A very common question I get asked when I mention my veganism is why I don't consume milk or support dairy farms when the animals aren't killed in the harvesting process. It's a difficult question to answer unless the person doesn't mind sitting down and listening to me talk and spew information for 30 minutes. In a perfect world, I would be able to telepathically redirect them to this very blog post. I'm going to explain to you why dairy farms are, indeed, not ethical.
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not trying to convert you to my lifestyle or dictate your life or eating habits. I'm a firm believer that while I do hope that everyone becomes vegan one day, it's not my duty or my place to personally make that happen. Other people are capable of doing their own research and learning, and in turn, making their own decisions based on the knowledge they acquire. That's exactly what I did, and exactly what all other vegans have done. However, I also firmly believe that everyone should know exactly what goes into the food that they buy and consume. And since I know a bit about that, I'd like to share. Remember, when you learn something, you can't unlearn it. So if you're not open to the concept of change, maybe don't read this. When I first went vegetarian about a year ago, I felt so strong about my decision. My conscience felt so liberated and weightless. I no longer had lingering guilt every time I ate meat. I no longer wanted to eat it, because I finally made the ethical connection between my meal and an animals life. I also remember stating very confidently that I could and would never go vegan because it would be far too difficult. However, this quickly changed a few months later, when I was exposed to the truths behind dairy and eggs, and much like after I had learned about the meat industry, I couldn't re-close my eyes and pretend I hadn't seen. I just needed to do it. Most of us have this vision of dairy farms as being these huge wide open green pastures, full of happy grazing cows standing under a beautiful blue sky. The friendly family who runs the farm comes out at the crack of dawn and milks the cows by hand, feeding them and showing appreciation for the work they've done that day. We have this distorted idea of dairy farms because of the little pictures they draw on our milk cartons and the commercials on TV that have been drilled into our minds since we were kids. It's an illusion. The milk you buy from your grocery store doesn't come from these farms. The milk powder that's put on your cheese flavoured snacks or that's mixed into your cookies is not from these farms. But how could it be all that bad? After all, cows aren't killed for milk like they need to be for meat. But the truth is, the cruelty and horror that goes behind retrieving and producing the milk in the first place is unimaginable. Like humans, cows are mammals. Mammals can only produce milk when they are lactating, and they can only lactate when they're pregnant. As you can probably guess, factory farms don't wait around for the cows and the bulls to fall in love and mate naturally. As a matter of fact, the only bulls you'll find on a dairy farm are the babies that were a result of the artificial insemination the mother cow had to endure. In order to guarantee constant profit, dairy farm workers need to guarantee constant milk supply. The dairy cows on these farms need to always be pregnant so that they can lactate, so that humans can steal their milk for their own consumption. Cows are therefore artificially inseminated, typically by a medal rod being painfully shoved into the cows vagina along with one of the workers forearms guiding the "AI gun". If we performed this process on a non-consenting human woman, it would be considered rape, because that's exactly what it is. Non-vegans either give you a concerned look or simply laugh when you put "dairy" and "rape" in the same sentence, but it cannot be argued that sticking a foreign object inside the vagina of another being without their consent to impregnate them is rape. Regardless, whatever your views on this terminology are, I think we can all at least agree that this is horrifyingly inhumane and disgusting. Sadly, the horror doesn't end there. After the cows carry the baby for nine long months, they give birth. If the calf isn't immediately torn away from the mother, this will happen within the first few days of its life. This separation from their baby causes enormous amounts of stress on not only the mother, but also the calf. Could we ever imagine stealing a human mother's baby immediately after birth - or at all? Can we even begin to imagine how distressing and traumatic that would be? The mother is swiftly hooked up to metal machines that pump out her baby's food, packaging it into pretty containers, which are then shipped off to our stores so we can buy it. The cycle continues for these dairy cows. They will be repeatedly raped, their babies will be repeatedly stolen away, and their bodies will be continuously exploited and harmed for our own "benefit". Eventually, they'll be too old to be of any use to these farms. They will most likely be sent to slaughter houses to be killed. As for the babies, bulls are also typically shipped away to slaughter houses for veal, since they are of no use to dairy farming. Therefore, even though I had stopped eating meat of all kind as a vegetarian, I was still consuming large amounts of dairy, which meant I was indirectly supporting and linking myself to the meat industry. The female cows that are born typically share the same fate as their mothers. They are fed insufficient diets, not their mother's milk that is specifically and only designed to help them grow quickly and strong. When they are old enough, they will be artificially inseminated and exploited as well. Repeatedly. And their own babies will continue that same cycle. It's horrifying. It's all so awful that it's hard to even believe. How could this all be hidden so well? How could we be so blind to this cruel reality? Simply put, animal agriculture receives enormous subsidies from the government because of the enormous profits they bring in. We run off of money. False advertising is used to make us believe that everything is done humanely, and like cattle (no pun intended), we blindly follow. The more cautious or critical of us may learn towards "humanely" farmed milk, however the word "humane" cannot logically be connected to animal enslavement and exploitation. Furthermore, these farms aren't much different from the "inhumane" ones. (I'll probably write another post on that topic.) Most of us have the firm belief that the government has our best interests in mind, and that we can trust them. But some of us know better. My own personal view on all of this is that, even if we could somehow create humane dairy farms, where no cows or bulls were harmed and they were all genuinely happy with their lives, I still couldn't support them based on my morals. There's no ethics behind exploiting animals for any reason. I just can't justify enslaving any kind of animal for my own personal gain, even if they were happy with it. I could never enslave another human being even if they were willing. Animals are living, sentient beings. They should be free. They should just be cows, not dairy cows. If this post rubbed you the wrong way, I don't blame you. I encourage you to research more on your own, watch video evidence, etc. Ignorance may be bliss to some, but to me, bliss is actually doing the right thing... C
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When dealing with mental illness, it's so easy to fall into the trap of romanticizing recovery as this journey that will be nothing but sunshine and gum drops, when in reality it's an up and down, all around kind of process. It's long, it's tedious, it's exhausting at times. And I often find myself going through periods of time, usually lasting from a day to a week or two, where my vision at the end of the tunnel is so clouded and distorted that it doesn't seem real anymore, and I fall back into old habits and thoughts. And when they're things that used to consume you and control your mind at one point, it's hard to look at it all from an outside perspective and pull yourself out. So you just kind of... wallow in it for awhile and wait to save yourself. You hope that'll happen, anyway.
The past week has been so off for me, and all I really wanted to do was sit in my room and not speak. I didn't exactly want to cry or scream, but it was more this all encompassing feeling of nothing. But everything at the same time. I just wanted to sit and be alone and figure things out. I didn't do much of that last one, though. Chores were left undone to pile up. Daily routines and responsibilities were exhausting, to say the least. I feel like I create this image for myself that I want to be perceived as by other people, but that I also genuinely want to be, which is this positive, colourful, look-on-the-bright-side kind of person. My motto in life is basically "Fake it 'til you make it". So I try really hard to be this person that I want to be, and I think others hold me to this standard, but more importantly, I think I hold myself to this standard. So when I unwillingly spiral back down into one of these moods, I ultimately feel worse... because then I feel like I've failed, or that this isn't who I'm supposed to be. When really, there's no rules or guidelines to being. All feelings are valid. I constantly have to remind myself that it's a constant process, and I don't know if it's a journey that really has a destination. Maybe it will always be something I need to work on. Which is frustrating. But maybe not accepting that is what's holding me back. C I'll be the first to admit that I have quite an uneventful life. As much as I crave adventure, travel, and fun, most of my summer is spent relaxing at home or not venturing past my own city. However, with one of my best friends leaving for school across the country in only a few weeks, we vowed to make the most of the season and do as many things as possible. We'd been itching to travel down past the border into the Adirondacks for some spectacular mountain views, and when we both had this Saturday off work and the forecast called for warmth and mostly sun, we took the opportunity. I woke up just before the sun at 4:30 am, and we left at 6 to get an early head-start. The drive from Quebec into the States is quite boring, but it was at least sunny and it didn't take too long before we got a beautiful view of the mountain backdrop in the distance. We made it to Whiteface Mountain just in time for when they start allowing cars to drive up, 8:45, and we began our incline. After an increasingly nervous and terrifying drive, we made it up. An elevator brought us to the very top (we could've taken the stairs, but I mean, we're definitely not hikers), and the views were just breathtaking. I've never been on a mountain that high before. The highest point is nearly 4.9 thousand feet high. The views were absolutely incredible. As a person who's terrified of heights, I really didn't feel scared of nervous at all. It was so peaceful and serene up there at that time of the morning. Before other hikers made it to the top, the silence was so comforting. You felt invincible. After we said goodbye to Whiteface, we took an even more nerve-wracking trek downhill. We travelled a little ways over to visit High Falls Gorge, a small nature park with stunning waterfall views. The trail is only about 30-40 minutes, but I got some incredible photos. We drove into Lake Placid for lunch, and it was the cutest little town. It was buzzing with lots of people on that Saturday afternoon, and the mountains in the distance over Lake Mirror were beautiful. Of course, I managed to find a small quaint vegan/vegetarian friendly cafe, and had a Tofurkey sandwich with veggies and vegan cheese. It was delicious, and after we ate, we headed back towards Ausable Chasm for our last little adventure. This chasm is said to be the "Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks". I don't have any photos from here, since my silly self didn't know it would be such a long trail and that you could bring your phone along on the rafting rides. This trail certainly tested my fear of heights much more than the mountain. You look down, and you see a straight drop down into rushing water over a hundred feet down. It was scary, but incredible. We took a raft tour down the river, which was beautiful. I'm so in love with nature, but don't take nearly enough time to really appreciate it. I really tried to take it all this day. After another short sleep that night, I woke up nice and early to head down to Osheaga, Montreal's own music festival, with the same friend. There was about 30 or so people waiting in line ahead of us to get in, so we got a good feeling we'd be getting a good spot near the stage. Both me and my friend came to see one of our favourite artists, BØRNS. It was also my first experience at Osheaga, which I knew was going to a stressful one for me. After a chaotic entrance into the festival and bag check, we speed walked toward the stage as security yelled for no one to run behind us. We got barricade! I was so incredibly excited. We watched Melanie Martinez perform first, and my energy began to rise. As expected, Garrett's set was absolutely incredible, and it was such an amazing experience to finally watch him perform live as I didn't think I'd have the chance anytime soon. His effortless high notes and sweet voice were like listening to an angel. We left the crowd after his performance, as there wasn't any other artists we were dying to see. We walked around a bit, refilled our water, and tried to escape the blazing hot sun for awhile. We ended up meeting with a girl who was also a fan of Garrett, and was also dying to meet him. After scoping out the area, we virtually had no idea how we'd be able to know where he was and where he would exit from backstage. I didn't have much hope, since meeting celebrities at a music festival is such a game of luck, something I usually don't have much of. However, later on in the day, we heard news that he was in the crowd watching Grimes performing, so we rushed over and were able to say hello and speak for a few minutes. He was honestly the kindest and most gentle person I've ever met, which was incredibly reassuring since I had felt like such a nuisance coming up to him at a festival where he was trying to have a good time. We took some photos and thanked each other before he left to go backstage. It was so nice and just the cherry on top of such a great weekend. Although, I have to say, I don't know if I would ever go back to a music festival unless there was an artist I loved that much, as the giant crowds of people gave me a lot of anxiety and the heat and my own impatience made me quite cranky. It was all worth it in the end, though, and I'm so grateful I got to go. And that was my eventful weekend! I guess now I'm back to normal life, as I'll be leaving for work in 2 hours. I wanted to document these experiences, though, because I know for sure they will be memories I look back on for years to come. If you can, set aside a weekend to do something you've been wanting to do but have never made the full commitment. It's so rewarding and you will feel rejuvenated! Sometimes all we need is a good getaway from our regular routines. C |
Authoradmirer of beautiful things, amateur artist, perpetually confused. Archives
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