After
reading HSUS Wayne Pacelle's blog on praising Whole Foods for their
including a
variety of plant- based foods in their stores, I couldn't help but think of
others who deserved
praise as well. Of course, there are many good people deserving of praise, but
here I am only mentioning those who came to mind this week and who showed compassion
to suffering animals. Realizing that there is much human suffering as well,
I thank God that there are people like BILL AND MALINDA GATES who
are using their
wealth
to help the poor people of Africa, and they too, of course, deserve praise.
We
who care about animals often read posts re our cruelty to them, and
certainly this is the case re the CAFOs (Confined Animal Farm Operations) which
someone so rightly called "A stain on humanity." Acknowledging this cruelty has
produced people of compassion who work to expose the suffering of animals in them with the
hope that one day improvements will be made. Could we even dare hope that these
places of torture will even be eventually dismantled -allowing the animals to return
again to enjoying fresh air and some semblance of freedom? At least this is my
daily prayer.
There is no excuse for billions of farm animals suffering each year to
satisfy our meat lust. Writers and humane animal organizations who work for their
emancipation are indeed worthy of praise.
I don't know why but I couldn't help remembering ASTRID LINDGREN of Sweden
when looking to write of people deserving praise, but such was the case today.
She is not only known for writing about the lovable escapades of Pippi Longstocking
but for her concern for factory farm animals in Sweden as well. I absolutely loved
reading her brief account in this regard- probably written sometime in the 70's. In
her story, she decided to invite God to check in on Sweden's stewardship of animals. For
her, the pig
slaughterhouse would be the proper setting to expose man's cruelty to pigs
in this case. She wanted Him to see how they were slaughtered from the stunning
process to the depositing of their bodies into a steaming hot vat. One little pig was
improperly stunned and landed in the vat with the other dead pigs. He frantically
squealed and swam in circles trying to get out. Needless to say, she had God explode
with anger saying something like --what kind of blockheads treat my animals in this
cruel fashion?
Though some people may not be impressed by this simple story, I was. A
favorite Saturday breakfast at the time for a friend of mine and Peaches, my dog had been
bacon and eggs. Well, after reading Lindgren's account -the bacon had to go, and it was
only a matter of time and I became vegan, so the eggs disappeared as well. Yes, I believe
that Astrid Lindgren is worthy of praise. She died in 2006.
WHOLE FOODS. And some corporations are worthy of praise as well.
Yesterday, in Wayne Pacelle's Blog, was the title "Whole Foods Deserves Whole Praise for
Anti-Factory Farming Leadership."
Per Pacelle there can be no question but that Whole Foods Market has been
the leader on animal welfare among all the major supermarket companies. They early on
made vegetarian and vegan food readily available to anyone who wanted this
plant-based fare. Start-ups like Gardein, Hampton Creek, and Beyond Meat readily received
shelf space at Whole Foods.
They also chose to not sell foie gras or live lobsters because of animal
welfare concerns. Re foie gras, I remembered reading that Pres. Obama and his family partook
of this cruel fare on their visit to France. Needless to say, I was much disappointed in
their lack of compassion.
As for lobsters, I remember that I missed my first invitation to a lobster
dinner probably sometimes in the 60's. I don't remember the reason for this- but since
then I have felt specially blessed because I think boiling a live lobster is very cruel.
One chef recommends piercing the head first. Of course, that doesn't sound too pleasant
either, though perhaps, it might be the lesser of two evils. However, I prefer letting the lobster
stay in the ocean where he belongs.
They also would not sell caged hens eggs or pork or veal from crated
animals.
This past week I was much impressed by learning of two young people
offering a dollar to people in Cleveland who would watch their graphic slaughterhouse videos. I
am very proud of both of them and especially of the young woman who grew up in
Chesterland, Ohio. She was a graduate of West Geauga High School and John Carroll University.
Interviewed by the media --JILLIAN LOWRY, 26, said she came from a very
steak and potatoes kind of family. She remembered as a kid that there was broccoli and steak
on her plate, and she knew where the broccoli came from because they had a garden. But she
didn't know where the steak came from. So she asked her parents. They gave each other 'the
look.' Then they said, "It comes from a cow," To this she replied - "Why would we do that
to a cow? We don't do that to our dog."
Today Lowry and her partner who goes by the name of RADISH visit college
towns and music festivals around the the country in a FARM ANIMAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT truck with
video screens. The hard-to-watch hidden camera reveals images of cows, chickens and pigs
being slaughered .
They maintain that if we eat meat- then it is only right to know about how
they are slaughtered.
FARM reports that the video has been seen by 300,000 people visiting the
truck on what is called its "10 Billion Lives Tour." The astronomical number refers to the number
of farm animals processed each year in the U.S.
One viewer reported after seeing the video: "My stomach's like, upset. I
thought it was happy like, You're old now, let's stick you with a needle. I didn't know animals went
through all that just so I could have food on my plate." As they say --ignorance is bliss, but there
is simply no excuse for
us to be ignorant, and thank God for groups like FARM and people like Lowry
and Radish. They too are indeed worthy of praise.
Both these young people deserve my profound admiration for their courage
and efforts. Commenting favorably on them on the PD's internet site, I fully expect to see some
unkind remarks there. This shows me just how unfeeling some people can be. On another level,
I am ashamed to
admit- that despite my great concern for animal suffering, I don't even
have an ounce of their courage.
Soon Transfiguration Church is going to have its yearly pork chop dinner
benefit. I wish that I would do something to show my unhappiness with this meal of suffering. I
should be printing out flyers telling of the cruelty involved in the raising and slaughtering
of pigs, but sadly I don't
have their courage. However, for whatever it is worth --when the parish
sent out raffle tickets for this event, I responded by writing the pastor that I can in no way
support this dinner, and I included some material re the cruelty of pig Cafos.
Thank you God for all the people who are worthy of praise. There are many,
many more I could mention, but of course, no one post could do justice to this enterprise.
