Sad Animal Faces in Australia and Sad ones heading to slaughter

    I was watching CBS This Morning (which I watch almost every morning). I respect the co-hosts and their attempts to make the news both serious and entertaining when the topic is appropriate.       

     However there have been some comments made by the co-hosts lately that I have found troubling. The first one was made by Gayle King in response to sad pictures of so many animals being stressed and killed by the killer fires in Australia. She indicated how much sympathy she felt for them. I agree that this is a tragic situation for the animals and for the people of the land down under.

     This particular response to animals who are abused or injured is a good one; these situations receive a lot of press and sympathy from people.  What really bothers me as a vegan is that so many people are moved by what is happening to these animals but many of these people do not want to know and/or think about the violence that takes place with farm animals every day in slaughterhouses all over the world so that the animal's flesh can be eaten. The animals are forced to line up and it has been shown that they fear what is coming soon - they know it will not be kind to them. Someone I know called this "born to be slaughtered". In fact, 150 million animals are slaughtered world-wide every day and this gets no attention or no press. It concerns me further when the topic of meat alternatives is a news item to cut down on meat production to reduce animal violence, the climate and/or health, Gayle King feels the need to indicate that she loves to have a hamburger or Tony Dokoupil dismisses the issues of vegans in a mocking way by saying "they only represent 4% of the population anyway".

It is sad that the meat industry is such a threat to those who should be on the side of truth - journalism is supposed to teach and support the truth.

The public is not allowed to see the slaughterhouses or the way that animals are treated before slaughter when they are put in unclean and small little pens, and treated like a commodity, not a living, breathing creature sharing the planet with us.

In closing, there are many meat-free alternatives available now and recipes for so many vegan goodies. I encourage everyone to try them. To move toward a more plant-based diet can be any individual's way to live every day knowing that your own personal efforts are playing a part in reducing animal violence, cow production of methane gas and pig lagoons, burning of forests for cattle grazing, and improving your and your family's health. 
  

Changing Your Diet Can Help Save the Planet

Last year I researched and created a flyer called "Changing your diet can help save the planet." I was asked to do this by an environmental community group for a table at an event we were sponsoring. The reason they asked me to do it was because I brought it up as an issue during the large group meeting. The information being sought was ideas about what could be communicated to the public about the environment. I knew that even environmental activists were probably not comfortable with the food production issues. Because of this, I struggled with even bringing it up. But I felt strongly about it and decided to risk it. Many of them were concerned that people don't like to be told what to eat (including them). Somehow it seemed easier to tell people what to drive, how much energy to use etc. But, I spoke to the chairperson and she really did want me to pursue this and I told her I would try to be as factual and informational as possible without being strident. She liked it and we used it. 

Here is the result:

Spreading thanks for vegan items in restaurants

For a while now, I have been undertaking a small but (in my opinion) important activism to help farm animals. A few years ago, I was thinking about something I could do that would help the cause other than direct protest.
How could I encourage others to try veganism and show my appreciation to restaurant owners who have expanded their menu to include some vegan offerings or have shown willingness to make something vegan?


The plan went something like this:  I printed up some business size cards that I could hand out to a restaurant that ventured into taking the plant eaters as legit customers. My card looked like this:

A few years later, a friend of mine took a job with PETA and when I told her about my campaign, she gave me some cards that PETA had made up to do the very thing I was doing. At first, I was a little disappointed that my cool novel idea was not new at all, but I got over it. Now I just hand out both cards to the restaurant.

Once I started handing these out, the responses I got were so positive. From the waitress to the chef or manager, they were thrilled to get this. In one case, the chef came out to our table to thank us and chat a little about what we thought of each of his vegan items. And he brought us a full plate of some new ones he was going to offer.

At another restaurant on Hilton Head Island, there was a place that served sea food in one kitchen and all vegan in the other. We were pretty surprised to find such a place there. The waiter told us about all the different menu dishes that the vegan chef invented. In addition to the food we ordered, he also brought us out a few extra.

So, in closing, I encourage all of you to try this
out. It doesn't take a lot of time to create the cards or find a place either in a purse or pocket to carry them around. The more of us who are out there thanking businesses for offering vegan items, the more likely they will continue or add more.

Businesses need to make money to stay in business, so I think it is a worthwhile effort. AND you might even get some free cool food.