Have you noticed all the ads and “health” information centered around
killing bacteria? We’ve all seen those ads in which the mother sprays
piano keys and other surfaces that children touch; disposable wipes are
used on kitchen counters that may be contaminated by animal products;
the warnings about using a thermometer to make sure that poultry or
other meat products are heated to a high enough temperature, etc., etc.
Every time I see that ad showing the mother spraying surfaces to
protect children, I think of what the typical mother feeds her children:
hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, baloney, milk, cheese and so on, ad
nauseam. Eating cooked animal products loaded with disease-causing
bacteria that come from fecal or other contamination is not my idea of a
healthful meal. For example, dairy products contain leukocytes (a. k. a.
white blood cells or pus) from painful mastitis in cows that are
anything but “happy”! Pasteurized milk contains inactive pus.
Yet we have all been brainwashed from childhood to think that it is
normal and desirable to eat lots of animal products. The propaganda of
the powerful dairy industry is welcomed into our elementary schools. I
still have their booklet our child brought home from public school. Yet
many children suffer from illnesses caused by the consumption of these
products. Childhood earaches are just one problem linked to milk
consumption; lactose intolerance is another. And of course, the allergy
to milk.
Eating animal products carries a real risk. That is obvious. Have you
noticed how many diseases have their origin in animal products?
Vegetables are contaminated by contact with microorganisms from animals.
A knife used to cut meat then used, without thorough washing, to cut
vegetables or fruit contaminates them.
And what about the advice not to wash meat before cooking? If meat is
so germ-ridden that washing it will spread germs in your sink and on
your kitchen surfaces, why eat it at all? After all, cooked feces are
still feces, aren’t they?
I can go on and on about the salmonella of chickens, the e-coli from
the intestines of cattle, etc. Mad cow disease (bovine spongiform
encephalopathy) and the much-publicized avian flu are just two notorious
killer diseases originating in animals raised for food.
For more information see:
http://all-creatures.org/health.html
This poem by Bernie Jones pretty well summarizes my feelings about
“food animals”:
http://all-creatures.org/poetry/ar-insanity.html
And for a bit of curmudgeonly poetic humor, may I suggest:
http://all-creatures.org/poetry/ar-anthrax.html
