Green vegetables

To a degree yes they are.... but to enable them to keep producing milk they have to keep producing calves.... The calves, most being unnecessary to the continuation of the dairy industry, are often slaughtered very inhumanely immediately after birth since they are considered unprofitable. others are sent to the slaughterhouse to be used as veal... in many cases taken from their mothers at only a day old, fed an artificial food mix, low in iron too keep the meat pale. As a consequence, they reach the slaughter house weak from anemia and frightened. Most can barely stand so have to be rough-handled by the workers to get them to where they need to be for slaughter.

Here is an article by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in case anyone is interested.
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/animals-used-food-factsheets/cows-mi lk-cruel-unhealthy-product/

When I have to buy meat / eggs for my family I always purchase free-range even tho it costs a bit more and isn't always available.

The PETA article suggested by Jools is very thought provoking. Although I don't think our dairy farmers are as industrialised as those in the article, I must admit I have no idea what happens to all the calves. I will have to explore.


The BBC website posted an interesting article yesterday (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29219843) about chickens (95% of which in the UK are factory farmed). However, it also noted that 45% of eggs in the UK are now either free-range or organic in response to consumer demands, which struck me as a surprisingly high figure, so it would seem the Jools of this world do make a difference!

My husband worked on a dairy farm, and male calves were known as 'shooters' because they were shot at birth, unless a new stud was required. Females, of course, were kept to add to the dairy herd, though fed artifically so that mother could keep giving her milk to swell the farm's profits.

There's a short story I encountered a few years ago - a powerful one - written by someone who was working as farmhand as a summer job. When a steer is born, the men gathered round, talked about how there's no market for a steer - or other economic reason to keep it - so its fate is a shovel to the face as it is humanely put down. There's no malice on anyone's part, just a far animal with no economic value and puzzled cow who wonders where the calf went.

Farmers can't afford to be sentimental when it comes to animals, but it hit the temp worker (and those who read the story) hard. As I said it's been years since I read it and it still comes to mind when I encounter this topic.

Now for a good news animal story to balance that one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlqTHhdCQko
- it's about a cat who mistakes some ducklings for kittens and nurses them.

I certainly hope so BB
Many unwanted calves get bludgeoned to death in Australasia cos veterinary euthanasia is considered uneconomical. The very, very sad side of the dairy industry.
It is known that the mothers grieve for their lost calves, especially since they don't get the opportunity to feed them. And don't get me started on what happens to male chickens, tho probably the factory farmed females suffer the most/longest!!!!!

This discussion of dairy farms raises an interesting point. It takes far fewer males to maintain a population of any sort than it does females. Among humans, the traditional roles of the sexes have served to maintain a relative balance between the need for males and for females; but with changes in cultural mores and the blurring of traditional roles, the need for females remains while the need for males is becoming more and more a thing of the past.

The Industrial Revolution of the early 1800s largely eliminated the need for the horse, turning them into pets of the wealthy (or the would-be-wealthy if they didn't bear the expense of horses). With the current cultural revolution, will men go the same way? [I just realized that most of the horse owners that I know are women. It may be that women have been training for their new role in society all along!]

As men do go the way of the horse, as expensive possessions of wealthy women, are they more likely to fall into the role of the spanker or the spankee?

Apologies for dragging things into the gutter folks...but there is one unfortunate side effect of eating lots of veg which I don't think has been mentioned yet.
GAS!!!
Can you think of anything more embarrassing than letting one go during a spanking?
As it would be quite obvious, one could hardly blame the dog.
I'm cringing even thinking about it.

That depends on what veggies you eat and how you prepare them. I eat veggies all the time and don't suffer with gas as a side effect, but on the odd occasion when I have had to eat red meat when out for dinner (when there is no vegetarian alternative) my stomach feels horribly bloated and gassy. I guess it all boils down to what your digestive system is used to.

One can always blame the dog! No harm in trying whatever the circumstances! Dogs love you unconditionally and are always happy to soak up any attention.

Tysout, I do believe you need a spanking for this! I seriously hope you haven't eaten baked beans lately!

The effects of gas from eating veg shouldn't be underestimated. It's said that the amount of methane produced by cow farts makes a significant contribution to global warming. Scientists are apparently considering genetically modifying intestinal flore from kangaroos (who don't fart methane) and giving them to cows to solve this problem.

I wonder if this gas is somehow caused by their 4 stomachs?