“Nobody knows who’s responsible for correcting animal abuse at the plant. The USDA does zilch.”117
Eisnitz chronicled the constant failure of U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors to stop this abuse and their willingness to look the other way. In addition, she exposed the USDA’s blatant tolerance for allowing contaminated meat into the human food supply. Think about it.
Ten billion
animals a year! Do you think the USDA has enough inspectors to supervise the humane and safe slaughter of
10 billion
animals a year? Of course the inspectors tolerate abuse and contaminated meat. Imagine the kind of person who would have a job that entailed witnessing the slaughter of thousands of innocent animals every day. Even if every single inspector did a good job (they don’t), the factory workers can easily bypass the system. Eisnitz interviewed one worker from a horse slaughterhouse, who said, “Might be part of him’s [a contaminated horse] bad, might be the pneumonia’s traveled everywhere. I’d drag him back, and my boss would tell me to cut the hindquarters off and bring him into the cooler. The meat’s supposed to be condemned, but still you’d cut it up and bag it.”
When Eisnitz asked, “But don’t they have to be stamped ‘USDA inspected?’ “ he responded, “He [his boss] got the stamper. He can stamp it himself when the doc leaves. . . . You take a condemned horse, skin him, cut him up, sell the meat. . . . We’ve sold it as beef.”118
According to the Congressional testimony of one former Perdue worker, the poultry plants are filthy. She said there were flies, rats, and 5-inch long flying cockroaches covering the walls and floors.119
Believe it or not, it gets worse: “After they are hung, sometimes the chickens fall off into the drain that runs down the middle of the line. This is where roaches, intestines, diseased parts, fecal contamination, and blood are washed down. Workers [vomit] into the drain. . . . Employees are constantly chewing and spitting out snuff and tobacco on the floor . . . sometimes they have to relieve themselves on the floor. . . . The Perdue supervisors told us to take the fallen chickens out of the drain and send them down the line.”120 A USDA inspector said of the cockroaches, “One time we shined a flashlight into a hole they were crawling in and out, and they were so thick it was like maggots, you couldn’t even see the surface.”121 A worker at another poultry plant said, “Every day, I saw black chicken, green chicken, chicken that stank, and chicken with feces on it.
Chicken like this is supposed to be thrown away, but instead it would be sent down the line to be processed.”122 Another worker at another plant said, “I personally have seen rotten meat—you can tell by the odor. This rotten meat is mixed with the fresh meat and sold for baby food. We are asked to mix it with the fresh food, and this is the way it is sold. You can see the worms inside the meat.”123
No comment. We are simply speechless.
Animals are intelligent, emotional, social creatures. Researchers at Bristol University in Britain discovered that cows actually nur-ture friendships and bear grudges. One study showed cows displaying excitement while solving intellectual challenges.124
Chickens are as smart as mammals, including some primates, claims animal behaviorist Dr. Chris Evans of Macquarie University in Australia. They are apt pupils and can learn by watching the mis-takes of others. One researcher conducted a study that demonstrated chickens’ ability to use switches and levers to change the temperature of their surroundings. A PBS documentary revealed chickens’ love for television and music.125
Pigs can play video games! They’ve been labeled as more intelligent than dogs and three-year-old humans. They too can indicate their temperature preferences.126
Even fish have feelings. Dr. Donald Broom, scientific adviser to the British government, explains, “The scientific literature is quite clear. Anatomically, physiologically and biologically, the pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and animals.” Fish, like
“higher vertebrates,” have neurotransmitters similar to endorphins that relieve suffering. Of course, the only reason for their nervous systems to produce painkillers is to relieve pain.127
Animals hear the screaming and crying of other animals being slaughtered and are terrified. They know they are about to be killed and they are panic-stricken. When their young are taken from them, cows kick stall walls in rage and frustration and literally cry with grief.
Think of how you feel when you are angry, afraid, and grief-stricken.
Bear in mind the physical feelings that accompany these emotions.
These emotions—fear, grief, and rage—produce chemical changes in our bodies. They do the same to animals. Their blood pressures rise. Adrenaline courses through their bodies. You are eating high blood pressure, stress, and adrenaline. You are eating fear, grief, and rage. You are eating suffering, horror, and murder. You are eating cruelty. You are what you eat. You cannot be thin and beautiful with a glowing complexion when you eat fear, grief, and rage.
Although a minuscule percentage of “meat” in the United States comes from free-range farms, how do you even know it is really free-range? Companies want us to believe that products labeled “free-range” or “free-roaming” are derived from animals that spent their short lives outdoors, enjoying sunshine, fresh air, and the company of other animals. But labels—other than “organic” on egg cartons—are not subject to any government regulations. In addition, the USDA doesn’t regulate “free-range” or “free-roaming” claims for beef products.128 Because there are no agencies governing these claims, do you take the word of someone who makes a living on blood money? And even if the farm was free-range and humane, the animals are still being sent to horrific slaughterhouses.
(An undercover video of a kosher slaughterhouse revealed animals suffering the same abuse and torture.)129 Many animals don’t even survive the transport from their factory or free-range farm to slaughter. The only law in existence dictating care for transported animals is related to
train
transport. But it just so happens that 95 percent of animals are transported by
truck
.130 They receive no food or water and no protection from the elements. Hundreds of thousands of animals are dead on arrival or too injured or sick to move.
They don’t get to stop for bathroom breaks, so the animals are forced to stand in their own urine and feces. In the wintertime, the animals’ flesh and feet will actually freeze to the bottom and sides of the truck. So upon arrival, they are literally ripped away from the truck. One worker interviewed by Eisnitz said, “They freeze to that steel railing. They’re still alive, and they’ll hook a cable on it and pull it out, maybe pull a leg off.”131
Assuming you started with a healthy animal (highly unlikely), you’ve now eaten hormones, pesticides, steroids, antibiotics, fear, grief, and rage. You are what you eat. But what if the animal wasn’t healthy? Animals that are too sick or injured to walk are literally dragged to slaughter, one end of a chain attached to the animal, the other to a truck. The USDA still allowed these animals, referred to as “downers,” to be slaughtered for human consumption until 2004.
Finally, with the outbreak of more mad cow disease cases (a deadly and incurable disease that can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of cow flesh), they came to their senses. But in 2005, USDA Secretary Mike Johanns announced that downed animals may once again be slaughtered for human food. So in addition to all the other filth you’re eating, you’re also eating whatever illness the animal had. You are what you eat.
Let’s make believe that all the animals killed for human consumption are healthy, happy, free of antibiotics, steroids, and pesticides and are humanely raised and slaughtered. Pretend you are eating “perfect meat.” Great. But what exactly are you eating?
“Meat” is the decomposing, decaying, rotting flesh of a dead animal.
As soon as an animal dies, it starts “breaking down.” How long has passed between when the animal was slaughtered and the time you are eating it? It could be weeks, even months. You want to put a dead animal corpse—that has been rotting away for months—in your mouth? In your body? Because meat is muscle tissue, it oxidizes in an open environment and turns brown. So most meat markets will scrape off the brown parts to make it look more appeal-ing. Another trick of the trade is using tinted lighting in open meat cases to enhance the meat’s color.132 Restaurants and ranchers might call their meat “aged to perfection,” but no matter how you slice it, it’s still a putrefying corpse. You are what you eat.
Just because you can’t see what’s happening doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Every time you have a craving for meat or dairy, remember what goes on inside every slaughterhouse, processing plant, and grocery store. Linda McCartney said it best: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we’d all be vegetarians.”133 For added motivation with your new lifestyle, visit GoVeg.com and order a free vegetarian starter kit.
So now you are officially vegan, a person who doesn’t eat
any
animal products. No meat, chicken, pork, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, or butter. Feel great about it. Yes, it is challenging to avoid these foods, but you will reap the karmic rewards of being vegan (like being skinny). For starters, you’re sparing the lives of at least ninety animals a year.134 And every environmentalist knows that factory farming is completely destroying the environment. As ridiculous as it sounds, the methane resulting from the burps and farts of 10 billion animals a year is directly responsible for global warming.135 The urine and feces are polluting and contaminating soil and water all over the country. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, they are the largest polluters of U.S. waterways.136 Moreover, the amount of land, food, water, and energy used to raise 10 billion animals a year for slaughter could be used to grow food for
all of the starving
people in the world.
That’s right—you being vegan is actually a step toward ending world hunger. Now that’s some serious skinny karma.
So you shouldn’t eat cows, chickens, pigs, fish, milk, cheese, or eggs. So what the hell should you eat? Pretty much everything else: fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Deep down, you’ve known all along that these foods are best for you; now it’s time to get back on track. Our diets have strayed so far off course from where they belong; we’ve allowed meat to take center stage, with grains and vegetables playing supporting roles. Wrong, wrong, wrong. There is a plethora of great-tasting, healthy, wholesome foods that you’ve likely been neglecting for years. Well, those days are over.
Can you remember back to your grade-school days when you learned about photosynthesis? Plants store the sun’s energy, which we receive by eating them. If you can, just picture the light energy from the sun beaming down to the vegetables and fruits, and as we eat those foods, imagine that energy being transmitted into our bodies. Our nervous systems are maintained and stimulated by this light. What an amazing gift from nature—to be able to eat such pure foods that give our bodies so much!
However, be advised, all fruits and vegetables are not created equal. Plants need vitamins and minerals to function and grow properly. When they are sprayed with pesticides and grown in chemically treated soil, they won’t absorb all the proper nutrients.
This results in a loss of enzymes. So, organic fruits and vegetables—ones that have been grown in pure, untreated soil and without pesticides—have far more enzymes than their conventionally grown counterparts.137
Any scientist can tell you that food has an “energy” or “life” to it. Anyone with common sense can tell you that eating a live, fresh fruit is healthier than eating a cooked, canned, preserved one.
Why? Because this “life” comes from the plant’s energy, nutrients, phytochemicals, and enzymes. Enzymes are living biochemical fac-tors that we need to survive. They are critical for digestion, breathing, reproduction, and the functioning of DNA and RNA. They also help repair and heal our organs, detoxify our bodies, carry out our nerve impulses, and help us think.
There are three types of enzymes: metabolic, digestive, and food enzymes. Fortunately, we produce our own metabolic enzymes, which run the whole body, maintain our health, and defend us from illness and infection. But our own enzyme supplies are limited. So to continue healthy bodily functions, we need to supplement with food. When we eat, our bodies release digestive enzymes to break down the food. If we eat foods devoid of enzymes, such as meat, processed food, and even just overcooked food (high temperatures destroy enzymes), our bodies have to work much harder.138 Harder work means using more of our precious enzymes. Over time, this can result in an enlargement of the digestive organs and the endocrine glands. (Studies have shown that the increased weight of these organs accompanies obesity.)139 This lack of enzymes can also cause a disruption in the body’s ability to make enough metabolic enzymes. But when we eat foods high in enzymes, such as fruits, salad, or lightly steamed veggies, we get an enzyme boost along with the meal, so our bodies don’t have to work so hard. There is no greater defender of our bodies than enzymes. When not in use for digestion, enzymes are busy repairing and cleaning our bodies.140
So don’t go throwing your enzymes away on shit!
So how do we get these enzymes into our bodies? We just need to make the following foods part of our daily diets: fruits (especially pineapples, papayas, bananas, and mangos), raw or lightly steamed vegetables, raw nuts and seeds, wheat grass, sea vegetables, garlic, and legumes. Juicing is a great way to detoxify your body and get a lot of enzymes, but you must drink it right away.141 As soon as a fruit is peeled, or cut, or juiced, it begins to lose its enzymes.142 So, buying a gallon of fresh-squeezed juice isn’t as beneficial as making your own daily. Packaged juice has been pasteurized, and the heat destroys the enzymes. Granted, it’s still better to drink pasteurized juice than soda. So if you can’t juice for yourself, do the best you can.