Check our Facebook page.

For more recent news, articles and videos, please check above for our facebook page. The majority of new articles and videos will be placed there.

Essential Reasons to Eat Organic Food - To protect your health, animals and Nature

(Article 1)
15 Reasons to Eat Organic Food:

1. In study after study, research from independent organizations consistently shows organic food is higher in nutrients than traditional foods. Research shows that organic produce is higher in vitamin C, antioxidants, and the minerals calcium, iron, chromium, and magnesium.

2. They’re free of neurotoxins–toxins that are damaging to brain and nerve cells. A commonly-used class of pesticides called organophosphates was originally developed as a toxic nerve agent during World War I. When there was no longer a need for them in warfare, industry adapted them to kill pests on foods. Many pesticides are still considered neurotoxins.

3. They’re supportive of growing children’s brains and bodies. Children’s growing brains and bodies are far more susceptible to toxins than adults. Choosing organic helps feed their bodies without the exposure to pesticides and genetically-modified organisms, both of which have a relatively short history of use (and therefore safety).

4. They are real food, not pesticide factories. Eighteen percent of all genetically-modified seeds (and therefore foods that grow from them) are engineered to produce their own pesticides. Research shows that these seeds may continue producing pesticides inside your body once you’ve eaten the food grown from them! Foods that are actually pesticide factories…no thanks.

5. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that pesticides pollute the primary drinking source for half the American population. Organic farming is the best solution to the problem. Buying organic helps reduce pollution in our drinking water.

6. Organic food is earth-supportive (when big business keeps their hands out of it). Organic food production has been around for thousands of years and is the sustainable choice for the future. Compare that to modern agricultural practices that are destructive of the environment through widespread use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers and have resulted in drastic environmental damage in many parts of the world.

7. Organic food choices grown on small-scale organic farms help ensure independent family farmers can create a livelihood. Consider it the domestic version of fair trade.

8. Most organic food simply tastes better than the pesticide-grown counterparts.

9. Organic food is not exposed to gas-ripening like some non-organic fruits and vegetables (like bananas).

10. Organic farms are safer for farm workers. Research at the Harvard School of Public Health found a 70 percent increase in Parkinson’s disease among people exposed to pesticides. Choosing organic foods means that more people will be able to work on farms without incurring the higher potential health risk of Parkinson’s or other illnesses.

11. Organic food supports wildlife habitats. Even with commonly used amounts of pesticides, wildlife is being harmed by exposure to pesticides.

12. Eating organic may reduce your cancer risk. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60% of herbicides, 90% of fungicides, and 30 percent of insecticides potentially cancer-causing. It is reasonable to think that the rapidly increasing rates of cancer are at least partly linked to the use of these carcinogenic pesticides.

13. Choosing organic meat lessens your exposure to antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and drugs that find their way into the animals and ultimately into you.

14. Organic food is tried and tested. By some estimates genetically-modified food makes up 80% of the average person’s food consumption. Genetic modification of food is still experimental. Avoid being part of this wide scale and uncontrolled experiment.

15. Organic food supports greater biodiversity. Diversity is fundamental to life on this planet. Genetically-modified and non-organic food is focused on high yield monoculture and is destroying biodiversity.

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/15-reasons-to-eat-organic-food.html#ixzz2QGfagZMT

(Article 2)
17 Essential Reasons to Eat Organic Food:

Organic food was the only option for thousands of years. Now, with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and genetically-modified foods, organic is still the best option. Here are 17 reasons to eat organic food:

1.  Genetically-modified foods were unleashed on the environment and the public by corporations like Monsanto without prior testing to determine their safety.  In other words, eating genetically-modified foods (which most people in in large amounts) is participating in a long-term, uncontrolled experiment. Choose organic to avoid participating in this experiment.

2.  More and more research is coming in about the health threat of genetically-modified food.  The results range from intestinal damage, allergies, liver or pancreatic problems, testicular cellular changes, tumors, and even death in the experimental animals. For more information, read the excellent books by Jeffrey M. Smith Seeds of Deception andGenetic Roulette. I’ll discuss more of the problems linked with GMOs in upcoming blogs. Eating third-party certified organic foods or those that are guaranteed to be grown from organic seed helps protect you from the health consequences of GMOs.

4 Potential Health Risks of Eating GMO Foods

3.  Fruits and vegetables are real food, not pesticide factories. Eighteen percent of all genetically-modified seeds (and therefore foods that grow from them) are engineered to produce their own pesticides.  Research shows that these seeds continue producing pesticides inside your body once you’ve eaten the food grown from them! Foods that are actually pesticide factories…no thanks.

4.  They’re free of neurotoxins—toxins that are damaging to brain and nerve cells. A commonly-used class of pesticides called organophosphates was originally developed as a toxic nerve agent during World War I. When there was no longer a need for them in warfare, industry adapted them to kill pests on foods. Many pesticides are still considered neurotoxins.  Learn more about pesticides in The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan.

5.  They’re supportive of growing children’s brains and bodies.  Children’s growing brains and bodies are far more susceptible to toxins than adults.  Choosing organic helps feed their bodies without the exposure to pesticides and genetically-modified organisms, both of which have a relatively short history of use (and therefore safety).

6.  In study after study, research from independent organizations consistently shows organic food is higher in nutrients than traditional foods.  Research shows that organic produce is higher in vitamin C, antioxidants, and the minerals calcium, iron, chromium, and magnesium. (For more information, check out The Life Force Diet).

7.  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that pesticides pollute the primary drinking source for half the American population. Organic farming is the best solution to the problem. Buying organic helps reduce pollution in our drinking water.

8.  Organic food is earth-supportive (when big business keeps their hands out of it). Organic food production has been around for thousands of years and is the sustainable choice for the future.  Compare that to modern agricultural practices that are destructive of the environment through widespread use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers and have resulted in drastic environmental damage in many parts of the world.

9.  Organic food choices grown on small-scale organic farms help ensure independent family farmers can create a livelihood. Consider it the domestic version of fair trade.

10. Most organic food simply tastes better than the pesticide-grown counterparts.

11. Organic food is not exposed to gas-ripening like some non-organic fruits and vegetables (like bananas).

12.  Organic farms are safer for farm workers. Research at the Harvard School of Public Health found a 70% increase in Parkinson’s disease among people exposed to pesticides. Choosing organic foods means that more people will be able to work on farms without incurring the higher potential health risk of Parkinson’s or other illnesses.

13.  Organic food supports wildlife habitats. Even with commonly used amounts of pesticides, wildlife is being harmed by exposure to pesticides.

14.  Eating organic may reduce your cancer risk.  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60% of herbicides, 90% of fungicides, and 30% of insecticides potentially cancer-causing.  It is reasonable to think that the rapidly increasing rates of cancer are at least partly linked to the use of these carcinogenic pesticides.

15.  Choosing organic meat lessens your exposure to antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and drugs that find their way into the animals and ultimately into you.

16.  Organic food is tried and tested. By some estimates genetically-modified food makes up 80% of the average person’s food consumption. Genetic modification of food is still experimental. Avoid being part of this wide scale and uncontrolled experiment.

17.  Organic food supports greater biodiversity.  Diversity is fundamental to life on this planet. Genetically-modified and non-organic food is focused on high yield monoculture and is destroying biodiversity.

Adapted from  The Life Force Diet by Michelle Schoffro Cook, PhD.

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/17-essential-reasons-to-eat-organic-food.html#ixzz2QGcfZDzu

* * *

Short list of vegetable foods created using chemical agriculture and that can contain more chemicals - Choose organic foods:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-dirty-dozen-is-now-the-dirty-14.html

Permaculture - Building a New Hope and Restoring the Earth

A MUST SEE - (Earth Focus: Episode 53) Using Permaculture it is possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems, to improve the lives of people trapped in poverty and to sequester carbon naturally. John Liu presents "Hope in a Changing Climate" which showcases approaches that have worked on the Loess Plateau in China, Ethiopia and Rwanda.


Source: http://www.linktv.org/video/8807/restoring-the-earth


LEARN MORE ABOUT PERMACULTURE AND HOW IT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD:
http://beawarebechange.blogspot.pt/2011/11/eco-villages-and-permaculture-way-to.html

GOT THE FACTS ON MILK? Is milk really healthy?

"GOT THE FACTS ON MILK?" - DISCOVER HOW ANIMAL MILK IS A POISON FOR HUMANS:

Got the facts on Milk (also known as "The Milk Documentary") is an entertaining, award winning feature documentary that dares to question the conventional wisdom of the much publicized health benefits of milk and dairy products.

Addressing myth, truth and all in-between, the film is a humorous yet shocking exposition that provokes serious thought about this everyday staple.

The Chief Seattle’s Letter - How Can You Buy or Sell the Sky?

The following is Chief Seattle’s eloquent and ecological response to President Pierce’s 1854 offer to buy a large tract of Indian land.

"This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. "

FULL TEXT:
How Can You Buy or Sell the Sky?

"The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the dew in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man all belong to the same family.

The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each glossy reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.

If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.

Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

One thing we know: our God is also your God. The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.

Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted with talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone! And what is to say goodbye to the swift pony and then hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.

When the last red man has vanished with this wilderness, and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here? Will there be any of the spirit of my people left?

We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it, as we have cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children, and love it, as God loves us.

As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you.

One thing we know - there is only one God. No man, be he Red man or White man, can be apart. We ARE all brothers after all."

Text version from:
http://www.barefootsworld.net/seattle.html

How You and I Can Save the World?

If you pay much attention to the news of climate change, extinction rates and the like, it can look quite depressing and overpowering. And you can be forgiven for throwing your arms up and saying, “The poles are melting, the oceans are dying, and there’s nothing much I can do about it.”

But that’s because most climate scientists and environmental organizations continue to skip over the one critical thing that any and all of us can do to save ourselves, the other animals and the Earth from the devastation that climate change is beginning to wreak.

The fact is there’s one simple thing that we can all do about it. And the more of us do it, the more we can turn this whole thing around while there’s still time.

The key that keeps being ignored is the huge difference we can make by moving to a plant-based diet.

Two years ago, two people from the World Bank wrote a paper saying that more than half of all greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed directly to cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, horses, goats, buffalo and camels.

That’s huge.

It's saying that if you want to stop climate change, stop eating so much meat. It really is as simple as that. The more you switch to a plant-based diet, the more of a difference you make.

The two writers, Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, are not radical vegans from a fringe animal rights group; Goodland is a former World Bank Group environmental advisor, and Anhang is an environmental specialist at the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation.

These two experts reviewed a United Nations report (Livestock’s Long Shadow) which said that annual emissions from these domestic animals account for 18 percent of greenhouse gases. But Goodland and Anhang concluded that the UN’s figures were way too low, and that the true number is at least 51 percent:

Whenever the causes of climate change are discussed, fossil fuels top the list. Oil, natural gas, and especially coal are indeed major sources of human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs).

But we believe that the life cycle and supply chain of domesticated animals raised for food have been vastly underestimated as a source of GHGs, and in fact account for at least half of all human-caused GHGs.

If this argument is right, it implies that replacing livestock products with better alternatives would be the best strategy for reversing climate change. In fact, this approach would have far more rapid effects on GHG emissions and their atmospheric concentrations – and thus on the rate the climate is warming – than actions to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy.

Livestock are already well-known to contribute to GHG emissions. “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, the widely-cited 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), estimates that 7,516 million metric tons per year of CO2 equivalents (CO2e), or 18 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions, are attributable to cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, horses, pigs, and poultry. That amount would easily qualify livestock for a hard look indeed in the search for ways to address climate change.

But our analysis shows that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32,564 million tons of CO2e per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions.

These figures should be a green light for anyone who wants to bequeath to their children a planet that’s not spiraling into climate disaster.

Strong claims like this require strong evidence. And the rest of their article provides detailed evidence. You can read it here.

Very simply, the world’s best chance for mitigating climate change is to eat less meat. And the need is heightened by the fact that human population is expected to grow by 35 percent by 2050. And livestock numbers will double in that time—meaning they’ll be pumping twice the amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The side benefits include a huge savings in water in an increasingly drought-stricken world, and all the health and nutritional benefits – in particular in relation to heart disease, diabetes-2 and several cancers – that are attributable directly to the food we eat.

The article touches briefly on the question of fish. And yes, we should cut way back on that, too. But Goodland and Anhang focus their calculations on the meat side of things because it’s more quantifiable in terms of greenhouse gases.

These figures should be a green light for anyone who wants to bequeath to their children a planet that’s not just spiraling into climate disaster.

After explaining the science of their conclusions, Goodland and Anhang also discuss the benefits to food companies of switching to plant-based food production. And while they’re not marketing experts, they do take a stab at how we can start making the change:

To achieve the growth discussed above will require a significant investment in marketing, especially since meat and dairy analogs (i.e. replacements) will be new to many consumers.

A successful campaign would avoid negative themes and stress positive ones. For instance, recommending that meat not be eaten one day per week suggests deprivation. Instead, the campaign should pitch the theme of eating all week long a line of food products that is tasty, easy to prepare, and includes a “superfood,” such as soy, that will enrich their lives.

When people hear appealing messages about food, they are listening particularly for words that evoke comfort, familiarity, happiness, ease, speed, low price, and popularity.

Of course, there will be significant opposition to such a change – just as there was pushback from the tobacco industry at the now-very-mainstream anti-smoking campaign. But once people recognize just how much damage the meat industry is doing to them, to their children and to the whole world, a movement that’s comparable to the anti-smoking one could begin to snowball.

What’s encouraging about all this is that it gives the lie to the belief that We the People are helpless in the face of climate change. In his recent book Our Choice, which delves deeply into the causes of climate change, Al Gore writes that little of any real consequence can be accomplished at this stage without the concerted action of governments around the world.  But it’s hard to be optimistic about the likelihood of governments around the world working together when we can’t even get our own government working!

The new analysis of Goodland and Anhang goes in quite the other direction. Their focus on the food we eat shows how we can all individually make a difference. And while, certainly, it depends on a lot of us changing our habits, it gives each of us a meaningful starting point together with the potential for a snowball effect.

This could be a real “We the People” campaign that's good for our health, good for our children, good for all the animals, and good for the planet. And it would ensure that we pass on to all of them the legacy of an inhabitable planet.

What could be better than that?

Source:http://www.earthintransition.org/2012/05/how-you-and-i-can-save-the-world/

Dolphins Crying for Help: What Marine Parks Don’t Want You To Know

Bottlenose dolphins have last moments together before being dragged to slaughter.
By SSCS C.G. January 20, 2013

“Blackfish” the new documentary about the captive industry being previewed at the Sundance Film Festival is making waves as it delves into the dark side of captivity. Marineparks are coming under scrutiny as it becomes more obvious everyday that captvity for dolphins is ultimately a death sentence with nothing but suffering along the way.

Taiji, Japan is a perfect example of a place marine parks do not want people to think, or know about. Every year Japanese dolphin hunters are given permits to hunt over 2000 dolphins. A portion are taken for captivity and the rest are slaughtered in the infamous killing cove. Made famous in 2009 when the academy award winning documentary The Cove was released revealing to the world where captivity begins.

Pantropical Spotted Dolphins and trainers working with killers
By SSCS C.G’s January 21, 2013

In the cove killers and trainers many of them IMATA certified work side by side as the brutal captive process and slaughter takes place. During a recent pantropical dolphin drive several dolphins died during the selection process and one that was badly injured was returned to the killing cove and slaughtered with his pod mates.

“54-56 pantropical spotted dolphins were driven into the cove after fighting with everything they had to escape the killers. Trainers from all three captive facilities and killers selected 27 Spotted dolphins for a life in captivity, however, 2 of them died within minutes from the stress they incurred during the drive and selection process. In addition to those, 1 Spotted dolphin was injured so badly that as it left the cove with trainers, the skiff turned around and left the dolphin with killers for slaughter. The 26-28 left over Spotted dolphins were seen as unfit for captivity, but not the butcher house floor, as they were slaughtered at the hands of killers”.

— at Taiji, Japan. (Source)

Many dolphins are kept in the tiny sea pens awaiting transport to Marineparks and Aquariums
By Martyn Stewart January 10, 2013

Taiji harbor, the Whale Museum, and Dolphin Base are loaded with captive dolphins. Each dolphin brings sells for about $150,000 trained and $38,000 untrained. These dolphins are then shipped worldwide. Many are shipped to China, Korea, and the Middle East. It is rumored that these countries can work as stopping points through which the dolphins are shipped to change place of origin.

A Taiji Dolphin at the Dubai Dolphinarium 2012

The Dubai dolphinarium openly purchases dolphins from the cruel Taiji dolphin drives. In addition, their trainers are IMATA certified. A list of marineparks, aquariums, dolphinariums that purchase Taiji dolphins can found here 

Parks like SeaWorld claim to no longer stock using Taiji dolphins directly. Conversely, they do not oppose aquariums and marine parks that do.

“SeaWorld has apparently never taken any action against the drives themselves.

Their argument seems to go as follows: There’s nothing shameful about benetifing from a massacre that would still occur anyway, with or without the sale of certain traumatized animals lucky enough to be spared execution and dispatched to a faraway tank for fun and profit.

Three years ago, after the release of the Oscar-winning film The Cove,MSNBC reported that SeaWorld “refused to condemn those who still buy from Taiji.” Company spokesman Fred Jacobs, “likened such purchases to a salvage operation that prevents some animals from being killed.” (source)

A Taiji Dolphin at the Batumi aquarium 2012

Who is ultimately responsible for the dolphin suffering that takes place in Taiji, Japan? The marine parks and aquariums are complicit but what about the consumers? Everytime a consumer buys a ticket to any marine park world wide they support the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji. Captivity pays the bills. Without the support of the captive industry the slaughter would have died long ago. Those that eat dolphins number are few but the captive industry keeps the drive alive.

“No aquarium, no tank in a marineland, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea,” Jacques Cousteau once said. “And no dolphin who inhabits one of these aquariums or one of those marinelands can ever be considered normal.”

While lucrative captive industries continue to provide financial momentum, wild dolphins in Taiji and larger Japan will continue to lose their lives in barbaric drive hunts.

Pragmatically, however, it is up to patrons of dolphin shows to abstain from supporting marine mammal parks by accepting responsibility that their tickets pay a much larger price—and that price may be the life of a Taiji dolphin.

So don’t buy a ticket”. (source)

WORLD VEGAN DAY

- WORLD VEGAN DAY (November 1):
Watch this short and excellent video and discover what veganism is and how this practical philosophy of life can have a great impact and help change and create a better world for all through the immense benefits it has for the animals, the environment, health and society. Help create a better world, go Vegan and share these information's.

Fresh - Re-inventing the food system to a more sustainable and healthy one

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy

Be aware - Who is to Blame for Animal Cruelty?

For many of us who are aware of the multitude of ways that animals suffer at the hands of humans around the world, this ubiquitous cruelty is the most pressing social justice issue of them all. From declawing to debeaking, ear clipping to tail docking, the suffering that human beings inflict on animals being used for food, clothing, research, ‘pets’ and entertainment appears to know no bounds, and the many brutal ways in which we force animals to succumb to our desires appear to be limited only by the scope of our imaginations.

But why does all this cruelty take place? And what can we do about this horrifying brutality as individuals? It’s easy to point the finger at the direct perpetrators of animal cruelty as being villains who need to be brought to justice. It’s much harder – and yet much more significant – to turn that critical eye inward and ask oneself, ‘What am I doing to contribute to this?’ But it is only by asking that question that the path toward emancipation from barbaric injustice becomes clear.

The vast majority of the time, money and effort of animal welfare organizations goes toward trying to develop new laws and regulations to address the many separate issues relating to animal cruelty, while at the same time trying to force the industry to adhere to those currently in place.  As explained in Are Anti-Cruelty Campaigns Really Effective?, these efforts consistently fail to create any significant improvement for animals.

Behind these campaigns lies a hidden assumption that the animal industry is responsible for animal cruelty. But is this assumption warranted? Isn’t industry simply a middle agent put in place to do the dirty deeds requested by consumers of animal products? Although it’s true that the animal industry is an eager and aggressive middle agent, its role is only that of middle agent. As such, while institutionalized exploiters certainly have a lot to answer for, it is consumers who are primarily responsible for animal cruelty through their purchases of animal products.




Many people will likely respond that their concern is not with the rights of animals not to be enslaved and killed, but with the excessive brutality in the animal industry; gratuitous violence for instance, and the cruelty that is inflicted on animals along the way to being slaughtered and butchered – debeaking,  dehorning, detoeing, mulesing, castration, tail docking, etc. But as long as our society continues to treat animals as property and economic commodities, our legal system will continue to accept such mutilations as a necessary evil on the way to providing goods and services to a human population largely indifferent to what is hidden behind remote sheds and slaughterhouses.

In any case, even if we did find some way to eliminate every single practice involving physical mutilation, it’s impossible to make slavery and murder anything other than slavery and murder. We can slap fancy labels on the products of animal misery and market them as ‘humanely-raised’, ‘animal compassionate’, ‘ethically-produced’ or ‘guilt-free’, but needless killing is needless killing, and no amount of regulation can change that.

It is understandable that individual stories of horrific suffering make people want to seek out the perpetrators, bring them to justice, and protect potential victims from experiencing the same treatment. But pointing the finger at institutional exploiters ignores the most significant issue – that no matter what the suppliers do along the way, consumption of animal products ultimately requires taking animals’ lives.

How can we expect morally decent behavior from the people we ask to carry out the task of breeding, confining and ultimately killing and butchering the animals we choose to enslave and eat? These are innocent beings who most people would rather caress and embrace than hurt and kill.

There is something very unjust about the fact that we delegate the most obscene work of our society to a select few who are emotionally hardened enough to carry it out, only to later denigrate them for their disconnection from their natural sense of empathy. When thinking about it honestly, most of us would be hard-pressed to find it in ourselves to slaughter an animal – or to rip off her skin, or slice open her body to remove the entrails, or butcher her flesh into supermarket-sized pieces… And yet, we continue to ask others to do it for us, while most people refuse to even watch these things on video or hear others describe them.

But our distaste toward being involved in such violent acts isn’t something that should be squelched and suppressed, as Michael Pollan or Julie Powell would have us believe. No – we should be grateful for the revulsion we feel when we imagine what happens to animals in between being born and being on our plates. Our horror is a sane reaction to practices that are nothing short of horrifying.

We cannot separate ourselves from depravity simply because we have found a way to tuck the dirty deeds out of sight – behind the walls of slaughterhouses and other obscure buildings. And all the disconnection and indifference in the world cannot change the fact that it is impossible to distinguish the immorality of a Pollan-style DIY approach from the immorality of any other act of unnecessary violence.
In any court of law, those who are complicit in a crime are considered to be responsible along with those who carry it out.

As expressed so eloquently by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.”

Source:
http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-cruelty-who-is-to-blame.html