Jane and I became vegans primarily for our health, but as with many other decisions one makes in life, our reasons were varied. We were happy to be doing something that is better for the environment and pleased to do our part to reduce the need for factory farming, but our primary focus was our health.
Our primary reason, better health, hasn’t changed. But over time, we’ve become more aware of the compassionate nature of our decision. As I’ve mentioned in the past, Jane does most of the food preparation in our home. In our meat-eating days, I’d occasionally come home to find her “grossed-out” about the carcass she was handling. Now, when we’re grocery shopping, she’ll say to me “I can’t imagine eating a dead animal ever again.”
Recently I came home to find her crying in front of the computer. I dropped my things and ran into the room to find out what was wrong. When Jane was able to compose herself, she told me she’d been watching Earthlings, a 2003 documentary on the relationship between animals and humans, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, with music by Moby.
The video is presented in a less militant manner than the usual animal rights material. Personally, I find this to be much more effective. Rather than putting people on the defensive, it presents the facts in rational, straightforward manner which encourages thought.
We all need to understand where our food comes from. We should all understand the impact of buying our pets instead of getting them at the pound or an animal rescue. We should all be made aware of just how that new medicine (which may just combat the disease brought on by your meat-laden diet) was developed. We need to understand the environmental impacts of our actions. We all have a right to choose how we live and to choose what we eat, but we should make our choices based on all the facts. Watch Earthlings in streaming video (or click here to download Earthlings– also available in Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, German, Hebrew, English, Estonian, Greek, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese).
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Elaine Vigneault // Mar 19, 2008 at
Earthlings is a great film.
It made me cry too.
2 Lane // Mar 19, 2008 at
I was very sad after watching this. As a species, we think we’re enlightened… and then you see something like this movie, and listen to their well positioned arguments. And suddenly we’re all barbarians.
3 Foodeater // Mar 20, 2008 at
Thank you very much for posting the link for the download. Got it saved and will be watching it soon. I’ve been wanting to see it but most rental places around here don’t carry it and neither does Netflix.
I recently was sent a DVD to review called “A Sacred Duty” which addresses the environmental crisis from the view point of Judaism. I haven’t watched it yet but there’s supposed to be a large part dedicated to the cruelties of factory farming and the moral/ethical issues related to how animals are treated, and our diets in general.
I am not a religious person but I am very interested to hear the perspective they take in this film. I think you can get a copy at http://www.jewishveg.com and if you do a search I believe it’s online as well. I’ll review it over on my blog once I’m able to find a moment to watch it!
4 Lane // Mar 20, 2008 at
Foodeater… make sure you’ve got a box of Kleenex handy. It’s really sad.
I hadn’t heard of “A Sacred Duty,” but “Earthlings” touches on how Kosher meats are processed versus how they are supposed to be.
Thanks for sharing the link. I’m curious to read your review of both.
5 David // Mar 22, 2008 at
OMG. This was incredibly moving. I’ve been a veggie for about 7 years. I’m going to have to go vegan now. I used to justify the milk and eggs, but after seeing this, I can’t.
I might still eat dairy and eggs if I could buy them from a small traditional, family farm - but the factory farming practices are just too horrific.
6 Lane // Mar 22, 2008 at
David,
We’re not into proselytizing, so we use our blog as a forum to spread the word.
Glad you found it valuable.
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