I recently wrote a post sharing the story behind my choice to stop eating animals and their by-products including eggs and dairy. In that post I shared that what tipped the scales for me (formerly a mostly vegetarian eater) was the information I learned (after long avoiding it) about the cruelty of factory farming. In that post, I did not address the cattle industry and the environmental impact of raising cattle for food. I felt that there was so much information to share around this topic that it deserved its own post - so here we go ...
Before getting to the bad parts, let's learn a little more about cattle. I grew up a country girl in Iowa, but my family did not raise livestock. However, going to the county fair each summer was one of the highlights of my year and of my childhood. I have been around livestock, at least peripherally, for my entire life. In case you have not gotten up close and personal with a cow, here are a few facts.
Cows have personalities similar to humans. Some are playful, cheeky and outgoing while others are more shy and hesitant. Cows can literally jump for joy.
Cows thrive on social interaction with other cows and form close, long-lasting relationships with other cows in their herd.
Female cows form strong, close bonds with their calves.
Mother cows find a quiet place away from the herd to give birth; then, when ready, they introduce their new calf to their cow friends.
Calves nurse for up to a year, and mothers and their offspring may live in the same herd for their entire lives.
Calves raised in captivity for beef have a very different experience. In my previous post I shared that calves born to dairy cattle mothers are taken from their mother shortly after birth and are fed milk replacers so that humans can drink the milk that was intended for them. THEY. DON'T. EVEN. GET. TO. DRINK. THEIR. OWN. MOTHER'S. MILK.
Beef calves get to stay with their mothers a bit longer, but face cruel strategies that are put in place to stop them from nursing too long.
Because beef farmers want cows to produce one calf per year, the weaning process must be sped up so the mothers can recover from one pregnancy before being artificially inseminated again. To achieve this goal, calves must be weaned quickly.
The use of anti-suckling devices is common. The device is placed in the calf's nostrils and has spikes so that when he nurses, it causes discomfort for the mother and she pushes him away. A different type of device has a flap that covers his mouth when he tries to nurse.
Beef calves are dehorned when they are very young. This is painful for them and US laws do not require anesthesia to be used.
Male calves are commonly castrated to reduce stress hormones resulting in a pinker meat that is preferred by consumers. Anesthetics are rarely used in this painful and frightening procedure.
When beef cattle are between 6 and 12 months, they are moved to crowded, filthy feed lots where they are fattened for slaughter, mostly on a diet of corn and soy. They have no protection for extreme weather conditions and no shelter.
Regardless of how they are reared, their lives end when they are fat enough for slaughter, usually little more than one year old.
At slaughter, most cows in the US receive a bolt gun to the brain then are shackled, hoisted and have their throats slits before being disembowlled and skinned. The bolt gun often fails and the cows are conscious when their throats are slit.
Source of above information HERE.
As I shared in my first post about going vegan, for me personally, the cruelty aspect of factory farming is what tipped the scale for me and made me decide to never eat an animal's body for my sustenance again.
I fully realize that I am in a small minority in making the decision to go vegan. Studies estimate that only 4% of the US population follows a vegan diet.
If you aren't ready to fully give up meat, I encourage you to consider adding more plants to your diet and reducing the amount of meat you eat, particularly red meat. Red meat has been linked to mortality (not in a good way) and poor health. Put simply, eating less red meat or eliminating it entirely can help you be less at risk for all-cause mortality and lower your risk of cardiovascular mortality. Source article HERE.
What are your thoughts after reading this information? Was there anything that gave you pause to reconsider your beef consumption? If so, what? Leave a comment to share.
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