A while back an activist friend posted her experience and it
troubled me. As a meat eater, I was touched and sought to balance my
perspective knowing that in this life there is yin and yang, ebb and flow, dark
and light.
I reached out to a family member that I know is kind, loving and
hard working, steeped in generations of farming life and experience.
Knowing many are home bound with more time than usual I post
this now in the hopes that it might carry a message. I came away wishing my
activist friend could visit the farm and meet the farmer.
Herein lays the core of what I would say. Like in my twenty’s
when a friend came out as gay, or loving
a family with a transgender child or having an African American friend
or a Muslim friend: when you put a face to ideology, when relationship bleeds
into perspective we find the truth.
ACTIVIST/YOGA TEACHER
Y’all my heart f______g
hurts. I witnessed so much suffering today, completely unnecessary misery.
Fellow activists and I stood in the unrelenting heat (90+ degrees in Tar Heel
this afternoon) to document truckloads of pigs and chickens on their way to
slaughter. Packed tightly together, crammed up against hot metal bars, unable
to move or find any relief. Terrified, exhausted, sick, dehydrated, dying, and
some already dead, I’m sure. Their eyes all seemed to ask “Why?”, and that’s
what I want to know, too. These are living, breathing, feeling beings, but to
most people, they are nothing more than commodities. In the cold, dark world of
animal agriculture, their only value lies in how many dollars and cents can be
made from each pound of their tortured flesh. They know nothing but
deprivation, abuse, and sorrow. Saying I’m disgusted with humanity for allowing
this to continue doesn’t even begin to cover it. My soul cries for these poor
creatures every moment of every day. I wish they could be seen as the precious
individuals that they all are. With every fiber of my being, I wish this
atrocity would end for once and for all, and I hope you will join me in
co-creating a world in which all are treated with kindness and compassion.
FARMER
Yes, I often
wish there were more humane ways on the commercial end of farming. We would
have a big problem in this world with feeding the masses in an economically
advantageous manner without the technology used today. The current processes
were created for sustainability, and though they might not seem like the best
options, they meet the demands. Those that can afford to purchase more humanely
raised meat should do so to support small time heritage farms like mine, but
the problem is that people don’t want to pay for it. It is extremely difficult
for farmers like me to survive. Think about this... a farmer today makes the
same for a bushel of wheat or corn as in the 80s, but it cost more to produce.
Monsanto allows farmers to get more bushels per acre that are resistant to
disease and bugs, so the farmer can increase yield and retain some bit of
profit. Then small farmers go to buy that same bushel of grain for their
animals and the cost has tripled. Many of my friends have already watched their
farms go under because they can’t afford to feed their animals. What about
pastured animals? Cheap way to feed, right? Well, unless you move to Missouri,
you are going to pay $10,000 per acre or more for “farmland” around here. I
make nothing off my animals. I essentially do it out of love. Sadly, a big
heart doesn’t pay the bills. I understand how those on the outside looking in
must feel about commercial farmers and killing of animals, but they shouldn’t
assume that we like it either. It is a necessity, because not everyone is
willing to sacrifice and become vegan.
In summary, all forms of divisiveness are grounded in
selfishness. There is a martial art called Aikido. The founder worked his way
to a spiritual awakening, took the core of combat arts and created an art that
sought to neutralize violence with a minimum of harm. The goal was to blend
with the attacker in a way that took their balance and immobilized them without
damage. This idea, to protect your perceived adversary permeates theology and
war throughout history yet the common response is to run headlong into conflict
with the intention to destroy.
The truth is we are all
rowing the same leaky boat. Either we find a way to blend our energy or we will
either row in circles or sink. I suspect our goal should be to help each other
until we all find our way to safely to shore..
