More Plants, Less Meat Is Healthier for Us and the Planet

By Benjahmin Koenigsberg

Do you love chocolate? Do you love bacon? Do you love chocolate bacon?

Many people eat meat and other animal products because they enjoy the flavors, texture and satisfaction they provide.

For thousands of years, humans around the world evolved farming and processing animals relatively in the same way.

However, around the turn of the 20th century in the United States, the first slaughterhouse opened in Chicago, where a deer was slaughtered and packaged in 35 minutes versus the traditional 10 hours of labor of two butchers

The increasing efficiency in animal farming has led the increasing consumption of animal products, and consequently our increasing rates of terminal illnesses

I am here to distinguish that no animal products are created equally, and to specify three reasons why I recommend avoiding store-bought meat and animal products.

Store-Bought Meat Is Contaminated

Due to increasing consumer demand for cheap meat and stockholders’ increasing demand for profits, animals are processed at an increasing quantity at minimal cost and standards of safety or quality.

The animals are given several antibiotics and pharmaceuticals to minimize the diseases that thrive on overcrowded feedlots where the animals live, eat and defecate.

When cows are gutted on the assembly line, feces from the intensities often spill and spray out over the equipment, processing room and other meat

Bacteria, viruses and residues from the antibiotics and fecal matter are all found in alarming amounts in store-bought meat.

Animals Raised for Store-Bought Meat Are Treated Inhumanely

Those of us who were lucky enough to grow up with pets learned at a young age to show respect and care for animals.

It is hard to imagine an animal we love, with unique personalities and relationships being treated inhumanely and suffering needlessly

Slaughterhouses are built in remote areas without any windows, so people will not see and therefore protest how the animals are treated.

Female cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy, so dairy cows are restrained to what are called in the industry “rape racks,” to be artificially inseminated to continue to produce milk until they physically can’t do it anymore.

Baby calves are taken from their mothers to reduce the babies’ exposure to the toxicity of the maternity pen. The calf is valuable as it’s raised as veal.

For industrial egg production, a separate breed of chicken is used than chickens raised for meat. The male chicks of this laying-egg breed obviously cannot lay eggs, and therefore are killed by being thrown away in garbage bags or ground up in chipping machines to be used in feed for other animals.

Increased Health

There is a lot of scientific evidence linking increased amounts of animal fats, proteins and cholesterol to cancer and heart diseases

Studies show that by reducing consumption of animal products and replacing it with whole-plant food, we can significantly reduce our risks of these diseases.

Another benefit of eating whole-plant foods is that they also have more fiber, water and micronutrients, further adding to our health and wellness.

Eating less animal products is healthier for the planet. With the growth of industrial-scale animal agriculture, there is also a growing demand for precious natural resources. More land, water and energy are needed to grow grains to feed cattle. The more than 4 billion farm animals also add considerable amount of fecal matter and strain into the global sewer and wastewater systems.

Don’t worry I do not plan to take away your pepperoni pizza, the cream that highlights your coffee or the robustness of your favorite egg dish.

However, I invite you to consider minimizing eating store-bought animal products and opting for locally raised or plant-based alternatives. The extra cost and effort of obtaining local animal products is the perfect impetus to reduce consumption of these products.

To learn more about ethically and environmentally produced animal products, farmer, John Salatin wrote a book called Holy Cows and Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer’s Guide to Farm Friendly Food.

Visit www.drjohnmcdougall.com for satiating and delicious plant-based eating guidelines.

• Benjahmin Koenigsberg is the founder of Own Your Power! Comprehensive mindset and lifestyle coaching for men. He works with men at the edge of reinvention to unlock their inner confidence, so they can lead a successful life. Contact him at ownyourpower.life or at (503) 358-5187 for a free one-hour breakthrough call.