Check out this plump little hotdog with the long squiggle of mustard. There was a day when I would have craved this standard American staple - especially when cooked on the grill. It reminds me of the days when I did not think at all about where my food came from nor if it was good for me. In fact, if pressed, I probably would have known that the meat that I was eating came from an animal. But, any curiousity about that process was probably suppressed by the deepseated denial factor that was at work saving me from the unpleasant reality. Once my daughter started educating me, I realized how ignorant I really was. When I saw and heard the truth about factory farming, my denial shield was penetrated and my whole body started to react - rage, disgust, disbelief. For example, let's talk about the cute little hotdog as shown above - Common hot dog ingredients include meat trimmings from cows, pigs or chickens (mechanically separated) and fat, flavorings, preservatives; unhealthy high sodium, fat and nitrite content.
Hot dogs are prepared by mixing the ingredients in vats where quickly rotating blades grind and mix. It's then forced through tubes into casings made from sheep intestines for cooking. And, before we can get the meat trimmings, we have to kill the animal, get rid of all the blood and cut it up. Too bad for you Porky, 3 little pigs, Babe, Bessy, the cool California cows - we will.... we will EAT YOU!! Well, some people will, but not me. My hotdog eating days are over - never to chomp down on animal flesh in forms of chunk, rib, steak, leg, breast, trimmings, byproduct - you get the idea! So, when I get the craving for a long plumpy thing in a bun, I will crave tofupups or soy dogs - vegetable products made into the traditional shape. I will cook one, slather on the mustard, relish and maybe even some sauerkraut and enjoy a treat that I can eat, get some protein and with each bite smile that not a single animal had to die for me to eat it. Some may say that it just doesn't have the taste or the texture to satisfy them - I guess we all define satisfaction differently.
Hot dogs are prepared by mixing the ingredients in vats where quickly rotating blades grind and mix. It's then forced through tubes into casings made from sheep intestines for cooking. And, before we can get the meat trimmings, we have to kill the animal, get rid of all the blood and cut it up. Too bad for you Porky, 3 little pigs, Babe, Bessy, the cool California cows - we will.... we will EAT YOU!! Well, some people will, but not me. My hotdog eating days are over - never to chomp down on animal flesh in forms of chunk, rib, steak, leg, breast, trimmings, byproduct - you get the idea! So, when I get the craving for a long plumpy thing in a bun, I will crave tofupups or soy dogs - vegetable products made into the traditional shape. I will cook one, slather on the mustard, relish and maybe even some sauerkraut and enjoy a treat that I can eat, get some protein and with each bite smile that not a single animal had to die for me to eat it. Some may say that it just doesn't have the taste or the texture to satisfy them - I guess we all define satisfaction differently.
So, I leave behind my carnivore past and move forward into the peace of the veg kingdom. Ahhhhh - it feels so good!
