Due to reduced land and air traffic an actual blue sky has emerged in Los Angeles because there is no more pollution. (I’m pretty sure it’s a quote from the Bible.) The Himalayans are visible for the first time in three decades because one of the top-polluted countries in the world – India, is seeing a steep drop in pollution levels. In Italy and France wildlife is taking over once popular beaches, the canals in Venice have become clear with wild birds and dolphins returning, you can see stars in big cities and hear birds in daytime New York, even deer and coyotes are making an appearance in the city since there are little to no humans in the streets.
We were not put on this earth to eat and abuse other species but rather to coexist and live in sync as each of the species has a job and a purpose to fulfill in order for our ecosystem to continue.
THE QUICK DOWNFALL OF FOOD AND ECONOMY
During this time of year, the farmlands in the state of Florida are growing tomatoes, zucchini, squash, onions, green beans and cabbage among other produce. Florida, a top state in providing most of east coast with vegetables, is now having tractors plow though the fields and scramble the unharvested produce back into the soil to compost. Mountains of crops are still being wasted and rotting away in the sun as farmers have already donated hundreds of thousands of pounds of vegetables to food banks and charities but there are still tens of millions left to go as restaurants, schools and theme parks around the country remain closed.
Lawmakers have now had to write to the government to have Florida farmers be included in the food distribution nationwide as to feed the hungry and homeless. President Trump has signed a federal coronavirus relief act of providing $9.5bn to aid the farmers, which is the largest in the country’s history.
A lot of the farms are beginning to replant the produce hoping that come harvest time in summer and autumn, the food service industry has opened. But even with public places reopening, how many of those will perform on the same level as before? And how many will even stay closed? One way or another it is a massive gaping hole left in the farming industry.
Of course, it’s not only vegetable farms that are taking the hit. America’s largest dairy cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America, estimates farmers dumping nearly 4 million gallons of milk each day and a single chicken processor is smashing 750,000 unhatched eggs every week. Now, as some of these perishables could be given to those in need, the process and transportation would take money that the farms currently just can’t afford. Which is why it’s easier for the food to be dumped and destroyed.
For years now, dairy farmers have struggled with low prices and loss of demand due to plant-based alternatives emerging to market but this is definitely the biggest blow. Thousands of cows and chickens are executed due to this financial loss. Might this be another sacrifice needed to end humans dairy consumption? Probably.
Western Growers President and CEO David Puglia has made it clear that administration needs to ensure the survival of farmers now so that they can continue supplying for the schools, universities and grocery stores when the quarantine finishes.
THE SNOWBALL THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
A new wave of deadly bird flu has been discovered in a turkey farm in South Carolina. In 2015, a similar case caused farmers to kill over 50 million birds as the flu was taking over the whole region.
Farm animals are treated inhumanely as it is but during this pandemic more and more hands are being let go and farms can’t handle their flocks. The animals’ care and needs are even more overlooked than usual which is where infectious diseases creep in as the birds do not have adequate living situations, are piled together in small quarters and are likely infected and pecking on each other due to stress and anxiety.
Now, this is an everyday occurence in poultry farms anyway so it’s hard to understand why people support this by consuming the product especially when the bird flu has a good chance of making it onto omnivore’s plates despite what the officials say.
Hundreds of workers at a time at different meat processing plants are testing positive for coronavirus with some dying, causing the plants to close down. While the number of cases rises, the public addresses have been unclear as to what is actually happening at these plants that are being led by the world’s top meat producer company JBS SA. Now facilities across the US are being affected and employees protesting horrid working conditions. Still, not enough plants are shutting down, instead trying to set up barriers to create social distancing between thousands of workers and continue processing the meat in infective conditions.
While some of these plants are in breath’s distance from New York where the coronavirus toll is highest (ahem), few of them even refuse to comment on the number of infected cases found at their facilities instead stating that now it’s time for deep cleaning and sanitation.
It’s hard not to see this as a full circle.
Ken Sullivan, CEO and president of Smithfield’s, the world’s leading pork processor, whose plant is responsible for one third confirmed virus cases in the state of South Dakota, has however released a different kind of statement, saying “We believe it is our obligation to help feed the country, now more than ever. We have a stark choice as a nation: we are either going to produce food or not even in the face of COVID-19.”
Well done, Ken, really.
Humans don’t need meat to live or survive, much less contaminated meat. Eating animal products only increases risks of heart disease, diabetes, flu, obesity, and receptiveness to illnesses in general.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Across the globe, billions of dollars are being spent and drastic measures being undertaken to stop the spread of the coronavirus while in front of us sits an unmistakingly clear path to stop these diseases form ever creating in the first place. It’s as simple as not eating animals.
Some 20,000 wildlife farms have been closed down across China. These are farms that raise wild species not farm animals. The virus is being fought by governments who can’t publicly draw the logical conclusion because it would mean a financial loss for individuals who are dependent on the pillars of the animal consumption industry.
Advising people to cook their meat properly has obviously not kept new fatal viruses from forming. Any one of those billions of farm animals could cause another outbreak just as easy as the corona started and we still insist on closing our eyes and trusting Big Brother.
Photo credit: Mehdi Taamallah/NurPhoto via Getty Images
It is humans’ demand for eating meat, and greed for profit that caused COVID-19 as well as Spanish influenza, SARS, Ebola, HIV, MERS and Mexican flu (swine flu) which are only some of more than 60% of infectious diseases, or zoonoses, that carry from animals to people as a result of consuming wild and farm animals, destroying their habitat and manipulating flora.
“When poachers, but also breeders, employees, vets and slaughterers have intensive contact with infected animals, the body fluids of the infected animals can infect humans. Contamination can also occur by eating raw, contaminated meat, dairy products or eggs, as is the case with Salmonella, Campylobacter, E.coli and Hepatitis E. Sometimes zoonoses are transmitted through the air, as is the case with Q-fever from goats,” as reported by One World, Netherlands.
And some of these are still going around making comebacks which shows you can’t just get rid of a virus by shutting the plants down for 3 days. Only last year 150 million pigs were killed, most burned and buried alive to stop the spread of swine fever.
A CHANGE IS GONNA COME
These pandemics aren’t natural disasters as aren’t the forest fires and other reactions of climate change; these occurrences are anthropogenic or results of human activities. And treating the symptoms of these crises without addressing the cause is like putting out a housefire without turning off the gas.
There are a lot of kids, even toddlers, worldwide that claim on their parents’ video phone that they do not wish to eat animals anymore. Us, as adults, especially baby boomers and millenials, are set in our ways. We are used to eating meat and most don’t even want to know how that piece of steak or eggs reach our dinner table. But kids are pure. If given the chance to know where that food comes from, it is clear to them that torturing and murdering innocent living beings is not okay. And after some decades presumably a big amount of humans will be vegetarian if not vegan. As that generation is now being born and growing up and realising that there is something seriously wrong with our ethics and false priviledge-led actions.
So why are we still so willingly sacrificing so much for the sake of eating meat? Is it really easier to close our eyes and pretend we don’t see? Is it laziness? Or unwillingness to believe anything other than what you have been brought up with?
We are putting our health, our kids, our planet, all, in risk and contributing to animal cruelty on a gigantic scale when so many alternatives are already out there and more being developed.
There’s no reason to be mad at anyone else besides ourselves, the creators.
HOW FAR WILL MEDICAL PROTECTION REACH?
Pictures and videos are popping up on social media of medical protection products like facemasks and gloves being found dumped in forests, beaches and streets and that ultimately make their way into the waterways and oceans.
India, of 1.3 billion people, currently generates over 550 tons of medical waste per day. And this number is expected to rise rapidly in the coming years. There aren’t enough medical waste treatment facilities to manage this load and to make things worse, medical staff at hospitals aren’t trained on how to properly separate and discard of waste.
“It is imperative to treat medical waste as it poses a huge health and environmental risk. Improperly disposed medical waste can lead to transmission of diseases such as cholera, AIDS and hepatitis through contaminated syringes, cotton swabs, etc., as well as act as a breeding ground for rodents, insects, worms and the like. Sanitation workers too are at risk as they come in direct contact with such waste,” reports YKA, India.
Medical waste is an equivalent source of spreading coronavirus as a person is and if there aren’t enough beds for sick people at hospitals around the world then there aren’t enough methods or resources to responsibly treat the discarded aids. And the spreading of the virus could possibly continue in each of our homes as the masks, gloves and tissues we use, are not segregated but thrown in with household waste and from there on being sorted in the hands of sanitation workers and ending up in landfills where they may come in contact with soil, birds, animals and other people.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE ISOLATION FINISHES?
No sooner than now is the time to think about it and to think of the past and present. You can almost imagine the administration stating on that press conference that “the worst is over and we can now start going back to normal”. Normal? Normal?? Normal is what put us into this situation in the first place. Humanity continuing to live recklessly, abuse the earth and resources, kill species to the brink of extinction and just not stopping. And all for our own pleasure and comfort.
Pretty soon our eyes and minds will be once again flooded with hundreds of marketing techniques suggesting this and that to bring you (and them) back to where you were. “There is a cure for everything!” Sick of online shopping? The shopping centres have finally opened! Look at all these holiday offers that are dinging in your mailbox. There will be billions of dollars spent by marketers trying to give you that fix for missing out all these months.
Too many people are entwined in spending their free time on Netflix or scrolling for memes or complaining about toilet paper all the while getting the same plate filler that they always have. We are forcibly given this time to think about our choices and actions and assess the results and maybe change something.
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
It’s as if humans and wildlife have changed places, animals are now free of being confined while we are stuck in our cages. Hopefully this will draw out a new side of empathy in us and we become more respectful towards other species and speak up when we see injustice.
It may be shocking to see some of this wild kingdom on our streets, sure, but it only comes to show how fast the wilderness can rebound and take back what originally was theirs if there wasn’t any human intervention. We’ve already seen how a ban on hunting has allowed marine animals to flourish again and if the right measures would be taken and conditions achieved then we could have our once world-wonderous coral reef back by as soon as 2050. This should be the harmony in which humans and animals shoud live if only we weren’t so hellbent on destructing the planet we call home.
While we may see other species flourish, humans are taking a rough blow. Especially America who may be putting all their effort in declaring to be the best country in the world instead of dividing their eggs and supporting their people. Over 16 million have filed for unemployment benefits, millions have lost their healthcare while half the population doesn’t have healthcare to begin with. The system can’t even provide sufficient protection for medicinal field workers who are battling the virus in the frontline. And still not enough changes.
Yes, we are all busy. We work all day, go to the shops, we come home and tend to the kids, make dinner and deal with family. And the few hours that are left at the end of the day, we want to do something that makes us feel good and feeds our soul. There is no time to worry about climate change or the fires the size of Finland in Australia (we send our prayers, right?) or contemplate what is wrong with the world we live in when we have mortages to pay and cars to fix and daycare to pay for and heartache to soothe. We do care. We just don’t have the time to do anything about it.
BUT WHAT ABOUT NOW? NOW THAT THE EARTH IS CLOSED.
We do see the things that are happening all around us. Whether it be millions of livestock being murdered every minute for our meal or a continent on fire or another drowning. Or a virus descended from meat as extensive as the Spanish Influenza. We do see it. It’s just the decision now that we make, whether we want to continue to be the cause or start being the solution.
The Great Pause of 2020 is a gift to humanity to have the time to think about something other than ourselves. It has given us an answer to “what if the world just stopped?”. Well, it did. And we must deal with it because we see things that haven’t been seen before. How do you not contemplate on whether it’s your actions that have led to this? Don’t you want to leave a better world to your children and live sustainably? I do. Because they are the ones who have to deal with this aftermath of our doing. I wouldn’t want my child to grow up and one day ask me “So you saw what was happening but you didn’t do anything to change it?” It’s heartbreaking.
Remember this when the wheels start turning again and governments around the world are trying to play it down. Convincing you that the situation really wasn’t that bad and LA blue sky was Photoshopped. And all the adverts for all the consumer products you will see that are going to take that uncomfortable feeling away so that these months of isolation will slowly become just a haze in your memory.
TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A NEW NORMAL.
What serves benefits in your life? What makes you feel like a better person? What can you do to save a life that deserves to live just as much as you do? Only allow those things back into your life. Improve yours and your family’s immune system – reduce your animal product intake and eat more vegetables because being constantly sick or having health problems is not normal. Choose what you spend your money on and which companies you vote to support with those choices. Choose where you go out to eat and get your coffee from and how that either benefits or damages the economy of the country you live in. Feel the difference of you watching Fox News versus following an independent broadcaster. This is a chance of a lifetime (a few lifetimes, actually) to start making better choices.
Otherwise we are driving ourselves to extinction as we have done with so many other Earth’s species. But Mama Earth will continue without us.
