Nadia Masoudi: One day, animal slavery for meat and milk will end

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      By Nadia Masoudi

      The slavery of animals is a worldwide blight that seemingly has no end. Animals suffer greatly by the hand of the species thought to be the most “evolved”. Sadly, by consuming our cohabitants, we are harming not only our planet, but ourselves.

      The mass slaying of factory-farmed animals poses a greater threat to our environment than all vehicles and wars combined. The dangers of factory farming loom upon us, in the form of virulent disease, health issues, and irrefutable cruelty. I believe that healthy coexistence among animals and people can only be gained once we stop the genocide of their kind.

      A factory-farmed animal is usually conceived artificially. Many cows are used for breeding then casually tossed to the gates of dog-food manufacturers once they are unable to produce. From conception, these animals (mainly cows, pigs, sheep, fish, and poultry) suffer through deplorable living conditions. These conditions are said to be made better through revisionary tactics (the implementation of free-range methods and the abolition of genetically modified organisms) but these dance around the major issue—animals should not be eaten by our kind.

      According to The Nutrition Source site, from the Harvard School of Public Health, milk isn’t the best source of calcium for everyone. Collard greens and legumes are more than enough to sustain us, yet we keep cows producing until they are worn and beat before their stated life expectancy. Calves destined to become veal are confined to narrow pens and forced to eat an iron-deficient diet to coerce their muscle mass into immobility. Veal calves have been found twisting themselves into ruin in an attempt to lick iron nails embedded in their stalls.

      I believe that every creature on Earth has the right to live. How can we be good to each other when we treat defenceless animals in this fashion? How will we be able to stop slaughtering each other when we are waging an unjust siege against weapon-less beings? The only way is to peacefully coexist.

      I have heard time and time again the notion that animals were placed here for our use. Firstly, the arrogance of those words is appalling. Second, the beef industry has gotten to the point where its employees are victims as much as the animals are. Working at a slaughterhouse is the most dangerous job in America.

      The idea of meat as the central basis of our sustenance is ignorant. On behalf of the beef and dairy industry, we are constantly told through mass media that meat is part of a healthy lifestyle (I’m looking at you Canada’s Food Guide). This is problematic. Thankfully, technology has advanced, and we now have many healthier and ethically inclined food sources. You can now walk to your local grocery store and find many meat alternatives, as well as a myriad of soy-based foodstuffs.

      We are taught from a young age that milk and meat are great for us. Who are we to question the knowledge of our parents and society? But imagine a world without food-borne illnesses caused by E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella. Imagine a world where fecal matter in your food supply is a remnant of the past. Meat lovers or not, we must make a global change.

      On the topic of slavery, Thomas Jefferson famously said to James Heaton in 1826, “The revolution in public opinion which this case requires is not to be expected in a day, or perhaps in an age; but time, which outlives all things, will outlive this evil also.” I do not know when the consumption of meat will end, but I am reassured by Jefferson’s words. It will end when we have gained knowledge and respect for all living creatures. One day, we will look back and proudly denounce our ways as the bygone standards of a bygone era.

      Nadia Masoudi is an 18-year-old filmmaker, an activist, and the founder of Animal Freedom Day, which will take place on July 24. She lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

      Comments

      43 Comments

      Plants are living beings too!

      Jul 12, 2010 at 6:16pm

      Dear Ms. Masoudi,

      Why should our limitless compassion stop at the protection of animals? By cultivating plants, then tearing them up and consuming them, are we not also abusing their rights as living beings to live and reproduce freely? Just because you can't observe a carrot 'suffering' doesn't mean that it doesn't suffer when you rip it out of the ground. Are we not also making slaves out of our crops?

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      Joseph Wilson

      Jul 12, 2010 at 6:21pm

      I'm going to make a point of eating an additional animal or animal product for every piece of animal rights extremist propaganda the Straight publishes.

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      Pat

      Jul 12, 2010 at 6:52pm

      Masoudi states that "every creature on Earth has the right to live." They should not be killed by other species. We must find a way to stop the wolves from killing the caribou. And the birds from killing the worms. And the spiders from killing the mosquitoes. We must find a way to stop animals from eating each other. Of course if we do, then all animals will die and then so will we. Nice bit of thinking ... not. I can't believe the Georgia Straight publishes this type of drivel.

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      get in my belly

      Jul 12, 2010 at 7:05pm

      i hope that's a vegan cat, looks like he's been eating pork chops to me

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      Conservative

      Jul 12, 2010 at 7:12pm

      I'm all for the ethical treatment of animals, but to suggest that we stop eating meat entirely is just foreign language to me. It's all about balance. Eat your meat, supplement it with some veggies and for God sakes exercise. You'll be fine.

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      wow

      Jul 12, 2010 at 7:23pm

      "animals should not be eaten by our kind."

      Do I ever disagree with you. While I do agree that animals should be treated humanly, I disagree and take offense to your view that it is "ignorant" to consider meat as part of a healthy diet. In addition if you look at all levels of nature animals consume other animals to survive and just because you think animals are cute and you love your cat doesnt mean as humans we should feel guilty for eat cow.

      Sure chickens raised in cages to be used for food and many ways veil (not all) is produced is cruel and I disagree with, but there is NOTHING wrong with eating meat, and its not reasonable to assume people should hunt every day in order to get there meat and therefor farming is totally appropriate.

      You are one of those stereotypical vegetarians I can not stand. The one that shows up to a dinner party and chastises others who are eating meat trying to push your beliefs onto others like some type of a food jahova witness or something. Fact is the VAST majority of vegetarians look and are extremely unhealthy, and meat is part of a very health diet.

      I bet you are one of those people who cant stand to look at a lion eating a zebra either, and hate the lion for it. Right?

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      adibese

      Jul 12, 2010 at 7:36pm

      Yep... 18 year old filmmaker and activist. Makes sense, since I haven't read something so moronic for a long time.

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      welldoneson

      Jul 12, 2010 at 9:40pm

      It's beyond simple irony to see this dimbulb "expert" speaking out against people eating meat, while coddling a carnivorous animal.

      What a nine-iron.

      I don't blame here, I blame the society that allows such people to think they know best. Good Lord, she probably still sleeps with a teddy bear!

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      Cate

      Jul 12, 2010 at 10:07pm

      i'm astounded at the attitudes displayed by those disagreeing with this article.

      i've been a vegetarian by choice for twenty years - and i'm twenty-four. perhaps the tone of this article is slightly extremist, but this young woman has many valid points: factory farmed meat - which is by a huge majority what is consumed, NOT happy (organic, local, free range) meat - is environmentally unethical, inhumane, and often unhealthy for those of us consuming it. you think companies who torture animals for their entire lives to sell their flesh after they've ended care what gets packaged with it, or how? canada's rate of animals that are allowed to die en route to a processing plant is far larger than in the US and almost double Europe's. i'm sure companies that only care for the lowest bottom line allow all those dead bodies to be thrown out when they were just going to be killed anyway.

      i personally agree that animals of any kind needn't die for food. however, i don't expect the majority of our omnivorous society to agree with my perspective. there are ways to counteract the ills that eating mass-produced meat and dairy inflict. buy local. buy organic. buy free range. and by all means research the company you choose to give your business to - many products with the "free range" label on them aren't much better than cruel factory farms. supplement with soy, nuts, legumes, broccoli, quinoa, and hemp hearts. and, if you're interested and concerned, become a vegetarian, which reduces your carbon footprint by a vast amount. rainforests are cut down for cattle farms. our oceans are vastly overfished. we in canada largely don't see the impact of the meat industry in our faces, but it is there.

      those commenters getting their backs up over this article: wake up. we are living in a world that can't continue sustaining all of us at the rate we consume. it's time to start making choices unselfishly. supporting the meat industry is a choice you make every time you buy a normal steak at the supermarket and it has an impact every time.

      you can choose to dismiss these facts as crazy hippy vegetarian slanting, but perhaps you should pay attention to those of us warning about environmental change: we're not chicken little warning about the sky falling. judging us as falsely morally superior idiots is an easy way to dismiss an issue that is at a critical point. i hope some people out there can commit to even small lifestyle changes to save other lives, both human, and animal, impacted by the meat industry, and to protect the world we live on from further devastating damage.

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      V

      Jul 12, 2010 at 10:26pm

      Every vegetarian/vegan has their point of view, and this just happens to be Nadia's.

      Personally, I believe in balance (as mentioned by Conservative.) We are a part of the animal kingdom as much as the other animals that consume the same things we do, and although the way we treat the animals before eating them may be unethical... the fact that we do eat them shouldn't be considered a crime.

      I have been vegan for over half a year, and my views were just as cloudy as Nadia's appear, but after a few months I realized that, for myself at least, it all comes down to the process of getting an animal to your dinner plate. What is of concern are the living conditions of the animals, the things they are fed, the unnecessary treatment towards the them, the chemicals used for injection or for production, and all other things that harm the animals, our environment, and ultimately ourselves. (Besides, do we REALLY have to kick and throw chickens against the wall before catching them? It's not like they can walk around anyway.)

      The fact is I love meat. It tastes very good, and I can see the reluctance in giving it up. But I have found enough reasons to do so, (even if I am only one person and even if I don't expect to change the world) and I'm not going back. Before, I never gave a second thought to the things I ate, but now I read the labels... now I make sure I'm actually getting the vitamins I need... now I'm making sure I'm healthy. I'm seventeen and I've been playing sports all year round, five days a week and I feel great. It doesn't bother me when my friends eat meat... it just bothers me if they don't give what they eat any thought.

      The fact is, not every vegetarian/vegan thinks the way Nadia does, and I'm tired of dealing with the stereotypes presented in her thoughts.

      For whatever reason you eat meat, just make sure it is a reason and not an excuse. It's good. You like the taste. It's chewy in your mouth. But hearing something like "I can't live without it..." just makes no sense. At least know why you're eating what you do, and as long as you are aware I'll respect you for it just as I hope to be respected in return... even if we can't agree.

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