Even though both my husband and I were on-and-off vegetarians, and aware of many great benefits about it, we never thought of raising our preemie daughter that way when she was born. However, one big reason that sent us completely away from eating meat overnight, is a picture we saw. It was a picture of a wounded cow laying down hopelessly by a truck full of other factory-farmed cows. The picture was so clear that I could see the eyes of the cow and feel the pain. Under the picture was a simple sentence saying “On the way to a slaughterhouse.” I don’t need to say more, do I?
That was way back in 2004, as a brand new mom, and just welcoming my child into the world. With postpartum, I was very emotional with anything involving life. I’m sure you know what I mean.
My daughter grew up using our dog’s bed as one of her favorite playpens
When I shared our decision with both sides of my family, all of them were concerned about my daughter not getting enough nutrition to grow without “protein from meat.” Their concerns made me nervous, but also encouraged me to be careful and to make sure we didn’t make any bad choices for all of us. Seriously, at the moment I didn’t really care much. I knew that I didn’t want her to be part of what made the cow end up like that. …
