More on being an ethical omnivore

Two posts in one day! This probably won't happen very often, but I figure since I'm just starting out that I might as well be productive. Besides, it's too hot to do much else right now.

So why am I an omnivore? If I hate factory-farming, then why do I not just become a vegetarian and be done with it already? For awhile, my husband and I were headed in that direction, although we never did complete the switch, and now we're headed back.

Here are two of those reasons.

1. Animals can be herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores; their diet is based on their physiology and they eat what their instincts tell them to eat. Unless of course, stupid humans force them to eat things they shouldn't, and then their health suffers. So...to whit, human physiology is built to be omnivorous, and I personally believe it's better to eat accordingly on a physiological level.

2. Killing animals for food does not bother me, so much as how it's done. The path of least suffering is best. Not that animals even have those scruples. Ever watch a cat play with its prey before it kills and eats it? Besides, we have to essentially kill plants before we eat those, too. Why should plants be sacrificed before animals? In my personal cosmology, I think we're all the same, and when humans are killed by animals or poisonous plants, it's simply Nature doing Her thing.

So where do my ethics come in here? As I said, I don't want to eat factory-farmed grain-fed livestock slaughtered Goddess-knows-where. I make informed choices about where my meat, eggs, and dairy come from. I'm not perfect about it, but I'm working to get better. I want my chickens to be able to have a happy life, poking and scratching about for worms and grubs. I want cows to live out in the pasture, eating as much grass as they need. I don't want animals injected with growth hormones or antibiotics (unless they're sick and they need it therepeutically), nor do I want them force-fed corn and other grains they can't digest well, and DEFINITELY NOT weird animal by-products and waste. I truly believe that the meat, eggs, and dairy taste better when the animals were treated better in life, and they're better for us health-wise also.

Here are a few few websites I like in this vein:

www.eatwild.com
www.eatwellguide.org
www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/factoryfarms/
www.certifiedhumane.org