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The most important aspect in changing my palate and diet from vegetarian to vegan was learning more about the egg industry and dairy industry.
The egg industry
Just like the footage above that came out recently from the Iowa hatchery where male chicks were being ground up alive, these industries have inherent violence.
In this instance, the company in question, Hy-Line North America, noted that “instantaneous euthanasia” is a standard practice supported by the animal veterinary and scientific community.
What is “instantaneous euthanasia”? The practice of killing living male chicks in a grinder.
Within the egg industry male chicks are useless, because those chickens are bred to be smaller than ones used for meat, and of course, males don’t lay eggs.
For that reason, millions of male chicks (estimates are around 200 million a year in the United States alone) are killed yearly by grinding or being thrown into dumpsters, still alive and then crushed by other chicks on top of them.
When asked about the incident at the Hy-Line North America plant, a spokesperson for the United Egg Producers, Mitch Head said, “There is, unfortunately, no way to breed eggs that only produce female hens. If someone has a need for 200 million male chicks, we’re happy to provide them to anyone who wants them. But we can find no market, no need.”
As for the egg laying chickens themselves, most live in cages stacked on top of each other with little to no access to the outdoors in spaces so small they can’t spread a wing.
After the chickens are weak, sick, and/or not producing, they’re slaughtered.
Often these are the chickens whose bodies end up in pot pies and soups.
Egg laying chickens are killed when their production declines, regardless of if they are cage-free, free range, organic, or whatever other marketing term is the darling of the day.
For a business to be profitable, it only makes sense to kill those animals who aren’t producing.
The dairy industry
Most dairy cows spend their lives in dry lots. They are impregnated over and over again, have their babies taken from them again and again, and then when their bodies are worn out, they are slaughtered.
This is true even if the farms are organic. Organic doesn’t protect the animals. It only means that their feed isn’t pesticide-laden.
In animal agriculture where profit is king, we cannot expect the lives of the animals to win out over dollars and cents. It would not be profitable to keep a cow around after her body is weak from years of having babies and giving more milk than she’d naturally produce.
While it might be nice to think that after years of hard service she goes off to live a life relaxing in the sweet grass and laying in the sun, it’s sadly just not accurate.
But what about calcium?
Because of a very powerful dairy industry, when most of us think “calcium,” we think milk, particularly cows’ milk. Ironically, researchers have found that the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis—including the US and Scandinavian countries—are also the places where people consume the most cows’ milk.
Cows’ milk, like humans’ milk, is produced to help babies grow from small to big in a short span of time. Just as a human baby reaches a point where she doesn’t drink her mother’s milk, when cows are past the age of weaning they get their minerals and nutrients from solid foods.
We’re the only species that drinks the milk of another species, and we’re the only species that drinks milk past the age of weaning. If we don’t drink the milk of our own species after we’re past the age of weaning, why should we continue drinking the milk of another mammal?
What can we do instead?
Consider where grown cows get their calcium. Grass. Calcium is a mineral, and so they go to the place where minerals are found, the earth.
We can go to the earth for our calcium too in the form of plant foods like collard greens, kale, Swiss chard, beans, rhubarb, okra, broccoli, peas, Brussels sprouts, seeds, and almonds.
When we see violence in the world we may feel disheartened, but don’t underestimate what we can do. We have the power to make other choices, and that’s a beautiful thing.
*Photos courtesy of Farm Sanctuary
“Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them . . . Life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.” –Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Victoria says
i am a vegetarian who is considering going vegan. my main problem is that i have a lot of food allergies, which makes thigns difficult to begin with, but the big one is nuts. you have alot of good replacement ideas for cheeses, but they are all nuts. are there things that i could do in place of cheeses that do not involve nuts?
cadryskitchen says
Thanks for commenting, Victoria! In what kind of situation are you looking for something cheese-like? In essence, a craving for cheese is a desire for salt and fat. Depending on the meal, you could add avocado or guacamole if you’re looking for a cool, creamy, fatty topping. Topping pasta or pizza with chopped olives is also a nice way to get some salt, fat, and a savory taste. Instead of quesadillas, make frijadillas using creamy beans or hummus in lieu of cheese. Then eat it with salsa or jalepeno peppers. For a cheesy sauce for, say, nachos, there’s a recipe in The Vegan Table for No Queso Nacho Dip, which is pretty much a nutritional yeast gravy, and it’s great for Superbowl parties and the like.
Daiya is a plant based and nut-free cheese made from cassava. It’s good for paninis, pizzas, tacos, etc. Their website has information about the stores that it’s in and also online ordering information. http://www.daiyafoods.com/
If I missed anything or if you have more questions, let me know!
Jess says
This is a very powerful article! I have been presented with this information before, and it swayed my life, but it’s good to read it again and have to come to terms with it. Thank you for putting it together so clearly.
Bridget says
I love this so much! I’ve been a vegetarian for ten years, but only recently started hearing things like this which have made me realize I can no longer justify eating dairy. I allowed myself a two-month “weaning off” process and have realized I will need to be constantly reminded of the horrors of the dairy industry to get me through! I found your blog two days ago and it’s been an excellent resource… Thank you so much for sharing your insight and recipes. You are an inspiration!
Cadry says
Bridget, what a terrifically sweet comment! I’m touched. Thank you! Whenever people like you are willing to reexamine their habits and change their lifestyles, they inspire me!
I know what you mean about the process of weaning from dairy (good choice of words!) and how it can be a challenge at first. When the casein in dairy is broken down into casomorphins, it actually produces an addictive kind of response. It fills you with that feel good, euphoria kind of response, and biologically speaking, it promotes bonding between mother and child. No wonder people so often say that they could go vegan, except that they love “their cheese.” And of course, in cheese, the amount of casomorphins goes up since it’s condensed with the water removed from the milk to make a solid. For me, weaning didn’t work. I had to kick dairy to the curb to really break myself from its grasp. And just like I’m sure you experienced when you said goodbye to meat (assuming you weren’t raised vegetarian), it gets easier. After a while, it doesn’t seem like food at all. In fact, cheese smells like rotten milk after a while. (I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise considering, but like everyone else, I used to love animal based cheese! I never would have imagined it smelling bad to me one day.)
But I totally know what you mean about needing to feel reminded of the horrors while saying goodbye to something that you enjoyed. If you haven’t seen Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home, check it out. There’s one part in particular that I found especially moving involving a small family goat farm. In many ways it’s the kind of place that people would think of as ideal in terms of it not being a factory farm. But of course, the males, like anywhere else in the dairy industry and so much of animal agriculture in general, were useless (outside of the one or two needed to impregnate females). It meant that on the small dairy farm, they were having people come to pick up the male goats to eat. The farmer said that her instinct was to protect the male goats as people hoisted them into the backs of their trucks as if they were pieces of luggage. Of course, what came next for the goats was that they were killed. She didn’t want them harmed as they were thrown in the back, but that was very small in comparison to the pain that was to come next for them. Watching her talk about it, you could see how much pain it still caused her. Anyway, there are some graphic parts in the movie, but not nearly as much as you’d find in a lot of films about the animal industry. It’s worth checking out if you get a chance. http://www.peaceablekingdomfilm.org/
If there’s any way that I can be of a help to you, don’t hesitate to let me know! Good luck, and trust me, it gets easier!!!
Trish says
I became a vegetarian in 1983 and lived this lifestyle for a few decades. I always bought organic milk from “happy cow farms” and bought free-range eggs. I was oblivious and naive and never wondered what happened to those animals when they couldn’t fulfill their purpose anymore until I read a similar article to yours. I began to do my own research and contacted these farms that I was purchasing from and sure enough, the hens after they don’t lay anymore, which is about 2.5 – 3yrs old are sent to poultry farms where they are slaughtered. The male calves are sent to auctions where they are slaughtered and the females, when they are no longer able to produce milk, are also then sent “away.” I’m unable to watch any videos of the animal industry as it pains and haunts me too much to think of the fear that these poor, sweet animals go through because of us. Thanks for your post! Perhaps we can convert more people if they’re aware …