In regards to eating meat

[Monica]

That made me laugh! Just a fun tid bit here. I do have to shave my chest and back in order to please my girlfriend.

Oh wow! How funny that I would use that example then! Oh, and guess what: I am very short!

The way I see it. In this incarnation, I surrounded myself with people that would challenge me, bring me the catalysts that I came here to experience on the path of acceptance. For this, I need mirrors to show me where I need to work on my self.

We all mirror to one another! Seeing these interactions as an opportunity to look at self, is a great outlook to have, in my opinion!

Like I said before, I make a poor mirror for my other selves.

Oh I don't agree with that! You're a fine mirror! And an inspiration on how to disagree respectfully and courteously!

That's not really what I meant.

I'm sorry to misrepresent you! I did misunderstand.

Quite understandable since I refused to explain my self on this subject. What I meant is that we do need animals somewhere in the food equation. There is no need to eat the meat of dead animals.

Oh wow!! In that case, then I agree!

But by your logic, eating eggs and/or milk products still contributes to maltreatment of animals.

Oh, something got missed somewhere. It depends on where the eggs and dairy come from. Commercially produced eggs and dairy are just awful; the animals are treated horribly. And the chickens and cows are injected with hormones and antibiotics, so the drug residue is in the eggs and milk.

BUT, many organic groceries (like Whole Foods Market) and farmer's markets now offer 'free range' eggs and cheese, meaning the chickens get to run around freely and forage, and the cows get to graze. Eggs and dairy produced thusly are cruelty-free and I have no issues whatsoever with them, from an ethical perspective. In fact, I consider free range eggs to be a beautiful gift from the hen, since she lays eggs anyway and there is no cruelty to her. Eggs are a fantastic source of protein - every bit as good as meat but without the cruelty!

Even mainstream grocery stores now carry eggs labeled as 'free range' but unfortunately there is very little regulation on the labeling, and Austin just informed us that they might not actually be what they claim to be. So I would ask a lot of questions and determine the source of what I'm buying.

I get our eggs from a local farmer's market and they are wonderful! In fact you can really tell the difference - the yolks are darker, more orange than yellow. Much richer in nutrients than the depleted eggs produced from sickly, drugged, tortured hens!

I envision a return to family farms, in which a cow or goat is kept for milk, and treated well, and chickens are kept for eggs, but not for meat. Such humanely produced eggs and dairy are available in most communities these days, so there's no reason to give up eggs and dairy, provided they're humanely produced, if one feels their body needs animals products.

Some vegans would disagree with me. And I realize that Austin expressed concerns about the long-term sustainability of that. But we're a long ways away from not using animals at all, so I'm confident that solutions can be found, as people change.