Taboo Talk #3 | Is Meat Really Murder?

Is there anything more taboo than taking what people normalise in day-to-day life and calling it murder? Probably, but not much. In my last Week Journal I talked about how I'll always love a good roast dinner, but in the past few weeks it's come to my attention more and more of the inhumane ways that we treat animals for their meat, milk or eggs.

But we'll whittle it down and start with the 'simple' part, the meat. For almost three weeks now, I haven't bought any meat products or eggs and have started buying litres of soya milk instead of regular milk.

I'll cave for regular milk in a cup of tea if there's no soya left, and if someone else buys and cooks the meat in a meal for me, I won't turn it away, but I've decided that I'm not personally going to financially support the meat industry anymore. 

It started as a little experiment for myself, first to see if I felt better with less dairy products (and I actually feel so much less bloated!) then because I watched some documentaries after a long time of deliberating. I ate some chicken at home last week and felt super sick a couple of hours later, supposing that this is because I denied myself meat for a straight week or two before it, not because the chicken was bad!

Obviously I wouldn't consider myself a fully fledged vegetarian- maybe someday, but I feel healthier (bulking out with beans, legumes, vegetables and whole grains in the place of meat) than I did before I made this change. Living independently means that I can buy and cook for just myself without worrying what other people will want to eat, it feels right, personally, to make these changes in my life and diet.

In the last few days it was passed by the World Health Organisation that processed meats in particular, red meats, can cause cancer and it was recommended by Cancer Research UK to cut down if not give it up altogether.

Is this not reason enough to ditch some unhealthy eating habits? Does this make meat not just murder to animals but murder to us too? Excessive amounts of anything are bad for us, we know that, but it's super scary when large organisations and officials such as these tell us that the meat-cancer myth hasn't been a myth all along.

If you want reasons why the meat market and farming animals is detrimental to the planet, watch Cowspiracy. I was skeptical at first but it really did open my eyes to a different, factual and unbiased side of why these choices we are making are ruining our bodies, our animals and our planet. 

So if you're not ready to give up meat altogether, try substituting with Quorn or beans. Try eating veggie a few days a week or just stop buying the products for yourself and let me know if you see a difference in your mind, body and awareness!

What do you think of this topic? Is meat murder or bad for you? To read my other Taboo Talks, click here and here.
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