Humane Society Video

Words cannot describe how shocking, sickening, and saddening this video (secretly filmed by the Humane Society) is, so watch at your own risk. Background on the beef recall can be found here. I was deeply disturbed by the footage, but at the same time, where did I think hamburgers came from? Baltimore Sun reporter, Rob Kasper, said it best when he wrote:

Longtime vegetarians are, Cunningham said, "somewhat bemused" by the reaction of surprise to the video. "As a friend of mine said, 'What did people think happened at a slaughterhouse? Did they think the animals got tickled to death?' "

This video shows the reality of food sitting on most American's kitchen tables. If I wasn't already a vegetarian, I think seeing this video would make it difficult to take another bite of meat. We don't need to eat meat to be healthy. Its becoming more and more evident that animal-based protein is not the best source of protein and it is actually harmful to our health. So why do so many people eat it? I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but the more I face the facts, the more I realize that the government and "food" corporations have brainwashed Americans to think that vitamin-infused Coke, hormone-injected meat and dairy, and calcium-fortified cereal will make us strong and healthy. Have you seen commercials for Special K Protein water???

All of this information is obviously not spontaneously entering my brain. Currently, I am reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, and today I picked up The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. The China Study is fantastic. Its easy to understand and based on decades of research. Over the past six months, I've been scouring the web for information on vegetarianism, raw foods, organic foods, ayurvedic nutrition, and macrobiotics. Kris Carr has also offered a wealth of information and resources. I guess what I'm saying is, educate yourself before putting packaged and processed foods into your body! I have just skimmed the surface of understanding these concepts, but the changes that I have made (i.e. vegetarianism, raw foods, juicing, organic produce, food combining) has made a huge impact on my mental and physical health. More later on all the fascinating and relevant things I am learning from Pollan and Campbell.