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Your Eco Veg Living Bible: From Food To Fashion!
GirlieGirl Army
GirlieGirl Army

Your Eco Veg Living Bible: From Food To Fashion!

August 12, 2008

GO GREEN 101;

A German study conducted by the Institute for Ecological Economy Research in 2008 concluded that a meat-eater’s diet is responsible for more than 7 times as much greenhouse gas emissions as a vegan’s diet. Therefore; living a vegan lifestyle is one of the best things you can do to help animals, yourself, and the environment. On average a person switching from the standard American diet to a vegan diet will prevent the abuse and killing of over 100 animals per year. You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year. Now a new United Nations report calls cattle the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. Cattle are ‘responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.’ This includes the fuel burned making fertilizer, to produce the meat and transport it, as well as the obvious cow fart and manure production of methane, 20 times more effective as a global warmer as CO2. Between the water and the carbon footprint, it is definitely time to go veg. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 60 gallons to water to produce a pound of wheat! Nearly 10 billion animals raised and slaughtered for food in the U.S. every year. The green pastures and idyllic barnyard scenes of years past are now distant memories. On today’s factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy windowless sheds, wire cages, gestation crates, and other confinement systems. These animals will never raise their families, root in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural to them. They won’t even feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded onto trucks bound for slaughter. Animals on today’s factory farms have no legal protection from cruelty that would be illegal if it were inflicted on dogs or cats: neglect, mutilation, genetic manipulation, and drug regimens that cause chronic pain and crippling, transport through all weather extremes, and gruesome and violent slaughter. Yet farmed animals are no less intelligent or capable of feeling pain than are the dogs and cats we cherish as companions. The factory farming system of modern agriculture strives to maximize output while minimizing costs. Cows, calves, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and other animals are kept in small cages, in jam-packed sheds, or on filthy feedlots, often with so little space that they can’t even turn around or lie down comfortably. They are deprived of exercise so that all their bodies’ energy goes toward producing flesh, eggs, or milk for human consumption. The giant corporations that run most factory farms have found that they can make more money by cramming animals into tiny spaces, even though many of the animals get sick and some die. Industry journal National Hog Farmer explains, “Crowding Pigs Pays,” and egg-industry expert Bernard Rollins writes that “chickens are cheap; cages are expensive.” They are fed drugs to fatten them faster and to keep them alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them, and they are genetically altered to grow faster or to produce much more milk or eggs than they would naturally. Many animals become crippled under their own weight and die within inches of water and food. While the suffering of all animals on factory farms is similar, each type of farmed animal faces different types of cruelty. Also; for your health The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has warned people that if you eat 50g of processed meat; the equivalent of just one small burger a day then your risk of bowel cancer is increased by 20 per cent. There is compelling evidence that veggie diets can cut the risk of heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. And they are useful in controlling weight, diabetes, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. A veggie diet is also laden with cancer-fighting foods.

In the top ten are: Dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, curly kale and watercress), Oats and other wholegrains (wheat, rye, millet and quinoa), Berries (cranberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries), Garlic, Yams and sweet potatoes, Peas, beans and lentils, B12 fortified foods, Flax seeds & ground up and oil,Tofu, miso and other traditional soy products.

At a time when food prices are skyrocketing, food riots are occurring in many areas and an estimated 20 million people are dying annually worldwide from hunger and its effects, it is scandalous that over 70 percent of the grain produced in the United States and over 40 percent produced worldwide are fed to farmed animals. Also, in an increasingly thirsty and energy-dependent world, animal-based diets require up to 14 times as much water and 10 times as much energy as vegan (all plants) diets.

While the world is increasingly threatened by global warming, animal-based agriculture emits more greenhouse gases (in CO2 equivalents) than all the cars and other means of transportation worldwide
combined (18 percent vs. 13.5 percent). And, the consumption of animal products is projected to double in 50 years. Hence, a major shift toward plant-based diets is essential to move our precious, but imperiled, planet to a sustainable path.” Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island

  • Chickens killed for their flesh in the United States are bred and drugged to grow so quickly that their hearts, lungs, and limbs often can’t keep up. Read more about chickens.
  • Hens used for eggs live six or seven to a battery cage the size of a file drawer, thousands of which are stacked tier upon tier in huge, filthy warehouses. Read more about laying hens.
  • Cattle are castrated, their horns are ripped out of their heads, and third-degree burns (branding) are inflicted on them, all without any pain relief. Read more about cows raised for their flesh.
  • Cows used for their milk are drugged and bred to produce unnatural amounts of milk; they have their babies stolen from them shortly after birth and sent to notoriously cruel veal farms so that humans can drink the calves’ milk. Read more about dairy cows.
  • Mother pigs on factory farms are confined to crates so small that they are unable to turn around or even lie down comfortably. Read more about pigs.
  • Fish on aquafarms spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy enclosures, and many suffer from parasitic infections, diseases, and debilitating injuries. Conditions on some farms are so horrendous that 40 percent of the fish may die before farmers can kill and package them for food. Read more about fish.
  • Turkeys’ beaks and toes are burned off with a hot blade. Many suffer heart failure or debilitating leg pain, often becoming crippled under the weight of their genetically manipulated and drugged bodies. Read more about turkeys.

When they have finally grown large enough, animals raised for food are crowded onto trucks and transported over many miles through all weather extremes to the slaughterhouse. Those who survive this nightmarish journey will have their throats slit, often while they are still fully conscious. Many are still conscious when they are plunged into the scalding water of the de-feathering or hair-removal tanks or while their bodies are being skinned or hacked apart. Question reality! Just because it’s “always been that way” doesn’t mean its right! Animals are born in horrible conditions and then live in their own excrement, and around dead animals. So, when you think you’re sitting down to a nice steak or chicken dinner, you are essentially eating medication, antibiotics, pus, fecal matter, and cancer. Did you know dairy is a prelude to the kill for the cows? They are kept terminally pregnant to keep lactating and their calves are pulled from them and used as veal. They mourn their lost babies each time. Some stop lactating from the emotional pain and then they are slaughtered because they are no longer useful. They actually cry when their babies are pulled away. Think about that the next time you eat grilled cheese. I have an email with more information on dairy if you’d like to see it – please email me! Animals can languish in traps for days. Up to 1 out of every 4 trapped animals escapes by chewing off his or her own feet, only to die later from blood loss, fever, gangrene, or predation. To kill the animals without damaging their fur, trappers usually strangle, beat, or stomp them to death. Animals on fur farms may be gassed, electrocuted, poisoned with strychnine, or have their necks snapped. These methods are not 100 percent effective and some animals “wake up” while being skinned.

The basics: Get inspired to live cruelty-free with these green and vegan weblinks: If you are already veg, or on your way there, please resolve to become more active in Veg and Eco outreach and education. Being vegan or eco-conscious yourself is great but unless we educate others by promoting a vegan diet and lifestyle billions of farmed animals and billions more fish are still going to suffer. It is very likely your decision to become vegan, or to start on the path towards veganism, was the direct result of someone else’s vegan outreach and education efforts. If you are interested in hosting a film screening at your church, synagogue, work place, house, bar, or local knitting group in the NY area – email beautiful, wonderful Marisa – she has projector and will travel! [email protected].

First off; Visit: www.VeganStarterPack.com , www.chooseveg.com , www.goveg.com , www.tryveg.com , www.peta.org, www.meetyourmeat.com, Howard Lyman, and HumaneMyth.org offers provocative new testimony from former farmers, investigators, and animal rescuers who expose fallacies associated with animal product labels such as cage-free, sustainable, organic and certified humane.

BOOKS/ MAGAZINES/ FILM/ ARTICLES:

FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:

YUMMY RECIPE SITES:

RESTAURANTS:

FOR THE FAMILY:

CLOTHES TO MAKE UP TO HOME:

Note on this list, I will be regularly updating it – so please recheck this blog post often. So many fantastic new designers pop up everyday.

FABULOUSLY ECO FRIENDLY/ ANIMAL-FREE SHOES & BAGS:

CLOTHING:

www.caringconsumer.com/pdfs/companiesDontTest.pdf If a company is not listed on the safe list, assume they do indeed test on animals. To learn more about the unnecessary testing of animals for make up and home products – please watch “Behind the Mask” or google Animal Testing on PCRM’s website (www.pcrm.org).

If your favorite company isn’t on this list of cruelty-free companies, send the company a polite e-mail encouraging it to take the necessary steps to go sans animal testing!

HOME/ MISC. ITEMS: Find out which products are safe to use in your home, and light on the environment (and the animals!) on this marvelous website: www.caringconsumer.com

TRAVEL:

  • Green Earth Travel is the one stop travel service for all of your travel needs. Their specialty is meeting the vegetarian/vegan needs of their clientele.
  • Healthy Highways: A Traveler’s Guide to Healthy Eating www.book.nu/1886101108
  • Lonely Planet Travel Guides (Travel guides with helpful tips for the veg world traveler)
  • http://www.healthyvoyager.blogspot.com/ – great blog on veg traveling

MORAL SUPPORT/ MAILING LISTS/ COOL BLOGS: Some email lists we love;

ANIMAL PROTECTION GROUPS (just a few of many, get involved however you can):

WORDS TO LIVE BY:

“To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body.” — Mahatma Gandhi

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead

“Thou shalt not kill” does not apply to murder of one’s own kind only, but to all living beings; and this Commandment was inscribed in the human breast long before it was proclaimed from Sinai. — Leo Tolstoy

“Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places! I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men.” — Leonardo da Vinci

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” Albert Einstein

“If you have people who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have people who will deal likewise with their each other.”

See Also
White Bean Butternut Squash With Kale Slaw

“Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” –Elie Wiesel

“The victim feels the suffering in his own mind and body, whereas the victimizer … can be quite unaware of that suffering. The sword does not feel the pain that it inflicts.” — Philip Hallie, From Cruelty to Goodness

“People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times. ” — Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904- )

“We are the living graves of murdered beasts, slaughtered to satisfy our appetites. How can we hope in this world to attain the peace we say we are so anxious for?” — George Bernard Shaw (Living Graves, published 1951)

“A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses.” — George Bernard Shaw

“By insulting vegetarianism you are insulting you own divinity. Who are you worshipping?” — Rosa Ena

“”For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.” — Pythagoras

“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.” — Alice Walker

“”Animal cruelty is not a personal growth journey, it’s a social justice issue.” Karliin Brooks

“All the arguments to prove human superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering, animals are our equals.”- Peter Singer

“To animals, all people are Nazi’s.” Isaac Bashevis Singer

“I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals.” Henry David Thoreau

“As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.” Isaac Bashevis Singer

“A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.” Leo Tolstoy

“Eat Beans, Not Beings.”