At the very least, please give up Tyson!

I know I preach a lot but I’ve been reading a lot lately about the conditions at Tyson and KFC and had to share the disgusting facts I’ve been finding out. I wish I had blogged about this earlier, and wish I had known years earlier about it. In all reality, I don’t care if you give up meat or not. There are organic meats out there, and farmers doing their part in making our world better but I do deeply, honestly care if you get chicken at KFC or buy Tyson brand. Please, for the love of everything humane do not contribute to the slaughter that goes into getting your bucket ‘o chicken at KFC. Being someone who used to eat there as well, I know that it tastes good. I know, but it’s not worth it. And not just for the animal’s sake, but yours as well. Tyson and KFC are nasty. Nasty to the chickens and nasty to you.

PETA conducted an undercover investigation in 2004-2007 at a Heflin, Alabama, Tyson slaughterhouse and on nine separate days (all in 2007), investigators saw workers urinating in the live-hang area, including on the conveyor belt that moves birds to slaughter. WTF. If this isn’t enough for you to stop eating at KFC then I am just shocked. Now onto what I think is even worse: The chickens abuse. Here are only some of the incidents happening to the meat you are serving to your kids at dinner time. 😥

At Tyson slaughterhouses in Georgia and Tennessee investigators found that “Birds died when their heads and legs became trapped under a door at the end of the conveyor belt that transported live birds to be hung. A supervisor was aware of this problem but did nothing to stop it.” Also “The killing-machine blade often cut birds’ bodies instead of their throats. Although aware of this problem, a supervisor offered no solution, instead blaming the problem on the “nature of the machine.”

“During an undercover investigation at a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in Butterfield, Missouri—owned by George’s, Inc.—it was documented that live birds were being thrown by workers and crushed by metal dumping machines. Birds were often impaled by mangled transport cages, and workers were instructed to simply yank them out when this happened; PETA’s investigator saw workers doing this and found dismembered limbs left behind in cages after the birds had been removed.”

“A whistleblower at a Tyson slaughterhouse testified that birds intentionally were scalded to death, were blown apart by makeshift firecrackers, and had their legs broken by workers to fit them into slaughter-line shackles.”

“Workers at a KFC-supplier slaughterhouse in Maryland were documented punching frenzied, terrified birds and spiking them like footballs, among other sadistic acts of cruelty.”

Ugh! I feel terrible! What makes anyone think that animals can be treated this way? It’s like Hitler. Ugh. Please go to one of the sites (if not all of them) below to see more videos, pictures, articles, and ways you can help stop this. There are petitions, letters and other things that you can send to KFC, Tyson, and George’s Inc., although who knows what will happen. After all these years all we get are empty promises that they will fix their animal welfare conditions, and then year after year we still find out that the workers are allowed to treat the animals like crap. The industry did publicly announce that they were educating their employees on more humane practices and that they were going to take this matter seriously, however by paying workers (and often many are immigrants) poorly, demanding the workers to produce at incredibly fast speeds, it’s hard for the promises to be kept. As long as there is a high demand for chicken, there will be high demands of the employees and slaughterhouses, meaning there won’t really be any success at properly producing the meat. The only thing we can do right now that sends a clear message is by not eating it. By not consuming it and purchasing it is the only way they will stop making money off such cruelty and get away with it. Less demand for the meat, and more demand for humanity, may be the only way to get this message across. It’s so sad! Please support your local farmers and buy organic chicken. Please stop giving Tyson and KFC your money to abuse animals!

Please go to any/all of these sites: kfccruelty.com, peta.org, torturedbytyson.com, compassionoverkilling.com. Also at almost all these sites you can sign up for a FREE vegetarian starter kit!

Look at this claim from KFC: “KFC suppliers, KFC and the National Chicken Council have standards for stocking density to ensure birds have sufficient space and are healthy. … The cleanliness of these facilities and the health of the birds are top priorities for the farmers.” Take note that ALL my pictures are from KFC suppliers! Top priority my ass!!

Veggie Gossip

Being a vegetarian has been an excellent choice I’ve made in my life and every day that I find out that someone else is a vegetarian or a vegan I know that I’m not a freak and there are tons of people out there that don’t eat meat as well. In my own family and husband’s family, every one eats meat. Every one. I am used to getting asked questions, being picked on, teased and even ridiculed for not eating meat but the more people that I find also don’t consume meat, the more I know my decision is warranted and normal. It’s also really great to find out how many celebrities and/or political figures are vegetarians. It’s fun and satisfying to know people that I admire also don’t eat animals. Here I have collected quotes that I enjoyed from “famous” vegetarians. Enjoy!

Sophie Monk: “There’s no doubt in my mind that going vegetarian has made me feel better not only physically but also because I learned about the suffering of animals who are raised and killed for food. I feel good knowing I’m not contributing to that.”
 Jennie Garth: “I got a fur shawl once. I was so disgusted! And I couldn’t re-gift it. I don’t know anyone who’d want fur.”  Alyssa Milano: “I turned vegetarian after 9/11. A friend of mine came back from New York and said that he couldn’t stand the smell of burnt flesh. It immediately reminded me of a barbecue.”
 Pamela Anderson: “Every time we go by KFC, my kids ask me to honk and they yell ‘Boo’ out the window.”
 Devon Aoki: “I sometimes think, would I drink the milk from the breast of a woman I don’t know? No. So I think, why would I drink it from a cow.”
 Alicia Silverstone: “Intellectually, human beings and animals may be different, but it’s pretty obvious that animals have a rich emotional life and that they feel joy and pain. It’s easy to forget the connection between a hamburger and the cow it came from. ”  Russell Simmons: “I don’t eat any animals or anything that has to do with animals. No fish or egg or dairy because I personally don’t feel it’s a good practice to eat anything that might run away from you”
 Woody Harrelson: “I’ve been vegan for about 10 and a half years. It’s been all good. I’m obviously much healthier”
 Gavin Rossdale: “The person I love would never wear fur. Fur just makes me think of shallow women who have no conscience. The fur industry belongs to a time when people were selfish beyond belief. If you were some ancient tribal cheiftain, and there was not a department store nearby 350 years ago, I’d understand. But now, we have synthetic fibers,and it’s not necessary. The elitism of fur makes me wanna puke.”
 Ellen Degeneres: “You ask people why they have deer heads on the wall. They always say, Because it’s such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother’s attractive, but I have photographs of her.”
 Steven Spielberg: “Humans are the only hunters who kill when not hungry.”
 Richard Gere: “People get offended by animal rights campaigns. It’s ludicrous. It’s not as bad as mass animal death in a factory.”
 Josh Hartnett: “I gave up meat when I was twelve. & One day I was cutting up a chicken for my mom, and I hit a tumor with the knife. There was pus and blood all over the place. That was enough for me.”
 Emily Deschanel: “I’ve been vegan for 15 years, and it turns out it makes a very big impact on the environment to eat fewer animal products, which cause more greenhouse gases than all of transportation combined. The United Nations did a study just over two years ago, and that blew my mind. I started thinking that if people are vegetarian for just one day a week, that makes a huge difference!” Casey Affleck: “Chickens, cows, and pigs in factory farms spend their whole lives in filthy, cramped conditions—only to die a prolonged and painful death. Their bodies are then turned into food products proven to contribute to heart disease and cancer. To eat that is to eat poison.” Charles Darwin: “
There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties.… The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.”
 Buddha: “
All beings tremble before violence. All fear death, all love life. See yourself in others.” Sir Paul McCartney:”If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat. That’s the single most important thing you could do. It’s staggering when you think about it. Vegetarianism takes care of so many things in one shot: ecology, famine, cruelty.”
 Natalie Portman: “The human cost of factory farming — both the compromised welfare of slaughterhouse workers and, even more, the environmental effects of the mass production of animals — is staggering. “

Other “famous” vegetarians and vegans: Sadie Forst, Jessica Alba, Corey Feldman, Michael Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Clint Eastwood, Shiri Appleby, Shania Twain, Andy Warhol, Montell Williams, Carmen Electra, Kim Basinger, Amy Smart, Bea Arthur, Tobey Maguire, Leona Lewis, Kellie Pickler, Ghandi, Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Willie Nelson, Olivia Wilde, Jared Leto, Milo Ventimiglia, Dita Von Tesse, Masta Killa (from Wu-Tang Clan), Joaquin Phoenix, Anthony Kiedis (of Red Hot Chili Peppers), Kristen Bell, Benji Madden, Common, Jenna Jameson, Joss Stone, Steve-O, Elizabeth Berkley, Traci Bingham, Tommy Lee, Cloris Leachman, Jayde Nicole (Brody Jenner’s Playmate ex girlfriend).

For  a full extensive list of all famous celebrities, politicans, world leaders and artists that are vegetarians or vegans known go to happy.net, and for more quotes go to famousveggies.com.

Famous Celebrity Vegetarians/Vegans Actively Supporting: (Click to enlarge.)

Earth to Tolly rocks my socks off!

This summer has been filled with many fun things for me, including trips up north and nights out on the town. One of the best things though has been going to see local bands. My friends and I started to loyally follow around one band in particular, Earth to Tolly, mostly because they can really get a place rockin’. They are a Minnesota/Wisconsin based band (love supporting locals!) that primarily plays rock and blues. Usually I am not a big fan of blues, but these guys can work it. They can always satisfy the crowd whether it’s primarily older gents out there, or young college girls. They play a mixture of their own original tunes as well as covers by, Jimi Hendrix, SRV, ZZ Top, The Black Crowes, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Black Keys, Lynard Skynard–just to name some of them.

The best thing about them, besides being easy on the eyes, is that they play for a cause. Take for example, this past June they participated in “Rock and Raise” which was a benefit raising money for Opportunity Partners. Opportunity Partners is a non-profit organization working to redefine “disability” through advanced learning, meaningful work for the “disabled”, and support from dedicated communities. Their motto for the night was “Take the “dis” out of disability-and show that everyone, when given the opportunity, adds value to our world.” I love that!

Earth to Tolly has played other benefits this summer, as well as private shows, and at bars/restaurants. I have to say they have a dedicated and loyal following, as each of their shows (wherever it may have been) were packed! I have seen them play all over-Medina, St. Paul, Stillwater, Mahtomedi, Somerset, to name a few. It’s awesome that these guys will play all over, and a lot of the times for charity. Who likes to travel to do pro bono!? These guys apparently! They put on a great show, are cute to boot, friendly and take requests! What’s better than that!? Don’t worry fellas, they play for you too, not just the ladies. They can totally rock out and bellow out “Suck my Kiss” as well as the Chili Peppers yet still get the crowd up and dancing to “Sweet Home Alabama.” And I give these guys a lot of credit, they usually put on 5 hour shows, and mingle with the crowd during breaks!

Come check them out at their next gig at Ruby Begonia’s in Stillwater, Friday August 20th at 8 pm. For more information, such as details on the men, upcoming shows and dates, how to reach them, etc. you can go to either of their sites:

http://www.facebook.com/EarthtoTolly

More pictures: (Click to enlarge.)

Dalles House, WI

Medina Ballroom, MN

Smalley’s, MN

The Dugout, MN

Ruby Begonia’s, MN