Poem

THIS is why I do not drink milk any more.

This almost made me cry. I do not believe in heaven or hell, but I do believe that some living things lives are like a 'hell' on this earth.

Did you know my mother? I'm told her name was Belle.

I don't know what she looked like, but have memories of her smell.

Did you ever hear my mother?...Did her cries pull at your heart?

I remember them quite clearly, when the men pulled us apart.

Did you drink from my mother? Did you ever taste her milk?

Did you feel her face against yours? Was her skin as soft as silk?

I've been told I had two brothers, and my sisters numbered four,

Then my mother went to slaughter, of no value any more.

Were you there with my mother? Did you look into her eyes?

Did you see the fear within them? Did you listen to her cries?

And now MY end is coming, I am waiting with my friends,

We are huddled close together, In this place where all life ends.

Will you be there at our slaughter? For the flesh you want to eat.

Will you ever think about us? When you buy that piece of meat.

It's my turn now, I'm moving. I am going to my end.

I am urged with shouts and kicking, and with sticks that never bend.

I am thinking of my mother, and remembering her smell.

And I know we'll meet in heaven, and forget this life called Hell.

By Mary Lynn

Healthy, ethical eating habits.

So, over the past 6 months or so I have made some drastic changes to mine and my hubbies diet (with his permission, help, and encouragement of course.. well after he knew he wasn't going to change my mind about it!).

• We have cut back the amount of meat to less than a third of what we were eating. 
• What meat we do eat is now chicken or fish, with the occasional pork (sorlion steaks only please!) and only about once a week/every 10 days a beef dish (with that beef either being our traditional spag bol or a delicious stir fry with plenty of vegies!)
• We have not eaten potatoes in a very long time (minus the occasional hot chippies from the corner store).
• We have Miso Soup at least 5 nights of the week.
• To make up for less meat we have added lots of vegies (mainly capsican, onion, mushroom (of all different varities) shallots, carrot, pak choy, buk choy, choy sum, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato, pumpkin... etc!)
• We eat rice with almost every meal (at least 5 times a week).
• The beef we buy is organic beef. The chicken we buy was Lilydale organic, but I have recently found RSPCA approved chicken so am buying that now. And as soon as I can sort things out and find where to buy it from, my meat will be bought directly from the farmer, so I can speak to him/her directly about his/her animal management and slaughter practices.
• Researching and contacting many different egg companies to find the one I was happy with (harder than it seems!) and settled on EgoEggs. They have a chockcam!! So cool.
• We (my hubby!) make all our own sauces to go on our food now. With the exception of good old BBQ sauce for the occasional take out and our newfound love of Tonkatsu sauce. We also use a heap of spices and herbs, fresh and dried.

We have not found these changes hard at all to implement, nor difficult to get used to. We both love the food we are cooking and also love experimenting with which vegies should go with each other and the different sauces we can make for them. We feel lighter, more energetic, and don't feel that cooking dinner is a drag that uses up precious time at the end of the day because we cook together, and enjoy the meal together.

All these choices I have made (and discussed with my hubby before trying them) has been based on animal welfare. The decisions I make about my food now come down to one question: 'Where did this come from, and did animals have to suffer for me to have this?'

My latest addition to my 'healthier, more ethical' eating habits is my decision to give away cows milk. The milk industry is horrifying (to say the least) and unnecessary. I never thought twice about buying milk, but after researching what was actually happening for me to have my coffee in the morning I was disgusted.

So I have now given away my cows milk and replaced it with Soy milk. It def takes a bit to get used to! It almost tastes nutty. I have to make the coffee a little stonger atm to mask a little bit of the flavour of the soy milk but I could tell from the first taste that it is something I will be able to get used to.

It is something I want to, and need to get used to. As I will no longer support the milk trade. It will probably be the hardest thing for me to do personally. I have always been a 'dairy girl', and can drink 2L of milk in less than a day at times. But knowing what I do now, the decision to drink milk would weigh heavily on my conscience, and I do not want that. The animals harmed by this trade do not deserve that. And no matter how long it takes me to get used to Soy milk, I will not go back.

I am def not a perfect person in the least. Even with all these changes, I love my Pizza too much to give it up totally. But instead of eating it once a week, it is now once a month, if that. We no longer eat KFC (I refuse to even go near the place - although the smell is mouth watering). If we don't feel like cooking, we make an effort to go to Subway (although I still maintain Subway is not dinner food! It is lunch food!). And when out for dinner I choose seafood if at all possible, if not, I try one of the vegetarian dishes on the menu.

It makes shopping a little harder, you need to plan out meals a little better (vegies go off so quickly!), and it takes longer to cook. But I have a supportive husband who enjoys cooking as much as me, and is happy to go along with my meat choices to a certain point (def no full vegetarian for him, but thats alright... I don't think I could do it either!).

So I will continue doing so, and continue to make better, healthier, and more ethical choices about my food. And I will sleep well knowing that in my house, I am trying to make a difference.

Melbourne Cup (and any other animal racing)

So, the Melbourne cup came and went, and I almost missed knowing about it completely, which would have been fine with me. However, an RSPCA facebook post reminded me about the race, and also reminded me why I do not participate in any horse racing (or other animal racing) events.

While a race stops a nation - let us pause for all those who didn't make it to the racetrack. Sadly, in a blur of glitz & glamour, high heels, fancy hats, and marquee parties there are some less than glamorous animal welfare issues associated with horse racing.




RSPCA is opposed to the use of animals for any kind of entertainment, exhibition or performance where injury, suffering or distress is likely to be caused. Welfare issues can arise as a result of the performance itself, but also through training, transport, housing and handling associated with such use. (Policy http://kb.rspca.org.au/RSPCA-Policy-C04-Horses-in-sport-entertainment-and-recreation_175.html)


All for a few bucks and a drunken night. =(

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/RSPCAQLDHorseRescue