Ashley Boucher and Jim Mason
The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of "real food for real people" you'd better live real close to a real good hospital. ~Neal Barnard
In Jim Mason's article, Brave New Farm, he paints a picture of the picture of farm life most Americans see in their mind's eye; a "peaceful place" where chicks and little piglets roam within white picket fences and eat from bales of hay. Then, Mason points us to the reality of how most animals of this era live their lives, if it can even be called living. This article was honestly the hardest for me to stomach, and what swayed my views so heavily away from what they previously were. The picture he paints for the audience is the complete opposite of his previous. He reveals the true nature of factory farming, and all it's revolting practices, such as debeaking chickens and ducks, cutting of pigs tails as newborns, and grounding up live chickens that cannot lay eggs. These practices cause the animals considerate amounts of stress, often learned helplessness, disease, and death. He also explains how mass producing farms came to be, and how as the years roll on, they continue to replace tradition subsistence farming. This, is what I believe aligns Ashley and Mason. Like Gigi, I met Ashley through my Environmental Issues class. We came to find, as the semester went on, that we shared mutual friends, which allowed us to become closer. I asked Ashley what caused her to become a vegetarian and she told me that the book Skinny Bitch completely changed her outlook on eating meat. She said "the book made me snap so instantly I never really had a state of transition". It has been almost three years now that Ashley has been a vegetarian. She focuses on eating healthy, and hates that animals mass produced on factory farms make up most of what is in grocery stores and fast food restaurants. "I don't eat meat because of all the steroids and preserves that are in it," says Ashley. Mason also talks about the steroids and feeding practices that factory farms use to make their animals most efficient. "Over the past three decades, many studies have pointed to the dangers posed by rampant chemical and pharmaceutical use and abuse in animal factories. There are many instances of widespread sales and abuse of illegal drugs, and there are many instances of abuse of legal drugs.(Mason, pg. 9)" How is this okay for farmers, let alone okay for our health!? Ashley, Mason, and I all agree that it is most definitely NOT. When I asked Ashley what she eats to stay healthy and satisfy her cravings she told me she mixes dices tomatoes, black beans, corn, and fresh avocados. I got to try some during our vegan debate in class, and it was amazing! Ashley says it's "seriously DELICIOUS and sooo easy to make and cheap," which is what every college vegetarian likes to hear :)
In Jim Mason's article, Brave New Farm, he paints a picture of the picture of farm life most Americans see in their mind's eye; a "peaceful place" where chicks and little piglets roam within white picket fences and eat from bales of hay. Then, Mason points us to the reality of how most animals of this era live their lives, if it can even be called living. This article was honestly the hardest for me to stomach, and what swayed my views so heavily away from what they previously were. The picture he paints for the audience is the complete opposite of his previous. He reveals the true nature of factory farming, and all it's revolting practices, such as debeaking chickens and ducks, cutting of pigs tails as newborns, and grounding up live chickens that cannot lay eggs. These practices cause the animals considerate amounts of stress, often learned helplessness, disease, and death. He also explains how mass producing farms came to be, and how as the years roll on, they continue to replace tradition subsistence farming. This, is what I believe aligns Ashley and Mason. Like Gigi, I met Ashley through my Environmental Issues class. We came to find, as the semester went on, that we shared mutual friends, which allowed us to become closer. I asked Ashley what caused her to become a vegetarian and she told me that the book Skinny Bitch completely changed her outlook on eating meat. She said "the book made me snap so instantly I never really had a state of transition". It has been almost three years now that Ashley has been a vegetarian. She focuses on eating healthy, and hates that animals mass produced on factory farms make up most of what is in grocery stores and fast food restaurants. "I don't eat meat because of all the steroids and preserves that are in it," says Ashley. Mason also talks about the steroids and feeding practices that factory farms use to make their animals most efficient. "Over the past three decades, many studies have pointed to the dangers posed by rampant chemical and pharmaceutical use and abuse in animal factories. There are many instances of widespread sales and abuse of illegal drugs, and there are many instances of abuse of legal drugs.(Mason, pg. 9)" How is this okay for farmers, let alone okay for our health!? Ashley, Mason, and I all agree that it is most definitely NOT. When I asked Ashley what she eats to stay healthy and satisfy her cravings she told me she mixes dices tomatoes, black beans, corn, and fresh avocados. I got to try some during our vegan debate in class, and it was amazing! Ashley says it's "seriously DELICIOUS and sooo easy to make and cheap," which is what every college vegetarian likes to hear :)
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