Much of this week has been dedicated to intensive study. After two weeks in a work placement, I’ve had to pull my focus back to my University work. As I adore my degree course, this has prompted no hardship. But it has made me think.
One of my modules this year is Creative Visions. It looks at utopian and dystopian texts, as well as related issues in our world today. After going through the list of online resources that were made available, my mind was a whir. I’ve been forced to contemplate and reassess my view on many areas of life that were once a norm for me.
Like eating meat. I’ve been eating meat for as long as I have been able to. When I once asked my mother if I could become vegetarian, she refused, on the grounds that such a diet wouldn’t help me grow. I know which animals produce which meat, like we all do. But I’ve never been confronted with the sheer, unadulterated facts before. There were some truly horrendous sources about the meat industry. Some of them I couldn’t stand to watch the whole way through. After gathering knowledge, I am questioning the unsustainable meat industry for the first time. I am but one person, but this person will not be eating meat for the foreseeable future. I will not fund such irrational behaviour.
I already consider myself to be an environmentally friendly consumer, but this research has reinforced those values so much. To only purchase what I need. To cut down on waste. To constantly re-use and recycle. To use ethics as a guide when shopping, not greed.
Treading lightly on the earth has become my ultimate goal. It would be too easy to let anger overcome you, to lash out and rant about the unfairness of it all. But instead, my actions will become my words. I plan to focus on my own actions and strive to do everything I can to, at the very least, slow down the demise of the planet.
The Domestic Storyteller 
It’s always hard when we first find out facts about some things. I became a demi-veggie many years ago, still eating chicken and fish but no red meats of any description. I had seen turkeys being killed in a factory years before that and gave up turkey meat immediately, to this day I will not have it in the house for anyone to eat. I had somehow never made the connection that this is also how billions of chickens are killed too, when the penny dropped I gave up chicken too. At the moment I am on and off Pescatarian (I eat some fish sometimes) but mostly veggie.
I have watched many Dvds that support my feelings and prove to me that what I’m doing is right.
Treading lightly on this world and doing what we can without being too upset at what others do is important, being in a position to spread the news with words is even more so. I applaud your telling us all what you are finding out and it will be interesting to follow your continued progress.
Isn’t it amazing that we can all ignore facts that are staring us in the face? It’s so bizarre! Thank you for sharing your own experience Sue. I’m going to continue to address this in later posts, because this issue has truly struck a chord with me.
Ooh, fun! Let me know if you need tips? That’s wise advice of Sue’s, especially the not getting upset one.
Good on you! I gave up meat last year (am back on at the moment for fertility reasons – whether or not it makes a difference remains to be seen) and I LOVED being meat free! Once I figured out how to eat properly I had much more energy and felt lighter too. Looking forward to hearing how you go 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! I’ve really noticed how going meat-free has affected my energy levels and zest for life 🙂