It was on the way home from Double H, that I watched a PETA video. I had actually never heard of PETA before, but just stumbled on their site while Googling ‘vegetarian’. Josh and I challenged ourselves to go a week without eating meat at camp (which isn’t quite so hard considering that the cook at camp is vegan and so there were some pretty good meatless options there) and since there was Wifi on the bus I thought I’d just look at some information about vegetarianism just for fun. Well, the fun ended once I started watching a video by PETA where it showed farm animals being badly mistreated and abused. To be honest, I didn’t consider before about how animals were treated prior to ending up on my plate. I just thought animals were raised up and kinda just killed instantly and that was it. I didn’t realize all of the cruelty and neglect involved in the whole industry. And I know those PETA videos are designed to shock people, but as I began researching and looking to different sources, the information about the treatment of animals didn’t become any lighter. It was during that video that I decided that I couldn’t eat meat anymore. Now that I had a glimpse of the way the animals were being treated, I felt that I couldn’t buy meat and eat it with a clean conscience.
Just recently Josh and I made the switch to veganism. I thought from the start that veganism would be ideal, since cruelty and exploitation isn’t only reserved for the animals being killed, but also to the ones producing what we’ve come to know as essentials like milk and eggs. A meatless diet was a nice way for us to ease into veganism, since we had already become familiarized with meat alternatives and some delicious vegetarian recipes, now it was just the matter of removing those extras like milk, cheese, eggs and honey (to name a few! I didn’t realize whey was a form of dairy!)
So far I feel really good eating a vegan diet. It has pushed me to be creative in my cooking and try new things. I find that instead of being meat-centered in my meal planning, my focus is now on fruits and vegetables and whole grains. There are definitely foods that I miss (omelets, milk chocolate, ice cream, cheese, Starbucks oat bars, muffins...)but I feel happy knowing that my meals don’t involve or depend on animals.
Learning more about animal welfare is causing me to think differently. Perhaps, when God gave us dominance over the animals in the book of Genesis that didn't mean that we could do whatever we want with animals, but rather it's more of a stewardship where it's our responsibility to care for animals. In Genesis 1:29-30, didn't God say that He had given plants to both us and animals to eat? So is our consumption of animals not really what God intended? I'm not really sure how to account for all the animal sacrifices and that time when Jesus sent the demons into the pigs, only for the pigs to run into the water and drown. Those are pretty big things and I'm not sure what to think of them, but I am quite interested and enjoying the study of animal welfare from a Biblical perspective.
In other News: I am still loving school, and for the next weeks I am going to be on an OJT (On the Job Training) placement at the daycare in Holland College. I am so looking forward to seeing Emergent Curriculum, and mixed family groups and just learning all that I can. Pablo the bunny (he's in the picture with me in the post before this one) from the Humane Society finally got adopted and it sounds like his new family is just thrilled to have him. Our mouse Charlie who also came from the Humane Society is looking a lot healthier. When he came to us he was rather ragged and greasy looking. He had a scab on his nose that was taking a while to heal because he was scratching so much. I did some research online, and found out that there are quite a few things that domestic mice could be allergic to which causes skin irritation. I found a recipe online for homemade mouse food, so I started making that and it really just involved some seeds and rolled oats from the Bulk Barn and molasses. Since being on the new food for a couple of weeks Charlie's coat is beautiful, he hasn't been scratching as much and his nose is all healed up. It just goes to show what a healthy diet can do!
Just recently Josh and I made the switch to veganism. I thought from the start that veganism would be ideal, since cruelty and exploitation isn’t only reserved for the animals being killed, but also to the ones producing what we’ve come to know as essentials like milk and eggs. A meatless diet was a nice way for us to ease into veganism, since we had already become familiarized with meat alternatives and some delicious vegetarian recipes, now it was just the matter of removing those extras like milk, cheese, eggs and honey (to name a few! I didn’t realize whey was a form of dairy!)
So far I feel really good eating a vegan diet. It has pushed me to be creative in my cooking and try new things. I find that instead of being meat-centered in my meal planning, my focus is now on fruits and vegetables and whole grains. There are definitely foods that I miss (omelets, milk chocolate, ice cream, cheese, Starbucks oat bars, muffins...)but I feel happy knowing that my meals don’t involve or depend on animals.
Learning more about animal welfare is causing me to think differently. Perhaps, when God gave us dominance over the animals in the book of Genesis that didn't mean that we could do whatever we want with animals, but rather it's more of a stewardship where it's our responsibility to care for animals. In Genesis 1:29-30, didn't God say that He had given plants to both us and animals to eat? So is our consumption of animals not really what God intended? I'm not really sure how to account for all the animal sacrifices and that time when Jesus sent the demons into the pigs, only for the pigs to run into the water and drown. Those are pretty big things and I'm not sure what to think of them, but I am quite interested and enjoying the study of animal welfare from a Biblical perspective.
In other News: I am still loving school, and for the next weeks I am going to be on an OJT (On the Job Training) placement at the daycare in Holland College. I am so looking forward to seeing Emergent Curriculum, and mixed family groups and just learning all that I can. Pablo the bunny (he's in the picture with me in the post before this one) from the Humane Society finally got adopted and it sounds like his new family is just thrilled to have him. Our mouse Charlie who also came from the Humane Society is looking a lot healthier. When he came to us he was rather ragged and greasy looking. He had a scab on his nose that was taking a while to heal because he was scratching so much. I did some research online, and found out that there are quite a few things that domestic mice could be allergic to which causes skin irritation. I found a recipe online for homemade mouse food, so I started making that and it really just involved some seeds and rolled oats from the Bulk Barn and molasses. Since being on the new food for a couple of weeks Charlie's coat is beautiful, he hasn't been scratching as much and his nose is all healed up. It just goes to show what a healthy diet can do!
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