Taking Responsibility
I was reminded the other day that one of the tasks of adolescence is
learning how to take responsibility for one's actions because they all
have consequences. The subject came up in a conversation about the
United States, which, if you think about it, is in its adolescence. The
country is only a couple hundred years old, and compared to the
countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa, it is a mere kid. So one of the
tasks Americans need to be about these days is learning what their way
of life means in terms of its impact upon others—and then taking
responsibility for that.
For example, consider our plentiful and cheap food supply.
What makes that possible? Where does it come from? When we eat meat and
poultry, do we think about what happens at the places where most of it
comes from—factory farms?
Michelle Alley-Grub and her husband Chris
have done that research, and what they discovered made them dedicate
their lives to giving some rescued farm animals a safe, pain-free, and
loving home. New Morning's visit to their
Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary
brought tears to my eyes. I loved seeing the laying hens scratching
around in the first straw they had ever known. And the little pig
(reminding of the Babe from the movie) running across the barnyard. The
description of Michael, the old goat, chained to a fence for 14 years,
broke my heart, but it was great to see him happy having his chin
scratched now.
I know many horrible things happen to the chickens, goats,
cattle, pigs, lambs, and other animals that end up on our plates. The
first step in taking responsibility is being informed. And here's a way
to do that that the adolescent in all of us will enjoy: watching a
series of
award-winning web films
modeled on "The Matrix" movies that expose the horrors of factory farms
from the animals' point of view. The website also puts you in contact
with organizations you can join and other ways you can take action for
farm animals today.