Today’s blurb knocked links to on-line vegan cookbooks from the home page.

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There is such resistance among meat-eaters about going vegetarian (even for Lent, and even by clergy) that I have a proposal.

It has always been my opinion that the two ways people could help the largest numbers of animals would be to 1) not to eat them, and/or 2) to contact their legislators to ask them to support any upcoming animal protection bill. (Humane Society of the United States and many other animal welfare/rights organizations usually have information about legislation on their websites. And they usually have the option that people can choose to sign up for periodic emails.)

Today I thought of a third alternative — a compromise which might be do-able for meat-eaters, and would cut down drastically on the billions of animals raised by the food industry. How about this?

Give up eggs and dairy.

Why?

Male dairy calves: Even meat-eaters with a conscience are inclined to avoid eating veal, once they know how pitifully the calves are kept confined so they can’t move, and fed an anemic formula laced with antibiotics, to keep their meat tender and white — and to reserve the milk that should be meant for the calves, for human consumption. But what isn’t widely advertised is that the veal calves are the by-product of the wholesome-seeming dairy industry. And today, I decided it doesn’t do any good to boycott veal, because the calves still need to be born, for the cows to be able to produce milk. Because veal isn’t as popular as it used to be, the trend now is to send the male dairy calves to slaughter when they’re a day or two old, for their meat and hides. If that bothers anyone, please find a milk substitute that you can use.

Many have as much calcium and Vitamin D as milk. (Calcium fortified orange juice contains as much calcium as calcium fortified milk.) There are many brands of milk alternatives that are made with soy, rice, oats, or almonds. Some don’t need refrigeration until they’re open. Some are sold in the dairy case. Some come in powder form. Some may be whiter than others. Some may taste more like milk than others. But all of them taste just fine with cereal, or when used for cooking. There are also good alternatives for ice cream, sour cream, yogurt and cream cheese. Cheese may not be so easy to substitute, but I like Tufutti.

Battery egg hens: Of the estimated 10 billion land animals that are slaughtered in the US every year for their flesh, probably about 8 billion of them are chickens. If we kill 8 billion chickens each year for meat, we probably kill another 8 billion male chicks at the hatcheries (because they aren’t raised for meat, and they don’t lay eggs). And probably half the hens that raised each year are kept confined, crowded with 5-7 others in little cages, in unhealthy and inhumane conditions, living a fraction of their natural lifespan, just so people can buy cheap eggs. (Poultry are exempt from any humane laws, and undergo such things as debeaking, detoeing and horrendous handling. And unless a person knows a family farmer personally, “free range” is generally a myth.)

If people would choose dairy-free alternatives, the countless newborn male calves wouldn’t have to be sent to slaughter by the dairy industry who has no use for them.

If people gave up eggs, the estimated 4 billion battery hens would not have to be replaced when they’re spent.

If meat-eaters would be willing to find substitutes for their eggs and dairy products, more than 4 billion animals would be spared a life of hell each year.

Here are some things that brought this to mind today:

From http://www.chicoer.com/newshome/ci_5154298:
Most disturbing were these paragraphs:

Ritterbusch said it used to be that dairies raised bull calves for veal.

But now that many people don’t eat veal because of the cruelty involved in producing it,
these calves are shipped off to be slaughtered, for meat or their hides, right after they’re born, she said.

And here’s a documentary on one of the most respected grocery chain’s egg farm:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6598954012979330894

Please take some time to watch this.

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Here are some sources for dairy and egg substitutes:

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/catering_and_cookery/eggfree.php
http://www.thevegetariansite.com/recipes_subs.htm
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/f/MilkSubstitutes.htm