Body

Sticking to plants

Have you ever heard someone complaining about a piece of meat? When they complain about it being gristly, tough or devoid of any flavour, my response to those ungracious sorts is to tell them that when they die, we will eat them and complain about the fat, the toughness of their skin and rancid nature of their inner thighs. There is a thought that we can manage quite well with a diet comprising fruit, nuts, vegetables and so on – a diet devoid of animal entrails. Lions and tigers, whales and sharks don’t have this luxury.

Eating an animal that is very close to the end of its natural life seems less uncaring than slaughtering one before it has had any chance of experiencing the world fully. Some people keep their meat consumption down to a minimum. They see it as doing their bit. Others avoid all animal products, most commonly for ethical reasons. There are potential health benefits so long as your diet includes all the things that animal products provide. I personally prefer to pay more for meat if the welfare of the animals is improved, even if it means paying double and having less. Animals wish to live an enthralling life just as we do. Some pay no attention to this or come to terms with it in some way. People like the taste so much that they reason that the protein it provides outweighs the suffering. There is a definitive primal bout of satisfaction when chewing meat. It is a contentious issue with emotions running high, for and against.

Animals are kept in crates, unable to stand up. Some in pens and can’t turn around. Some have their offspring taken away from them after a day or three. Some live in cages and never see the light of day but must endure the constant cacophony of the other ill valued souls. Some are forced fed so that their liver swells up ten times the normal size. Some are made to swim in circles in insipid waters. Some have their fins sliced off and then thrown back to die slowly, excruciatingly painfully. Humans are not man-kind but man-vile. Some get caught in bits of fishing gear. Some are kicked about as if they were a football. The only goal is to compete on price and disrespect.

We can be equally disrespectful and uncaring in the way we cause misery to pets. Some are stored in tiny boxes that get dreadfully hot in the summer and ice cold in the winter. We forget that dogs are pack animals and isolated for our pleasure not theirs. The causal nature in which we interfere with the bodies of animals for our convenience upsets real animal lovers. We neuter, dock, geld at our leisure as it makes it easier for us. We treasure our curiosity and rewards in life but prefer it if our pets stop roaming, exploring, and enjoying life. A thousand chickens or two hundred sheep are reared and killed to sustain one pet cat. How many animals have been killed to gratify you? It is made so easy. Others do the rearing for us. Others massacre them and others hack their carcases to shreds to make cuts to cook. We learn little of the suffering and turn a blind eye to it regardless.

Teenage rebellion led a child to scold an elder for eating meat. The elder spoke eloquently about leading by example rather than being so pushy. Activism can put an end to torturous practices, especially practices that have been kept hidden. Activists are usually hypocritical. Can we justify hectoring others when parts of our own life contradict our message. I doubt anyone’s life is lived without it being to the detriment of some animals somewhere. This doing your bit is insufficient to come across as so magnanimous. Each item of meat we eat is another bite of hurt. Thus, each item we decline is a move in a more compassionate direction.