy option as far as building protein goes, but chances are your chicken isn't in its natural state. God created chickens to eat grass; that's what they've eaten for however many millenia. But these days they're force-fed corn. [They haven't ever even seen sunlight, so there's no way they're getting grass!] That's because corn is cheap and it makes them grow twice as quickly; SO fast in fact, that they're bodies can't keep up. If you watch Food Inc., you'll see many chickens who can only walk 3 steps before collapsing. So your chicken, [whether it be Tyson or Perdue, or some other monopolizing meat manufacturer] is filled with corn and by default, YOU'RE eating corn. Now I don't know about a lot of you, but in losing weight I try and stay away from corn as much as possible. It's a starch, and it breaks down into sugar. Diabetics are actually implored to stay away from corn because of these very reasons. Do you see the problem here? You're not just eating the chicken, you're eating what the chicken ate. THAT, and whatever sickness and unnatural side-effects arose from its surroundings.
Ugh.
I don't intend to be a nut who goes around burning down meat-packing industries. Far from it. But I'm realizing that the pork, beef, and chicken manufacturers are giving us crap on OUR hard-earned dollar. No thank you. I want to get exactly what I'm paying for, and that's food to nourish and strengthen my body. I eat to be healthy, so it's absurd to eat blindly what's being put on the shelves. A lot of people have died from tainted meat. It's no surprise when cows are up to their knees in their own manure and urine. Traces of manure in fast food meat is pretty common. Love on THAT next time you're chowing down on a Big Mac. [seriously]
It's very sad that free-range, certified organic meat is nearly twice the price, but my health and my husband's health is priceless. I would like to eat food as the good Lord intended. When a cow is picked up by its ankles and dragged through a factory to its death, the level of its adrenaline shoots through the roof and BAM!, you're eating tainted meat. Not to mention, a scared cow is going to taste differently than a happy cow. Think I'm joking? Google it. Free-range animals taste better than those locked up in boxes.
And if that's the only reason to change my ways, it's reason enough.
If you're going to take the life of an animal for food [which I truly believe is a God-given right], then do it humanely and for the benefit of society. C'mon people.
Here are some pictures and resources to get us all a little more hot and bothered by the meat industry:
And these are the tame ones.
Thanks for reading. <3
