top of page

TW: Heavy Post - Why I choose to not eat meat, dairy or eggs

Writer's picture: LauraLaura

Note about photo: I so wish I had a photo of me as a little girl with my chicken, Peep-Peep. However, the look on this little girl's face must be exactly how I looked hugging my pet chicken.



In January 2020 (right before the pandemic) I decided to join the Veganuary challenge and to eat vegan for a month. While I did not initially make the commitment for more than one calendar month, the information I learned during the Veganuary challenge unexpectedly prompted me to make the decision to give up eating meat, dairy and eggs for good.


Full disclosure: I do still very occasionally eat cheese. I sometimes eat baked goods with eggs and/or milk. And once or twice since January 2020 I have eaten eggs from our friend, Ted's, chickens who are completely free-range and live happy, spoiled lives. So I would estimate that my diet between January 2020 and now has been about 98% vegan.


I went into the challenge with the belief that it's okay for people to choose to consume animals and their by-products for nutrition and as part of their diets. Prior to taking the challenge, I was eating mostly vegetarian anyway. I have always been grossed out by cooking raw meat and have never really LOVED or craved meat. However, I did love eating cheese and yogurt.


During the month of my vegan challenge I participated in something I had avoided for years which was learning more about how animals are raised for our consumption. Ultimately, it was this knowledge (which I had buried my head in the sand about for years) that tipped the scale for me. At the end of that month I had decided that I no longer wanted to participate in a system that perpetuated such cruelty. Period.


Before sharing more details in this post, it's important to state that this is MY decision about how I eat. When I'm out to eat with friends or at gatherings involving food, I am in no way judging how others eat or consume animals nor am I launching into diatribes about why people shouldn't eat animals. It's simply not my place to decide or dictate to others how they should eat. When I'm a holistic health coach, I will never try to push my dietary choices on others. Again, I firmly believe that is overstepping and not my place. With that said, I decided to write this post to share my reasons for my decision to eliminate animals and their by-products from my plate.


I love animals. I always have. When I was little we raised chickens to eat and for their eggs. As a little girl I was SO excited when we went to pick up our box of 100 baby chicks from the hatchery. Prior to their arrival, I had helped my dad get our brooder houses ready by stapling paper feed sacks to the floor and covering that with soft, fluffy cotton hull bedding. Once the chicks arrived, my dad and I showed each chick how to take a drink by pressing its beak into the water. This is something chicks learn by watching their mom, so we did that for them in her absence. The chickens we raised had plenty of room to move around. They were kept warm overnight with heat lamps. I loved walking down the lane after dark with my dad and peeking through the window at the little chicks all huddled together under the warmth for the night.


When I was in kindergarten I brought my "pet" hen, Peep-Peep, to school for show and tell. She had beautiful reddish-brown feathers and was tame enough to pick up and hold. If I gently stroked the comb on top of her head, she would close her eyes with pleasure. At the age of 5, I imagined myself to be a chicken "farmer" and helped my mom gather eggs in a wire basket every day. It was a blissful childhood, to be sure.


The way my family raised chickens is a stark contrast to how chickens are factory farmed in America.


Facts about chickens raised for meat:

  • Chickens are the most abused land animal on the planet.

  • 25 million chickens are killed for their meat every day.

  • They are bred to grow so big and so quickly that their legs and organs can't keep up causing them to suffer heart attacks and debilitating leg deformaties.

  • Chickens are not covered by the United States Humane Slaughter Act which protects animals from "needless suffering."

  • Chickens are killed by electric water baths or gas. They are painfully hung upside down by their feet on a conveyor and their heads are then dunked into electrified water. After this, their throats are slit.

  • Like all animals, chickens want to live. To that end, many of them lift their heads to avoid the electrified water and are therefore slaughtered while still conscious.


Facts about chickens raised for eggs:

  • Every year in the US, 380 million hens are exploited for their eggs.

  • Most hens are kept in cages with up to 60 other birds for up to 2 years - and these conditions account for up to 72% of hens who produce eggs sold in the US.

  • Due to the size of these cages, hens are not able to spread their wings or exhibit natural behaviors. On average, hens occupy the space of a standard piece of paper.

  • These conditions cause many hens to die and rot alongside other living birds.

  • Due to these stressful conditions, hens become aggressive towards one another. Instead of allowing them more space, the industry deals with this by cutting their beaks.

  • The egg industry is responsible for killing 250 million male chicks each year. They are not capable of producing eggs and are not one of the fastest growing breeds for meat. These chicks are discarded by being ground up alive. Yes, you read that correctly.


Facts about factory farming in the dairy industry:

  • Every year over 9 million cows are exploited for their milk.

  • Female cows are artificially impregnated for milk production. Their female calves will suffer the same fate as their mothers. The male calves are slaughtered for veal production.

  • Female cows are confined indoors and forcibly walked to and from the milking stations.

  • They are attached to machines that take the milk intended for their calves, who have been taken from the mother 1 hour after birth to preserve the milk.

  • Baby cows are confined to barren stalls, often tied by their necks with a rope and unable to perform basic behaviors.

  • Calves are fed milk replacers so humans can consume their mother's milk.

  • Young cows endure painful mutilations as they grow including branding, dehorning and tail docking.

  • Cows are incredibly maternal and social animals that can live naturally up to 20 years.

  • Cows in the dairy industry are slaughtered around 3-4 years old when they can no longer produce milk. They are sold for cheap meat and leather.


Facts about pigs raised for meat:

  • Over 130 million pigs are slaughtered for their meat each year in the US - around 350,00 per day.

  • Most factory farmed pigs are kept inside on concrete floors and in barns with up to 2500 other pigs.

  • Pigs in factory farms are unable to fulfill their basic needs or engage in natural behaviors.

  • Mother pigs are confined to crates where they are unable to even move or turn over.

  • This causes extreme stress for these incredibly intelligent animals causing them to become aggressive towards one another.

  • Farmers often cut off piglets' tails and clip their teeth with no painkillers in efforts to curb their aggression.


Source of the above information: Animal Equality


This post does not address cattle raised for meat and the environmental impact of raising animals for consumption. Those are deeper topics for another day.


It's not too late for you to check out joining in on this year's Veganuary challenge. You sign up for free and will receive lots of resources and support as you try out veganism.


If you are curious about the health benefits of going plant-based, you might want to watch one of these two documentaries:

You Are What You Eat - streaming on Netflix

The Game Changers - also on Netflix - this focuses on meat, protein and strength


What are your thoughts about eliminating meat, eggs and dairy? All comments welcome.



60 views2 comments

Recent Posts

See All

2 comentarios


jlane
13 ene 2024

Well, fuck!

Me gusta
Laura
Laura
13 ene 2024
Contestando a

Hey, Friend! What new learning did you gain from reading this and what reactions are you having? I avoided learning about this intentionally for many years. It's hard stuff.

Me gusta

©2019 by Laura Loves to Teach. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page