Pig Farming
Many people reject eating pork and other meats derived from pigs for religious
reasons or health reasons. When people start eating a more vegetarian diet, red meat is usually the first thing
they eliminate from their diets. When they do, various health indicators generally start to improve, such as their
cholesterol levels and blood pressure readings.
Health is one of the most compelling reasons to eat vegetarian, but the inhumane
treatment of the animals mass-produced for human consumption is another reason many people are rejecting a
carnivorous diet.
Pig farming follows the same processes that chicken farming and other animal
farming employ. The pigs are kept in small crates with limited movement. They’re overfed so they can be slaughtered
more quickly. Their living conditions can be dirty and they’re fed growth hormones to stimulate weight gain and
antibiotics to ward off diseases that are the results of their living conditions.
They’re forced to live in unnatural conditions and they exhibit signs of chronic
stress that other animals produced for human food do. They chew on the bars of their cages or worry with their
water bottles excessively. Their limited range of movement prevents the rooting behavior that’s natural for a
pig.
The pigs pay an extremely high price to feed us. And we pay a high price for
eating pork and other red meat. We’re basically not made to eat meat. Our teeth weren’t developed to rip and tear
meat. We evolved from herbivores and it’s still the better way for us to eat.
When we eliminate red meat and other meats and animal products from our diet, we
get healthier – more lean and fit, less tired and sluggish. And there’s the added psychological benefit of knowing
that we’re not contributing to the suffering of innocent animals.
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