52 Responses

1. I LOVE Baraka. It was very moving. I will end up seeing this movie too. But I guess I need to be emotionally prepared, huh? After watching Earthlings I was vegetarian for maybe 4 years and vegan for over 2 years after that. So I can say that I gave it a good try. Not that there aren’t people who do it for their entire lives but it just isn’t for me. I don’t feel guilty about that anymore. But I still hurt deeply over the torture farmed animals face everyday.

   Sometimes, if you really let yourself go there, you can feel the agony that our culture is inflicting on the Earth and all its creatures. I guess that’s what you felt when you saw the scene of the piglets. That’s what I feel when I think about old growth forests being clearcut. We can’t sit in that pain for too long before it consumes us. That’s when I started to get acne REALLY bad. I became consumed with how backwards politics are and the injustice, inequality, ecological devastation… it was tearing me apart.

   When I began to focus on the positive things people are doing to turn all that around (permaculture, transition towns, intentional communities, the occupy movement etc) and started quieting all the constant thinking and worrying in my mind, it really started to help me mentally. And it lessened my acne.

   So it’s great that we know what is happening in the world. We need to be informed. But we also need to start living in accordance with our values as best we can. Then we can take steps to do what we love and what is in our hearts to heal the world in our own little way.

   Thanks <3

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   1. Hi Nicole,
      I haven’t seen Earthling’s but I hear it’s pretty intense… I mean if you’ve already gone through that, Samsara might be a walk in the park 🙂

      I like the way you said “Sometimes, if you really let yourself go there, you can feel the agony that our culture is inflicting on the Earth and all its creatures.” … that is exactly how I felt. Like this spiritual oneness with the earth and its sadness. As I believe us and the earth are all part of the same oneness, it makes sense. But I also fully agree that while maybe it is sometimes good to be reminded of that, there is really no point in focusing on the pain. This is why I don’t get too involved in politics, don’t watch the news, etc. The bad stuff happens and feeling bad about it won’t make a difference… I know that focusing on it and giving attention to it on a daily basis only serves to bring me down to a lower .. vibration I guess you could say.

      Focusing on the positive is a much healthier approach. I love what you said at the end there too – we need to start living in accordance with our values so that we can heal the world in our own little way.

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2. Thanks for sharing your thoughts I have been wanting to watch it since I really appreciated baraka. I had also thought about using a little marijuana to watch it, but now I am thinking about watching it sober since I also tend to be very emphatic.

   Also, just keep doing what your doing spreading your knowledge and good vibes that’s really all we can do always continue to learn and grow. But at the same time remember you are only one person and we are living in a society that is made up in a disturbing way. It can be really hard to work around it all of the time. I am typing this on my mac book pro which I am sure was made in China and probably in an unethical environment. This is not something I feel good about so I tend to not buy new electronics until they brake. But at the same time I am glad I can connect with people across the world using it.

   There are so many things I would like to change in the world but it’s hard to know how to do it. But I think a good way to start is just to remember how you would want the world to be, vote with your dollar, spread your knowledge and ideas.

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   1. Hi Nicole,
      Yes I totally agree. There’s really no way in this modern world to truly leave no impact, and no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to do everything perfectly. I know and accept that. I’m also typing this on my Macbook Pro 😉 … and without my computer I couldn’t spread my knowledge and ideas and help people through my business here. So what do you do?

      I agree that trying to change the world is overwhelming, and I think using our dollars as wisely as possible is a good way to start, because it’s something that everyone has the power to use… we use money every day. If anything it’s good to just get people thinking about “where did this come from, do I really need this”. And yeah. Just focusing on positive change and manifesting that 🙂

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3. Aww so sad. I do feel bad…i don’t even know where to find more ethical meat. They don’t seem to sell it in any of the chain stores here in Ontario, that’s for sure. Even farmboy, the more healthy grocery store i guess, has ‘organic’ meats but no grass fed ANYTHING! I am going to seek out butcher’s but it is hard busing around in negative 36 degree weather. le sigh. I do want to eat better quality meat! I guess I will be slowly working my way towards it. Do you think organic meat is better than nothing, or is it even worth it? I’s so had trying to do all of these things on a budget. Anywho though…
   I’m also glad you were open about eating pot brownies! I often wonder what other ‘health conscious’ people think about marijuana in general. Personally, I don’t really think it’s bad. Knowing you are from BC and you like electronic music (like me…liquid drum and bass for the win) I did wonder if you ever ‘partook’. Haha. I will definitely be looking into this movie as well, so thanks 🙂

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   1. I know, eating Non-Cafo is so not easy, and neither is not buying China and other sweatshop-made goods. With organic meat… it’s hard to say. It doesn’t necessarily mean they treat their animals better. I hope that organic farmers are more ethical, but there is no guarantee on it. I don’t really know what’s better… I mean many people need meat in their diets for health reasons and just dont’ do well on a vegetarian diet. So where do you draw the line if you can’t get ethically raised meat. I don’t know. I guess this is all something for us to think about individually, because budget is a big deal too. Jobs don’t pay well enough, they make education crazy expensive… for many people there really isn’t that much of a choice to buy better meat and not buy the cheap goods. I’m not sure of the answers.

      As for the bud.. haha yeah, I don’t really know. As far as I know, it is become pretty accepted as having many health promoting properties, and I think many health conscious people have broken past the government charade illegalizing and stigmatizing it – they know that really it’s just a plant from nature. Beyond that, I think it’s an individual thing on how you react to it and your experience from it – for me, I rarely use it simply because I just tend to get more paranoid on it than anything else, but for others that isn’t the case and they gain a lot of benefit.

      However, I have had quite a few extremely, extremely positive experiences from the occasional use of other non-physically addicting substances like magic mushrooms, LSD, Mdma, DMT, etc.. I feel like they have been a very positive catalyst for self growth for me, and there are many emerging studies showing that psychadelics can be incredible tools in psychological healing. I’ve always kind of wanted to talk about this on the blog, but I’m nervous because this is a subject that many people are just so sooo brainwashed about. Its just so pounded into our psyches since we were born that “drugs are bad, mmmkay”, and people still see it as such a black and white matter because of that stigma. If the government says it’s legal = okay sweet, let’s smoke till our lungs turn black, drive drunk, and pop prozac 24/7…. if government says it’s bad and illegal = do it once, and you are basically guaranteed to end up as a homeless crack addict. 🙄

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4. do they/ are they going to show this in cinemas? i live in the uk and i imagen that this would be even more powerful on the bog screen

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   1. I think you missed it! It came out in 2011. I know, it would be pretty dang epic on a big screen… it’s like one of the highest quality films made in the last 20 years or something

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5. *big screen

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6. I felt the same when I came across a video on youtube. (I have yet to watch Samsara but I will!) I was looking at incorporating red meat into my diet after going 6 years or so without eating any (I think this was after my last McDonalds burger *cringe*) because I just though that red meat was dirty and unhealthy. This was even before I started my journey to better health and became conscious of the food we have.

   Anyway, I was looking at the farmer’s youtube channel of whom I was planning on buying the organic, humanely raised, grass fed British meat. It was such a happy video with sheep “laughing” in the fields, cows in close proximity to the farmer and the camera and such healthy happy looking animals in lush green pastures.

   Well, on the right-hand side of the page (on youtube) was a video about animal cruelty (no idea why it was “related” and I can’t find it anymore). I watched it, not regrettable and straight away I decided right in that moment to never eat CAFO meat again. I could not believe the way that HUMAN BEINGS treat these defenceless animals, and how the world has become in order to meet cheap, convenient demand. Living male chicks were tossed away into a garbage disposal bins, simply because they were male. The workers would then suffocate thousands of them, by the bucket load in plastic bags because that’s the cheapest way of slaughter. Some animals were ripped apart ready to be “processed” whilst still alive.

   I now only pay a premium for the pastured organic meat and would honestly rather go without than eat animals that are raised and slaughtered so poorly. To think, my family wonder why their supermarket meat always taste shit compared to the meat I buy… They wouldn’t care about these sorts of movies… “If we didn’t eat them, they wouldn’t be there in the first place” is what my Dad would say.

   (For those in the UK, I highly recommend http://www.wellhungmeat.com)

   You made me laugh when you said “We were all high ” LOL

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   1. Hi Nathan,
      Oh god, yeah… those scenes of animal cruelty are so brutal. Just so brutal! In this one, there were scenes of dairy cows just standing there in their tiny pens in which they can’t move, milked.. . with another hose to come along and take away their piss and shit. Another scene showed a big like rotating tractor thingy just sweeping through a thing of chickens and sucking the live chickens into the rotating blade… the last movie “Baraka” showed little baby chicks going through some kind of conveyor belt resulting in a woman burn the tips of their beaks off… that was the only scene I remembered from watching that one…

      Anyway, good for you for really going ahead and not eating Cafo… you are a strong man 🙂 especially in the face of adversity of your family.

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      1. Hi Tracy,

         I appreciate your reply; I love how I’m fortunate enough to have somebody to talk to about these things who knows what the deal is and can take away a message with it. Thank you!!!

         Ugh yeah, I think the dairy cows get it pretty bad. Now, they are trained to go into this robotic milker where they stand for 10 minutes or so to be milked, hoping that the machine doesn’t somehow rip off their udder! At the end of it they are “rewarded” with a protein biscuit or something… Just another way to further distant animal husbandry and gain more money to labour output. I remember the burning of beaks too and how people remove the tails of live piglets, resulting in some growth defects and infections.

         Ha yeah! You have truly inspired me to stick to what I believe in and it’s tough living at home, but outside of that, I have a home, a family which many people do not, so for that I’m very grateful. It makes compete sense to me that “you get what you pay for”… Rhetorical question here, but why is it that people are willing to pay £X for the branded chocolate and junk food, yet argue and see no point in paying extra for some meat. I’m so fortunate to have learnt about these things and respect the earth for all that it has given us. Like what was mentioned above, on Earth we are all as one. (something tells me that inline with the Mayan video a few weeks ago, there will be some kind of connection with the human habitation on Mars in 10 years… In the “golden age” , “bad” people live on a different planet, right now the bad is in all of us, we just chose wether to let it escape. (BTW the government have nothing to do with that, but it will be the”biggest media event” apparently)

         Man your blog should be a template for the things that we are supposedly educated in. It really would be a heaven on earth.

         Have a great day!

         Nathan

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   2. There is an answer and it is veganism. My goodness I was so resistant to the idea of “giving up” meat and dairy for so long until I realized how brutally foul these products are and where they come from. Love yourself and animals enough to let go of what you’ve been told about meat and dairy and actually research a vegan diet. I have been vegan for 3 years now and I will never look back. My health, conscience, mood, weight….you name it has improved tremendously. You can’t find “humane meat” because it doesn’t exist.

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7. I have to admit.. I knew that I was lucky because I have a roof over me and a family and friends, even though it wasn’t a movie like Samsara, but it was actually the Hunger games. :p The fact that I saw children fight while other people watched them made me realize how lucky I am to live in a place where I don’t have to hunt or anything to survive, there isn’t a camera filming the location where I live, or following me for some reality program that other people see.

   ^You might have to watch the movie or read the book unless you know what it’s about haha!

   But yeah.. Animal cruelty is just harsh! ;(

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   1. No I haven’t seen the Hunger Games! Or read it. But yeah, sometimes we need a little perspective to remind us how lucky we are, even though we all have our own individual problems, there’s so many things we take for granted

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8. I’ve just watched it…

   To me, it appears the China is supplying America almost as a ‘favour’ and for little reward. I’m not sure why I see it like that… Maybe because Americans are masses of huge consumption and China are these slim, ever-working people constantly churning out more objects for the western world. I know that’s stereotyping Americans but it is a fact that they are the largest people in the world… It goes far beyond just food though and it is their way of life. In this way, it is easier to see the world as “one” where one produces and one consumes, but what about the Chinese, is this really their modelled way of life?

   I can’t get over the shear amount of people one factory holds. I mean, I knew that Foxconn who make computers (mainly Apple branded) employ 600,000 at one factory) but everywhere you look it’s line after line, uniform after uniform, order after order. It’s good to see the some companies are making more effort in the Chinese labour workforce such as Apple, but again, that just seems like a ‘favour’. I know everyone uses Apple as an example, but they are the only technology company to make such efforts and yes, as the largest company in the world they should!

   I never understand why, or could never myself do what millions of people do everyday. The “routine” of going to work 5 days a week 9 hours a day, waiting hours in traffic to be stuck with masses in everything they do. (I’m between careers and only work part time, the job isn’t too bad but the bigger picture here is that I feel apart of this mass which has no care for anyone else and thinks only about money) It’s so liberating to distant oneself from that and it seems that the opening sequence has that.

   The animal cruelty is crazy. Live animals are treated like irons on a conveyor belt. Even dead animals are slaughtered and cut apart like a disassembly of a sofa. This is not butchery; it is mass production of a living being. Man wants to be like machine. Machine is becoming more like Man. The distance between the 1st and 3rd world countries is very odd. Tribes have guns, teenage American girls have guns. Teenage Chinese workers make the guns. Why do so maybe people living in the 1st world nation feel so threatened and fearful of everyone? Sure they have rights to be, just look at the past events of school murders, but c’mon, do you really need a cabinet full of guns? Consumption, consumption, consumption. Do people even realise that chicken breasts actually came from a fully developed living bird? Everything in the meat industry is so chopped up and I think this is why people tend not to imagine a breathing, eating living animal when the nip to the supermarket for there conveniently prepared food.

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   1. Yeah, with China.. it’s like.. well, I don’t know if it’s a favour. The Chinese government is profiting like mad, because the demand for cheap goods is so high, so they commit tons of human rights infractions because the only thing that matters is making the goods as cheaply as possible.

      That’s why I think boycotting China specifically is a good idea… because the Chinese people are like their government’s slaves (worse than other countries, I believe). You’d think that buying things from China would support their economy and help the Chinese people, but it doesn’t, it just supports their fascist government and promotes their human rights violations.

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      1. That’s it! The favour thing is like, oh well lets have everything made in China and spend billions over there, this we we are paying the Chinese workers who would otherwise be out of work. Americans and the western world think they did good and the world revolves again based on over consumption and the fact that the Chines workers can’t actually do anything about it.

         Boycotting is a very good idea where alternatives can be found locally.

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         1. Make no mistake – China IS after economic conquest of the Earth. I’ve heard stupid stuff like “China will attack the USA one day”

            Umm, no. Not likely. However, I believe China will buy out the USA from underneath its feet.

            However, China is not all bad. Aid to Africa has never worked and 70% of Africa is impoverished. Because of this “image” of Africa in our heads, businesses are NEVER going to invest in Africa, thus there is no economic growth on the entire continent. But China is investing a lot of money into African resources and native Africans have a VERY favorable opinion of the Chinese.

            All is not what it seems from our Western-view. It will be the Chinese, not the Europeans or North Americans who save Africa from itself.

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9. man i would LOVE if you did a blog post on drugs and your personal experiences with them! it would be soso interesting to hear your side!

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   1. It’s a perversion of language to refer to marijuana as a drug, when so much of mainstream society does not consider alcohol a drug.

      Alcohol, being a “drug” that kills 20,000-40,000 people a year in the USA alone.

      It’s my belief that drugs are ONLY man-made.

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   2. Well I did write one article trying to argue my case that it really isn’t so black and white and that some drugs in certain situations can be very positive, but I chickened out on posting it hahah. We’ll see if I get brave enough… I feel good that I’ve broached the subject in this article and comments though.

      Also Sampson, I agree… I hate even using the word drugs because it has such negative connotations

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10. Tracy, I watched Samsara last night. I think you NEED to do an article on traveling overseas and how to prepare for it. This is a subject I’m clueless about and I really want to go on a trip to India sometime in the near future.

    You seem to travel a lot and I think your readers would appreciate if you outlined the process from start to finish. I assume that most people are worried of being thrust into a foreign country with no concrete plan, because the thought of getting lost in a country like India is horrifying for some.

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    1. Actually, I have plans to write an entire ebook about this… there’s just sooo much to say. But, I’m trying to work up the motivation to get started because writing full ebooks is quite a big undertaking. I should probably just write a blog post to begin with haha… hey, every time someone asks it gets me once step closer to getting on it! So thanks!

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       1. An e-book is an awesome idea and will bring in a different set of readers to your blog, so I’m all for it.

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11. Ahh, the coincidence. I was sick with the flu earlier this week, which gave me time to watch documentaries on Netflix.

    I watched a vegan documentary assuming it would describe the health benefits of being vegan. It did to a degree but then it went right into the slaughterhouse for a segment.

    Vegucated opened my eyes on so called “free range” and “organic” meats. They have the same inhumane processes.

    Let’s just say after watching it, I haven’t been able to touch meat for the last couple days.

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    1. Yeah, it’s funny… we actually just left yesterday on a little roadtrip to visit our friend in the interior of BC… first thing she says when we see her “Oh god you guys, I watched this horrible thing about factory farming the other day, I’m never buying conventional bacon again… only happy meat from now on!” … haha .. she hadn’t read my article either, it was just a coincidence.

       Anyway… yeah. It really is best if you are going to eat animal products to source them from local farms in which you can know the if the animal is treated poorly or not… I kind of knew that organic probably doesn’t mean as much as people assume as far as ethical treatment goes.

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12. Hi Tracy!

    It’s so hard for me to watch/read about these topics too. When I first became aware of the realities of the food industry (about 7 years ago), I kind of went into shock; I couldn’t eat much of anything for several days!

    As far as items go, I’ve started purchasing things on Etsy.com (have you heard of it?) I can find many items I need at reasonable prices, and I feel better about giving them my business. Maybe you can check it out the next time you need to buy something.

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    1. Hi Lorena,
       Yeah Etsy is awesome 🙂 I need to utilize Etsy more

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13. I have never seen Samsara, but I know exactly what you mean about feeling free and grateful to live the way you do. That’s exactly how I feel. I think part of the immense sadness I carry around stems from that feeling of gratitude, knowing that what I have others do not, and by others, I mean other humans, but also animals and other forms of life. And, once you realize how free you are, you realize that along with that freedom comes responsibility, because after having witnessed the torture humans are capable of, you can no longer shut your eyes and partake in it (and yes, whether we like it or not, buying cheap meat and dairy, or made in China goods IS partaking in it, no guilt-trip intended; it’s the simple truth).

    I like make-up, and I have curly dry hair that requires treatment, and a few years ago, I decided that I wouldn’t buy products that had been tested on animals ever again. I don’t know exactly what provoked that decision – a number of documentaries, and me growing up and realizing that I too am responsible. And boooy was it an uphill struggle! A lot of companies don’t mention animal testing at all on the label (which can mean that either they do, or they don’t test on animals). I found I had to do a lot of extensive internet research, but I’m happy to say I now have an upgraded, ethically clean make-up bag, and I found a beauty salon in my city that only uses organic, eco-friendly products. It took a while to find all these places and products, and yeah, often it is a little more expensive, but I find I think more about whether I really NEED something before just buying it out of convenience. I have also learnt to make my own beauty products using raw ingredients, which has been fun, and perhaps the most important lesson in all this for me is, I have learnt to go without. I’d rather wear no make-up at all than make-up which has been tested on animals. It’s the same with household cleaning products. At first, it’s a drag to become ethical-minded about everything you use in your house or put on your face, but after a while it becomes second nature. Today, I know the names of companies that test beauty products on animals off the top of my head, and I just avoid them at the supermarket, no big deal. I mean, I do get all hyped up about animal cruelty and how we humans abuse our status, and I know that just boycotting unethical products & goods isn’t enough to change the whole system, but little by little, step by step, change can happen, and whether or not it actually does in the end isn’t the problem; we have to fight as though it will.

    🙂

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    1. “with great power, comes great responsibility”… not to quote spiderman, but I like what you said there… it’s so true. We are lucky, but there is a lot of responsibility with that freedom that so many don’t want to own up to, including me to a degree.

       Good for you for going to the inconvenience of switching over all your makeup to cruelty free…. I totally agree when you say that at first it seemed very overwhelming and difficult, but it’s like anything… after you learn it and integrate it and it becomes a habit, it’s really no big deal. That’s how I feel about many of the health and lifestyle changes that I’ve made too.

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14. Funny, I watched it like 2 weeks ago! And it was crazy, especially the animal, factory and the sulphur mine segments. There’s some interesting info in this article: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/the-stories-behind-the-5-most-difficult-to-film-scenes-in-samsara/261923/ (Like one of the creators said that apparently the cows on the milking tourniquet like the ride so much, the don’t want to go down. Hope that’s true…)
    I try not to buy things from sweatshops, but it’s just so damn hard. Like I bought clothes from the Czech version of Etsy, but then I thought about the fabric – who makes it and in what conditions? And the problems I find just go on and on – if I find something made ethically, it’s often wrapped in layers of plastic, the majority of stuff is poor quality anyway, everything is planned to become obsolete, local/organic options are sometimes just too expensive for me etc etc. I just think that we can only go so far with careful planning and choosing to buy/use certain goods…but with this greed and profit driven society, we can never win. And we need to change that:)

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    1. Yeah I agree Tereza… it’s totally exhausting and impossible to be completely ethical… we just have to do our best and not beat up on ourselves when we can’t do everything. It is sad the world has come to this, but it is how it is :/ It really makes me sad.

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15. The world is such an awesome and terrible place…I haven’t seen this particular documentary, though now I want to. But it just seems like there are so many evils out there and it can feel exhausting to worry about them all. I try to make it a priority not to buy animal tested things, whereas my friend makes it a priority to only buy from companies who treat their workers well (i.e. not Walmart). We were talking about trying to do both of these things at the same time and it just narrows choices so much that it’s almost impossible. The sudden realization of that just depressed me so much (possibly in part because I was drunk during this conversation…slightly different from your being high, but makes me feel profound. Lol).

    It’s like…I just want to do right by everyone and everything, but the world makes it so damn HARD. But I just don’t want to take the easy road, you know? But it’s HARD, and EXPENSIVE, and no wonder so many people choose not to bother. I’ve already made commitments to doing things a certain way…I’m an ex vegan who, when she started suffering health problems, switched to local, grass-fed meat from neighborhood farmers…and I pay a good chunk of change to have that in my diet. I pay more for cruelty-free health and beauty products, and drastically reduced the number of products I use to save enough money to do so. Which is nice, but took a lot of thought, research and effort. I guess what I’m saying is that I just hate so much that the world offers us so many convenient, poor quality choices and makes it so hard to find and live with better alternatives.

    Idk what I’m driving at here. I want to watch this movie now. Thanks for another insightful article. I like following the blog of someone compassionate and ethically minded.

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    1. Hey Kit, I totally agree. It is just plain sad that in this world it’s impossible … well maybe not impossible, but just incredibly difficult… to be completely ethical. We can’t beat ourselves up for not being perfect.

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16. hey tracy, i was using manuka honey for awhile but i recently quit my part time job and cant afford to drop 40 bucks on honey anymore. can i use just organic honey on my face? i know its not as high quality, but could it be bad for my skin? love the blog as always, thanks.

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    1. Yes, totally! You can definitely use raw organic honey (that’s what I used for a long time before switching to manuka), just make sure it’s smooth and not grainy or it will be much too abrasive and irritating

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17. I hope you continue to post on this issue. It’s something that has been on my mind a lot recently. I am pretty convinced I am one of those people who needs meat in her diet (I don’t do well on grains at all, apart from some brown rice here and there, and I’m just not going to live on vegetables for the rest of my life), but when I think about where my meat is coming from, it makes me feel very uneasy about eating it. I currently live in Croatia, and though I don’t think the factory farming situation is as bad here, I really don’t know much about the industry, and there isn’t as much awareness about it.

    But then there’s this issue, too: even if animals are raised humanely, they still must be killed. What is the most humane way to kill something? It’s a question that bothers me very much.

    Anyway, this is all to say that I’d be interested in reading about your journey through these issues, what research you do in the process, and ultimately, if you are able to find a balance or a solution you feel good about.

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    1. Hi Elaine,
       I’m actually staying on an organic farm right now owned by a friend, which is interesting because I’ve been able to ask her questions about the slaughter of the animals. In her experience, if it’s done in a way in which the animal is kept calm and doesn’t see it coming, and then the death is quick (either by slitting the throat or done by gun), it’s quite humane. They don’t know what happened… they’re just here and then they’re not. And depending on your spiritual beliefs… well you can interpret after that. I believe our souls and energy just transform into a different plane or dimension and reincarnate or move onto other things. They return to the oneness of the universe, or however you want to call it. Of course I still find the idea of slaughtering an animal uncomfortable, but we have to realize that it’s mostly because we are projecting our own fears about death onto the animal. It’s hard to say if these animals even know what death is, and it’s unlikely that they fear it like we do. Well, I suppose unless they live in a factory farm where they see torture and stress and fear every day. If they live a happy life on a happy farm, then .. yeah 🙂

       It really all comes down to finding a local source and knowing your farmer. Not as easy or convenient as going to the grocery store, but that’s how it is.

       Also, I am reading a really interesting book right now that I would highly recommend for more of an understanding of the ways that society as become so abnormal when it comes to food production (and farming), energy uses, water uses etc.. and also the solutions and ways to return to ecological normalcy (and like.. ways we can move toward it as individuals little by little)…. it’s called “Folks, This Ain’t Normal” by Joel Salatin. Great book, would recommend.

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18. This is one of my favorite articles on this wonderful website, I too have mental breakdowns over extreme bursts of consciousness and realization lol I’ve watched Bakara but it was a long time ago and I think I was too young and wasn’t able to fully comprehend it. this post has inspired me to go back and rewatch it and possibly others like it. thanks! huge fan by the way:)

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    1. Hi Gloria – Thanks, I’m glad you liked the article. I had also seen Baraka, but I think Samsara was a lot more dark and intense than Baraka was! That’s why I wasn’t mentally prepared haha

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19. I love the post, but I don’t think there is such thing as “ethical meat”. I understand that sometimes it is hard to change habits, especially if you try to motivate yourself with guilt. But if instead you try to do something for yourself, and that just happens to be useful to others too, then the whole changing process is much easier. For example: there is this new study that shows that the risk of heart disease in vegetarians is about a third lower than in comparable non-vegetarians. Seems like a good motivation, right? If you like you can read an article on this here http://bit.ly/WaiWtv
    Thanks

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    1. I agree, “ethical” and “meat” shouldnt be in the same sentence. As a vegetarian, I tend to question why some people will justify killing and meat eating by saying that the animals were slaughtered in a “humanly” way, it just doesnt make much sence. Also, vegetarianism shouldnt be about guilt. It’s about making the concious decision to change your lifestyle for the better and respecting other living creatures:)

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       1. In a proper organic mixed farm setting which is healthy for the environment, the soil, and the animals, the animals and vegetables need each other… the vegetables need the manure to grow without the use of imported fertilizer, and herbivorous animals also renew topsoil if properly pastured, which obviously we need in order to continue growing plants for food. It’s all a big cycle in which we work together. In the case of ethical and sustainable food production, I totally disagree that we don’t need to raise animals for food and that vegetarianism is the answer, especially if commercially mono-cropped plants are eaten. If you personally don’t want to eat meat because you don’t like the idea of killing an animal, then I do not mind of course, but the whole thing is not objective that vegetarianism is the best and right way to eat for the good of humanity. In my opinion 🙂

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          1. I agree with you and would just like to add from an evolutionary point of view, we have always been carnivores. I know this is totally bashing vegetarianism, but a plant only based diet (or rather no meat at all diet) is not what our bodies were designed to live off. 2 million years of evolution (and actual evidence) tells us that no, the human diet is definitely not objective in favor of vegetarianism and denying a very large nutrient (B12 exclusive) food group does not sit well with our body composition. I prefer to eat a variety of plants and well cared for animal, rather than the feed lot diet of vegan/vegetarianism. (As in the same foods used to fatten animals and the same foods that keep the food pyramid mainly grain based…)

             @nenad – As for “new” studies go, do you think that because a study over just 29 years with just 45,000 people means out current biological system is designed to be entirely grain/plant based? This is after 2 million years of human evolution based on a meat diet. If we didn’t eat meat back then, we would not be here right now.

             It’s for this reason that during the 60’s all saturated fat was considered bad for us but there was actually no real evidence to prove it. There will NEVER be enough evidence to prove that humans should not eat meat. When/if that time comes, we probably won’t be Homo sapiens but instead evolve to some new “form”.

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             1. Edit: 23 year old study…

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20. Nathan, I understand your point of view, but I think you are very mistaken. First of all, if you are vegetarian you don’t lack B12, that can happen only to vegans, but even then there are simple solutions to prevent this. Second, evolution is about moving forward, if 2 million years ago we had one diet, that doesn’t mean we must stick with it for the next two millenniums. Back then we ate what we could find, today we can chose what we eat.

    Also Tracy, the “big cycle” that you describe is not really accurate, and in fact animal farming is causing more damage to our eco-system than we can imagine. We actually grow more grain and cereals to feed farm animals than us. There is an official study by the United Nations that describes this issue very well http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet

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    1. You can’t compare factory farming animals with an organic ecologically sound mixed farm situation (from which “ethical” meat comes). It’s one sided if you go ahead and point the finger at meat and then don’t mention the devastation of mono-cropped plant farming in which topsoil is heavily eroded and the products have to be shipped halfway across the world to be consumed. In my opinion, it’s a problem with conventional farming of both plants and animals (and yes, perhaps conventional meat production is worse?), and not a problem with the raising of animals for meat. It’s apples and oranges. I highly suggest reading “Folks, This Ain’t Normal” by Joel Salatin.. wonderful book.

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    2. My mistake, I thought vegetarians lacked B12 as well. Other than supplement, where do vegetarians get a good source of B12 from that is bio-avalaible and can be properly absorbed into the cells?

       Yes, we had a meat based diet 2 million years ago, and you are right in saying that in another 2 million years, the human species probably won’t eat what we eat now. (which is extremely varied anyway). But we have not evolved that much since 2 million years ago to say that we shouldn’t be eating meat. Whilst it’s true that our skulls are becoming smaller just like our brains, that isn’t due to the so called “bad” meat based diet humans evolved on – quite the opposite!

       Look at the WAPF. The whole basis of that worldwide study in tribal population that have been eating the same diet for multiple generations that still had perfect health- Correctly size jaws and mouths – they never has wisdom teeth.

       I understand that your belief system is against meat, but you can’t argue with facts. That study is completley against what Tracy and this blog post/discussion is all about. Of course those factory farmed animals is causing more damage. I know that “ethical” mean comes from fields of grass. My own source comes from coastlands of the UK and you simply cannot get better than that!

       Mono-cropping is definitely just as bad as factory farming. I’m assuming that most of that isn’t organic either and relies heavily on artificial fertilisers – Is that good for the local eco system? Further, since mono-cropping is usually wheat, corn or other grains we know that the ones eating this stuff if mostly those who are either Vegan, vegetarian, typical American dieters and factory farmed animals, hence “feed-lot” diet.

       I’m going to look at that book too Tracy, I’ve heard it’s a great read!

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21. Will be watching that ASAP and love that Lisa Gerrard sings on it!

    Per the US and guns etc. I have been noticing more so in the past year the amount of USA bashing that has been going on with people my age and younger (I’m in my 30’s). As someone with two grandparents who fought in WW2 it is hard to hear the amount of “America bad everyone else good” comments and thinking. The phrase ‘first world problems’ that’s been so popular to preface ones opinions with is especially troubling as well since the people making these comments are benefitting from living in the USA. One would think that they would take note of that fact when speaking this way.

    Yes, the USA does many things that hurt other countries and are dishonest BUT we forget that other countries do this as well. Look at the caste system in India and how they treat women ( the recent rape of that woman on the bus is exposing the poor treatment of women by police and higher ups in the country), how invasive government is in people’s lives in Russia, China and it’s murderous one child policy that forces women who WANT to keep their baby to abort, the middle east and it’s horrible treatment of women and non Muslims or Muslims that don’t adhere as strictly as the higher ups, Africa and it’s corrupt government that has it’s hand out while sitting on a huge amount of natural resources that could help the poor people in it’s country, corrupt officials and the horrible drug empires that control the lives of people in Mexico, and so on and so forth.

    As for guns? Just be glad that you have access if you want it. When you live out in the sticks where it takes over an hour for police to get to you then you’ll be glad for a gun when dishonest people come around. Dishonest people with ill will don’t listen to talk, they just take and do what they want. Women also need to be able to protect themselves and guns are much more effective than yelling and pepper spray.

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22. I went vegan over a year ago as a result of reading Jonathan Safron Foer’s Eating Animals – however since then I have had awful acne that has got progressively worse. I now have it all over my face the whole month when previously it was limited to my chin and only half the month. I can’t help but wonder whether my vegan ism is the cause – but that’s strange to me as everything I read says stop dairy and meat to get better skin. Any thoughts?

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    1. Hi Holly,
       Yes, once you’ve studied nutrition enough you’ll start to get this nagging feeling that people don’t really know what they’re talking about. I’m saying this about all “diet camps”, not just vegans. People have ideologies and ideals and then find studies and logic to back up why it’s nutritious too. You can do this with virtually any idea about food. People are just different plain and simple, and one man’s meat is another man’s poison… and vice versa. I have come to believe that no food that is in it’s natural state is bad. Every single food has it’s draw backs and it’s positives. And certain people react better to certain foods than others. There is no overlording truth.

       Anyway… along that line: I don’t personally think that meat and dairy are inherently bad at all, and that they can be incredibly nutrient dense and very helpful for clear skin. I’m talking like raw dairy and ethically raised meat, not factory farmed, processed meat and dairy. Check out my video I made about veganism and acne, for more thoughts about why someone might develop acne after going vegan: https://thelovevitamin.com/774/why-do-some-people-develop-acne-when-they-go-vegan/

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