Normally, I write about something on my mind. Well, this is no different except it has nothing to do with relationships or loving yourself or anything like that really. It does have to do with love and compassion though.
It hit me, I think it was last Saturday. I was watching one of the last episodes of Victorian Farm on the BBC. If you are not familiar with the show, I reccomend it. Briefly, there are 2 men and 1 female completely immersing themselves in life as it would have been in Victorian times. Clothes, way of life, farm, you name it. They had sheep, pigs, chicken…you get the jist.
The Show was coming to an end, so it was time to decide what to do with the animals. A hearder came to pick up the sheep & ram and another farmer came to pick up the sow and her piglets. They also had 3 Tamworth pigs as well. Two were to be sold and the other was to be lead to slaughter.
Normally, in the past, I have had no major issues with eating meat, my biggest concern was the way that the ‘meat’ was treated. Be it cow, chicken, turkey, ect. I’m sure you have all seen the horrible documentaries. So, I had resigned myself only to eating Organic and/or Grass-fed meat. And, wow, is it delicious. An organic burger cooked slowly over hickory woods chips out on my mini-deck was one of the best times I had all summer (my girlfriend also happened to be in from out of town, so it made it all better). Grass fed, organic was to be the only way for me.
Until Victorian Farm and those cute, rotund, red haired Tamworth pigs. The two Tamworth’s were off, off to a different life. Off to live, if nothing else. The 3rd Tammy, he was let out of the pen. Jumping with giddiness, with happiness, with joy to be free and to roam and eat and be a messy pig. Clear the fields, wallow in mud, oink till his heart’s content! But it was not to be. I don’t know why, but that scene continues to play in my head, over and over and over again. I cannot shake it. I can see the little fella let out, jumping, kicking up his hind legs, running around, I can feel his happiness, his joy. Then, he & his joy both were gone. Just like that, a life was cut short.
Why must we kill an animal, a beautiful creature to consume their meat? Why must we cut the lives short of so many animals? For your own pleasure? That piglet’s life was cut short. Not because these men were starving and would have otherwise perished, but because it was the way things had been done in the past. Kill or be killed, right? Wrong. Fight or flight right? Again, wrong.
We, as humans, have the capacity to chose right from wrong. And we no longer live in a world where it is kill or be killed, eat or be eaten. No, not any longer. So, why do we pretend we do? Why have we no compassion for the animals? I am sure most people have all seen, if not at least heard, of the atrocities that go on behind closed door at meat factories. Yet, we persist in eating animals DNA (which I have come to realize has a profound effect on our own DNA), we insist on the best slab of meat, or bacon at breakfast. I, personally, will miss bacon. But what is there to miss? A sensation of taste? The smell of maple throughout the house? A quick bit of pleasure? At what cost? No, I will not miss bacon. I will miss the idea of bacon, the idea of a ham sandwich, steak dinner or juicy burger.
What will I gain, you may be asking yourself? Peace. That is the answer, my answer. My decision to stop consuming meat is personal, I would never force my beliefs on others. However, I do want people to see if from the point of view of the animal, if possible. Imagine these animals as ‘pets’ if it helps.
I know there will be many people who say ‘well Vegetarian’s aren’t healthy. They are lacking these essential nutrient’s which are only found in meat. ‘ or, my argument used to be ‘Scientists say that it is largely due to the fact that we began to consume meat which lead to the development of the neocortex.’ That may be true. My neocortex, however, is and has been developed.
In short, I would like to simply say Think twice. Think twice before you eat the flesh of another of Mother Nature’s creatures. Think twice before you lower your own vibrations by consuming dead meat. Think, think of the little Tamworth pig, happy, full of life and full of love. Just Think.
