La Cosecha / The Harvest (2011)
“Every year there are more than 400,000 American children who are torn away from their friends, schools and homes to pick the food we all eat. Zulema, Perla and Victor labor as migrant farm workers, sacrificing their own childhoods to help their families survive. The Harvest / La Cosecha profiles these three as they journey from the scorching heat of Texas’ onion fields to the winter snows of the Michigan apple orchards and back south to the humidity of Florida’s tomato fields to follow the harvest and provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of these children who struggle to dream while working 12 – 14 hours a day, 7 days a week to feed America.”
just goes to show you that not consuming animals does not mean you are supporting a system that is cruelty free
But not consuming animals IS a huge step towards being cruelty-free.
Adopting a vegetarian diet (even better yet vegan diet) prevents so much unnecessary suffering. Of course veganism doesn’t solve every problem out there in the world but it does —among a host of other issues— begin to address the inequalities in our food system.
A few years ago, I started examining where my food came from bit by bit. In part because of the book “Fast Food Nation,” I realized that eating animals also meant that I was supporting the exploitation of workers inside factory farms. The mostly undocumented, immigrant workers inside slaughterhouses are subjected to hazardous fumes, dangerous conditions, receive very low pay, and no medical coverage. I didn’t stop eating meat right away but it made me realize that human rights.and animal rights are interconnected. When I learned more about factory farming, I realized I couldn’t continue eating animals because it was morally unjustifiable.
To me veganism is recognizing that every one of us is capable of making choices each day that are more compassionate. Not consuming animals is one of the easiest ways to living more cruelty-free.
