Earthlings

Short post. Promise.

Not going to get on a soap box here. No preaching coming from me. Just an offer for anyone who wants too, please watch this documentary. Be advised though that it is EXTREMELY graphic. Very little is held back. Please do NOT let your children watch it.

Anyway, let me just say, this movie has made me terribly uncomfortable. There were parts of it that I couldn't stand to watch and that's saying a lot coming from a farm girl. Growing up we would raise our own beef and pork. Typically we sent the animals off to the Mennonites in Manchester to have it processed, but we would kill the pigs (sometimes we did this with the cow, but it was rare) ourselves and boil 'em to get all the hair off, cut 'em open, and all that jazz. It was a process that took an entire day, but fed us for months. I have had a great many pets that I have done my best to take care of through the years, most of them (some of them have died unexpectedly from illness and things out of my control) have lived to ripe old ages and passed away due to their age. We have always had chickens for both meat and eggs. My Dad and I operated a dairy for quite a few years. So I am no stranger to what happens when animals are used as pets or for food. I have a very realistic idea of what goes on to get a burger on my plate. That being said, this movie has made me want to be a vegetarian or vegan.

Its highly unlikely that I will follow through with that, but what I have decided to do is to only eat meat and milk products if I know where they are coming from. I don't want to eat factory farm food. I've known for years that bad stuff happens on the farms, but to see some of the images really made it hit home. I'm not comfortable with the comparison of eating meat to being a Nazi and I love seafood, red meat, and cheese, so I'm not trying to be pious and put down anyone's personal choices. But I hope that ya'll will watch this so that it makes you a little more aware of how we, as humans, treat animals, especially those that we think are yummy.

So you may not want to stop eating meat and you may not become an animal rights activist, but watch the movie and try to make a more conscious effort about what you put on your plate and into your body. When you watch some of the video, ask yourself if you are really comfortable with eating something that had to live in those kinds of conditions before it was slaughtered? Ask yourself, if you really know what happens to the meat before it gets to your plate, even after its slaughtered? I know not everyone can afford organic or free range or cruelty free. I can't really afford it either. But everyone can ask for a few more restrictions on factory farms or at least for adequate investigations and follow through with regulations that are already in place.  And by all means, we can all afford to go to our local Farmer's Market and buy locally grown and produced items (even if they are just veggies and eggs).

I support farmers. I think people all over the world need to eat. And I like a cheap grocery bill. But egads, this movie has further made me worry about the state of the food we are putting into our bodies these days. If you find that you can't stomach this film (pun fully intended), then check out "Food, Inc." because it will help you to educate yourself on the whole process. "Earthlings" is more about the animals themselves and not just food animals, but wild animals and pets.

So, like I said, watch it, think about it, discuss it, and then make up your own mind. For the love of all that is holy, don't watch it in front of your children or when you are eating. And for the record, our dairy wasn't like the one in the film. Our cows were never chained up to holding pens and such and we didn't use chemicals to make them produce more milk or anything of that nature. If they were sick, they were given vet approved meds and taken off the line until they were well. They were adequately fed and watered and allowed to roam the pasture land every single day when they were not being milked (which didn't take too long to milk them anyway). You need no further testament of love put into a small scale family owned dairy operation than the fact that my "pet cow" is actually one of the herd and she's every bit of 15 years old (I don't know her age for sure, but she's waaay up there), which means she has outlived the "average" dairy cow.

And another thing, just the simple fact that I'm posting this is why I was so pissed when my neighbors had the nerve to call the Humane Society on me just because Emmie has a big mouth and was in heat. Like I would ever be cruel to any animal. For gosh sakes, I still feel guilty about running over that 'possum the other night! Phew!

Without further ado...here is the link.
http://www.earthlings.com/