In a world where eating habits are often handed down through generations, we rarely question the foods we consume daily. But what if we told you that much of what we consider "normal" might actually be pretty weird?
Let’s take a moment to explore why certain foods on a non-vegan diet may not be as ordinary as they seem.
Sausage casings are made from pig intestines and the filling is ground pig muscle and fat. Most of us don’t really think about the different animal parts hidden in things like sausages, burgers and nuggets. Does it feel a bit weird when we realise we’re eating animals with the same body parts as us?
We’re the only animal that’s never weaned and continues to drink milk as an adult – and the only one that drinks the milk of another species. If that’s not weird enough, we deny calves the milk that nature intended for them, removing them from their mothers within hours of birth so that the cow’s milk can be bottled and sold to us.
Selective breeding of chickens by the farming industry has produced breeds of birds that grow much bigger and much faster than they naturally would. This results in enormous suffering for billions of chickens every year. Many are unable to stand after just a couple of weeks of life and they often struggle to breath as their lungs are compressed under the weight of their gigantic bodies. They are slaughtered at only 5-6 weeks old – still just chicks with blue eyes and soft chirps.
Chickens are killed at just 6 weeks old and pigs at 6 months – a fraction of their potential lifespan. Weird, or just sad?
Most farmed animals do not mate naturally but are artificially inseminated to reproduce the ‘best’ genetics. Weird we still think eating meat is ‘natural’.
When you start questioning these food norms, it becomes clear the weird things we’ve been conditioned to accept as normal. By choosing a vegan lifestyle, you’re not only opting out of these strange practices, but you’re also making a powerful statement for compassion, sustainability, and health.
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