After a long hiatus to finish graduate school, become a social worker, and get life back to some semblance of normalcy, I’m excited to resume blogging about all kinds of vegan news and reviews. While away, I also started a new side blog about my departure from social media found here on wordpress at Since I Quit Facebook, where I write about all kinds of things that are interesting to me beyond the vegan world (true crime, aliens, music, dogs, smart watches, etc.), but I’m really looking forward to resuming this blog!
Well, looks like Nashville has some work to do to break into the top 10, but we are well on our way to becoming a more vegan friendly city! Later this month, I’ll post reviews of Nashville Veg Fest, Two Boots Pizza, and the Nashville Human Society Mutt Strut, so stay tuned!
Image courtesy of the National Anti-Vivisection Society
I recently started graduate school studying Social Work, which has been absolutely fantastic and explains my lengthy absence from posting! However, I have noticed one alarming feature of the scholarly research we have been studying. Some of the psychological studies we have read about employ animal testing methods that strike me as alarmingly cruel and have left me feeling very disturbed. As a vegan, I have always been on the fence about medical testing. What if a drug tested on monkeys proved to be an effective cure for AIDS? My gut reaction tells me that, in this case, the ends would justify the means. Of course curing AIDS would be of enough benefit to society to justify animal trials. But with that logic, where do we draw the line? Scientists use animal testing to study plenty of things that are certainly relevant to understanding and improving human quality of life, but at what point are the findings not enough to justify the cruelty to animals? Furthermore, is there a way to make the testing less barbaric without sacrificing safety or efficacy?
A few weeks ago, we read about a study that is still haunting me. This experiment aimed to study brain development related to the neural center for visual processing, and in order to find out how and when the brain learns to interpret visual stimuli, scientists blinded baby kittens by sewing their eyes shut. It hurts me to even type such a sentence. I am absolutely horrified that animals were treated like this in the name of science. The study found that the kittens who were blind during a certain period of infancy were unable to ever learn how to see, even when they were allowed to open their eyes later in life. There is a critical window during which the brain learns how to read visual information coming in through the eyes, and if that window is missed, the animal will never be able to see. Ok, that is very useful information. But does it justify sewing kittens’ eyes shut and permanently blinding them? You know, I really want to say ABSOLUTELY NOT, it was not worth it, but what if there is a child out there who has the ability to see because of information discovered during this study?
As you can see, these issues get into some sticky ethical ground. I’m really not sure what to think. I know we can’t abolish all animal testing, but is it even possible to draw a line between what’s necessary and what’s blatantly cruel? In another study of traumatic brain injury, scientists gave mice brain injuries by dropping weights on their skulls and then tested their levels of depression and anxiety. One way they tested levels of depression was a “swim test,” in which they put the mice in a narrow tube filled with water to see how long they would fight to keep their heads above water before finally going under. The study didn’t indicate if the mice were taken out before they drowned, and this omission led me to believe that more than a few mice didn’t make it. The study ultimately concluded that the data were probably not that useful in understanding depression and anxiety in humans with traumatic brain injury. I think that was the worst part. Why subject all those mice to such terrible experiences just to conclude that it was worthless?
All I can say for sure is that something is definitely wrong with this picture, and I think we need to further investigate and discuss the issue. There is no clear right or wrong standard by which to judge the ethical basis of animal testing, but we can’t just ignore it because it’s a difficult issue. I will also say as a disclaimer that I have heard of certain activists threatening violence against scientists and laboratories known to test on animals, and I find this behavior appalling and antithetical to the mission of protecting all living beings from harm. If you harass and threaten people because of their actions, you’re not a vegan in my opinion. This lifestyle is about exercising compassion for all living beings, humans included.
The link below has some further reading for those who are interested. I’m looking forward to hearing what other people have to say on this issue!
Mercy for Animals led a protest yesterday outside a Gordon Food Service office in Goodlettsville, TN. GFS’s main poultry supplier, Wayne Farms, was the subject of an undercover video made by Mercy for Animals, in which chickens are shown being abused, sick and crippled, and subjected to unnecessary suffering before meeting their untimely demise. The images in the video linked above are disturbing, but as always, I encourage you to get a first-hand look at the practices your dollars are supporting.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time Tennessee has gained attention for animal abuse. Tennessee poultry producers have been in trouble several times for unnecessarily cruel and inhumane practices, and it really hurts my heart to think about how awful you have to be to stand out in the ANIMAL SLAUGHTER industry.
You can help support Mercy for Animals in their endeavors to end animal abuse! Share this story, donate to their cause, and start conversations with your friends and family about boycotting companies that profit from animal cruelty. We vote with our dollars every day, and the only way companies like GSF are able to exist is through our financial support– make a statement by choosing not to buy their products. If we can put enough pressure on Walmart to adopt better standards for meat suppliers, we can do anything.
Of course, the most cost-effective and personally beneficial way you can contribute is by going vegan! It’s good for your body, your mind, and your soul. But does one person going vegan really make an impact on animal suffering? YES!! Each person who adopts a vegan diet saves around 200 animals a year. That’s a big deal!!!
Animal rights activists protested outside the Gordon Food Service store in Goodlettsville on Monday, claiming one of the company’s suppliers causes “sickening abuse” while processing chickens.
Animal lovers from Sumner, Robertson, Davidson and Williamson counties joined activists with West Hollywood, Calif.-based Mercy For Animals at Monday’s event.
This is the sixth in a series of 10 protests planned at locations nationwide of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Gordon Food Service, the largest private food service distributor in North America.
The protests follow an MFA undercover investigation that they say resulted in a video of “horrific animal cruelty” at Dobson, N.C.-based Wayne Farms, the biggest chicken supplier of GFS.
The investigation took place in April and May of 2014. The video, which was provided to the Gallatin News Examiner, shows a slaughterhouse with hundreds of chickens hanging upside down over their own blood, moving frantically with large open wounds and being decapitated.
“The video shows workers violently slamming birds in metal shackles, breaking their wings and legs, birds being electrocuted and having their throats sliced open while being fully conscious and birds being scalded alive,” MFA’s national campaign coordinator Jeni Haines said Monday. “This is sickening abuse no company with morals should support.”
Policy demanded
Holding signs with photos of the chickens, protestors called for the company to adopt a meaningful animal welfare policy. One protestor was dressed as “Abby,” an abused 7-foot-tall chicken with a bloody broken wing, slit throat, missing feathers and open wounds to reflect how birds are allegedly treated.
“We’re asking Gordon Food Service to demand that their chicken supplier make on-farm improvements to prevent the sick mistreatment and injury of birds at the slaughterhouse and to switch to less-cruel killing systems,” Haines said. “By switching to less-cruel killing systems, Gordon Food Service can ensure better living conditions for the chickens, less suffering when they’re slaughtered, better worker conditions and a healthier food for the consumers.
“Gordon Food Service has the power and the ethical responsibility to end the suffering of animals in its supply chain.”
GFS said in a statement the company “believes in the humane treatment of animals.”
“As a responsible food service distributor, we have always insisted that our suppliers adhere to all applicable laws and regulations, and meet industry standards within their respective product areas,” GFS officials said.
“We will continue to work with our suppliers to ensure they operate responsibly, just as we have for the last 118 years.”
The supplier, Wayne Farms, did not return calls seeking comment on Monday.
‘It’s unhealthy’
In the video, published online at www.goryfoodservice.com and narrated by celebrity Pamela Anderson, an unidentified worker explains how decisions are made on whether to kill or save the birds.
“If they’re breathing, you need to hang them,” the worker says. “But if they got a broken wing and leg broken or something like that, they’re still alive. I mean we can still salvage that bird.”
Connie and husband Peter Barbour came to the event from Greenbrier to fight for “the animals and for food safety,” said Connie, 50, a social workers and nurse.
“I’m concerned about our food systems and what happens in processing animals for our food consumption, what we’re feeding our families and our children,” she said. “It’s unhealthy. The birds are being contaminated with all sorts of feces, E. coli; there’s no telling what we’re eating these days. That’s why sickness and bacteria are on the rise.
“But not only that, it’s for the social welfare of these animals because animals have hearts and souls and feelings just like we do, and they deserve to be treated and slaughtered humanely if we’re going to have animal consumption.”
Several of the protesters were vegans, including MFA volunteer from Los Angeles Chandler Eckert.
“I love animals,” Eckert, 20, said. “And I love my body, and I don’t want to ruin it.”
Nashville Animal Advocacy co-organizer Tricia Lebkuecher, also a vegan, said contrary to what people may think, most chickens do not live happily on a farm before they’re slaughtered.
“Most people don’t understand the amount of suffering that goes into the production of meat,” said Lebkuecher, 24, who lives in Nashville. “The reality is that there’s no way to produce the amount of meat that people desire, and we can’t feed that many people with ‘humane farms.’ The only solution is to eat less meat.”
You Are What You Eat 