By Terri Carr Muran
We exist in a world, where convenience supersedes our conscious choices.
Always “on the go”, we have noble intentions to eat sensibly, and take vitamins. Many of us invest significantly in maintaining our health. Shopping for organic produce is a priority. We carefully measure carbohydrates, fats and sugars, with an emphasis on healthy lean protein. However, do we really know what we are putting into our bodies? It’s easy to overlook and underestimate that our dietary decisions not only have a profound impact on our well-being, but also on our collective consciousness. In our quest for healthy sustenance, we should reflect on the ramifications of what–or who–we consume.
The grim reality is that flesh on our plates comes with a very high cost: disease. Meat-eaters might think it healthier to purchase “ fresh meat” from a live slaughter market. One can personally select a feathered bird to be butchered for dinner, rather than stop at the local supermarket for tidily wrapped chicken pieces. Truthfully, when consuming ANY meat, we are not only ingesting protein, we are eating an animal that has been subject to torture, and suffering. Studies show, before and during slaughter, terrified animals release high level stress hormones into their bloodstream that permeate through its body. Are we humans ignorant? We trendily sip our way through a nutritional multivitamin shake daily, fully convinced we absorb every essential ingredient of plants. The same occurs when we choose to eat a slaughtered animal. We ingest ingredients of fear, terror, pain and distress. Imagine a chicken, cage-cramped in an incomprehensible live slaughter market, knowing she will soon be on the chopping board. Whether hidden away in abattoirs or in plain view in live slaughter markets, slaughter operations showcase cruelty and suffering in its grandest form, perpetuating an industry built on exploitation.
Another danger of live slaughter markets is the rampant disease that exists within the animals. Practically all animals suffer from malnutrition and carry a host of bacterial and viral infections such as Avian flu, bumblefoot, fungal/mycotic infections and severe respiratory ailments. People standing in line to purchase, think the meat is fresh, yet are completely fooled. Persecution to the animal causes the meat to lose its nutritional value. Eating afflicted meat harms our bodies. The consumption of meat from stressed animals has been linked to auto-immune diseases, cancer, heart complications and more. As well as ingesting fear, terror, pain and distress from the slaughtered animal, you are ingesting bacterias, and infections. Importantly, the meat we think will nourish our bodies is actually toxic. Is it therefore no surprise that chronic illness is prevalent in the world and countless people struggle with disease.
Killing animals for food is a diametric opposite principle of AHIMSA, which calls us to be non-violent and respect all living things. We must remind ourselves that animals have a heartbeat; they feel. We must never slaughter, or cause suffering but cultivate goodness. AHIMSA must guide our actions. Let us vow to make conscious choices in our food and understand that satisfying our gourmet desires by slaying animal life is not a reflection of Jain values, or any modern ethical metric. As humans, we must nourish not only our bodies, but our souls; so let’s choose consciously.
Born in England, Terri Carr Muran currently resides in New York with her husband and children. Sharing her life with horses, dogs, and birds; animals are her greatest passion. She has served on several boards and committees including Save the Children, Leadership Council of Long Island; Kids and Cars; North Shore Rotary; Gold Coast Film Festival, and currently Humane Long Island.
