3 Examples: Is There Trauma in our Food?
When we eat food – especially animal products – are we ingesting their trauma? Many times animals in commercial farms are treated like objects and not living beings that have feelings. They feel pain like us, and they love and nurture their offspring also just like us.
Let’s look at 3 examples below on how we use them for our consumption or benefit:
- Dairy cows are artificially impregnated almost every year, since they are 2 years old, and their babies are taken away. If the calves are males, they are generally slaughtered for meat; if females, they are fed artificial milk and grains so they grow up faster and can be used for dairy production. When the cow is unable to produce milk or be impregnated they are slaughtered for leather or meat.
- The life cycle of market pigs shows how they are bred, fed and prepared for the meat industry almost every 6 months. Pigs, being smaller than cows, are ready for breeding by 6 months of age. Each pregnancy delivers up to 10 piglets who are allowed to be breast fed by the mother for about 4 weeks. Any time after that, they are weaned and fed on other foods and prepared for the pork industry. The mothers are usually kept in a narrow cage on their sides to feed their litters, like machines.
- Chickens are usually factory farmed for meat and eggs. They are kept in cages, fed artificially prepared feeds to make them grow faster or produce lots of eggs. The turnover is faster and within 18 weeks or so of hatching the hen starts laying eggs. Chickens are killed for meat from 6 months of age, whereas in a natural environment they would have lived for many years.
The act of killing animals for the meat industry is also very traumatic. Cows are usually lined up and shot, pigs are stunned and then their throats are slit manually. Chickens are usually strung upside down, then stunned before being killed or just have their throats slit.
Studies show that animals and birds do feel pain and fear. Some animals are prodded, hit and pushed before being slaughtered for meat. Even before they are killed they may be tortured or abused during feeding or transporting them to the slaughterhouse.
We know that our body retains the memory of trauma as seen in scars and bruises. Sometimes sickness leaves a mark as well, if we have an infection or boil there are internal scars. Mental and emotional trauma predisposes us to autoimmune diseases as well as other problems. Cancers cause damage to different parts of our body. So when we eat the flesh of a dead animal or bird – do we know what they suffered? If we eat medium or rare cuts of meat – are we ingesting their trauma or some sort of infection, like viral or parasitic? Surely, we have learned some lessons from the recent COVID pandemic. And, as we approach Thanksgiving, may we bring mindfulness to our food choices.
Share with us your thoughts on the question – Is there trauma in our food?
