Meeting your Meat

I was at Cora's house yesterday and got to meet her recently rescued piglet, Jools. I can't remember the last time that I was so excited for anything- I almost peed my pants. CLAW is currently conducting investigations into horrific instances of neglect at various animal farms in the Gauteng area. Jools was rescued on the brink of (a much sooner) death and has been recuperating ever since.

Holding Jools in my arms and having her snuggle into my lap to sleep reinforced every reason for which I'm vegan. While most people will think she's awfully cute, very few will make the connection between her and the next bacon/ham sandwich they eat. Again, what hit me was that complete disconnect between a living, sentient being and an abstracted, neatly packaged "piece of meat".

Cora told us of Jools' separation anxiety (she is only 4 weeks old). She was left alone at the home recently (for a short while) with ample supplies of food, bedding and water. Nonetheless, upon discovering that she was alone, Jools went into such a panic that by the time Cora's husband came home, she had slipped into a coma and had to be resuscitated- she almost died from the stress of being separated from her adopted family.

Which led me to my next thought. Namely, the horrific and indefensible amount of trauma that mothers and their offspring undergo in factory farms. These creatures crave comfort but are ripped away from their mothers virtually as soon as they're born. I've read studies which state that pigs (much like humans if they were kept in the same conditions) slowly go insane. They literally lose their minds because of the stress, trauma and abuse they suffer until they're ultimately done the one and only "justice" in their lives and are slaughtered. Have you ever heard a pig scream? Sounds a lot like a person.

I was sitting there with Jools in my lap and my recurring thought was "this is a piece of meat". Holding and interacting with something which is so substantial, so real and then transposing that onto her "purpose" and "value" as a commodity was a major mind-fuck for me.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that commercial farming is the biggest conspiracy of the modern age. An industry that specialises in and thrives on obfuscation. 

The worst part of it is that the real information is out there, but then again, that tends to be an inconvenient truth.