Soy Happy!/ Why Veg Alternatives?

Demand for meat and dairy in the United States has caused the once pastural experience of farming to go almost entirely industrial. Today, most of the meat and dairy products you buy in the U.S. come from "factory farms." Inside factory farms, animals are crammed into metal cages without enough space to turn around and they rarely see the light of day. Factory farmed animals are not regarded as sentient beings, but rather, as commodities, thus allowing for terrible mistreatments to occur.

Downed animals, those that are too injured to stand or walk, are often left unattended or cared for until they are dragged (alive) by tractors and even added to the food chain.

Many animals are also fed growth hormones in order to fatten them up to unnaturally large sizes. As a result, many turkeys break their legs under all the unnatural weight and cows develop mastitis from the frequent milking.

Chicken and turkey beaks are trimmed without anaesthetic so that their natural instincts to peck when crammed so tightly together does not cause harm to the other birds.

When egg laying hens are not producing the quantity of eggs desired, they are "force molted": a common practice of depriving these beings from any food, water, or sunlight for many days. All while in those metal cages without any room to move. This causes their bodies to go into a panic mode, which causes the aforementioned "forced molting" and thus initiates a new egg laying cycle. Many hens die during this process. Unwanted chicks are sometimes discarded alive, in bins or through shredders.

As for dairy cows, they are impregnated repeatedly, their calves taken away shortly after birth so that machines can continually pump milk from their bodies. They often develop serious infections from this process. Their male offspring is too small to be sold as beef, so they are often crated to be sold as veal. May people are unaware that veal is a byproduct of the dairy industry.