Veg had his first ever field trip today and had a Wonderful time! They went to a Farm... and got to see baby piglets, cows, and other animals. He said it was a real working farm, didn't smell and they were all taken care of very well. Which was nice to hear.
Then he shows me his bag of goodies..
I had to walk out of the room before saying something I shouldn't.
He got coloring books and activity books and pencils all from the Dairy, Pork, and Beef industry....Made me ill.
When we were kids, we never learned what happened to the cows... We only saw the cute little food pyramid and the cute little signs and coloring books. We saw the cows grazing on the farm and then they were gone. I had this image in my head that they got bonked on the noggin so they didn't feel any pain as they met their final moments. But we never knew about factory farms or what TRULY happened to these critters.
It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I learned what really happens to cows and other critters, especially in factory farms. And I couldn't understand how I never knew these things before...
UNTIL TODAY!!! They filled us with the same un-truths that they are filling this generation with.
While I was looking through the cute little "PIGGIE" coloring book that Veg got in his goodie bag, the fact that they are feeding our kids with this Crapola, just disgusts me...
Granted the pigs he saw today were on a nice open farm and cared for very well (according to him) so maybe the message was that eating local, organic, and well cared for animals and supporting these farms is a good thing.....
I would have rather the message been "How could you hurt or eat that little innocent baby pig you were just holding"... Or why would you ever want to eat such glorious cows... I was hoping the farm field trip would contain that type of message...
Instead they got these coloring books with adorable pictures of pigs. Says things like "The pigs are happy to be made in to pork." REALLY? and "They are kept healthy, and if the farmer takes good care of them, the pigs will give us food"
Yeah, like they say "Oooh thank you Mr. Farmer man, let me roll over now so you can stick an apple in my mouth and roast me over the coals" Even if not on a factory farm, do you suppose ANY pig would be happy to be hauled off and tortured then eatin... I THINK NOT!
Then they have a maze in the goody bag. It takes the pigs from the farm where they are "happy" in to a truck and passed the packer and on to the Grocery... They skip the little step in the maze where they are slaughtered and by the way... They skip the little picture of a factory farm raised pig completely. And go straight to the pretty little pyramid of the standard american diet.
That page mentions how good that Pork is for a balanced diet. And Bologna is listed as nutritious... REALLY???
Don't even get me started on the activity book called "Sometimes its good to be a Chicken" Hmmm? Does the Chicken really think that? Tell me, does the chicken say its happy before or after its head is chopped off and its butt filled with marinade.
Or the one that says "Our Milk comes from healthy happy cows?" and "Cows enjoy giving us their milk" Yeah, if you were pregnant or lactating in to machines 24/7 and had your babies hauled off for every bit off your life...would you really be happy? I'm thinkin' NO! I used a breast pump on two udders, for a year... I know what it feels like for 8 minutes. Can't imagine that it would make me a "HAPPY COW" to be pumped dry my entire life.
Seriously???? I'm soooo disappointed in the overall message of these books... Where is the one that talks about Veggies being good for you? And instead of a boy eating a chicken bone while playing basketball with a blurb about all the vitamins and minerals in a piece of meat.... Why wouldn't they have them eating spinach, or apples, or so many other great and wonderful truly nutritional things.
No wonder we never knew growing up what really happened. I totally get that now....We were given these same messages... We thought the animals were "HAPPY" But my Vegman will know. He will be making a very knowledgeable choice when/if he decides to eat dead critters. He can look at the coloring books all he wants, but I will tell him the truth.
I won't burst his farm field trip bubble, as he is too excited... But I'm hopeful the next field trip is to a Vegetable producing farm.
-----Hopping off soap box------