Humans: Killing Machines. Killing ourselves.

Thoughts on human beings, the species, as a whole. Inspired by a stranger on the internet (whom I quoted throughout).

"We give chickens way too much credit. They can't experience things the way we do." Of course they don't. Even you and I don't experience things the same way. From individual to individual and between species, consciousness varies greatly. We can simply not begin to even fathom what we do not know. To try and understand the consciousness of another being, how they think, is impossible. We experience everything from human consciousness and that limits us insurmountably when it comes to knowing how other beings experience things. I think, more so, that we give ourselves, and human consciousness, too much credit. We totally lack humility and empathy in regards to all other life. We may be the most "successful" species as of right now, but we are literally the definition of a virus, destroying our world, our host, killing everything and creating the third largest mass extinction on this planet. Can we really call that success? Are we really the smartest? Or do we just tell ourselves that...

All animals feel. I'm not sure I understand why you find that irrelevant because you believe animals don't think consciously about pain the way we can. Pain is instinctual, not conscious. When we feel pain, it is reactionary first, we think about it after. The animal side of us responds the same way they do to pain. A "pre-programmed robotic piece of meat" would not feel pain (and they do) or strive to raise and protect their families, nor would it suffer feelings of loss when the bonds they from with people or other animals or their children, are broken. They do form bonds and feel attached to other creatures, this isn't deniable, all social creatures do. I can expand on this further if you like, and I'm curious why you and your chickens seem to have formed no bonds.

"My chickens spend hours a day looking for a way through the same piece of fence..." They spend hours a day trying to escape. One of our most basic animal desires is freedom. We have so much of it and we take it for granted. We also take it away from billions of other animals on this planet and have no empathy for what freedom means to them. We usurp this for ourselves because we are "at the top of the food chain." Therefore, we can dominate and rule as we see fit, no compassion, and equate chickens and farm animals to "meat robots" who we have decided deserve no compassion. :/

"...this is in no way excusing animal torturing any animal. Rather, the reason I say this is because there are animals that do think more like us." So, the more like humans they are, the less the deserve to be tortured? That's just such a hierarchal perspective, putting human feelings as the template for suffering. If they feel like we do, then we can relate, so I get what you're saying. But just because we can't relate as well to another animal because we're different, doesn't mean we can pretend to understand how they feel. We can't. If we think back to slavery, it was the differences in skin colour that separated people. People with darker skin were seen as less important just because lighter skinned people were seen as the pinnacle and most important. Differences give people a way to separate, when really, all life forms are capable of feeling pain, capable of suffering, capable of feeling both positive and negative feelings. We are all wired for the same basic thing: survival and procreation. Therefore, we all feel the same basic feelings: happiness, safety, want of freedom, pain, attachment, loss, etc.. These feelings are what perpetuate survival and procreation, they're not conscious, they're instinctual needs.

"Take a look at how nature is..." Where in nature does any other animals capture and enslave another species entirely, torture it for months or years and then mass slaughter it? Nature's way is entirely based on freedom and balance. Humans see themselves above nature, and are destroying everything about it, including ourselves. We annihilate entire species to grow just a few select species and dominate the world, thinking we know best because we're "conscious", but we are fools that have destroyed so much that we can never get back, we've spat in the face of freedom and now we're living in a totally unsustainable system that will inevitably collapse in on itself. A system based on conscious humans unconsciously doing things they don't understand the impact of because we like to think we know, and understand, but we don't. Human beings are so ego-driven, and that's the reason we justify so many things that are just plain wrong, because we can't admit that we might not be right, that we're part of the problem.

We ARE the biggest problem this planet has ever seen.

If we don't make the conscious decision to care about life as a whole, then we will continue to destroy our world and life as a whole. We can't survive without other animals, without biodiversity, without nature sustaining itself. We're part of nature, and yet we think we have risen above it, that we know everything, we know best, we are the "ultimate" and the "top of the food chain" but the reality is we're destroying everything and that will equate to our own destruction. We're the stupidest species to ever exist if you look at the facts and state of the world. We are the epitome of selfish, because everything we do is at the expense of all other life. We annihilate, and we do it consciously, so... Our consciousness is rather useless when you use it as the defining point of why we're superior to all other life. We're not. We're just ass holes.

"I'd say we're doing pretty good in comparison to the rest of nature." We're killing everything and living through the third largest mass extinction this planet has ever seen, and it's caused solely by us. It's that mindset of "us" compared to/versus "nature" that is the root cause. We ARE a part of nature, and we're destroying nature, and therefore, we're destroying ourselves. We're no better than any living thing on this planet. In fact, we are absolutely the worst.

The Surefire Way to Make an Industry Change

On #farm365, there's quite a bit of fighting. What is it worth? There are differing opinions, that's obvious from the start, but what is the point of fighting?

The two vocal sides on #farm365:
   - farmers
   - animal rights advocates

You've got the agricultural industry who is silently paying attention, supporting their farmers and "agvocates", training them, holding seminars, teaching and coaching them with their billion dollar industry and multitude of resources. These are the "big guys" standing behind the good old fashioned "farmers" with every freedom in life, promoting the happy family farm life that has nothing to do with the animals who never know freedom . . . Freedom from pain. Freedom from suffering. Freedom to love and raise their own children. Freedom to chose whether or not to have children in the first place. Freedom to roam free. Freedom to love. The freedom to just live . . . Talk about a marketing ploy. Backed by money, driven by money, corrupted by money. That's all it is is profits at the expense of the lives of others. The more they cut corners, the more money they make, the more they have to hide. Farmers don't work for themselves anymore, the whole agricultural industry in what they call "vertically integrated". They're all linked, they all depend on each other. In a nutshell, it's a monopoly with very, very rich people at the top. These are the "big guys".

Then you have the "little guys". The animal rights advocates. The people who used to be a part of this and have learned of their own accord what the truth really is. Once you know, you can't be a part of that anymore. You realize you're being used to use animals to put billions of dollars into the pockets of giant corporate CEO's who don't care about anyone or anything. They care about money. Well, this "little guy" cares about her health, about animals, about the environment. I always claimed I did, but that was just wishful thinking. I was blindly committing the worst crimes against all three of those values. I was so misinformed, so blind, so ignorant. Money matters less than ever. Truth matters.

Aside from these parties, you have the silent listeners and watchers: most people. I'll come back to this in a moment. Let me summarize something else quickly:

The food industry, the business of food, is at an all-time low. Quality food and the variety of food available is at an all-time high. (We're talking in North America, mostly, where our way of life infects the rest of the world unfortunately). Our ability to make choices about what we eat, how we eat and what our money supports is at an all-time high. We're buying the world we want to live in. Nearly all of us have no idea where our food comes from. We blindly hand over our money and unknowingly consume misery and death and to our own detriment. Our health, overall, is at an all-time low. Diet-related diseases: heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis . . . are our number one causes of death. Our treatment of our fellow earthlings is at an all-time low. Over 95% of all "food animals" are housed in factory farms or CAFO's (concentrated animal feeding operations). Free-range only means that they're not confined (even literally caged to the floor, unable to move at all), not that they're running around a grassy pasture with their friends, happy as can be. There is no happiness in what we call "farming" these days. It's pure misery, agony, suffering and unrelenting psychological and physical pain and devastation. Seeing is believing, and they hide 99% of it from us and then promote the 1% that they keep around for promotional purposes. No matter what type of "humane" operatio they claim it is, there are inhumane practices that are completely legal and standardized across the board. You don't know, but you should. This is what your money buys. This is your world. These are the results of your choices. This is what you eat. You are . . . what you eat.

And you can, it's all out there to be known. More and more, the truth is coming to light. The dark confines of the inside of "barns", "farms" and slaughterhouses are being brought to light. The animals who suffer in these dark, dismal hellholes are being brought into the light again, into the sun, the creator of all life and all energy, for the first time in their existence . . . Something most of them never see.

So, these silent listeners I mentioned before--they matter most. Here is where the title of this blog comes into play: The Surefire way to Make an Industry Change. Industry is all about money, that's ultimately all the businesspeople (farmers included) care about, unless some regulations hurt their bottom line in some way and make them care (they're notorious for skirting the law though--it's not trouble unless you get caught, right?). If you want to change an industry, you change demand, not the supply. As long as there's a demand, someone is going to profit off of it and someone is going to suffer. It's time to change the consumer, and that's what's happening. I experienced that change less than a year ago myself and it was absolutely huge! The way I saw the world and my association with it changed massively, my actions therefore changed, and once choice at a time, I changed into someone I respected more and more.

Back to that question of, where does the fighting get us? Fighting with farmers is pointless, unless it draws attention just by the fact that it is controversial. But that has a habit of turning away the rational and just people who are there with good intentions. Farmers aren't the audience, they're marketing themselves to make more money, that's all. Animal rights and vegan advocates have no motives other than helping others. There's no monetary benefit and no personal gain. So, who are you going to trust?

Industry has been manipulating their consumer to create demand for decades. Thanks, mass media. Who needs non-biased information and freedom of thought? (I was suckered into that most of my life too). The age of information and the explosion of social media is changing the world at a really rapid pace. It no longer takes money to access information. Industry is in a panic, thankfully. Truth matters, and now we're all entitled to it. Sadly, now we're all afraid of it.

We've been restricted from the non-biased truth for so long that we've built our comfortable little lives around lies. We're so afraid of change and challenges to our way of life, and the truth threatens that. No matter how easy or beneficial the change, it is rejected. Panic ensues and dissociation, even opposition, anger, resentment. People reject the truth they fear. It's not going away though. It just needs to be persistent and loud and everywhere. That's happening. The people who genuinely care about life in all its forms, and not money, are making that happen. Thank you social media!

Here comes the truth, like a positive parade raining down on industry's parade ("charade"). You can try to hide from it, but it's coming for you! So many people are afraid, but it's alright. Change takes time. Comfort will come with time. The consumer base will change gradually with the bold making giant leaps first, then the cautious, and then the fearful. Without fail though, change will come. Change is inevitable. And as long as the truth continues to creep out of the shadows and into the light, and as long as we still believe that knowledge is power, the more we're realize the inevitability of what is being said: industry will change. Everything the animal agricultural industry is built upon is quickly reaching it's unsustainable climax. They, driven by their consumer's "demand" have raped the oceans, culled most of our forests, they've been a primary driving force for global warming, pollution, ocean death, heart disease, diabets, cancer, obesity, diabetes, animal cruelty and senseless death in the incomprehensible bilions . . . and on and on . . . Hello, truth. Consumers are changing, the market is changing, the industry will have to change.


More blogs can be found here!

Ethics vs. Emotions

Human beings are emotional. We are also rational. I remember a farmer saying to me once, that that is a dividing like between animals and people--animals have no ability to rationalize, no capacity for thought. That obviously stuck with me.

Sometimes I think of the world as a very sad place. Sometimes that feels overwhelming. From those feelings, I am driven to fight against injustice, against hatred, suffering and pain. There is absolutely beauty in this world, and there is much that is ugly. There is good and there is bad. When you open yourself up to the ugly, it can become you, even overwhelm you, much easier than the beauty and the good.

We have a choice when it comes to good and evil, beauty and ugliness. We can close our hearts and our minds and make ourselves a reflection of it, or we can open our hearts and minds and let it become us and change us, perhaps even changing it. As Albert Einstein said, "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." Closed hearts and closed minds are captive bystanders in this world. All in all, what we do with pain and ugliness, and how we let it affect us, is up to us. Somehow, without the supposed ability to rationalize, animals have maintained a higher moral ground than humans ever have. What we do to animals as a whole has never been done to us, except by each other...

Ethics are meant to integral driving forces that guide your rationale and determine your actions. They are meant to affect everything you come in contact with, regardless of the emotions involved. Ethics are not meant to be subjective or biased or emotional, they are your driving force, your rationale. Regardless of the lives or personalities involved, your ethics should determine who you are, without being influenced by others, and that should not waver. Ultimately, this consistency of character will portray itself as integrity and respect.

Are we so removed from our natural emotions, our biological needs, the instinctual right and wrong, that we must rationalize our actions according to ethics? We must define what is right and wrong because it is no longer obvious? What is it that changed us, and why are we so lost?



More blogs can be found here!

What My Omnivorous Community Thinks of Me

To quote myself from another blog entry:

"When I decided to go vegan, 31years into my life, it was for entirely personal reasons, as it must be for any significant, longterm directional change in life. The main turning point for me was the bountiful health aspects, coupled with the profound environmental impact vegan lifestyles have and, of course, the ethical component. I spent the first nine months or so isolated from the vegan community, doing things on my own, finding my own way. When I finally reached out, I was welcomed with open arms into a group of people with their moral compasses all intact. 

Hands down, the worst part of being a vegan is knowing the truth. It is mortifying. There is a certain amount of guilt involved in realizing what you've been unknowingly accepting and contributing for, paying for, for most of your life. Every vegan you will ever meet, through and through, will be an empath (as long as their not a fad-addict). They feel the pain of others and they take that all in willingly and try to transform it into something positive. Because of the grievous nature of death, this is a hard thing to do. There is no other way to cope with realizing the truth and to be surrounded by it everywhere in society. Ignoring it is really, really difficult when so many people are living the life you used to, unaware and blissfully ignorant. Your friends, family and the world you live in are so absorbed in something that's become so out of control. You honestly start to lose your faith in humanity. The world becomes very dark and the hole in your heart that started your vegan journey becomes bigger and bigger with more and more heartbreak. You feel morally obligated to do something eventually. This is why, when you find a group of like-minded people, it means the world to you. It is such a huge source of positivity. It inspires a little bit of faith in humanity that not all is lost, that something can be done, that other people, and not just you, can change. There are millions upon millions of vegans who feel this way, so for us to offend the majority of the population with our entirely positive beliefs, is saying a lot about the majority of the population from our side of the fence. There's something there that we can all resonate with, which is my so many volatile emotions surround this controversial topic."

~

I have recognized several different types of people once I became vegan. I have had friends approach me over the issues and express their moral dilemma and their reasons. I have spoken with farmers and 'agvocates' who tell me some of their moral dilemmas and conflicts. The following are some close friends and family of mine (names changed) who have helped me to realize the different mindsets that are viewing me and reacting to mere exposure to my lifestyle. 

Anabelle: a bigger advocate for animal welfare than me, before I went vegan that is. She follows my journey and we have spoken extensively. One of her biggest hangups: no familial support, her social network wouldn't accept her, and it would be hard. She is afraid.

Roberta: says she was once vegetarian. Did not discuss this at length, but recognizes herself as a hypocrite and says one day she will probably become vegan, but just not yet. Thinks that how I live is wonderful and has lots of respect.

Melanie: Gave up dairy a while back and says the same--she will probably become vegan, just isn't ready yet. 

Eric: a farmer who is so engrained in his way of life, his community, his society. His friends are farmers, he was raised to hunt, he eats meat and dairy in his SAD (standard american diet). Meets me and suddenly begins to ask himself questions that have never even remotely entered his mind. He is conflicted, morally, ethically and justifiably so, this is totally unfamiliar territory. 

Albert: "I'll eat it as long as it tastes good." The simple man with simple desires. Loves animals and cares for them, but is content being removed from the truth of his actions and not willing to make changes that her perceives as 'difficult' or challenging. 

Red: judged me once and never said anything more about it. Doesn't want to hear it.

Veronica: Has never inquired about my reasoning, my logic, my thoughts, which seems a bit odd for her character. For someone so rational, has not inquired into the informational side of things. I feel, possibly because it will challenge the lifestyle she lives with her partner who is not interested. Rarely comments on my newfound way of life, but has relayed critical information to me on a few occasions. 

These are examples of people who have given me some insight into my impact on their view of their eating habits and lifestyles choices. I've excluded the vegan counterpart, seeing as this is in relation to me, the vegan.

~

Herein lies the conflict: We are all surrounded by our own individual, personal, omnivorous community. It's society in a nutshell, really. Dare I say . . . unfortunately. It's a society that doesn't like to have its deeply engrained beliefs or way of life challenged. I feel, it is a society that is very dependant on collective acceptance, as there isn't a lot of science to support the not-so-wise choices many of us have made and still do. 

If we take away the community aspect, we're left with our own choices, no one else to hide behind or hide from, and that's where the magic happens. 

I've always been a lone duck, an island, a strong minded individual with a strong will. I'm quite content standing alone, which made the switch to veganism very easy for me, fortunately. 

Not to sound pretentious, but that is shifting, that collective acceptance and societal impact. I can feel it and see it more and more, but for the most part, society is still fairly sheltered from reality and some hard truths. I'm trying not to sound like a conceited vegan here, I'm speaking from the standpoint that animal products are in almost everything, they're everywhere, and they shouldn't be. 

That's great market infiltration at its best: put a little bit of what we're selling in everything, oblivious to the consumer, so almost the entire market depends on us to some degree, more or less. Less is more. Especially when it comes to death!

Less death is a good thing, who would disagree with that?! Society, as a whole knows this, and it's time the animal agriculture industry stopped fighting against it, because honestly, at a certain point, society as a whole is going to look at them for what they are: greedy, dishonest fools. 

We all know we need to eat our fruits and veggies. Our parents told us that, our grandparents, and on and on. Yet, as a society, we have continued to increase our consumption of animals and animal products, as well as use more products with dead animals (unnecessarily) hidden in them that we aren't even aware of. More and more scientific study and mass media information is saturating society's mindset with the virtues of plant-based eating, or at the very least, eating less meat and less dairy. Potentially, no dairy, a philosophy I keep hearing about more and more. (Most of the world's humans are naturally lactose intolerant, did you know that? Adult milk drinkers have a genetic mutation. Mutants, haha). 

Society has consumed increasing amounts of animals and animal products for decades now, at every meal, in almost every thing they eat. It was never meant to be that way. The western world, with its diet and lifestyle related 'diseases of affluence' have created lifestyle habits that will leave their offspring with a shorter life expectancy than their own. How sad is that?

Heart disease will kill more than half of us. Heart disease isn't even a natural or expected way to die. Our own hearts giving out on us? Come on . . . And if it's not that, it's cancer (the top killers largely affiliated with diet/lifestyle: lung, colon, prostate, breast, ovarian), or complications from diabetes or obesity. The list goes on. Our way of life has changed so much in the last few decades alone, to one that is so far removed from what we consume and what we need. Fast food. Easy food. Dining out. Take out. Processed. Packaged. Enriched. Let's put real, whole food back on the menu.

We've become dependant on media and advertising to tell us what we need, and if it's not in the food that the market sells us, the market then sells us supplements. If those supplements don't work, they sell us gimmicks, or diet fads, or books and programs. When those don't work, they sell us medications and surgeries. And when those don't work, they collect the money from our life insurance for that oversized casket and funeral processions. After that, they just hope you've had an impact on your family who will follow in your footsteps. Follow the money. Straight to your grave.

We are, very simply put, what we eat. SAD. (the Standard American Diet)

Even more, we are what we digest in our minds. And that's what sparked the change in me. Knowledge.

The best food for thought won't be found in media advertising, that's all about making money. If you want to create health and wellbeing, question authority, ask personal questions, find your own answers and think for yourself!


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The Animal Agriculture Industry Made Me Vegan

I ate meat and dairy. I did, and heck of a lot of it over the course of 31 years.

I have consumed so much meat and dairy in my lifetime that I'll be fighting to quell my guilty conscience for the rest of my life. Sure, I was ignorant, but that too was my fault. "You don't know what you don't know," true, but I should have searched for answers and created my own truth, not just blindly followed and digested whatever I heard and was expected to believe. I was a fool, and a tool, and I am not ok with that.

What we digest in out body should be a direct result of what we digest in our minds. 

This is what I now believe. Just like the old adage, "We are what we eat."

An article (that you can find here) on the "bizarre" situation on Twitter's #farm365 was written by Ed White for the Western Producer on free speech. It inspired my following thoughts below:

There is so much perceived negativity over what keeps being called "animal rights activist backlash", and yet it's all done according to values and ethics that we all pride ourselves on: compassion, caring, understanding, empathy, love, kindness . . . As I've heard on #farm365: "If you're fighting against animal rights activists, you're fighting against animal welfare".

Backlash, defined as: "a strong and adverse reaction by a large number of people" is exactly that: a large number of concerned people's reaction to the industry's actions. There seems to be more focus on the reaction than the action. I see something inherently wrong and upsetting with that. 

Hard truths have long been omitted from marketing and the bigger picture, and for reasons that leave the consumer completely unaware and detached from their food these days. That has lead the animal agriculture industry to be able to go down some very dark alleys that people are becoming aware of more and more these days. Someone has be held accountable, and the only way to do that is to create awareness. Animal rights activists take that role upon themselves, to speak for the animals, and profit in no way whatsoever. In fact, they receive negative backlash in most cases.

Just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's ethical. Minimal regulations and standards are what the industry adheres to, and it's only through public concern (or outrage) that things will ever improve. Again, awareness...

Agriculture is a vertically integrated industry, and so very top-heavy. The people at the top are completely detached from the bottom, the animals and their welfare, and are focused on profitability and the bottom line. (Hence the overwhelming emergence of factory farming and CAFO's: where the majority of livestock are "farmed"). This needs to stop, and it's up to the consumer and the advocates to change the industry. I, myself, was a consumer of meat and dairy for over 30 years, and once I learned about what 95% of the animal agriculture really is, I just couldn't be a part of it anymore. 

It was the industry itself that drove me away and changed me and the rest of my life. 

The industry was laced, through and through, with abhorrent and unacceptable practices made me realize how I could not trust them, and how I'd been trusting them my whole life (even as a child, because my parent's trusted them). I suddenly realized that I didn't have to eat animals, I loved animals.

Pair that with the overwhelming health attributes of a vegan lifestyle and the immensely huge impact on all major environmental concerns (global warming, water crisis, habitat loss, extinction, pollution, ocean death, etc.), there was no reason I couldn't at least try a vegan lifestyle. 

I am forever changed, and my personal revolution (awakening?) and newfound convictions fuel my passion as an activist.

~

I wrote a piece that, quite comprehensively, encapsulates what my 'vegan' mindset is in relation to another blog by a farmer that was published on Huffpost. It's received a few hundred reads at this point and much positive feedback. For the sake of understanding and abolishing bias/judgement against animal rights activists, I encourage anyone to read it:

An Open Letter to a Mistaken Farmer who Wrote a Letter to “Angry” Vegetarians

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'Engagement'? Or 'Ag-gag' Cyber Bullying?

One thing I've always tried to do with the battle raging on #farm365 is maintain my own integrity. That is important to me inside and outside of this. In general, in life, integrity is something I value.

I am my own person with my own thoughts and those are my promotional virtues. I always try to approach a conflict with questions rather than accuse, but it doesn't seem to go both ways.

~

During the course of the last two months, I have have been personally attacked on numerous occasions. One malicious person went so far as to steal my profile photo, make a fake 'vegan' account and post extremely sexual and rude tweets as if they were me, engaging others and attempting to defame my character and my work. He's stolen numerous people's profile photographs and posted inappropriate things about them. No one really seems to care, on either side. It's childish, it's pathetic and this person is completely lacking in integrity. He is completely besides the point on #farm365.

That's one extent of the spectrum, then there are other sides to the lacking integrity spectrum. For example, a conversation that took place with a young girl about a month ago between her and I, she decided to post on her blog. She decided to use me, plain and simple. I found a lot of irony in her words describing this encounter.

Her article about me is here:
http://lelper.tumblr.com/post/107989018385/conversation-with-a-vegan-activist-on-twitter

Initially, she commented on one of my tweets to which I replied respectfully and a conversation ensued. Little did I know she was baiting me to be used in her blog. Rather than put her own information out there, she chose to use me to make her point. I don't see integrity in that. I don't see respect in that. Then she wonders why I blocked her.

No doubt she takes this as a victory as well, when I think it's
saying something entirely different about her that she's not
even considering.

The part of the conversation she was focusing on in her blog pertained to CAFO's (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations/factory farms), where the majority of livestock are raised (over 95% of all cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, etc) and how they do not pasture-raise their animals. Even outdoor cattle feed lots are devoid of grass. Most cows are not grass-fed, they do not graze. I think, looking at the media and the emerging awareness and desire for 'grass-fed' beef makes that apparent.

I was talking about grass, the
green stuff found on a pasture...

More (very detailed) information on AFO's and CAFO's (factory farms) can be found here: http://grist.org/basics/confined-dining-a-primer-on-factory-farms-and-what-they-mean-for-your-meat/

On her blog, she cut out 90% of our conversation, as would be expected. She focused on what she wanted to to slander me and my standpoint, and even made false assumptions to propagate her agenda. Propagate, the root word for propaganda.

Let me elaborate on her 'usage' of me:

• She focused on the one mistake that I made, where I said that "less than 2% of cows even see outside." This should have said less than 2% of livestock. Of course, this became her focal point, disregarding the dozens upon dozens (probably hundreds) of other tweets (in following conversations too) where very valid points were made. My mistake, I accept that, graciously. If I don't acknowledge my faults, how can my merits deserve any credit and be genuine? 
• She says: "I also explained what feedlots are, so that she would hopefully no longer have the belief that cattle are raised indoors" I never thought all cattle were raised indoors, nor did I say that, that is just, well, stupid. She completely manipulated this part of the conversation to undermine my credibility. This was what she was referring to: 

Nowhere did I ever say I thought cattle were raised solely
indoors. 

• "She asked me questions about why I believed that raising and eating animals the way we do is okay, and then stopped responding. She probably blocked me at that point but it was nice to be able to connect by giving straight, factual answers to someone who would actually listen and make their arguments back to me." She says I blocked her, I did not block her. We went on to have a few more extensive conversations after this particular one. Currently, she is blocked, however.
• And here's the real kicker: "After our conversation she continued to post Anti-Ag graphics, but there was one difference: none were about cattle. It’s the small victories, folks. I have no doubt that she learned something from me, and that is what engagement is all about."  I have learned a lot yes, but not what you think you've taught me. I have posted hundreds of tweets since then. Dozens, possibly hundreds about cattle. This is a blatant lie by her. This is propaganda. Feel free to check my tweet feed (@musikrystal). She finds a small victory in thinking that she silenced me. 

Bullies do take great pride in silencing and controlling their victims, they depend on it, just like the animal agriculture industry depends on animals' silence. Now that the victims have found a voice in us, well, look: Attempts to silence us. And they take great pride in that.

Furthermore, my tweets are not "anti-agriculture", that's just the enemy she sees me as, that the agriculture industry has painted me as: An anti-agriculture, misinforming propagandist who needs to be silenced. "Big ag", as it is called, considers animal rights activists (and the freedom of social media) one of their prime threats, and one of their prime battle tactics is to get agriculturalists to 'engage' us, call us out, intimidate us, bully us to get us to be quiet. She seems to want to inspire others with her small 'victory' over me, which was no victory at all. Simply more propaganda. This is not right.

More on ag-gag bills here (by a member of the Humane Society): https://www.thedodo.com/community/Matt_Dominguez/big-ags-losing-ways-continue-996179072.html

The sad thing is, I did respect this girl initially, which is why I spent time with her. She has a strong knowledge base, but her moral and ethical base is the one I could not seem to engage.  No, not all of animal ag is horrible, and we see that pretty side of the industry in mass media everyday, everywhere, but a very, very significant, closeted portion of it is absolutely horrendous. 

Social media is bringing the whole truth to light. I'll
gladly lend my voice to those who cannot speak for
themselves.

I am not seeking to misinform anyone. I want the truth out there. And if I'm wrong, I'll admit it, but one admission of wrongdoing doesn't make everything I'm about wrong.

This girl's blog pretty much tried to paint me as the poster child for a "propagandist vegan", based off of one wrong word amongst the thousands of words we shared. The rest of her blog contained assumptions about me that just aren't true. I'm an advocate for animal rights. I'm not anti-agriculture (they grow my food too). As I've said, my intent is never to mislead anyone. It frustrates me to no end that that is the blanket cover-all for most opposition to animal rights activists: Propaganda. Even if someone does make a mistake, that doesn't make it propaganda. Propaganda is about intent, about "propagating lies intentionally to mislead" people. Like when @lelper says I went on to never tweet about cattle anymore . . . Simply not true.  

Propaganda: "information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view."

So, this girl used me and my interaction with her in a biased and misleading way to promote and publicize her particular cause or point of view. Propaganda.

I don't need to use people to make my point. I can do it on my own, with integrity.

~

I approach others very rarely on #farm365 and I engage people only while the respect is apparent. For the most part though, I say my peace in my tweets and I leave it there to be heard and absorbed by others, to make them question things and search out their own answers. My truth is my own truth, as it is for everyone. I expect no one to read, swallow and digest mindlessly; I would hope, rather, that they didn't. I like to think people are better than that, that they have their own integrity, that they aren't lemmings, following the herd, mindless drones. I often hope for engaging, respectful conversations or debates, but they are, unfortunately, very rare and people are very hostile for the most part.

Integrity, to me, also means putting myself out there. Being willing to rely on my own strengths despite my own weaknesses. True strength, to me, is not being afraid to expose those weaknesses, to be human, to make mistakes, in front of others. No one is perfect, I acknowledge I am part of that as well. I am human.

When it comes to social media, I've learned the platform is anything but a playground. It's a battlefront of vicious proportions. People should be able to to rely on their own merits, but they focus externally on others and cannot promote their beliefs from within. This is who I try to be. What I put out there is uniquely me, bearing my own heart and soul, and that's a difficult thing to do in such a hostile environment.

I don't use anyone.
I am not a bully.

I don't use people because I want to or because the industry I'm affiliated with wants me to. I don't try to hurt anyone else. In fact, I try to shield people from the internet bullies (on both sides) by fuzzing out names and/or faces whenever I use their content.

I can make a point using their information without using them as human beings. I will use people for inspiration, but I will not use them. To me, that is integrity. 

~

I went on to read more of @lelper's blog, and found that most of her blog posts are her using other people (my friends included) to promote her own agenda and the agenda of 'big ag' (the agriculture industry).

Then I came across this, her initial blog post, which explains a lot:

http://lelper.tumblr.com/post/95783486375/what-engagement-means

"For a while now, a new buzzword has been tossed around the agchat community, and if I had a dime for the number of times it was said at the 2014 AgChat Conference I’d probably be more than few dollars richer. That word: engage."

Engagement, to me, means capturing someone's attention and opening a dialogue, an exchange of information. I looked up the definition, and none of them were anything like that. Am I the only one who thinks conversations can be based on respect, trust and integrity?

The only fitting definition is the latter, "A fight or
battle between armed forces". /sigh...

Engagement, seemingly synonymous in the animal agriculture community with "bully" and/or "slander" is just attacking. Attempt to 'engage' your audience, by my definition of engagement, is the respectable thing to do. That would be your consumer though. I am not that person. Engage into battle with me? Well, to be frank, I do not wish to fight. Discuss, open and honestly, sure. But this? No. This is why I blocked you @lelper.

I'll be honest for a moment, presumptuous even; it feels to me like this girl is being used by the industry, and is, in return, using others for her plight and the plight of the industry she supports. I think as much is said in her first blog post. We have all heard that bullying is cyclical. Whatever her true thoughts are, seem clouded by her approach, which is the approach pushed on the agvocates by "Big Ag" (and I've heard this from more than one agriculturalist, take the battle to the front lines because they can't control information with money anymore).

"Many of us are already practicing activism by writing our own posts, sending out our own tweets, sharing our own pictures, telling our story. However, doing more means taking things a step further, going after and taking on the misinformation by directly stepping up to the plate and saying that it is wrong." The first sentence is great, and full of integrity and strength. The second sentence, "going after" people (that's what she is doing) is wrong. If sharing your own story isn't enough, then slandering someone else isn't going to make you look any better. It might, if you twist and manipulate their words and their portrayal, but that too, is wrong.

"You know how it makes you feel when an animal rights activist or an anti-GMO thinker attacks your blog with their comments." From this sentence, I gather that @lelper doesn't particularly enjoy being "attacked" via her blog. I have never 'engaged' her, she's engaged me numerous times. She has fully "attacked" (using her word) me. Yet this is the epitome of what her blog is about, attacking others. She posts people's entire blogs on her blog, she posts portions of manipulated twitter conversations and seems to be okay with this. I guess she's doing unto others as they've done unto her. That is completely devoid of integrity.

"Chances are they will feel the same way if we do the same with their blog posts, tweets, facebook links, etc." Exactly what I said above: Other people that you or I don't know have made other people that you or I don't know, feel attacked. It's been a negative experience. You would like to facilitate that I guess? Some other people's random encounter has now driven you to personally attack me and several others. Again, no integrity, no respect. This is cowardly in my opinion and will only cause further breakdowns in communication. As a testament to that, she has been blocked.

They 'engage' because they don't have the integrity to promote their own industry from within, at least, that's how I see it. Slander is the new approach, disguised as 'engagement'. Cyber-bullying, as I've experienced in many different ways, is their social media ag-gag response. As a whole, they don't 'engage' anyone to have meaningful, respectful conversations based upon truth or respect or integrity. It's all to continue to promote that which the industry has always tried to hide.

I feel, without a shadow of a doubt, that all they want is for us animal rights activists to be silenced. Nothing would make them happier, and nothing would make the world a sadder place.

I stand by my words. I also acknowledge and stand by my mistakes. I don't use anyone else to make me or my cause look better, or bully people into being quiet. That, to me, is integrity. 

We never stop learning in life, and no one can know everything. As humans, we've mastered the sharing of information like none other. It's phenomenal what we have achieved. It's also phenomenal how we've learned to control information and use it as a weapon. Social media is changing that, much to the detriment of entire corporations that were built upon the control and manipulation of information. And so, the industry has turned the battle over to it's soldiers on the front lines because, simply put, they can't control social media. They have lost control, and it's changing things and affecting their industry in dollars and cents. They're worried, and rightly so.

@lelper is using her voice to use me to advance her plight. Seems she thinks making me look bad will make her, the agvocate, (and the industry itself) look better. That is the nature of a bully. Again, I come back to the word, 'integrity'.

My original post she commented on. 

Trust is earned by those whose merits stand on their own to feet and need not lean on the faults of others. Trust is given to those with integrity.

If anything, what I have learned is that Big Ag deserves less trust than ever. They're new campaign buzz word is "transparency", but really, transparency is what they're fighting against. Animal activists have no ulterior motives, we don't even speak for ourselves, we speak for the voiceless victims. We stand to gain nothing and take a beating in the process.

The truth can be found on the side whose motivations you resonate with. Greed or ethics?

I do this of my own accord. I stand up against agvocates who attend conferences and training on how to 'handle' people like me. Yes, they literally go through training to become tactical soldiers in the perceived "war against agriculture". Agriculture will always exist, but it needs to change. They are trained to confront and handle animal activism backlash, not to acknowledge the corruption or unethical practices, but to silence the emersion of that reality in mainstream media. Big Ag's new marketing campaign is to ruin the integrity of every agriculturalist (agvocate) on social media and turn them into their soldiers, their online bullies, to wage the war they're losing because money can't buy people's trust anymore.

The truth is out there, right beside integrity.


More blogs can be found here!

An Open Letter to a Mistaken Farmer who Wrote a Letter to “Angry” Vegetarians

Disappointment is so often misunderstood as anger, and I myself, must say that I am inherently disappointed in the contents of the blog post by Jenna Woginrich titled “An Open Letter From a Farmer to Angry Vegetarians”. But angry? No.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenna-woginrich/an-open-letter-from-a-far_b_5587803.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

I will quote parts and explain the thoughts they inspired in me as I go through her letter. (Her excerpts are in red). Respectfully, these are my points of view, with the gravity of such topics (life and death) intact. One would be hard pressed to not have such subject matter invoke personal thoughts or questions. Ignore them or embrace them as you see fit.

“And so I get these notes from what I call the Angry Vegetarians. The folks who feel personally betrayed,”

~

“This is a letter for the angry folks who think not eating meat makes them morally superior to those of us who do.”

“Dear A.V. Club,

I recently received your note, the one that accused me of being a murderer. I understand why you are angry and I applaud your compassion.”

When I decided to go vegan, 31years into my life, it was for entirely personal reasons, as it must be for any significant, longterm directional change in life. The main turning point for me was the bountiful health aspects, coupled with the profound environmental impact vegan lifestyles have and, of course, the ethical component. I spent the first nine months or so isolated from the vegan community, doing things on my own, finding my own way. When I finally reached out, I was welcomed with open arms into a group of people with their moral compasses all intact. 

Hands down, the worst part of being a vegan is knowing the truth. It is mortifying. There is a certain amount of guilt involved in realizing what you've been unknowingly accepting and contributing for, paying for, for most of your life. Every vegan you will ever meet, through and through, will be an empath (as long as their not a fad-addict). They feel the pain of others and they take that all in willingly and try to transform it into something positive. Because of the grievous nature of death, this is a hard thing to do. There is no other way to cope with realizing the truth and to be surrounded by it everywhere in society. Ignoring it is really, really difficult when so many people are living the life you used to, unaware and blissfully ignorant. Your friends, family and the world you live in are so absorbed in something that's become so out of control. You honestly start to lose your faith in humanity. The world becomes very dark and the hole in your heart that started your vegan journey becomes bigger and bigger with more and more heartbreak. You feel morally obligated to do something eventually. This is why, when you find a group of like-minded people, it means the world to you. It is such a huge source of positivity. It inspires a little bit of faith in humanity that not all is lost, that something can be done, that other people, and not just you, can change. There are millions upon millions of vegans who feel this way, so for us to offend the majority of the population with our entirely positive beliefs, is saying a lot about the majority of the population from our side of the fence. There's something there that we can all resonate with, which is my so many volatile emotions surround this controversial topic.

What I hear so very often are things like, “Want to know if someone is vegan? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.” Or the constant dismissive stance of, “That’s just vegan propaganda.” I’ve never brought up my vegan-ism to someone who didn’t bring it up first, for one. I am fully aware of the confusing opposition to vegan ideals (compassion, caring, life, love). Fitting people into generalized insulting categories never did anyone anyone any good though. Secondly, propaganda has the intent of misleading and is often misleading or untruthful. 

Vegans want nothing more than for the truth (the truth of the industry and our personal truths) to come out, and the more it does, the more people become empowered to make their own choices. Knowledge is power. In the age of information, we're more empowered than ever to make choices that benefit ourselves and our environments. Before the advent of social media, mass media marketing controlled most of what we learned. We were spoon-fed our information, our ideals and our ability to be in the know. I was completely a product of this for three decades. 

Ask yourself this:

“What does a vegan have to gain from you, or anyone, becoming vegan?” The answer is simply: Nothing. 

So, who does benefit? Namely, YOU. 

Your health will absolutely improve. For example, the only creatures who exhibit atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries) are herbivores who consume animal-based foods. Cholesterol is only found in animal foods (none whatsoever in plants). The number one killer of human beings is heart disease, and that is completely unnatural. More than half of humans will succumb to heart disease, of which the first sign is a heart attack. It is now seen routinely in adolescent teens. Next to preventing and reversing heart disease, a plant-based diet has been shown to prevent, improve and even reverse diabetes, obesity, arthritis, osteoporosis (milk actually costs your body more calcium than it provides because of the acidotic effect from animal-derived protein in the body being rectified with leached calcium from the skeletal system). Numerous cancers (the main killers: prostate, breast, colon, lung, and many others) have strong ties to diet and there are countless reports of people halting the growth of terminal tumors and even completely curing themselves against all odds, when having been given months to live. Animals living a natural life do not succumb to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancers the way we do. When is the last time you saw a fat giraffe or deer or gorilla?

“We live in a time of great abundance and luxury, and that means choices! Never before in the history of the human animal have so many options for feeding ourselves been presented like they are now. If you want to eat a gluten-free, dairyless, low cholesterol, and mid-range protein diet based on whey extracted from antibiotic free Jersey Cows- you can. Your great grandparents could not.”

No, we do not live in a time of great abundance and luxury. We live in a time of rapidly declining resources and overconsumption and greed. We do have more choices than ever, and for the most part, most of us are choosing poorly due to lack of information and concern. Ignorance. We do not, for the most part, understand global warming, deforestation, habitat loss, extinction... We do not understand heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes... We all feel victimized by these things and powerless to change them. We need not kill in order to survive. But all these things listed above, are what most North Americans choose for themselves, and rightly so, I guess... For the record, our grandparent’s generation were healthier than our children are today, in terms of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer, our number one causes of death. Our children are not expected to live as long as their predecessors.

But it can’t hurt to know, can it? Then why to people feel so attacked when presented with information?

"So understand I am not writing you this open letter because you don't eat meat. I'm writing you this letter because you called me a murderer. Murder is a legal term, meaning the unlawful and premeditated act of taking a life, usually with malevolent intent. To call me a murderer is to imply that I broke the law and there is malice intended in my actions. When animals are harvested here for food, I assure you there is none. There is only gratitude, respect, and blessed relief. I do not enjoy taking animal lives and the bulk of my supposed premeditation include looking up recipes. I am not a murderer. "

Yes, murder is a legal term. It is intended to serve only humans. It is not an objective term, but a subjective term. The act is not what matters to the law, but who it is done to. “...the unlawful and premeditated act of taking a life, usually with malevolent intent.” If you disregard the ‘speciesism’, that absolutely encompasses what you do, no, you didn’t 'break the law', and it appears that is what you and many others need to justify the unnecessary taking of a life. You speak often of you, your friends and your community who you do this with and for.

“There is only gratitude, respect, and blessed relief.”

If a human killed another human and said “I was grateful for their life, I respected them and I feel blessed and relieved that they’re dead” they would be considered clinically insane and highly disturbing. None of these words makes taking a life acceptable. “In self defense” is the only real reason a human being has to kill another, as we do not need to eat animals in any way, shape or form. It is a choice. You choose to end their life uncessarily, for your own selfish desires, and then have the audacity to say, “I do not enjoy taking animal lives and the bulk of my supposed premeditation include looking up recipes. I am not a murderer.” That is your opinion, and the opinion of the law, but that isn't where the right and wrong of it stops.

For those of us who value life as a whole, legalities do not apply to moral injustice. Murder is murder, regardless of species. Taking a life unnecessarily is a malevolently intended act indeed. 

You need not kill, then you choose to kill. 

“But I am a killer. You are 100% correct. I kill animals.” You don’t need to, so why? Seriously, why? Ask yourself this.

And why this? ”If I don't do the killing myself I hire a professional butcher to come to my farm and harvest the pigs I raised for myself and friends.”

Who else will benefit from a vegan lifestyle? Animals. The 150 billion animals that are killed every year for food by humans will benefit. The diminishing animal kingdom as a whole will benefit. Animal agriculture is the main cause of deforestation and habitat loss leading to extinction. 

So, simply put, no. No, vegans being vegan for selfish reasons is oxymoronic to me. Vegans spreading the truth, the reasons, the logic, is not selfish either. They stand nothing to gain personally. It’s all for the greater good, for life, for sustainability, for hope and for future generations. Sustainability is a huge part of veganism. The more you know and understand, the more you know that we just can't go on like this, and ethics barely play a part in that. 

If you’re a vegan, you know how difficult it is to share any bit of your mindset. People just don’t want to hear it, at first anyway. They don’t want to hear about how you love animals (and don’t eat them). They don’t want to hear how easy it is to live according to those values. They don't want to hear about saving the environment, contributing less to global warming, improving their health, etc.. They don’t want to be made to feel guilty more than anything, and that’s exactly what the truth does to people. You have to let them come to their own conclusions, as I said at the start. The sad thing is, meat-eating and dairy-consumption propaganda is so prevalent in this day and age. “Big ag” as it is called, is a vertically integrated industry with money tying all the layers of the corruption cake together. Money, not your health or environmental concerns or animal welfare... Vertical integration is essentially companies piled on top of other companies. The only people who see or get a chance to care for animals are the people at the very bottom, the people who profit the least, the farmers. The power lies with the money, so the farmers are powerless, and more so as corporate corruption expands. Caring, compassion, ethics and morality all get pushed aside or manipulated to market products and make money. Your health, your welfare, the environment and the victims of the industry are all disregarded. Market animal products to make money, the thing that matters most to them. We are all exposed to this every single day in myriad ways, and desensitized to it greatly while these massive corporations profit off of our unquestioning loyalty. 

“I chose the diet because of a love for animals, passion for conservation, and concern for our diminishing global resources. Avoiding meat seemed to be a kinder, gentler, and more ecological choice.”

Ms. Wonginrich says that those were her reasons for going vegetarian in the first place. She never says, in her blog, why those values just no longer seemed to matter to her. 

Animals have been stuffed into everything we buy: tires, makeup, refined white sugar, feeding cows back to cows in their feed, hair dye, tattoos, shoes, etc.. All of which can be made perfectly easily without any animal components. This is the greatest marketing ploy ever: the more parts of our lives they are a part of, the more we will feel overwhelmed to make changes. Those changes are what I struggled with for months as I learned more and more. It broke my heart knowing how a little bit of death was in everything, in every day, unnecessarily. It prompted me to try harder, and as time went on, I formed new habits, found new resources for myself (places to shop, what to buy) and it became easy and morally rewarding to know that it was not only possible, but easy to minimize (drastically) the amount of suffering and death in my life. Most rewarding of all, has been seeing the world itself changing more and more all the time (new product lines, new stores, new organizations, etc.). 

It takes a great effort to stand alone, to go against the status quo, and to challenge that which we have been born into and raised to accept. For 31 years I consumed animals and used animal products without question. Morally, I wasn’t bothered, until I started hearing things that made me think for myself. One of my favourite quotes for the last 15 years: “Question authority, think for yourself.” - Timothy Leary. I proclaimed my love for animals and nature all my life. Then suddenly the question was posed in my mind, “If I love them, how can I eat them?” It just sounded really conflicting, and it was. It started the ball rolling for a change in mindset that would take years to finally come to peace with. For the longest time, I held onto the belief that we, as humans, were meant to eat meat. I honestly believed that we needed to. No one ever told me this specifically, but I believed we were obligate omnivores. For years, I continued to eat animals and dairy, all the while harboring a growing guilt in my subconscious. I was, admittedly, afraid to change and so I never searched out the answers for myself.

“I know that I do not need to eat meat to survive, but I also know now that it is impossible for me to live without killing. It is impossible for you, too. I think this is the heart of our misunderstanding.”

It’s the effort that counts in life. So, because we’re all alive and we’ll all die, that means death doesn’t matter? Lives have no meaning? Suffering is not significant because we’re all going to die anyway? The inevitability of death does not negate the purpose of life: To live, be happy, avoid discomfort and procreate. This is what all creatures strive for, human or otherwise.

Saying “I know that it is impossible for me to live without killing,” is like saying, “We can’t possibly feed everyone on the planet, so why bother trying to help anyone?” It's not all or nothing. It’s a very concerning, selfish and helpless line of thinking to me. 

It absolutely is impossible to get through a day without having some impact on our environment in some way. We’re all connected, and we all make up the life and death that makes this planet truly alive. Life and death will always exist, it’s the suffering that determines our moral integrity. If we can reduce suffering (and in the case of veganism, immensely) then why would we not try? 

Animals do what they must to survive. Humans do not. Seems this day and age we are driven by a mental state of entitlement and greed, fueled by ignorance that gives us the means to morally accept our entitlement and greed. Humans do not do what they must, they largely do what they want. We are given choices, and that feels empowering, and therefore we feel entitled to stand by our decisions regardless. If we value this liberty and freedom so much, why do we not feel other creatures would also value this just as much? 

“The truth is there is no meal we can eat without killing. None.”

Absolutely correct. All life will end. But as I said, it’s what we do with our time here that really matters. It's the impact that we leave in our wake--the good, the bad, the ugly, the blood on our hands when we die...

Any non-vegan will agree that you can’t live without killing. Herein lies the blanket justification for not giving a crap. It’s just wrong. Plain and simple. Some death doesn't justify a lot. One life matters. We are all born with that empathy, compassion and concern for a single life. It was supposed to be need, hunger and  desperation that drove us to kill generations ago. That was nature’s justfication. We no longer have that need, and now the whole convoluted subject has become a playground for a monumental moral war that we all feel innately inside our subconscious. This is why articles like Jenna Woginrich’s exist, and why this reply to her exists. 

“You can not ignore this. You can't call a small farmer a murderer and turn a blind eye to the groundhog ripped in two, the owl without a nest, or the blood spilled for oil halfway across the globe through military force.”

No vegan would ever ignore any aspect of cruelty or unnecessary death. Life and death are going to happen one way or another. It is our CHOICE to determine what role we play in all of this. Veganism is about minimizing cruelty, suffering and unnecessary death. In the eyes of many, someone who chooses to kill for their own desire, not need, is a murderer. Murder is senseless and perpetuates a cycle of pain and aggression. No vegan would willingly accept a groundhog ripped in two, an owl without a nest or blood spilled for oil halfway across the globe through military force. The difference is... A vegan acknowledges this pain, suffering and needless death, and is trying to make a difference, trying to be better and trying to make the world a better place. A vegan does not just accept morally conflicting things, they try to change them. A vegan "activist" is actively trying to make the world a better place. As vegans, we’re not ignoring anything, we’re taking it all in, letting it break our hearts, and then attempting to mend them by being better and doing better things.

“I was a vegetarian and animal activist before I was a farmer, but that was all about passion for me and did not include much science... Animals are an integral part of growing food for us, as food themselves or creating the materials that feed the earth. And the earth must be fed.”

I feel like, perhaps, Ms. Woginrich picks and chooses which science supports her actions. Yes, animal manure is used to grow vegetables, but it’s not necessary. Sure, "everyone is doing it", but it's not necessary. It’s economically beneficial for “Big Ag” to sell or reuse their byproducts and make more money. Plants existed on this land long before animals ever did. Plants are completely capable of surviving without animals. Just as it would be possible to grow a garden without the use of animal products. I have done it, and so have many others. And no, size is not a factor. If we want it done, we can do it.

Who else? The entire planet will benefit from a vegan diet. Animal agriculture causes the death of between 55 billion and 70 billion farm animals per year (cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, goats, turkeys, etc.). A death toll in the billions is simply not sustainable when 200 000 people are being added to Earth every single day. We will absolutely run out of land, animals, nature, forests, trees, oxygen, water... These things are not infinite. They are all in delicate balance. We're part of that balance. So far, we are consuming at a phenomenal  unsustainable rate. (Check Google Earth for an idea of how massive the human destruction is).

The leading cause of global warming is animal agriculture, even ahead of transportation. This is because billions upon billions farm animals are defecating every minute, and this overabundance of untreated fecal matter is left to sit in huge “manure lagoons” or piles to leach methane and other toxins into the air and ground water. (A typical 2 500 cow dairy operation produces more untreated fecal waste than the entire city of Minneapolis - EPA). Methane alone is 21x more effective at trapping UV rays than CO2, making it a far more disruptive and concerning greenhouse gas. Now include non-stop transport of billions of animals to and from slaughterhouses. And now include the fact that the leading cause of deforestation is animal agriculture, so the earth's lungs are disappearing at a catastrophic rate.

91% of the rainforest is lost, mainly to land cleared to rear livestock (cattle primarily). Consider this: One acre of land can produce:

1. 40 000 pounds of Tomatoes
2. 53 000 pounds of potatoes
3. or, 137 pounds of beef.

Let’s speak hypothetically for a moment: If everyone on the planet went vegan this instant, a) there would be enough food to feed everyone at this present moment, b) we could grow more food on the existing agricultural land to feed the world’s population on a vegan diet many times over, c) we could return a significant portion of land back to nature and our disappearing ecosystems, d) we would significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and counteract that by allowing more trees and wilderness to regrow, e) we would reduce the leading causes of death immensely and cut health care costs by the billions, f) we would extend our lives by entire years (vegans live longer), and on and on...

Essentially, the way human beings exist on this planet currently is not sustainable. (Cowspiracy is a great film to open your eyes to this). With a human population that grows by more than 200 000 people per day, we will need more resources that we just don’t have. A vegan believes in the future of humanity and the planet.

“Eat in whatever way invokes respect and gratitude in your soul. Be grateful we live in this time of contrived and soon-to-be over luxury and abundance. But do not come to battle here, accusing those of us raising good meat of murder. Those are fighting words, unkind words, and for someone so intensely passionate about treating animals well you seem to have no issue treating human beings like crap. I'm an animal, too. I would appreciate some ethical treatment.”

I don’t eat to invoke respect and gratitude into my soul. I eat to survive. I eat to let others survive. Live and let live. I cannot be grateful that human beings feel there is so much “luxury and abundance” that we should not value all life and eat and consume accordingly. We are what we eat. I will not be ignorant. 

"I'm an animal, too. I would appreciate some ethical treatment." I'm sorry, but your feelings do not matter more than anyone's life. That is the defining line between entitlement and ethics.

Respecting someone does not justify killing them. Being grateful that you're allowed to kill them does not justify ending their life. Feeling like I'm entitled to kill animals because I have the luxury to do so, does not make it right. Because I perceive an abundance of animals, that doesn't make extinguishing their lives acceptable.

Yes, I will come to battle here, accusing you of raising good animals (not good “meat”) and killing/destroying/murdering them for no good or morally justifiable reason. You do not need to eat them, you do not need to kill them, and you and the entire world would be better off if you didn’t. I will gladly fight for them, and there is absolutely no benefit to me in fighting on their behalf. They have no voice to speak for themselves, reason enough for you to disregard their desire to live. If they could tell you, "I don't want to die," would you still? 

Actually, there is detriment to me standing up for the voiceless victims of human greed rather: negativity, frustration, stress and hostilities. Every activist endures this in abundance and it is very difficult. It is passion that drives us forth though. It is the heartbreak we feel from the disconnect in reading words such as yours, that pushes us onward. 

These are fighting words, yes, fighting for life, liberty and justice. I know you pride yourself on human law, but morality has its own code of ethics, and that’s what I adhere to. I am intensely passionate, as you put it, when it comes to treating animals well. You are an animal, and you expect ethical treatment. By human standards, you are living the life of “luxury and abundance”. No one is holding your family members captive, breeding or inseminating them, and needlessly killing you or your family for no good reason. Our views of ethical treatment obviously differ greatly. 

Do unto others as you would have done unto you, is that not how it goes? For me, that applies to any being who feels loss, pain, suffering, fear and love. That is what guides my ethics.

Ethically, I do not understand you. You kill because you want to, but then say you don’t enjoy it. You kill because you say there is no way to live without killing... to justify gluttony. You kill. You think that your 'right' to kill. You don’t need to. Ethically, I do not understand you. 

If someone can raise an animal, truly "care" for them, an then look them in the eye and kill them with their own two hands... By all means, eat up. (As far as I can tell, Jenna does not kill her own livestock). I still don't understand that desire to kill, but it shows me that you are a different kind of human than me, one that has capacities far beyond my own and you own that. I think I could respect that more. But when someone spends so much time attempting to justify the way they do things and the why of it, you know their moral footing is shaky. So, if you're going to put your thoughts out there, I will accept that as an open invitation to comment. I have RSVP'd thoroughly. 

You close with, "Eating meat you raised means eating food infused with integrity, sweat, loyalty, determination, love, friendship, memories, loss, perseverance and respect. And none of these things are ingredients you will find on a package of tofu no matter how close you look." I personally, don't eat tofu. I do, however, love gardening and I take great pride in it. I have dedicated my life's work to it. I have grown my own food, and there is nothing more rewarding. 

You go on to say, "I am a solider for my soil, stationed here at these 6.5 acres to create mindful, healthy, food because I think it makes a better and more peaceful world. And that world is not found in the fake meat section of the grocery store, darling." Well, darling, I don't eat fake meat either. I too, am a "soldier for my soil", as you say, as any gardener would. Did you actually just say that you think your way of eating makes for a better and more peaceful world? If you really want that, you know what you have to do. Otherwise, you're living a complete lie. In what world do you live where confinement, aggression, pain, suffering and (senseless) death are peaceful acts?

I cannot begin to understand why you chose this:

“We live in a time of great abundance and luxury, and that means choices! Never before in the history of the human animal have so many options for feeding ourselves been presented like they are now... I do not enjoy taking animal lives... I know that I do not need to eat meat to survive, but I also know now that it is impossible for me to live without killing... So, yes. I am a killer. I take lives and eat the flesh of sentient beings. I farm and fish. I hunt and stalk. I fully embrace this primal and beloved part of my person.”

Over this, your own words:

“I chose the diet because of a love for animals, passion for conservation, and concern for our diminishing global resources. Avoiding meat seemed to be a kinder, gentler, and more ecological choice.”


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