PETA

By Paula Moore

If you’re like most people, the turkey probably wasn’t the only thing that got stuffed on Thanksgiving. The average person consumes an extra 600 calories per day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s and gains 1 pound during the holiday season. That doesn’t sound like much until you remember that most of us never lose that extra weight. The weight stays on throughout the winter and keeps adding up, year after year. For people who are already overweight, the news is even more depressing: Overweight people tend to gain 5 pounds or more during the holidays.

But you can help fend off the annual holiday spread with one simple strategy: Stick to festive meat- and dairy-free treats and avoid calorie-dense, artery-clogging animal-based foods.

Vegans—people who consume no meat, dairy products or eggs—tend to be slimmer than meat-eaters and more likely to stay slim even during the season of eating.

A British study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that vegans have a significantly lower body mass index than meat-eaters; vegetarians fall somewhere in between. When researchers at the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine asked overweight patients to try a low-fat, vegan diet, not only did the patients lose weight without counting calories—they also kept the weight off during the holidays.

So how bad can some traditional holiday fare be? Let’s look at the numbers. Just one cheese straw contains a third of your daily limit for saturated fat—and who ever ate “just one”? One bite-sized cheese ball can contain more than 500 calories, more than half of your daily limit for cholesterol and almost a day’s worth of total fat. Shrimp cocktail may look harmless, but this perennial party favorite is a cholesterol bomb waiting to happen. A typical serving of shrimp contains two-thirds of the daily maximum for cholesterol.

One serving of prime rib contains 45 grams of fat—and that’s before you add seasonings or a sauce. Turkey is loaded with even more fat and cholesterol than many cuts of beef. A turkey leg contains more than 700 milligrams of cholesterol and more than 1,600 calories—40 percent of which are derived from fat.

And before you toast the season with a glass of eggnog, consider that one cup of this sugar, cream and egg concoction can contain 19 grams of fat and more than 20 grams of sugar. Factor in the risk of salmonella in raw eggs, and eggnog might not be such a good idea.

Eating plant-based foods has other benefits too. The American Dietetic Association, the nation’s largest group of nutrition professionals, found that vegetarians have a lower rate of heart disease, diabetes and cancer than meat-eaters, in addition to a lower rate of obesity. And vegans don’t just give their health a boost—they save more than 100 animals a year from immeasurable suffering.

With so many people trying vegan foods these days, you’re bound to find delectable vegan options—such as savory vegetable pot pie, baked acorn squash drizzled with maple syrup, wild mushroom pâté, roasted pumpkin soup, chocolate mousse tart and vegan eggnog—on the holiday buffet. By consciously choosing these good-for-you foods instead of mindlessly munching your way through the holidays, it is possible to survive the season without feeling deprived or packing on unwanted pounds.

And if you should happen to overindulge, it’s never too late to get back on track. Just make eating vegan your number one New Year’s resolution.

Paula Moore is a senior writer for The PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510. For vegan holiday recipes, visit www.PETA.org.

By Dan Paden

Out along highways and rural roads throughout the U.S., you’ll see tractor-trailers loaded with pigs—or cattle, turkeys or chickens—taking the animals to their fate. Most of us prefer not to think of the gruesome end that these animals face. But scenes of slaughter play out along these same roads again and again as the trucks overturn. Recently, a truck loaded with cattle overturned on Interstate 74 in Illinois after the driver reportedly fell asleep at the wheel. At least two other motorists struck the terrified animals as they tried to run away.

In many of these cases, critically injured animals are left to lie on the roadside for hours without veterinary care. Try to imagine the horror of surviving a serious car crash only to be left to suffer in agony before either being loaded back onto a truck to be taken the rest of the way to the slaughterhouse or having a bolt put through your head (which may or may not kill you, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association). Shockingly, PETA has uncovered evidence that the meat industry has failed to take even basic steps to prevent these chaotic wrecks—putting both humans and animals in harm’s way.

Consider the case of Jonathan Leggett, a former truck driver for Smithfield Foods. In June 2010, Leggett crashed on a ramp leading off Interstate 95 south of Richmond, Virginia, while hauling 80 pigs for Smithfield subsidiary Murphy-Brown, LLC. Approximately 46 pigs were killed. This time, no humans were injured. According to public records, Leggett was cited for reckless driving and failure to maintain control.

Just three months before the June wreck, Leggett had rear-ended an SUV and crashed while hauling cattle in North Carolina. The SUV’s driver was taken to a hospital, and 35 cattle were killed. Leggett was cited for failure to reduce speed and for improper passing.

The previous summer, Leggett had been fined for traveling 56 mph in a 35 mph zone. A month before that, he had been fined for failing to obey a traffic signal. Earlier in 2009, he had paid $91 to clear up a tinted-windshield infraction. And so on, back to 2002, when officers found him operating an overweight vehicle in Fauquier County, Virginia.

The pork giant apparently lacked the initiative, the personnel or the 30 minutes that it took PETA to discover all this in public records. In late October, another driver, William Orville Barnett, was issued a summons for reckless driving in Suffolk, Virginia, after he overturned a trailer containing nearly 200 pigs headed for Smithfield; 47 pigs were killed. Easily found records show that Barnett allegedly violated federal transportation safety laws twice last year.

As an animal protection worker, I want the meat industry to prevent these wrecks for the sake of animals. One can’t smell the aftermath of five of these crashes, see debilitated survivors be electro-shocked and dragged by their ears and hear those who are the worst off have bolts driven into their brains without grasping the urgency with which meat-industry officials should be acting to prevent crashes.

But even those who are reading this over a bacon or sausage breakfast should be concerned about the motorists who share our nation’s highways and narrow, rural roads, often in low light, with these trucks and the civic responders who wade into these dangerous scenes.

Children and animals differ in important ways, of course, but we would not stand for a school district hiring a school-bus driver who had just crashed a bus, killing a few dozen kids, and had a long record of reckless driving. At the very least, the meat industry must prohibit employing, in any fashion, drivers who have repeated driving-related offenses or are found to have been at fault, ever, in any crash.

It’s a cruel irony that the final road leading to one of Smithfield’s slaughterhouses is Virginia State Route 666. But the rest of our nation’s roads don’t have to be hell for animals and people alike.

Dan Paden is a senior research associate with PETA’s Cruelty Investigations Department, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

By Heather Moore

It’s no longer enough to wear a pink ribbon to commemorate National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Head-to-toe pink is the new black. You can buy pink hair coloring, pink mascara and pink pumps—not to mention pink pistols, pepper spray, scouring pads, chip clips, can koozies and just about anything else—to benefit breast cancer charities. A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that 84 percent of Americans now buy products with a breast cancer tie-in. The pink mania doesn’t stop at the mall. Entire cities are celebrating “Pink Week” this month. NFL stars will sport pink wrist bands, pink cleats and pink chin straps; golfers will hit the green with pink golf balls; and boxers will pull on pink boxing gloves in an effort to help knock out breast cancer.

Most people have good intentions, but all this pink has me seeing red. It just won’t make much of a difference if more people don’t eat green.

“Awareness does not equal commitment,” says Timothy Seiler of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, who points out that when people purchase a pink item, they often feel that they’ve done their part to beat breast cancer. We need less pink and more action. If the race for the cure includes pit stops at McDonald’s and KFC—which has sold its unhealthy chicken in pink buckets—we aren’t ever going to reach the finish line.

Too many businesses are “pinkwashing”—passing themselves off as breast cancer crusaders while peddling products that can actually contribute to the disease. Many companies sell animal-based foods in pink packaging—because nothing says “breast cancer awareness” like macaroni and cheese. Some mean well, but featuring a breast cancer survivor on a package of shredded cheese, as Kraft is doing, is like displaying a lung cancer patient on a carton of cigarettes.

Meat, eggs and dairy products contain concentrated protein, hormones and saturated fat, all of which contribute to cancer. Fish flesh often contains PCBs and other cancer-causing chemicals. But that’s not stopping Quaker Steak & Lube, a nationwide restaurant chain that specializes in chicken wings, from offering “special” shrimp and salmon dishes because “the mono chromatic seafood can offer a reminder to the public of the steps women can take to save their lives.”

That’s pretty hard to swallow. Food companies that care about their customers’ health should offer vegan options. A newly released study, which followed 86,000 U.S. nurses for 26 years, suggests that women who eat diets high in plant-based foods—and low in meat, sodium and processed carbohydrates—are less likely to develop certain breast tumors.  

The Harvard Nurses Health Study indicates that women can reduce their risk of breast cancer by 20 to 30 percent just by eating more vegetables. Scientists have found that women who eat a typical Asian diet, which is high in soy and vegetables, have a lower risk of breast cancer than those who eat a typical Western diet, which is high in meat and processed foods. Musician Melissa Etheridge, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, recently blamed her health problems on a Western-style diet and urged women to eat more plant-based foods.

That’s good advice. Looking at breast cancer prevention through rose-colored glasses isn’t going to eradicate the disease—but we can increase our chances of staying cancer-free by exercising, getting cancer screenings and, most importantly, choosing vegan foods. October is also World Vegetarian Awareness Month. You can observe both months by picking healthy pink vegetarian foods, such as Pink Lady apples, pink grapefruit, pink rhubarb or even mushrooms in special pink packaging.

Heather Moore is a staff writer for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

By Heather Moore

Worried that you have a sasquatch-sized carbon footprint? Eat less meat and cheese. That’s the advice of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which recently calculated the ecological impact of 20 conventionally grown foods. The figures show that many animal-based foods have a supersized carbon footprint—in addition to a whopping amount of fat and calories. In fact, according to the EWG, if every American stopped eating meat and cheese for one day a week, it would be the same as if we collectively drove 91 billion fewer miles a year.

Imagine what a difference we could make for animals, our own health and the health of the planet if we stopped eating meat and cheese entirely—or at least for a couple of days a week.

The EWG found that in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, eating a pound of lamb is equivalent to driving about 39 miles. Every pound of beef represents a 27-mile trip, and eating just one pound of cheese is akin to driving more than 13 miles—a worrisome thought considering that the average American eats more than 31 pounds of cheese per year. Eating a McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese means not only consuming 740 calories, 42 grams of fat and 155 milligrams of cholesterol but also contributing to climate change and other serious environmental problems.

A 2010 United Nations report revealed that meat and dairy products require more resources and cause higher greenhouse-gas emissions than do plant-based foods. Instead of choosing pork chops, hamburgers, cheese pizza and other fatty, cholesterol-laden foods that take a toll on your body and the planet, opt for wholesome, climate-friendly foods such as lentils (which were rated best on the EWG report), beans, tofu, nuts and other plant-based protein sources.

Chris Weber, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, has pointed out that not eating meat and dairy products one day a week has an even bigger impact on the environment than buying local foods every single day of the year. Since Americans eat twice as much meat as the average person worldwide—and, unsurprisingly, America spends more money on health care than does any other nation—it will only benefit us to eat more vegan meals.

Fortunately, many people are now opting for more plant-based foods in an effort to save the environment, animals and their own lives. Last month, Aspen, Colo., became the first city in the country to launch a comprehensive Meatless Monday campaign, with local restaurants, schools, hospitals, charities and businesses promoting plant-based meals on Mondays. Durham County, N.C., recently proclaimed Mondays as “Meatless Mondays,” as have officials in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. City schools in Baltimore as well as some public schools in New York observe “Meatless Mondays,” and Sodexo, a leading food-service provider, now offers a weekly plant-based entrée option to the 900 hospitals and 2,000 corporate and government clients that it serves in North America.

It’s a great start—but it falls far short. Would it really be so hard for every American to leave meat and cheese off the menu for at least one day a week? If you need help, you can find plenty of delicious vegan recipes online. Once you see how easy it is to eat great-tasting vegan meals one day a week, you’ll realize that you can save the planet, help animals and eat healthily all week long.

Heather Moore is a staff writer for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

By Becky Fenson

Swimming is my passion. I learned to swim when I was 7 years old and have been drawn to the water ever since. I love it all—sprinting, long-distance swimming and everything in between. I once swam the English Channel, and I’ve swum around Manhattan Island numerous times.

But if there’s one thing that will get me out of the water, it’s jellyfish. While most swimmers shun jellies in order to avoid their painful stings—1,800 people were stung by mauve stingers off the coast of Florida over Memorial Day weekend—I’m more concerned about harming the jellyfish. I know that a misplaced stroke can easily damage a jelly’s delicate body. And now there’s another reason to give jellies their space: New research shows that these animals are far more complex than we ever imagined.

As a recent article in the New York Times reported, we now know that box jellyfish possess a complex visual system that allows them to navigate the murky swamps in which they live. Some of box jellies’ 24 eyes—yes, 24 eyes per jelly—are relatively simple and respond to light and shadow. But box jellies also have eyes that are surprisingly similar to our own—with lenses, retinas and corneas—that unerringly point skyward.

Why? In order to find food, box jellyfish need to stay within the tree canopy in the mangrove swamps where they make their homes. If they drift into the open lagoon, they will starve. These jellies look upward for navigational guidance.

Scientists have also discovered that jellies are not merely passive floaters, as was once thought. They dive down to reach still waters when tides start flowing out and also to find water that is salty enough to suit them. They can distinguish between friendly jellies and those who might eat them. When a moon jellyfish is touched by a predator jelly, the moon jelly swims safely away.

Jellyfish also have a centralized nervous system—places in their bodies where neurons cluster to take in sensory information and form an appropriate response. According to jellyfish expert David J. Albert of the Roscoe Bay Marine Biological Laboratory inVancouver, British Columbia, jellies also have brains. In his research paper “What’s on the Mind of a Jellyfish?” Dr. Albert concludes that the answer is “a lot.”

I’m not surprised. Every day, we discover something new about the animals who share our world with us. Research has shown that fish can count and tell time. They are fast learners who think ahead, form complex social relationships and have unique personalities.

Octopuses play, just as dolphins and dogs do, and are often mischief-makers in aquariums. Otto, an octopus in a German aquarium, has been observed juggling the hermit crabs who share his tank. Lobsters recognize individual lobsters, remember past acquaintances and have elaborate courtship rituals.

I began to have empathy for my fellow swimmers—fish and other sea animals—not surprisingly, while in the water. When I lived inSan Francisco, I spent so much time swimming in the bay that eating fish started to feel like eating my friends. Eventually, I decided to leave fish off my plate. Today I am vegan.

As we learn more about other animals, we begin to see that traits we once thought were uniquely human—such as feeling pain, enjoying life and forming close bonds—are shared, even with fish. This summer, as more of us take to the water, I hope that everyone will give at least a little thought to the jellies, fish and other sea animals they encounter. And perhaps some will take it a step further by passing on the seafood special at dinner and trying a humane vegetarian meal instead.

Becky Fenson is a manager for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

By Heather Moore

America just got a little bit greener. Earlier this month, Aspen, Colo.—John Denver’s “sweet Rocky Mountain paradise”—became the first city in the U.S. to launch a comprehensive Meatless Monday campaign. Local restaurants, schools, hospitals, charities and businesses, including the Aspen Valley Hospital, the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Aspen Elementary School, have signed on to promote plant-based meals on Mondays.

For our own health and the health of the planet, the rest of us should go meat-free as well—at least for one day a week.

According to Dawn Shepard, who is heading Aspen’s Meatless Monday campaign, Aspen is a very health-conscious community, and residents are also concerned about the environmental costs of meat production. A 2010 United Nations report revealed that meat and dairy products require more resources and cause higher greenhouse-gas emissions than do plant-based foods.

Shepard says that if everyone stopped eating meat one day each week, it would reduce carbon emissions as much as would taking 25 million cars off the road for a year. Chris Weber, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Pennsylvania’s Carnegie Melon University, has pointed out that not eating meat and dairy products for one day a week has an even bigger impact on the environment than buying local foods every single day of the year.

In an effort to save the environment and animals, a growing number of people—not just in Aspen but across the country—are swearing off meat, at least on Mondays. A May 23 FGI Research study shows that 50 percent of Americans have heard of the nationwide Meatless Monday movement, which was started in 2003 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That’s up from 30 percent just six months ago. At least 27 percent of consumers who know about the campaign have opted to eat less meat as a result, and a significant percentage of people would like to see Meatless Mondays promoted in restaurants, fast-food chains, supermarkets and cafeterias.

At the rate things are going, they may soon get their wish. This month, the board of commissioners in Durham County, N.C., officially proclaimed Mondays as “Meatless Mondays.” Last year, officials in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., passed resolutions urging people in those cities to choose plant-based meals on Mondays. City schools in Baltimore have been observing “Meatless Mondays” since 2009, and in February 2010, Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer proposed that all New York City public schools follow suit. Several schools have followed his recommendation.

This January, Sodexo, a leading food-service provider, began offering a weekly plant-based entrée option to the 900 hospitals and 2,000 corporate and government clients that it serves in North America. Vegetarian Day observations and activities are also taking place in Israel, Australia, the U.K., Finland, Belgium and other parts of the world.

We’re off to a good start—especially in Aspen—but the Meatless Monday campaign needs to keep on snowballing throughout the country. Americans eat twice as much meat as the average person worldwide. Not surprisingly, we spend more money on health care than does any other nation. Unlike vegan foods, which are cholesterol-free and generally low in fat and calories, meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol and contributes to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

While going vegan is the best way to save the planet and to save lives—our own and those of animals—people who aren’t yet willing to stop eating meat entirely can still help by not eating meat for at least one day a week.

If you’re already observing Meatless Mondays, try extending your efforts to Tuesdays too. Or help Meatless Monday campaigners reach even more people by telling everyone you know about the initiative. It will help bring us all a bit closer to that “sweet Rocky Mountain paradise.”

Heather Moore is a staff writer for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

By Bruce Friedrich

According to a new study, one of the deadliest types of cancer is also one of the most preventable. The World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research found that eating too much meat raises the risk of colorectal cancer and that eating fiber-rich vegetarian foods reduces the risk. What’s more, nearly half (45 percent) of colorectal cancer cases “could be prevented if we all ate more fiber-rich plant foods and less meat.”

This serves as yet another reminder that one of the best weapons in the war on cancer is a fork.

Scientists at Imperial College London conducted the new analysis as part of the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research’s groundbreaking Continuous Update Project (CUP). They found that a person who eats just 3.5 ounces of pork, beef or lamb every day has a 17 percent higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than does someone who eats no meat.

Three ounces of meat is approximately the size of a deck of cards. That’s just one serving size as determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, yet it’s far less than most Americans ingest in one sitting, let alone in one day.

Just about any meat is loaded with the saturated fat that the American Cancer Society believes is linked to cancer of the colon and rectum, but processed meats such as ham, bacon, hot dogs and deli slices carry an even greater risk. According to the CUP report, if a person eats 3.5 ounces of processed meat every day, his or her risk for colorectal cancer increases by 36 percent. The more meat you eat, the higher your risk will be.

Almost as bad as what’s in meat is what’s not in it: fiber. Meat and dairy products have absolutely no fiber at all, while fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains are loaded with it. Fiber helps speed the passage of food through the colon. Meat, on the other hand, tends to hang around and, well, rot.

In my work with PETA, I’ve been researching and writing about vegetarian issues for more than 15 years. And the conclusion of each new nutritional study is nearly always the same. There is overwhelming evidence linking meat to some of our society’s most severe health problems. Conversely, eating vegetarian foods can greatly reduce your risk of developing many of these same diseases—and in some cases, actually reverse them.

For example, according to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarians have “lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer” than meat-eaters do. The American Cancer Society recommends “choosing most of your foods from plant sources and limiting your intake of high-fat foods such as those from animal sources.”

If we take away anything from such nutritional research, it should be that the best prescription for good health is always prevention. And if making the sensible switch to a vegan diet can so greatly benefit our health—not to mention save animals’ lives—why not at least try it? With summer fast approaching, and with it a wealth of locally grown fruits and vegetables available in farmers’ markets and at produce stands, now is a great time to start eating for life.

Bruce Friedrich is a vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

By Heather Moore

It’s National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month—time to bone up on bone health. Approximately 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, and 34 million more have low bone mass, putting them at risk for the disease. Osteoporosis-related fractures are expected to cost Americans a back-breaking $25 billion by 2025.

Some people think that you can prevent osteoporosis simply by eating calcium-rich foods, but when it comes to building strong bones, what you don’t eat is just as important as what you do. Before you race to the store for a gallon of milk, know that osteoporosis is not generally caused by inadequate calcium intake but rather by rapid calcium loss. If you want to build and maintain strong bones, dumping dairy products and eating a wholesome vegan diet is a good place to start.

Animal protein, sodium and, to some extent, caffeine leech calcium from the bones (it is excreted in the urine), causing severe bone deterioration. Dairy products contain significant amounts of protein and sodium, and studies suggest that not only does dairy consumption not reduce osteoporotic bone loss, it might even contribute to it. A 12-year Harvard study of 78,000 women found that those who drank milk three times a day actually broke more bones than did women who rarely drank milk.

Calcium intake alone does not protect against osteoporosis, nor does a low-calcium intake signify a fracture risk. People living in countries with the lowest calcium intake rates tend to have fewer fractures than do those living in countries with higher rates. This is likely because the countries with high calcium intake rates—such as the U.S.—also tend to have high protein intake rates from consuming large amounts of meat and dairy products.

According to the World Health Organization, the recommended calcium allowance is higher in the U.S. than in other parts of the world, partly because Americans eat such a meat-heavy diet. A report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that when animal proteins were eliminated from the diet, calcium losses were cut in half.

Experts believe that because vegans don’t consume the excessive protein found in meat, eggs and dairy products, they are able to process calcium more efficiently than can meat-eaters. And vegans tend to eat more fruits and vegetables, which, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, help stave off osteoporosis because they contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin K and other nutrients needed for healthy bones. Leafy greens, beans, almonds, broccoli, butternut squash, figs, oats, soy milk and tofu are especially good sources of calcium and magnesium.

Vitamin D, which helps the body use calcium, isn’t naturally present in many foods, but it is added to some common foods. You can get vitamin D—without the fat and cholesterol found in cow’s milk—from fortified soy and rice milks, orange juice and cereals as well as from supplements and, of course, sunshine.

Some risk factors for osteoporosis—age, sex, family history and bone size—are difficult to change, but you can reduce your risk for the disease by exercising, not smoking, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and cutting salt, meat, cheese and cow’s milk out of your diet. It will do our bodies, animals and the environment good if we wean ourselves from dairy products and break our addiction to animal protein.

Heather Moore is a staff writer with the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

By Bruce Friedrich

In his new book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, Pope Benedict XVI boldly and rightly condemns violence that is carried out in God’s name. Yet even devout Christians try to excuse themselves of their role in the horrific violence that is carried out against some of God’s most vulnerable creatures—the animals we raise and kill for food—by claiming that God has given us permission to do whatever we want to them.

God’s granting to humans “dominion” over animals in Genesis 1:26 is often falsely cited as divine approval for torturing animals for the table. Most theologians recognize that the word translated as “dominion” is more accurately translated as “stewardship” and that the meaning of this text is that humans are supposed to be stewards and guardians, protecting and respecting the beings with whom we share the gift of creation.

But all the questions (or excuses) that are put forth in favor of eating animals don’t address the fundamental fact that eating God’s creatures causes needless violence and suffering and is inextricably linked to their abuse. If you are eating meat, you’re paying others to deny God’s animals their own natures and to abuse them. Even the very few organic and small farms abuse animals in ways that would be illegal if done to dogs or cats.

Pope Benedict XVI stated in an interview that the question of animal treatment is a crucial one for the faithful. By any measure, what happens to farmed animals today is anti-Christian. As His Holiness explained, “Hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds.” Similar abuse occurs in all the farmed-animal industries. This “degrading of living creatures,” explains His Holiness, contradicts “the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible.” Father John Dear, a Jesuit Priest from New Mexico, takes our responsibility to animals a step further, stating, “For the simple reasons that all animals are creatures beloved by God and that God created them with a capacity for pain and suffering, we should adopt a vegetarian diet.”

It doesn’t take much reflection to see that the Pope and Father Dear are right: God created humans and other animals out of flesh, blood and bone. We share the same five physiological senses and the ability to feel pain. God designed us this way. God designed pigs to root around in the soil for food and play with one another. God designed chickens to make nests, lay eggs, raise their chicks and establish communities (the “pecking order”).

Yet agribusiness today denies animals the fulfillment of their most fundamental needs. Agricultural scientists “play God” by manipulating animals to grow so quickly that their hearts, lungs and limbs can’t keep up, often causing heart attacks, lung failure or crippling leg deformities within weeks of birth. Chickens are crammed into cages by the hundreds of thousands, each with less space in which to live than a standard sheet of paper. During pregnancy, pigs are stuffed into tiny metal crates so small that they can’t even turn around. Forget rooting in the soil or laying their eggs in nests—these animals can barely move. The one natural thing they do get to experience is agony, and lots of it.

Scripture is full of calls for the faithful to be merciful, and Jesus’ message is one of love and compassion, yet there is nothing loving or compassionate about the industries that produce the farmed animals who are turned into meat. Christians have a choice: When we sit down to eat, we can support misery and violence or we can make choices that support mercy and compassion. The decision should be an easy one for us.

Bruce Friedrich is a vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

By Paula Moore

Every five years, the government reminds Americans that we need to start eating better—more fruits and vegetables, less sodium, less sugar, less meat. The latest incarnation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which was just released, also includes a specific recommendation to eat more fish. On average, Americans eat about 3 1/2 ounces of seafood per week, but according to the new guidelines, adults should up that to at least 8 ounces per week.

Here’s why you shouldn’t.

In slaughter facilities across the country, fish are killed in ways that make medieval torture look tame. Animal advocacy group Mercy For Animals has released a new undercover investigation of a fish slaughterhouse in Texas, where fish are suffocated, skinned and sliced in half—all while they’re conscious and able to feel pain.

The gruesome video shows workers using knives to slice off fins and pliers to peel away strips of skin from conscious, struggling animals. Dozens of fish are crammed together in buckets, struggling for oxygen. Skinned fish writhe on the cutting table. Workers violently tear off the heads of live fish.

If dogs or cats were the victims of these abuses, there would rightly be a public outcry. But because it’s “just fish,” many people turn a blind eye to the suffering that these animals endure before they end up on our dinner plates.

Yet we know that fish can feel pain, just as dogs and cats do. They possess pain receptors, their brains produce natural painkillers and studies have shown that they will avoid painful stimuli. According to Dr. Temple Grandin, the world’s leading expert on farmed-animal welfare, “Research shows that fish respond to painful stimuli in a manner that is not just a simple reflex.”

In her book Do Fish Feel Pain?, biologist Victoria Braithwaite says that “there is as much evidence that fish feel pain and suffer as there is for birds and mammals—and more than there is for human neonates and preterm babies.”

Yet the U.S. has no regulations to ensure the humane treatment of fish, and slaughterhouses almost never make an effort to stun fish before they are killed. Fish’s gills are cut, and they are left to bleed to death, convulsing in pain. Large fish such as salmon are sometimes bashed on the head with wooden bats; many are seriously injured but still alive and suffering when they are cut open. Smaller fish are sometimes killed when workers simply drain away their water and leave them to suffocate slowly.

If you eat fish to boost your heart health, as the new dietary guidelines suggest, there are better sources of cardio-friendly omega-3 fatty acids, including walnuts, flaxseed oil, spinach and soybeans as well as vegetarian supplements made from microalgae—which is where fish get omega-3s in the first place.

It may not be convenient to do so, but it’s time for us to acknowledge that fish are not swimming vegetables. They can suffer and feel pain as all animals do, and their welfare deserves our consideration.

Paula Moore is a senior writer for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.