Are we humans herbivores or carnivores? Some say before the ice ages when there was lots of foliage to eat homo sapiens were vegetarians. Then as the ice covered the land, plants vanished and humans started feeding on animals. Moreover if you look at our species from an external appearance we are so herbivorous-no fangs, no claws, no productions of our own vitamin C, unable to handle decayed carcasses etc. Check out the PETA FAQ section for more information. http://www.petaf.org.uk/mfm-faq.asp.

Where does that put us with respect to using animals to provide us food and clothing? I love to go back to the good old days where the prehistoric humans hunted for food but used the entire animal for their use. None of the pieces or parts were thrown away. Also there was a lot of compassion when animals were killed. Rituals were performed that symbolised the value of the beast and thanking a form of superior being for having given them the opportunity to hunt. It is said that the Maroons in the interiors of Suriname also talk to plants and ask for their forgiveness before cutting a stalk of a medicinal plant.

Over the years we humans seemed to have lost our compassion for animals and other living beings. We believe animals both land-based and aquatic are ours to hunt, eat, abuse, and make extinct.  I believe we all have a choice to eat, drink and use anything we like. But like everything else it is our nature to consume more than we need.  As humans we need around 2700 calories a day. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. So if we eat nothing else but just a scoop of fat (with some spices of course) we will live, and,  there’s more food out there from the plants and the trees. We just consume way more animal products  than we need.

Why do we  consume so much?  One-It is bloody tasty.  Being a hard-core meat eater myself till about 10 years ago I cannot help  salivating even today  thinking of my mum’s chicken dishes   or the lekker  beef cutlets fried with bread crumbs.  Two, It is  fairly cheap. €4.00 for a quarter kilo of beef is not a bad deal.  I’d grab two. The production cost of the meat and poultry industry in the US today is  down to ¼ the cost in the 90s. Three- It’s also so easily available. There’s a big M or a Burger King every which way you look. These chains have driven prices of meat way down and also mechanised the industry to the extent it is today. The robotic nature of slaughtering animals in a slaughter house is also reflected in the way the McDonald staff takes your order – Can I order some fries I say. Would you like some fries with that? comes the crackling voice from the intercom at a McDonalds drive-in. No comprehension, No personal contact. No compassion. I need some slow-food please.

Companies in the food and clothing industry are here to run successful businesses and they should. Consumption is encouraged. But can they make a difference and add a true value to the price of animal and poultry products. I truly hope that the big players in the food industry and the apparel industry join hands with PETA, CITES, Leather Working Group and IUCN to bring about positive change. It is quite  fragmented today. And I hope we as consumers can help reduce the demand by being conscious on how much we consume. Let’s help to bring about compassionate practices in the meat and skin industry. Let us pay for what it is worth. Let sustainable food consumption be the primary driver. Let the outputs of the food industry feed the rest. We will survive- and so will all the other beings that are being slaughtered cruelly en masse to satisfy our needs. – Shammy