I just saw a video on Instagram of a mother cow giving birth. Moments later, a female worker was dragging the baby away. As the mother cow tried to defend her baby, she was kicked and punched and had sand thrown in her face. The baby crying, this female worker picked him up and used it to hit the mother; used the baby as a weapon against his own mother. Needless to say I was watching in horror with tears streaming down my face.
I am vegan, but I will admit that I am not super strict and super stoic. My family is not vegan and I will sit at the same table with them. I have cooked for my daughter the things she likes, and while it bothered me, I am still a mother. NOT cooking for my daughter would bother me too. Many vegans may look down on me because of this. I am not here on earth to win any popularity contests. I am here to follow my path and hopefully bring light and love to those I engage with. I try every day to be a good person, and to help when and where I can. I believe all beings are equal spiritually. We are all creations of a higher power and all have a right to be here and live our best lives.
Humans have declared ourselves as the higher species, the most advanced, and the smartest. This is debatable. We excel in technology and building, although most structures are modelled after what was found in nature so the ideas are not new- maybe the execution is what we do well. Again, that is questionable as our structures take away from nature. Animals build structures for their needs too and do so without destroying the environment. Our use of chemicals and plastics and build-up of garbage all add to our disgusting carbon footprint. Our abuse of agriculture is detrimental to the land, the animals we abuse, and ourselves. You are what you eat. If you feed an animal the least nutritional food in filthy and confined quarters creating an excess of adrenaline due to mental, emotional, and physical abuse, then the quality of the meat or cheese that you are consuming is also going to be riddled with toxicity. Poor land quality from over-use and single variety crop cannot yield high-quality produce.
Back to the video I saw. Imagine for a moment that your dog or cat was pregnant. Then you watched her give birth. A moment later your friend came and grabbed the newborn(s) while your dog/cat panicked and tried to get to her baby. Your friend kicked and punched your beautiful dog/cat who is already exhausted from giving birth. Then your friend used the babies as a weapon against your loving dog/cat. How would you feel?
A cow jumps off the cargo truck on the way to the slaughter house. It senses the fear of all the other cows and knows deep inside what is about to happen. The cow pushes past the fear and jumps onto the road, ignoring the pain felt in the legs. Panick enters again for another reason. Now free from the slaughter house, the cow has no idea where to go. All the moving objects (cars) are also scary, however, the cow runs, hearing the messages from the other cows. "Run! Be Free! Send Help!" The humans watching take pictures and cheer for the cow. "Whoo Whoo! YEAH! Run!!". This is on their way to the steakhouse for dinner.
My first book called "If It Was Me: A Child's Journey Through Reflecion" address the disconnect we all have between the food on our plates and the animals we love to see, pet, and cheer for when they are brave (or scared enough) to escape. My friend, Carlos Franco, illustrated the book in beautiful pictures. He somehow managed to get inside my head and draw exactly what I had inside there. His amazing talent brought my book to life and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have worked with him.
"If It Was Me" asks the "what if" questions many children have. It is also, in my opinon, important for children and adults alike to make the connection between food picked up at the grocery store neatly packaged and all the beautiful souls that we love and cheer on. As an animal communicator, as much as sometimes I think of food that I used to eat, I cannot eat it anymore. How can you eat someone that you hear? How do you justify food for pleasure at the expense of someone's pain and suffering. I can't .
The videos are hard to watch. I often cannot make it through 30 secs. Pick up a copy of "If It Was Me" available on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. It is beautifully illustrated and gently but effectively told. One Love.
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