To become Vegetarian/Vegan?

Last weekend I watched Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy, two documentaries on Netflix. Seaspiracy in particular has really opened my eyes with regards to just how much damage commercial fishing on a mass scale is doing to our oceans and it’s marine life. There is no such thing as sustainably caught fish, when it comes to large scale commercial fishing of which it relies on trawling, when huge fishing nets trawl the depths and catch all sorts of marine life, and tragically there is ‘Bycatch” among it’s victims are dolphins, sharks, sea turtles, whales, octopuses, rays, seals, birds, and other “nontarget” species who are caught or become entangled in fishing nets, like those targeting tuna or shrimp and are discarded, left to die. Yes plastic pollution is a serious problem in our oceans, but 45% of the plastic in the oceans are discarded fishing nets, which of course entangle and kill a lot of marine life as well. Over 300 000 dolphins and whales are killed as a result of commercial fishing bycatch. Up to 40% of worldwide commercial fishing is bycatch and most of that bycatch dies before it gets thrown back into the sea. I certainly will not be eating any more fish bought in a supermarket and that claims to be “sustainably caught”.

It is just too easy for us, especially those of us who live in cities and shop in supermarkets when it comes to eating fish and other meat. How many of us have truly experienced what the animals we eat go through to end up in our supermarket fridges? How connected are we to the animals we consume and the nature around us? Most city dwellers aren’t very connected. I am nearly fifty, and I have eaten animal meat i.e. mostly chicken, beef and pork most of my life. Lamb is very expensive in South Africa and I hardly eat it. I grew up eating meat in the seventies and eighties and have continued to do so throughout my life. Thing is, when I was born, the earth’s population was just under four billion – it is now just under 8 billion, so in my lifetime, our population has doubled. Humans had more land available to them fifty years ago and it was easier to rear cattle and other animals more naturally back then. Not only that, when I was born, 37% of the world’s population lived in cities – compared to 56% now so it’s obvious there is more of a disconnect between urban dwellers and the nature around them. So many people are taught to believe that eating animal meat and products is a necessity, and the human desire for animal meat is almost insatiable, even if it means eating meat that comes from mass reared animals and animals reared under unnatural conditions. Question is, can we humans feed ourselves but look after the whole planet at the same time? The whole planet which includes the land, it’s soil, it’s forests, it’s rivers and it’s oceans. I believe we can, but the more I’ve come to realize it’s not through rearing animals on mass produced feedlots, be it beef, pork or chicken. If one does decide they want to eat those animal meats from feedlots, they are eating meat from animals that have been bred and reared under very unnatural conditions. We can live and eat in willful ignorance, it’s quite easy – and I’ll admit I have been doing for years. After watching Seaspiracy it has truly hit me full on and it’s also the fact that in the last few decades we have done so much damage to our planet. The evidence is all around us, and if we believe we can carry on doing what we are doing to the planet we are being very naïve . Big business has mostly taken over the world, it’s all about profit, and very little about caring about the planet and protecting our finite recourses and life. Something has got change. We have to go back to the basics as much as possible and we have to work with nature as much as we can.

Becoming vegan or at least vegetarian is a very personal decision. Being an animal meat eater is also a very personal decision. We have to weigh up the pros and cons. Eating the cheapest possible meat from large chain supermarkets mostly comes from mass reared animals in feedlots i.e. we are eating animal meat, and animal dairy and eggs, that comes from animals reared in unnatural conditions and we have to ask ourselves are we happy to eat that animal meat and in good conscience? My answer is no, not anymore. If I do eat meat from now on, I want to know, those animals have been naturally reared, that have roamed and felt the grass underneath and when killed, it was done in a way that there was as little suffering as possible. Humans have eaten animal meat since time immemorial. Thing is, we have only been eating feedlot animals for the last sixty years or so – and those animals are not being reared naturally, and that is the problem. Never mind the antibiotics they are given, and the grains (probably mostly GMO grains at that) that they are fed – and we are eating that meat. No, it’s not normal, and I say no more for me. If I can source animal meat that I know has been reared as naturally as possible on grazing land, I might say okay and this includes animal products like milk and eggs, otherwise, I will now be eating mostly plant based food. Junk food is a whole different topic, and I could go off on a tangent, but for now I won’t! I don’t eat much junk food anyway, but unhealthy fast food takeaway chains are also certainly part of the problem when it comes to demand for cheap meat.

If we care about the planet and where we are headed, we have to make a decision to start somewhere, in order to heal our severely stressed planet.