Give & Live.

     One of the nicest people I know recently emailed me with a question. She had a paper to write and the topic was "living simply so that others may simply live". She wanted to know if I had anything to contribute. You might notice that in almost all of my posts you can find this sentence: "I had never considered/thought about this before." Well, here we go again. I had never thought about this before. The reason I'm writing this post is not to push my ideas down your throat or to force something upon you that you disagree with; I do that enough. This is simply for the sake of pondering what could be.
     This wonderful person gave me the example of giving up coffee so that you could donate the money you usually use to buy it. What a good idea! Many people deem coffee as a necessity, but there's other ways to have more energy. Something as simple as giving up coffee to be able to give your money, or even donating your own coffee to the food bank, could make someone else's life a little bit easier.
     I had to spend a few minutes trying to figure out what to say to her. Living simply so that others may simply live. Hmmmm. And then it hit me! Well, they hit me. Two things that fit into this category quite nicely, if I do say so myself: 1. Vegetarianism and 2. WWOOFing.
     Let's start with numero uno. This reason for vegetarianism might seem a little juvenile to those more experienced in the field, but I think it deserves just as much credit as any other reason. Giving up meat is easy. Yep, I said it. Last November I decided to stop eating meat one day and I did. Completely. It's really not as hard as it seems. If you are reading this and considering vegetarianism, I believe in you! So, let's say you give up meat. On average, you alone will be saving the lives of about 5,000 animals. That's a number averaged from a few websites, but still! Can you believe that? How incredible would it be if we could all save that many lives? So, only eating vegetables will let animals live. That's pretty cool, I think.
     And WWOOFing! For those of you who aren't familiar, WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. The deal is, you are a volunteer. You travel to a farm (which can be anywhere in the whole world, by the way), you help them and they give you food and a place to stay. My best friend is in Belgium right now and he recently WWOOFed. The farm he stayed at was permaculture oriented. I don't know too many details about the farm and I don't want to give any false information, but from what I gathered, the conditions were pretty basic. There was no running water and no heating whatsoever. But! Because my fantastic friend went and stayed with these people for a few weeks, he was able to help them insulate their roof for the winter. So, he gives up showers and toilets and warmth, but these people get to be a little bit warmer when the snow starts to fall. Isn't that nice?
     Again, this isn't meant to force you into caffeine withdrawals, vegetarianism or WWOOFing (if it does, though, I would not complain), it's simply to make you think a little more. What could you give up to make someone else's life better? And how much better would the world be as a whole if everyone thought about this topic for five minutes?

Moonlight and Piglets.

     I'm in the middle of a book called "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer. Judging by the title, I thought this book would be a case for vegetarianism. Foer denies this at the beginning of the book saying that it is simply a book on factory farming. When a person who is the least bit educated on the process hears the words "factory farm", a shudder due to unpleasant thoughts and guilt is not uncommon. Though there are many important educational points in this book that highlight cruelty and pain inflicted on farmed animals, these are not the parts that affect me the most. Foer does spend plenty of time talking about the way we treat animals but he also talks a fair amount about the beauty of animals. Learning about the way animals interact, play and live with each other makes me never want to eat meat again. We are so much more like animals than unlike them. Now that I have this knowledge, I can appreciate the life of the planet without feeling guilt or shame. Because I am a vegetarian, I can live side by side with any animal knowing that I am doing my part in preserving its existence.
     If you are a vegetarian, I promise you will love all of these fun facts! If you aren't a vegetarian...you'll still love them!
     In the second chapter of his book, Foer describes seahorses. Seahorses like to swim in pairs with their tails linked together, just as humans like to hold hands. They also commit their seahorse lovin' to only one other seahorse for the entireity of their lives. They have this in common with penguins and some humans. Seahorses also prefer to mate under full moons and are said, by Foer, "[to make] musical sounds while doing so". I had never before considered the majestically romantic lives of seahorses. It's amazing how easy it is to relate to these skeletal beings even though we seem so far apart. Seahorses are one of the species that end up as bycatch while trawling for shrimp.
     Further on in the book, Foer writes about pigs. Sadly, when many people think about pigs, they think about bacon and ham. Pigs are proven to be as smart or smarter than the average dog. Because of this, pigs seem to have pretty strong learning capabilities; they can learn to do things like sniff out truffles in densely forested areas. Pigs prefer to sleep communally! So cute! Pigs' social lives are one of the most important factors in their overall happiness. Foer relates the importance of pigs' companionship with other pigs to the importance of children having friends in school. Speaking of which, pigs are the closest to humans genetically and because of this, it is not uncommon for small children to be drawn to piglets.
     Animal intelligence is highly underappreciated and underrated. Here are some more examples: a lot of people see rats as dirty vermin, but not many people know that lab rats, when faced with the choice, would rather unlock a fellow rat's cage than be given a treat. Also, it is said by many biologists that whales may be more intelligent than humans and that they have a family culture with their species that runs so deep, humans cannot even begin to fathom it.
     So, my veggie friends, the next time you bite into that hot dog-shaped soy weiner, do it proudly and know that you're having an incredibly positive impact on animal life. And to my omnivorous pals, before you take another piece of bacon, please just stop and think.
     If anyone finds any other awesome animal facts, please comment! Also, please read "Eating Animals". You will not regret it!

Veggies, veggies, veggies.

     In Grade 11 English, my classmates and I were assigned a research project that included giving a five minute speech. I was terrified at the idea of this and that definitely showed when I took to the front of the classroom. My stage fright aside, many of my classmates handled the situation extremely well. One of these well-versed young people did a crazy sales pitch on becoming a vegetarian. He was so passionate and educated on the subject that he actually convinced a few people in the class to give it a try. This handsome, young man is now my best friend and a mere ten months ago, he convinced me that being a vegetarian is the right thing to do.
     Now, my friend's main reasons for being vegetarian, which he highlighted in his speech, are more environmental/economic and have to do largely with sustainability which I totally understand and admire. One of his points that really stuck with me is this: 13% of overall pollution comes from every type of transportation; cars, trains, planes, busses, you name it. 18% of overall pollution is caused by factory farming and the food industry. I began my vegetarianism with these facts and statistics about the environment from my dear friend and they served as a fantastic foundation for my journey through this lifestyle. After learning about this aspect of vegetarianism, I began to do some research on my own to find more reasons to stick with it.
     An anthropologist named Dr. Richard Leakey was quoted on PETA's website as saying, "You can't tear flesh by hand, you can't tear hide by hand. Our anterior teeth are not suited for tearing flesh or hide." Many biologists and anthropologists agree that, physically, humans are not built for the consumption of meat. Factors such as the pH of our stomach acid, having no claws to kill with and the existence of flat molars in the back of our mouths give us the impression that humans are naturally herbivorous.
     Along with these physical deficiencies comes the simple psychological reasoning as to why we should not eat meat.When the average person walks into a McDonald's to order a Big Mac meal, she is not imagining tearing apart a cow limb from limb with her bare hands and gnawing on some raw flesh. No, she is envisioning a burger. Plain and simple. Humans do not have the urge to mercilessly slaughter, so why do we accept meat (murdered animals) so lightly in our every day lives? Because we are completely detached to the reality of where this meat is coming from. The children's book "Vegan is Love" by Ruby Roth is under intense scrutiny due to its "graphic" depiction of the reality of eating animals. The book includes images of animals in crowded cages and explains to children the crimes that are being committed against many friendly species. Critics are arguing that the book is too scary for children. In an interview with "Today", Ruby Roth was quoted as saying, "If it's too scary to talk about, the reality of where those pieces of meat come from, then it's definitely too scary to eat."
     There is always more to say about this topic and I will definitely be saying more about it in the future. Through my ten months of this new lifestyle, I've learned so much about vegetarianism and I continue to learn more each day. What it comes down to for me, personally, is the fact that I am no different than a pig, a whale, a monkey, a calf, a sheep, a dog or a cat. These things are also no different than each other and they are no different than you. We are all species and no one species should see themselves as better than any other.
     That's the beginnings of my info/opinion on the subject. I'd love to hear what you have to say!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/vegan-is-love-book_n_1441699.html

http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/the-natural-human-diet.aspx