Genetically Modified Fruits to Fast Food and Everything in Between-Caroline Elfassy

Wendell Barry once said “The earth is what we all have in common.” However as the years go by more and more individuals seem to be neglecting our precious earth. This is why we need to take action and show people around world how important it is to take care of our planet. We only have one! This is why on Earth Day of 2010 some of the students of Vanier College have participated in raising awareness on the way we treat our planet. We all teamed up and created beautiful posters about the truth and harsh realities that occur everyday on our planet.

My contribution to earth day consisted of making the students aware of where our food comes from. The title of our poster was From Crops to Food and Everything in Between, this was meant to attract students and to make sure they understood exactly what they were eating. People really underestimate the amount of products and chemicals that go in our food. Throughout the whole presentation, I felt as though some students really connected to my project, as if they really understood what I was trying to communicate with them. A student came up to me and asked me, "Do we really eat those cows?", pointing at the picture of the dead cow that was on my poster. I explained to her that we do in fact eat meat that has been brutally butchered, that has been treated for many horrible disease such as Listeria, Salmonella and E-coli, and that was exposed to an unimaginable kind of lifestyle. After telling her the hardships these animals go through (cattle, chickens and pigs) everyday, she seemed utterly horrified. I am positive that if people knew what is really going on in factory farms, they would feel ashamed to eat that type of meat.

After explaining my project to students, I decided to walk around Jake’s Mall to see the other projects that were being showcased. The booth I found particularly interesting was the one on factory farming. After reading the articles given to me, I was completely devastated. I already knew so much on factory farming and yet, there seemed to be new and shocking information. The pamphlet, Factory Farming Institutionalized Cruelty, was so direct and heartbreaking, that it disturbed me. I have done research on factory farming but there was no article that was as graphic as this one was. It talked about the pain that is inflicted on each animal, how the employees treat the chicks, calves and piglets. Most animals that live on factory farms never see the light of day! Reading all this information showed me how important it is to care about our animals. Other should start caring about livestock because these animals are like any type of other animal, they have feelings and needs as well. No one would want to hurt a puppy so why is it okay to torture an innocent calve or piglet? We need to start talking action, we need to be the voice for these innocent animals.

To get more information please visit:

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www.gan.ca/

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