At the tender age of 4, I was sent to stay with my relatives for a few weeks one summer. My cousin, a year older than me, lived way out in the country. Her family had one cow which they milked. Behind their house, thru the woods, was a slaughter house.
Cousin had to deliver milk a couple of times to the butcher there, and I went with her. To this day, I can still smell the stench from the slaughterhouse. The first time we walked thru there, I asked her what were those things hanging on the walls? She told me they were dead animals the butcher had killed and hung there.
My insides revolted from the horrible scene before me. How can anyone hurt, much less kill animals and do these things to their bodies? This just wasn't right!
The second trip there was more than I could handle and I never went back and
I've never forgotten the memory.
Soon as I walk in the front door of grocery stores now, I can smell that same stench from the meat department, as I smelled in that slaughterhouse.
Before I even started going to school, I was crazy about 'weenies', or hot dogs. Soon as my mom would bring them in the house I'd have half a pack eaten before she had the rest of the groceries put away.
Somewhere along the way, I asked her what they were made of.
I threw up on the spot when she told me. I was VERY indignant that she would feed me such rot! To this day, I've never touched another weenie.
Several years later, (when I was 6 yrs old) she remarried, to a very sadistic man (I won't go into all the details about him, after all, this post is about food).
Mom would cook fat sausages for supper sometimes, which I really hated. She would make me take at least a bite which I would, grudgingly but obediently.
But then, when she got up from the table, her husband ( I refuse to call this person my step-dad) would force me to eat all the sausages in the bowl that they hadn't eaten. I hated doing this with a passion! He wouldn't let me go from the table till i'd done it, and he couldn't be reasoned with. He would smirk with that awful evil glint in his eye as I suffered thru choking down that crap.
Soon as he released me from the table, I'd run to the bathroom and throw it all up.
My mother never stood up to him on my behalf so this went on for a couple of years.
Fast forward to my teens...
I was beginning to give up meat, bit by bit, with my ever growing knowledge of animal abuse and nutrition.
When I was eighteen yrs old, I was already pregnant with my first baby.
(Something I DON'T recommend, by the way)
At this point, the only meat I was eating was smoked pork chops occasionally.
One day, my husband (yes, at least I was married) and I went squirrel hunting. He was a real country boy and had grown up in the woods watching the animals.
We sat under a tree for the afternoon watching quietly all the activity around us.
He'd say "now watch that bird or listen to that birds call, everything they are doing is all for protecting their babies".
Boy, did I have an ephiphany that day!
As we sat, watching with fascination, I was overcome with several feelings of empathy and wisdom.
I felt to the core of my soul the fact that I never wanted to eat anything that can run from me in fear, anything that has babies it cares for, protects and has the same love for, as I do for mine.
Sitting there, swollen with my first very precious baby inside of me, I realized I wouldn't want anyone killing MY babies for food!
I've always had a soul-deep love for animals. To me, they are not food, but our
brothers & sisters, our companions & friends.
That day, I vowed never to eat meat again and to always treat all animals with the respect they deserve.
That was in the summer of 1970. I've kept my vow for 36 years now, and will until the day I die.
In 1970, 1974, 1981 I gave birth to healthy, good-looking babies from a vegetarian diet.
I tried to raise them as vegetarians too, but when they got their teeth and smelled the meat I had to cook for their dad, he would gleefully tempt them with it, completely ignoring my pleas to let them stay meat-free.
After our divorce in 1988, my youngest daughter told me I didn't have to cook meat for her, she got enough of it at her dads to satisfy her. Bless her heart.
In my present situation, my Boss cooks his meat and I cook the veggies & such.
His grandson brought a hog from his FFA class at school, out here to the farm for us to keep. At first, I disliked the idea, as I'm not crazy about smelly pigs. (that and the fact that the Bible tells us they are 'unclean' animals & we are not to touch or eat them).
But that hog really grew on me and we actually fell in love with each other!
I was the only friend on this earth he had and he seemed to realize it.
When it was decided he was to be slaughtered for the kitchen table, I begged with all my heart, please don't.
But my cries fell on deaf ears.
When the packages were brought home filled with his poor carcass, it was so revolting to me, I couldn't even look at the packages, much less be around when he was being cooked.
Sometimes, when Boss would be mad at me for some stupid reason, he'd leave one of the packages lying open on the kitchen counter just to be mean to me.
For those of you becoming vegans, I tell you what.... meat-eaters can be horribly cruel to you just for their fun of it, and that is something you will have to get used to, because it WILL happen to you all your vegan life. People who have no feelings for the poor animals they kill and eat, also have no feelings for you.
The King James Bible tells us that our original diet was to be fruits, veggies, nuts & seeds. Because men started killing the animals for food, God said ok, if you insist on eating animals, here's a list of clean & unclean animals and how you can tell the difference. Read DEUTERONOMY chapter 14, verses 3 - 20
When God instructed Noah to build the ark and load the animals, he told him to load the clean animals by sevens and the unclean animals by two's. Genesis chapter7 verse 2
Going down to chapter 8 verse 20-22, and we see that Noah burnt & offered clean animals to God ...
So, I can't say eating clean animals is wrong with God ... but... for me personally ...it is.
I leave meat-eaters alone and only wish them to leave me alone with my veganism.
It may be true you need to combine grains with beans to get a complete protein, but it isn't hard to do. I've never suffered any malnourishment from a vegan diet.
( I left being a vegetarian and moved into being complete vegan during the past few years).
I'm stocky, well nourished, well formed and if you look at all the animals who are vegetarians, they are stocky and healthy too. Horses, hippos, goats, etc...
There is a book out about how to eat according to your blood type. It tells how certain types are carnivores, some are gatherers and so on. I'm type A and a gatherer, but my ex-husband is type A and a carnivore so I don't know how much truth there is to the theory.
I encourage and proudly applaud anyone who becomes vegan.
And the animals do too : )
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