Whooooooooa

I've been on the fence about meat eating for quite awhile.  I briefly tried out vegetarianism about a month before finding out I was pregnant with Adalyn, but once I found out I was pregnant I went back to meat eating because I didn't feel equipped with the knowledge I thought I needed to get in enough protein while pregnant.  

I decided to try it out mostly because of the mistreatment of animals I know goes on in meat factories, though I'd never seen anything but very brief and blurry clips.  A small part of me believed we were never intended to consume meat, but my stance on that has changed.  I do believe meat was meant to be consumed, but not in the quantities we consume it (not even close) and not as a necessity.  

I've felt pretty strongly for awhile now that the only place consumers should buy meat from is local farmers who treat their animals well and fed them appropriate diets (not corn, which these animals were never intended to eat and cause severe damage to their bodies).  The problem is, this meat is very expensive.  For good reason, of course, but it's still difficult to justify the double or triple cost.  So I falter and I buy cheap meat sometimes, and every time I feel guilty and disgusted about it.  It's a vicious cycle - start buying mostly organic food, mostly free-range, local meat and eggs - watch my grocery bill sky rocket - go back to buying cheap meat - feeling guilty and starting the cycle all over again.

Then today, a friend posted a documentary that I've never seen or heard of.  It literally rocked my world.  I have never seen anything so disturbing in all my life.  There is a lot - A LOT - of footage from inside meat factories in our country.  The treatment of these animals is something you just cannot grasp without seeing it for yourself.  To hear about it is something entirely different than to see it.  

It may be the most disturbing thing I've ever seen, but I can't help but feel that every single person who eats meat in our country has to watch this.  Knowing this exists and refusing to watch it is putting your head in the sand.  Disturbing?  Absolutely.  But it's reality.  And if you see these clips and you continue to eat meat from meat factories (which is everything not organic, free-range, etc.), you'll be paying for the continued UNIMAGINABLE mistreatment of these animals.  I know that's harsh and I feel sort of badly saying that, but  it's the truth.  

God may have intended us to eat meat, but I GUARANTEE you he would never approve of the way in which our country (and others?) goes about raising and slaughtering animals.  

You'll probably have to close your eyes through parts, I almost guarantee you'll cry, but in the end, it will be for a good purpose.  The more people quit buying meat, the more of a message we send to all these immoral companies.  This is one of those cases where YOU truly can make a difference.  Each person refusing to support these companies via their wallets DOES make a difference.  

And each time you feel compelled to buy ground beef when it's on sale for $1.99/pound, go back and rewatch parts of this video.  Please.  I'm begging.  BEGGING.