While this is a cat blog, I care about the welfare of *all* animals.
My father grew up on a dairy farm which remained in operation until a tragic fire in 2001. As a little girl I would visit with the cows, pigs and chickens, not fully understanding what was destined to become of my newfound friends.
Today I rarely eat meat. If it weren't for other members of my household I likely never would. Give me a plate of rice, beans and grilled veggies and I'm a happy girl. The treatment of farm animals is important to me, so when I do purchase meat, egg and dairy products I want to make sure they don't come from factory farms. Luckily our multitude of organic farms here in Vermont provide better options such as grass fed beef and cage-free eggs.
It's a hard statistic to stomach, but most of the nearly 9 billion animals raised for meat, milk and eggs in the US are suffering in inhumane factory farms. And animals aren't the only ones affected, as factory farms impact human health—they can be breeding grounds for dangerous pathogens and the antibiotics used to prevent disease create the potential for dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria to develop.
To fully harness the power of our collective purchases and demand better lives for farm animals, the Shop With Your Heart initiative gives consumers the resources to recognize, locate and demand meaningfully welfare-certified meat, eggs and dairy products as well as plant-based alternatives.
Take the Pledge!
Pledge to be a more welfare-conscious shopper by visiting aspca.org/shopwithyourheart. Everyone who signs the pledge also gains access to an exclusive Shop With Your Heart Grocery List, including welfare-certified and widely available plant-based brands.
Make Heart Hands for Farm Animals!
Pose with your hands in a heart shape and post a photo using the tag #shopwithyourheart to let your friends know you believe in a more humane world for farm animals. Don’t forget to tell us where you shop to find more humane products—give the stores a shout-out by tagging them, too!
We have the chance to make billions of farm animals' lives better by making a few simple changes to how we shop. Please watch this video to learn more about the "Shop With Your Heart" campaign:
Is animal welfare an important consideration for you when shopping?
12 comments:
TBT here: I want humane meat production. But I do want some meat... It can be done better.
This is a wonderful post. I do eat meat, dairy, etc. But, I also look to procure these products from upstanding sources, where the animals are treated humanely. I am lucky in that my uncle is a farmer, and I get a lot of my meat and some other products straight from him. I've seen him farm many times, and his animals are treated wonderfully. Filling in the other products I buy, though, can be worrisome, and you give great information here to make it easier. Thank you for sharing this, Melisa and Mudpie!
Thanks, Melissa. I consider factory "farms" just factories. No consideration given toward the animals. The use of hormones, antibiotics and who knows what else? I worry about what we're getting every time I go to the grocery store.
Excellent post. I tried to be a vegetarian in 2010, I need to keep trying. I do eat much less meat than I used to though.
Well done post!
Being an ovo-pescatarian (the only animal products I eat are eggs and fish), I'm still very concerned about where these animal foods come from, especially the eggs. But as a cat owner and someone who cares for two feral colonies, I'm concerned about where the cat food I buy is coming from too. Thank you for posting this, and I'll be looking into all of these food sources more closely.
Lovely video, Happy Weekend Summer with dogs ,greeting from Belgium
https://retriever-kat-scrap-louisettesblogs.blogspot.com/
Great information ! That's a very important cause. Purrs
Mommy be a meat eater, altho' she doesn't get to eat much of it cuz she just can't afford groceries. But when she does get da chance, she purrfurs free range.
Luv ya'
Dezi and Raena
Well, the mom and dad-guy do eat meat, but want it humanely.
Good post, Melissa. We, too, are appalled at how inhumanely many farm animals are treated.
So important to share. I became a vegetarian a few years ago now because I can't bear to think about the poor animals. My husband joined me last year, but he is more concerned about environmental impacts -- like how much water is used to raise a cow to become a hamburger. He misses his bacon, though! :-)
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