HEALTH CONCERNS ABOUT DAIRY

WE DON'T NEED ANIMAL WASTE TO GROW PLANTS

PLANTS AND ANIMAL WASTE

 

Farmers have been saying that animal manure is necessary for plant production.  Nothing is farther from the truth.

I have been a gardener for over 40 years.  In 1999, we had to replace our septic system.  The company that we hired to do this came and dug a huge hole in my front yard where I had a garden. They took all my precious, black, rich topsoil and replaced it with rocky, hard, brown dirt. When the new system was done, I was left with the task of growing a garden in substandard dirt.

I went to a bait shop and rescued hundreds of earthworms.  I released them into my garden. In fall, I raked all the leaves from my trees into my garden.  The neighbors dumped their leaves there also.  Gradually, the dirt improved and in a couple of years it was rich, black topsoil. I did not use manure or any fertilizer. 

Other ways to keep the soil rich, are crop rotation and companion planting.  Crop rotation is simply don't plant the same crop year after year in the same soil. Companion planting works like this:  certain plants give nutrients to the soil that other plants need. By mixing those plants in a field you can keep the soil rich. 

 

Using animal manure to fertilize plants is dangerous because it can spread diseases. An E. coli outbreak that killed 33 people in 2006 was linked to animal manure infecting spinach. In 2012, this happened again.

We don’t need poop or chemicals to grow plants. We don’t want poop or chemicals on our food. Nature has a way of making things right if you let it.

PLANTS HAVE FEELINGS

PLANTS HAVE FEELINGS, TOO

 

In all my years as a vegan I have only heard this argument about two million times.  Usually it is stated by someone who feeds plants to animals, mows their lawn, or chops down hundred year old trees.  But in the interest of not being closed minded, I have decided to address this issue.

First, let me state, I have been an avid gardener for over 40 years, so I think I have the expertise to address this issue.  I currently have a quarter acre garden and numerous house plants. I have a sweet banana pepper plant that is about 10 years old.  Many of my house plants are 15 to 20 years old. My outdoor garden has trees that are nearing 100 years old.  The point here is that my plants live out their lives to the fullest. If they are meant to live 100 years they will live 100 years. Whereas, the meat and dairy industries cut the lifespan of their animals by over a decade.

All the videos I have seen on the internet of experiments to demonstrate plants have feelings have shown scientists testing a mimosa, otherwise known as sensitive plant. This plant is well named. All you have to do is blow on it and its leaves will curl. Plants do not have a central nervous system.  Their roots are their foundation of life. You can take the tubers from some plant roots, and split them, replant them and get multiple plants from the same plant.

Two wrongs don’t make a right. If people believe plants have feelings, then they are doing twice the harm by feeding their livestock plants and then killing those animals. Farmers are more likely to harm plants just with their farming practices.

Most of the food we get from plants does not cause any harm to the plant. For instance, I have several apple trees in my yard.  Each fall, they get hundreds of apples.  I gather some, some fall to the ground. The ones that fall to the ground are eaten by animals.  With fruit bearing plants, the fruit is the seed pod and it is meant to be eaten by animals.  The animals then expel the seeds in their waste matter.  The seeds then sprout and turn into more trees. That is the life cycle.  Most of the food that comes from plants is fruit and follows this cycle.  When you take a calf from a cow and eat it, another calf does not grow from your waste matter.

Several times a year, the place where I work participates in trade shows.  They take plants with them to decorate their booths.  The plants usually come back in poor shape.  I bring them home and nurse them back to health.  Sometimes they are so bad I have to prune them down.  Within a few days, they start to grow back and in a couple of weeks they are as good as new.  I prune bushes and the branches grow back. In the winter, deer eat my plants to the ground.  As soon as spring comes, they start to grow back and usually come back in better condition than before. You cut a branch off a plant, it grows back.  If you cut a leg off a cow, it will not grow back.

In the spring, I take cuttings from my Weeping Willow trees and plant them in pots.  Usually in about 3 weeks I have another Weeping Willow tree.  If I cut an ear from a pig, and plant in dirt, I will not get another pig.

There are very few plants that get killed for food. Offhand I can’t think of any. Some plants will flower, fruit, and then die.  That is their life cycle.  A vegan is not 100% perfect, but our goal is to the least harm. Eating animals and dairy cause a lot more harm to animals and our planet then a vegan diet.

THE TRUTH ABOUT TEMPLE GRANDIN AND "HUMANE SLAUGHER"

Truth about Temple Grandin and “humane slaughter”

Many farmers talk about “humane slaughter”.  Those words are an oxymoron.  No slaughter is ever humane.  When confronted about this farmers will point to Temple Grandin.  Temple Grandin designed center track restraining system used in about half of all the US slaughter houses. She is the author of many livestock handling books.  

Two points that need to be addressed when talking about Temple Grandin. 

1.        She redesigned slaughter houses to make it easier for the workers.  Cows were fighting for their lives and making it harder for workers to kill.  

2.       She has severe autism. One of the traits of autism is lack of empathy. Scientists have been studying why people with autism have little or no empathy and best they have come up with is it has something to do with interpreting eye and body language.  Temple Grandin herself has stated in many speeches that she is incapable of a loving relationship.  So for people to call her designs “humane” makes no sense. Her goal in her designs was to improve productivity.  Yes, she did increase productivity and now animals are being slaughtered at alarming rates-90 billion per year. Remember one billion is a million million.

Even in Temple’s designs, once animals figure out what is going on they try to escape, but because the chutes are so narrow they are unable to turn around. Temple also has advocated the use of “pink slime” in food and shows slaughterhouse workers how to use the stun gun.  It is most ironic that Temple works in the animal agriculture industry, when studies at the University of Rome have shown that removing dairy from autistic children’s diets greatly improved their behavior.  Their studies have shown a link between casein (a chemical in dairy) and autism.

The only humane slaughter is NO slaughter.

If you would not like it done to you, don’t do it to others.  Join a peaceful world and go vegan.

JOIN US ON TWITTER

A farmer on twitter is tweeting every day for the next year about life on a dairy farm.  #farm365 Vegans from all over are also tweeting on #farm365 to show people the truth about dairy.  Please join us. Go to #farm365 on twitter and just retweet and favor the vegan posts. Add your own if you want. The more the better.  Let's show the world how important going vegan is to animals, our planet, and our health. Thanks.

Update-vegans have taken over the #farm365 site so the dairy industry started #milktruth, #getreal, and #milkfacts.  Please favor and retweet the vegan posts on those hashtags also.  It's important for us to get the truth about dairy out.  Thanks.

Quick and Easy Vegan "Chicken" Tikka Masala

VEGAN “CHICKEN” TIKKA MASALA

 

Quick and easy vegan version of this classic dish.

1 large onion diced

1 12 ounce package sliced mushrooms

3 gloves garlic minced

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 teaspoons paprika

2 tablespoons Amy’s Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons salt

1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes

½ 8 ounce container GoVeggie® vegan cream cheese (purple package)

1 package Gardein® teriyaki chicken strips. (Save the teriyaki sauce for another recipe)

1 package rotini cooked al dente per package directions, drained and tossed with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

In a skillet, sauté onion, mushrooms and garlic in olive oil until softened. Stir in ginger, tomato paste, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, salt and tomatoes. Cook over medium heat stirring often for 10 minutes.  Break chicken strips into smaller cubes and stir into masala.  Mix in cream cheese. Continue to cook over medium heat stirring often for 10-15 minutes. Serve over rotini.  You can also serve this over rice.