Why I'm a vegetarian...

Would you eat this baby? Baby chicks, pigs and cows are this cute when they're born too. But I've stopped putting these animals on my table. Here's why:

1. Chickens live to only 4 months old. They are bred and fed to grow 3 times faster than what is normal for a chicken. Their bones can't keep up and remain soft and underdeveloped. Half their beaks are cut off so they don't peck each other to death. The conditions are filthy. Nine billion chickens per year are slaughtered in the U.S. alone. A day in the life of a typical chicken.
2. Pigs are confined to cages so small, they can't even turn around. Many of them go crazy from boredom and claustrophobia. 100 million pigs per year are slaughtered in the U.S. alone.
3. One-day-old calves are taken from their mothers and chained by the neck to a stall so small that they cannot turn around. After 4 months of being chained up like this, they are slaughtered and sold as veal. Yum.
4. Dairy cows are loaded up with hormones to force production of milk at higher than normal rates. This leads to painfully oversized udders, mastitis and pus production. Pus gets into the milk. Cows are then given anti-biotics for the mastitis. After a few short years of continuous milk production, the cow gets sick and is sent to slaughter. 30 million cattle per year are slaughtered in the U.S. alone.
5. I have seen videos from slaughter houses, chicken factory farms, pig factory farms, cow factory farms and geese/duck farms. It is not a pretty site. The humans who work there suffer just as much as the animals. I think this is soul-killing work for the humans and hell on earth for the animals. It is madness for sure, all in the name of making a profit.

If most people knew how these animals were being treated, they would stop buying these mass market meat and dairy products. Eating these products from unhealthy animals is unhealthy for humans. If your children knew what was happening to these animals, they would not want to eat these products, and neither should you. There are alternatives. There are organic meat and dairy products, and there is the choice to become vegetarian. You can get all the protein you need from plant sources.

Also, there are the "old" ways of raising animals for food, where the animal at least has a decent life before they go to slaughter. Fresh air, sunshine and green pastures are what these animals want and need. Animals raised organically in this way are healthy, happy animals, and they provide healthy nutrition for humans that choose to eat them.

This whole factory farm business is totally unnecessary. Please help by buying organic or going vegetarian. If I haven't convinced you, then watch these short videos. At least be informed when you choose mass market meat products at the grocery store. Know what you're buying and the sources of what you're feeding your family. Be informed so you can make informed decisions.