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DO MY KIDS KNOW WHAT? Any of it? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? My son came home from school today upset because his new teacher asked the class, “What’s your favourite food?”, and whilst this may appear an entirely innocent question to others, hearing his best friends reel off answers like, “Ribs”, “Bacon”, “Chicken nuggets” and “Double cheeseburgers” was really difficult for him and he put his fingers in his ears and started to cry. He then had to sit outside for a while to calm down. You see, he knows what happens to the animals on farms, in zoos, Sealife centres and in slaughterhouses. He doesn’t know all the gory details, but he knows enough about what animals have to go through and how cruel and badly they’re treated by humans. When you love animals like he does, and he really loves them, it’s hard to imagine the people closest to you, paying to have them harmed and killed – especially when they don’t need to, yet just simply choose to. It’s a problem vegans have to encounter every single day. And not only that but people try and actually justify their actions with ridiculous excuses and justifications like, ‘We’ve always done it’, ‘We need to kill animals for protein’ and ‘Our teeth are designed to eat animals’... Blah blah. None of which morally justify taking the life of an animal that doesn’t want to die. Pretty much every child on the planet loves animals, nature, and wildlife. We were born loving animals – we didn’t arrive into the world wanting to hurt, kill and eat animals. Our eating and using them for pleasure and for entertainment is a LEARNED behaviour – passed down by us – inherited from our parents who fed us animals because they simply didn’t know any better. If these children at school knew EXACTLY what it was they were eating – or rather WHO it was they were claiming was their favourite animal to eat, I’m pretty sure they would be mortified and would never want to eat it ever again. It poses the question - if we can’t sit our children down and explain to them where their food comes from and how it gets there - should we be feeding it to them? Why can’t we explain that their favourite flavours and textures come from the bodies of murdered, innocent beings who didn’t want to die but who wanted to live their lives just like we do, just like our pets do? Morally there is no difference from our dogs, cats, budgies, gerbils and guinea pigs - to the cows, pigs, chickens, sheep and ducks we consume. You either love animals or you don’t. Who are we to pick and choose which animals are worthy of life and which animals deserve to die? I would happily show my child videos on how his food gets to the table – how the fruits and vegetables grow from seed into food and how plant-based meals like his favourite burgers are made, how his bacon is created and how his milkshake is prepared. Could you say the same? Could you show your children footage from the inside of factory farms - the gas chambers used to suffocate young chickens to death, along with piglets after they’ve had their teeth pulled out and their tales docked, all without anaesthetic? Could you show them the gestation and farrowing crates the constantly pregnant mothers are kept in for months on end, unable to turn around - unable to spend time with their babies? What about the conveyor belts used to macerate male chicks, immediately after hatching, deemed ‘unprofitable’ by the egg industry because they can’t reproduce or lay eggs? Or the windowless barns full of thousands of starving female chickens, covered in faeces and ammonia burns and who are unable to walk due to their osteoporosis from having to lay 300 eggs a year when naturally they should only lay 12? What about the acid ‘sheep dip’ machine, where farmers fully immerse sheep into a toxic cocktail of chemicals used to rid them of external parasites (which in turn poisons nearby waterways and kills fish)? Or the live shackles, electric water bath and 'mechanical neck cutter' used to electrocute and slice the throats of chickens who are tied up by their feet, causing them severe pain and distress, before they're needlessly killed? The pumping machines the constantly pregnant female cows are enslaved in where their pus and mastitis-ridden udders are forced to produce milk day in, day out, all so our kids can have milk on their cereal, or in their chocolate bars and ice creams? Could you show them the footage of happy farmers forcefully violating female cows by shoving their fists inside their backsides, every time they ovulate, and injecting bull semen into them via large metal rods, forcing their pregnancy over and over and over again (sometimes for up to 20 years) until they can no longer produce young or create milk and so are sent to slaughter for our kid’s favourite 'double cheeseburger'? If this shit is totally normal to you - (and it used to be normal to me) - yet you can’t show your children these things for fear of traumatising them – what does that tell you? Should we keep that information from them and continue paying for these immoral acts to happen? Should we continue feeding our most-loved humans these chopped up body parts and secretions that belong only to the animals themselves and are not ours to take? Should we lie to our children and hide the truth so as not to upset them or should we be able to be open and honest with our kids, no matter how difficult it might be for them to hear? If these things are too difficult for our children to hear, then perhaps we shouldn’t be causing them in the first place. Farmers are not the cause. Slaughterhouse workers are not the cause. WE are the cause because we’re the only ones paying for these things to happen and the longer we demand it, the longer these horrors will continue. In the future, do you think our children will thank us for feeding them chopped up animals all this time? Particularly when it’s causing so much damage to the climate, to the planet and to our health? Will they appreciate us never telling them the truth until it’s too late? If we care for our children, truly care about them, why on earth are we still feeding them processed meat that is a class 1 carcinogen (the same as formaldehyde) which LITERALLY causes stomach and bowel cancer further down the line. Not to mention heart disease, type 2 diabetes and strokes. Red meat is a group 2a carcinogen (the same as tobacco and asbestos) which can also cause cancer. Don’t believe me? Just Google it. It’s all there. We feed our babies these things. If you’re fine with that, if you’re ok with your children consuming these things then tell them – sit them down and explain to them where their meals come from. They have a right to know. But tell them honestly. No bullshit, no lies. No beating around the bush. Tell them truthfully what happens to the animals in order for them to have their dinner. Explain what a slaughterhouse is and what goes on there. Explain to them how, if your dog or cat ever had to be put down, a slaughterhouse is not a place you would want to take them. We have a duty, as parents, to protect our children – we would do anything for them – but as it stands, included in the word ‘anything’ is to feed them rotting animal flesh, pregnant cow’s breast milk, bee vomit and chicken ovums. Despite many, many leading scientists, nutritionists, and climate specialists pleading with us to stop. So, when are we going to listen? Being vegan isn’t a diet. And animal abuse isn’t an ‘opinion’. Just like child abuse isn’t an 'opinion'. Nor is racial abuse an 'opinion'. Being vegan simply means you acknowledge that ALL animals have the right to live their life free from harm and suffering. It’s really that simple. I’m pretty sure you agree with that? I DO Then your morals are there, you’re just not aligning your actions with them. If you saw a puppy in the street being kicked, you would no doubt jump in to defend them right?
I WOULD If you saw a kitten being attacked – you would most probably do the same. What if you saw a piglet being smashed against a wall? Or a calf being shot in the head? Or a chick being beaten? Would you jump in to help then, or would it make you hungry? Would you save that chick's life or would you pay the person with the knife to ‘finish the job’? If you’re not vegan, unfortunately that’s essentially what you’re doing, every single time you eat. This isn’t a ‘ploy’ to make you go vegan. This isn’t me ‘shoving my lifestyle choices down your throat’ etc. It’s me airing my frustration about this hypocritical, conditioned, so-called nation of ‘animal lovers’ who inexplicably pay to have animals murdered in a slaughterhouse and then who feed the remains to their children. This is me getting frustrated that my son has come home from school upset, simply for being the only one in his class (and possibly his school) to speak up, to step up and to defend and care for animals. And his reward for simply being compassionate in this very cruel world, is to feel isolated and alone. I asked my son what his answer would have been to the food question today and without any hesitation he said ‘Vegan Margherita Pizza’ – proving that you don’t need to kill anyone in order to have a favourite meal. My god it’s hard giving a shit about animals sometimes. It must be amazing to be able to live your life without acknowledging any of the suffering or harm they have to go through for our meals, clothing, cosmetics and entertainment. Hats off to those of you who can do it. Ignorance is truly bliss. Lx
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AuthorHello! Lee Brace here! Award-winning comedian, writer, photographer and vegan. CategoriesContact me at [email protected]
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