Why Vegans Get A Bad Name

I got a bit steamed up the other day when this pic appeared in my Facebook newsfeed.

 

The post said that this is what meat looked like a few days after slaughter.  There sure were a lot of comments posted and 95% of them were exactly what I was thinking. 

This photo is scaremongering.   If the meat were left out in the warm, then yes, it does start to rot, or if it is "hung" as in the case of wild game, then yes, it will start to rot.  But meat that is processed for human consumption, kept under refrigeration, butchered and packaged immediately does not rot as quickly as it has been made out to do.

 

This is going out to a world audience, the posting page, who is from the USA where perhaps the process from kill to package is not as quick and where nitrates and preservatives are used to give meat a much longer shelf-life is commonplace, should realize that not all countries use this method. 

 

I am not condoning the meat industry one little bit, but the way I see it, images such as this gives vegans a bad name.  Not one meat eater will be turned off meat by this type of image. as proven by the comments.  Meat eaters are masters at telling lies to themselves, coming up with insane excuses and are extremely defensive when confronted by this type.

 

Instead, we vegans and vegetarians should be leading by example, encouraging meat-eaters to watch documentaries such as Earthlings and promoting things like Meatless Mondays.

 

And as for the posting page?  Not only was the photo not the best one to post, but the replies to the non-believers of the image were not in good taste ..... hahaha, bit like the meat!!!

Carnivores live in FairyLand!

The other day I posted a video up on my personal FaceBook profile to share it around with my friends...and I've got quite a few friends - the majority being carnivores.

Now the thing is that when I post, what I call "fluffy stuff", (examples below), I get lots of "likes" and "comments".

"...This is wonderful news that these bridges and underpasses are working!!!" Refers to an article about bridges that have been built especially for bears so they can cross roads.
 

Or this cute photo:

I don't normally put up hard hitting stuff, I leave that for the Vegetarian FB page (see the link to the page.....just up there...on the left - it says "Become a Fan").

Where was I?  Right, as I said most of my stuff on my profile page is just the usual sort of things interspersed with lovely animal photos.  But this video (below) I just had to put up.

My reason?  I really don't think any of my carnivore friends have any idea what really happens to animals before they get to the supermarkets.  And, like the title says, I really believe that most meat eaters live in fairyland.  They bury their head in the sand and just don't want to know.

I even issued a challenge to my friends "So you buy chicken from the grocery store do you? Are you brave enough to watch this????" and today I added a comment "Sooooo, no-one was game to watch it huh?" hoping that my added comment will go through the news feed again.

Well, we'll see........ Do I think anyone will watch it?  No.

So if any of my blog followers, who still eat chicken, are game enough to watch the video then please post up a comment.  Do I think there will be any comments to this blog?  No.

I'm unable to imbed the video on this post...so you'll have to click the link.

This Video Makes Grocery Shopping Feel Like A Scene In A Horror Film

www.upworthy.com

Why Are People Scared of Vegetarians/Vegans?

This delightful photo came across my desk a little while ago and it sure made me laugh .... oh how true!!!

Which leads me to the title of this post "Why are people scared of vegetarians/vegans?"

Let's face it, those of us who are constantly having the question "what do you eat for protein?" thrown at us know just how boring that is.  It's like - here we go again - and you put a smile on your face and trot out your much used answer (whatever that is).

It's been so ingrained in us through excellent marketing strategies by the meat industry that one can't survive without meat protein.  Because of that, it's always such an uphill battle convincing meat eaters that, actually, they are having too much protein due to the fact that protein is in so many of the other foods that they are eating.

But, getting back to the question in hand about why meat-eaters are "scared" of vegetarians.  My opinion is, because of all that ingrained marketing beliefs, they think if they go without meat they will suddenly "fall over" through not eating properly.

Another reason for their fear is that they are so used to cooking (or dining out on) meat as the focal point of the dish that they really have no idea just how much more interesting and tasty their food can be if they take the meat out of the equation.

Even when I do serve vegetarian or vegan meals to friends, they are fascinated, they enjoy it and they even ask for more ideas on cooking with e.g. lentils (or whatever I've used).  However, once home, it's back to what they know - meat first.

My usual response is to give them the recipe and encourage them to give it just one try, and if they like it, then to contact me and I'll give them another recipe.  It works, but not often.

If I can get one person to change one meat meal to vegetarian once a week then it's a start.

Oh, and if you want to see just how much more protein meat eaters are having check out this chart - and it's based on only 100g.

Only some of the many foods that have protein!

Just so you know - a person weighing 150 lbs. should eat 55 grams of protein per day.  Now, going by the above if some-one of that weight had one egg for breakfast, a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and a 100 gm piece of chicken for dinner - and nothing else - that's 68.5 grams of protein...over the required amount.

Happy Eating
Fee
website:  www.thevegetariancenter.com

Do You Buy Free Range Eggs?

Wake up everyone at take a look at what really happens. 

"This was his last moment on earth. He tried to fly away, but he was too young. 200 million male baby chicks are ground up alive every year because they are useless to the egg industry. He was one of them." (taken from "Mercy For Animals" website)

There are some videos that I really can't watch.  I'm a bit squeamish you see and I hate to see animal cruelty.  But if you're still not convinced go to the link above.

If you must eat eggs try to find some-one local who loves their chookies, (hens/chickens).
Yes, I still eat eggs from time to time - I do struggle a bit to be fully vegan, but my beautiful vegan friends don't pass judgement, bless them.
In saying that I eat eggs I am extremely lucky that I have a friend who just loves her chookies and I reap the benefit of being able to get eggs from her when they are fully laying.

These chookies roam free around her property, in fact they lay their eggs in the strangest places which is so cool.  They are not even fenced in other than the border fence around their property.  They do have a little house where they can roost for the night, but most of the time they roost in the trees.

Even so called "free range" eggs that you buy at your local supermarket can be a bit suss because, they too don't want to have the male chickens….what do they do about that?  Well a lot of the "free range" farmers buy their laying chickens from big factory-farm hatcheries….of course they only get the female ones so they believe that their hands are clean.

And what does my friend do?  Well, she does eat meat.  She doesn't raise that many chickens anyway because she takes the eggs…but if some do slip through and go on to hatch they are raised up…regardless of whether they're male or female.  And come the time - yes, she will kill one for the table - well, her husband does the killing.

If, like me, you can't do without eggs try to find some-one local who loves their chookies. A good place to start is at the Farmers markets and ask questions!!!

Read this for more on so called "Free-Range" poultry and eggs. but be warned, it will shock you.

Happy Eating
Fee
website:  www.thevegetariancenter.com

Kudos to the Creators

I came across this (below) on FaceBook the other day.  Mercy For Animals  has put out a hard-hitting T.V. advertisement exposing the hidden ingredient in meat products.  It's only on a few channels in very few cities in the USA and on one national station.

Naturally I took a look at the ad and I was simply wowed by the dramatic effect this ad has.  All I can say is that I sincerely hope it gets air-time, that the people who do see it, (even just a small percent), take the message it gives and re-consider eating anything "meat" from the fast food industry or any other processed animal foods.

As I've said before, I'm a realist and know that there will always be meat eaters.  Rather than try and convert them to vegetarianism, (much as I'd like to), I hope to get the message out there to them that they should GET TO KNOW how and where their meat comes from - and it's ads like this that, in my opinion, help to spread the word.  Wouldn't it be great if we could see a world-wide campaign.

More about this ad:  https://www.charity-pay.com/mfa/madsausage.asp

Could A Vegetarian Diet Help Lose Weight?

If you are under the mis-conception that vegetarian style eating is not nutrient rich or has the protein that the body needs - then please think again.

A study that has recently been published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in June (111: 819-827, 2011), has found that instead of being nutrient deficient a vegetarian diet is actually nutrient dense.

What the….A Flexitarian?

As a vegetarian I take great interest in what is going on in the world of food etc and one word that has been popping up lately is "Flexitarian".