I used to eat meat. Lots of it. And even though I’m an avid animal lover, I never gave much thought to where my “meat” came from or how it was processed. Out of sight, out of mind was my motto. In truth, I didn’t have time in my busy life to give it much thought. That was my excuse at least, and I was sticking to it. Or so I assumed...

Then Fate stepped in and dealt me a nasty little wake up call. And when I say nasty, I’m speaking quite literarily. Im sure Ill remember that commercial clearly as long as my memory is still functioning.

At first glance, it looked like yet another stupid fast food campaign. A college aged girl pulls her raggedy car up to a drive through and orders a bland combo meal. The intercom repeats it back to her, but instead of reciting it verbatim, he details how the cheese was made from a cow torn from it’s mother at a very young age, the egg pulled from a chicken who didn’t know how to walk because it had spent it’s life in a cage with not enough room to even spread it’s wings, and on and on... Flash after brutal flash of pictures assaulted me from the screen.

I only saw it that once, but once was enough.

Of course, I had heard all the myths of slaughterhouses and remembered the KFC debacle. But I had never actually SEEN it. This was different. Way different. And I knew there was no going back.

The next day, as I drove up to the fast food restaurant and ordered my chicken sandwich, I couldn’t get the images out of my head. Biting into the meat made my stomach turn and I knew there had to be a solution.

It was there I decided once and for all that I was going to minimize my meat intake - significantly - and If I was going to eat meat, I would make sure it was from a farm where the animals were treated humanely, and their meat used responsibly. I was going to become an ethical omnivore at any cost.

And the cost, by the way, wasn’t nearly what I expected it to be. I quickly did my research and found that eating humanely required actually very little effort and change from my usual routine. And it was - dare I say it - way more practical than I had ever thought possible. Not to mention the inner knowledge that I was taking a stand against the cruelty of animals, and supporting others who did as well.

This is the goal of my project, to share the practical side of the experience with those of you venturing on this journey as well, and give support to the farms that are choosing to treat their animals without cruelty.

Several months into my decision, I noticed a brilliant change come over me. I felt lighter, I had more energy, I was.... Happier? I’m still not sure if it’s a consequence of eating less steroid and hormone pumped meat, or from the inner knowledge I’m doing something good for animal kind, or some wonderful mix of the two, but whatever it is, it’s working and I love it.