For my first blog, I will just put this out in the open: I am a vegetarian. It seems to be a shocking phrase to say, since I was born and raised in the South, which is apart of the Bible Belt, meaning that people in this area tend to lean on the conservative side of political views. Not only that, but the South is typically known for its type of cooking, which usually involves meat. People often question my views on vegetarianism, always wanting to change my mind. If I will ever change my mind, which I probably will not, it would be on my own.

I will turn the tables right now. Why do most people eat meat? Most people eat meat because they like the taste. They probably do not know or do not care where meat comes from or what kind of treatment the animals go through. I will inform. The image of green pastures and peaceful barnyard scenes are long gone. The images kids see in children's books are long gone. They have been replaced by windowless metal sheds, gestation crates, wire cages, and other forms of confinement, known as factory farming. The factory-farming system focuses on producing the most meat as quickly, cheaply, and in the smallest space as possible. Cattle, pigs, and chickens are kept in cages or stalls so tiny that they often do not have the ability to turn around. Deprived of exercise, all of their energy goes toward producing flesh for human consumption. Factory farm workers feed the animals drugs that fatten them faster and genetically manipulate the animals to grow faster than they would naturally. Since crowding makes an environment that welcomes disease, workers feed and spray animals with pesticides and antibiotics, which passes on to the people who eat the poor creatures.

Time for every meat eater to meet their meat, starting with chickens. Chickens are curious animals, and if put in their natural surroundings, they form friendships, love and nurture their young, and enjoy full lives (which includes dust-bathing, making nests, and roosting in trees). Factory farms deny chickens of these activities, and they suffer from it. Factory farms raise over 9 billion "broiler" chickens in sheds annually. They manipulate artificial lighting to keep birds eating as often as possible. To keep up with meat eaters' vicious demand and to reduce production costs, genetic selection calls for large birds and rapid growth, which causes extremely painful joint and bone conditions. Birds suffer from dehydration, respiratory diseases, bacterial infections, heart attacks, crippled legs and other ailments. At the slaughterhouse, workers hang chickens upside-down, force their legs into metal shackles, slit their throats, and immerse them in scalding-hot de-feathering tanks. Many chickens are conscious throughout the entire process.

Now it's time for people to meet their BigMac. Cows who can roam pastures and care for their young form life-long friendships. Cows can hold grudges or even play games! However, cows raised for the meat and dairy industries are far removed from the sunny pastures. Cattle raised for beef can be born in one state, fattened in another, and slaughtered in yet another. Factory farms feed cows a very unnatural diet containing high-bulk grains and other "fillers" (this can include expired dog food and cat food, poultry feces, and leftover restaurant food...YUCK!). Workers castrate them, rip their horns out, and give them 3rd-degree burns (branding) without any painkillers. During transportation, cattle are crowded into metal trucks, where they suffer from trampling, temperature extremes, and lack of food water, and veterinary care. At the slaughterhouse, cattle may be hoisted upside-down by their hind legs and dismembered while they are still fully conscious. A typical slaughterhouse kills 400 animals per hour. Calves raised for veal are the male offspring of dairy cows. They're taken from their mothers within a few days of birth, and they are chained in stalls that have slatted floors and are only 2 feet wide and 6 feet long. Since humans consume the calf's mother's milk, the calves are fed a milk substitute that is designed to help them gain a least 2 lbs a day. The diet is purposely low in iron so that the calves become anemic and their flesh stays pale and tender.

People should meat their bacon. Pigs are very clean animals who take to mud to cool off and evade flies. Pigs are just as friendly as dogs and more sophisticated than dogs and 3 year old! Mother pigs in factory farms in the U.S. live most of their lives in individual crates that are 7 feet long and 2 feet wide, displaying signs of extreme boredom and stress, such as biting the bars of their cages and gnashing their teeth. Their piglets are taken away from them 3 weeks after birth and packed into pens until they are singled out to be raised for breeding or for meat. Like chickens, pigs are genetically manipulated and pumped full of drugs, and many become crippled under their own weight. Although pigs are naturally social animals, the confinement of these crowded pens causes neurotic behaviors such as cannibalism and tail-biting, so farmers use pliers to break off the ends of piglet's teeth and cut off their tails without any painkillers.

So, the question is not "Why are you a vegetarian?", the real question is "Why do you eat meat?" I hope meat eaters now think before they take a bite of KFC or McDonalds.