So first, I diced a banana and slapped some organic peanut butter in the middle of it. I froze it for an hour, took it out and dipped it in melted dark chocolate. Put it back in the fridge for 20 minutes and wa la. A truly vegan delight of my three favorite sweets, peanut butter, chocolate and banana all together in one. Mmm-mmm.
As I was preparing this delightful treat, I was thinking a lot about brainwashing and how it effects people deep to the core. I've been thinking about how slavery was once accepted as a normal thing here in the States, and I have not met a person yet who would say that they believe slavery was okay. Reading a few articles from a vegan perspective, I really had to challenge my thinking on this concept of enslaving animals for our use.
Some say, "Animals were put here for us to use." In other words, to abuse for our use because it isn't natural to enslave other creatures. Even predators don't do that. I never heard of a Tiger trapping a group of Buffalo into a specific part of the forest, building fences around them to keep them from roaming free and eating from the land, only being fed by what is brought to them from the Tiger. Huh?! No! So what we are doing here isn't natural, even from a predator standpoint.
Since the idea of enslaving humans was solely based off the color of their skin was once considered normal and we moved on from that, I believe we will some day get past the idea of the enslavement of animals too. Yes, they are different from us, but so are different races of people. Some people have blonde hair, some have brown. Does that give me the right to abuse you because you are different from me? If the answer is no, then why is there a boundary drawn for any living creature? Enslaving the living is not an act of respect nor kindness. It is an act of control, an abuse of our power. It robs us from compassion and kindness.
Some say, "Well, we're at the top of the food chain." A friend of mine brought up a great comeback for that. "You go to a grocery store, therefore, you are physically removed from the food chain." Plus, if this is the attitude you want to maintain, then how do you expect us to thrive on this planet acting as if there are no consequences to how we change the natural order of things on earth?
As stated by the vegan society:
It’s better for the environment.
"Switching to a plant-based diet is an effective way for an individual to reduce their eco-footprint. Vegan diets can produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than meat-based diets. A University of Chicago study found that the ‘typical’ US diet generates the equivalent of nearly 1.5 tonnes more carbon dioxide per person per year than a vegan diet. The livestock industry is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the entire transport sector (which produces 13.5%), including aviation.
Plant-based diets only require around one third of the land and water needed to produce a typical Western diet. Farmed animals consume much more protein, water and calories than they produce, so far greater quantities of crops and water are needed to produce animal ‘products’ to feed humans than are needed to feed people direct on a plant-based diet. With water and land becoming scarcer globally, world hunger increasing and the planet’s population rising, it is much more sustainable to eat plant foods direct than use up precious resources feeding farmed animals.
Plant-based diets only require around one third of the land and water needed to produce a typical Western diet. Farmed animals consume much more protein, water and calories than they produce, so far greater quantities of crops and water are needed to produce animal ‘products’ to feed humans than are needed to feed people direct on a plant-based diet. With water and land becoming scarcer globally, world hunger increasing and the planet’s population rising, it is much more sustainable to eat plant foods direct than use up precious resources feeding farmed animals.
Farming animals and growing their feed also contributes to other environmental problems such as deforestation, water pollution and land degradation."
We have the power to act on kindness, compassion and love. We don't have to do what we're doing. There are other ways to live and ensure the survival of not just ourselves, but those who are to live after us. We do have a responsibility to keep the earth clean and free of harm because we live here. Earth is our home. I promise to do my best to be a respectable tenant on this earth, and I will share with you everything I learn on the way to natural living as much as possible.
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