Of Which We Spare Ourselves the Sight

One of the myriad benefits of being a vegetarian is that when stories like this hit the stands, I don't have to immediately chuck the contents of my freezer out the window.

According to the L.A. Times, "An undercover video showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts has led to the largest beef recall in the United States and a scramble to find out if any of the meat is still destined for school children's lunches." Prompted by animal rights activists, 143 million pounds of beef have been recalled. Undercover video has shown cows at the Westland/Hallmark been company being electrocuted, kicked, run over with forklifts and even waterboarded.

It gets better — apparently roughly one quarter of the recalled meat has quite likely already been consumed by school children.

I have always found the following words of the late Nobel Prize recipient Albert Schweitzer** to be inspiring, and I think they are deeply appropriate now — "Think occasionally the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." Honoring that spirit, I think it not unreasonable to suggest that those who consume animals ought to occasionally make themselves privy to the unhappy circumstances from whence their Happy Meals spring:



Here's a direct link.

In the event that you find yourself suddenly desirous of a little break from omnivorism, I recommend checking out burgeoning veggie blog The Mean Bean. Me, I seem to have momentarily misplaced my appetite.

**And now your Moment of Zen: Albert Schweitzer, a devout vegetarian, was a great cat lover. If his cat happened to fall asleep on his left arm (with which we wrote), we would write with his right hand rather than disturb the slumbering feline.