What’s On Your Plate?

“Where does this come from?” he asked as he poked around his plate.

“It’s pork. It’s from a pig.”

“Like at the zoo where I chase the goats? That big pig smells very badly,” he said while waving his face in front of his nose.

“Well, they do have them there, but pigs come from farms.”

“How come we don’t see them in the mud?”

“Maybe they like to play in the barns.”

He shrugged his shoulders and began to dive into his supper.

Have you ever wondered where your meats actually come from?

Farms right?

When I think of farms, I think of lush fields where cows graze in the sun.

I think of chickens pecking around in large coups.

I think of pigs rolling in mud.

In reality did you know that:

• most Canadian farm animals spend their lives crammed into tiny pens, battery cages or crates inside windowless barns. They are fed unnatural diets, antibiotics and suffer painful mutilations like de-beaking and tooth breaking so they can be kept at huge numbers on intensive livestock operations (ILOs).

Have you ever been stuffed into a corner of an elevator with a bunch of people? How did it make you feel? Did you start to panic? Did you start to get frustrated? Now picture the animals that give up their lives so you can eat. Do you think it is fair that you only spend a few minutes in that tiny elevator and they spend their short lives in that gruesome condition?

The World Society For The Protection Of Animals (WSPA) has worked to expose animal cruelty and prevent animal suffering for more than 30 years. Working with individuals, organizations and governments across the globe, our campaigns range from ending the mass suffering of industrially farmed animals to protecting animals in disasters. Consultative status with the United Nations means we have a unique international platform to prove that the lives of animals are inextricably linked to our own, and now more than ever is the time to stop their suffering.

They have started a campaign to bring awareness of these horrific practices and to help end the suffering of animals on farms. We can help this campaign by making more humane food choices when we shop and eat (such as choosing pasture-raised animal products, cage-free eggs, etc.), we can use our purchasing power to change the conditions in which farm animals live.

Please help take their pledge and commit to making life better for farm animals.

Visit WSPA( http://www.wspa.ca/food/default.aspx) for more information and to “farmify” your face like I did in support of our animals.

You can make a huge difference. Please help WSPA spread the word!!

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