Gourmet misery

As we celebrated Mother’s Day and the cherished bond between mother and child, my thoughts turned to dairy cows—worldwide symbols of motherhood—who never even get to see their babies.

The newborn calves are torn from their mothers at birth and chained by the neck in tiny wood crates. They are denied mother’s milk and love as well as natural food and water, fresh air and sunshine, straw bedding or any movement. They suffer from chronic anemia, diarrhea and respiratory disorders.

The sick product of this misery, laced with saturated fat, cholesterol, antibiotics and hormones, is sold in gourmet restaurants as veal.

Because of consumers’ revulsion at these abuses, the infamous veal crates have been banned by the European Union. Yet [many in] the U.S. dairy and veal industries have resisted similar reforms.

If we truly believe in motherhood, we should drop veal, milk and other dairy products from our diet.

— Albert Bowers
Asheville

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2 thoughts on “Gourmet misery

  1. Rizzian

    I feel you, Bowers. I hate it when newborn rye and wheat plants (or “kernels,” if you insist) who only wish to grow in a field and taste the sun are unceremoniously ripped (called “threshing,” how appropriate!) from the loving embrace of their parental vegetation and then tossed into the grist mill (literally!) to be turned into this abomination of broken dreams we call “bread.” It’s sickening.

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