I am desiring to be a better steward of the environment. I have worked harder at recyling. One of the thoughts I have considered was reducing or cutting out meat from my diet. I know that it could be better for me and I could reduce, in a very small way, the impact on animals being treated cruelly for food production.I told one of my sons that I have been considering vegitarian. I wasn't interested in going vegan. He asked what I do about the dairy farms that abuse animals. I have seen video footage about the squalid condition of some egg laying chickens. I told him "I didn't know." He then in a gentle way asked me about how I felt about using animals for my clothing.
In that moment it all crashed in on me. I realized how much I am virtually locked into the way this world operates. I felt deflated. I wanted to say "just forget it!" There appears to be no way out of this and becoming a responsible steward of God's creation without a massive life restructuring project.
I need to accept that I can only do what I can do. I can reduce what I consume, I can be more responsible. I can become increasingly aware.
It is better to take baby steps than none at all.
2 comments:
It's such a difficult dilemma. I found that for me, the answer wan't in being vegetarian (though we did try that for a while) but in spending the extra time and money to buy ethically raised meat, milk, and eggs. After much thinking, I didn't have problems with the fact that an animal has died to feed me, but whether the animal had a high-quality of life before dying. Really, most feed animals were bred for this purpose at this point in their biological development, and it doesn't matter if you eat tofu every day for the rest of your life, small animals are killed in the harvest of the beans...so you really can't get around the fact that things die so other things can live. But, here's some stuff I do to lessen the impact on the animals themselves:
I buy beef about once every 3 months...not a lot - a roast, some steaks, just enough to satisfy any cravings, from a guy who owns his herd just down the road. I can go meet the cows and see the pasture they graze on...
Same with our dairy milk. I subscribed us to a dairy service where the cows live just up the road. It costs a little more, but is better for the cows...and us - no hormones, no antibiotics and ultra pasturization - we get more nutrients from the milk.
Eggs are probably the hardest in general, but we have a good local brand called 'Nest Fresh'which our grocery stores carry and the chickens are just north of us also. They live outside and get to socialize and have good lives. It's an ethical company.
Most of these decisions also keep local farmers in business, which is good for everyone.
There's something inherently unhealthy about a society that i sso obsessed with food and money that there is no consideration of the animals themselves and their treatment/mental health.
It IS better to take baby steps than rush headlong into trying to live completely ethically...unfortunately we're just not geared that way as a society, and it will take a pretty dramatic change of lifestyle to get there.
I, too am trying to do what I can to be more environmentally aware. Here's what I've done: I joined Peta (even though I'm not a vegan or vegetarian I get some good insight on what is going on out there), I have boycotted KFC for the way they treat their chickens (there is a humane way to kill an animal...but apparently they don't know of any), I have boycotted Mars chocolate and candy (they perform very cruel animal testing), I try to purchase as much local and organic foods and dairy as my budget will allow and I keep an eye on what is going on and do what I can to help. It may not be a lot to most people...boycotting certain food places or items but I am doing what I can for right now. And that's all anyone can do.
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