Disappointment

Ever since I started the cruelty free journey I feel elated when someone is on my side, from my own husband to a large cosmetics company. Unfortunately this only makes disappointment bigger when they leave my side. I don't expect principles on this front from Tesco or Boots, I know where I stand and only buy necessities from them. But when Urban Decay sold to evil L'Oreal I felt betrayed.
And today I felt that again. The Netherlands has many Celtic, Medieval and Fantasy Festivals, one of the bigger ones being Castlefest. Mr. Dutchess and I have been considering a trip over there but of course we need to know what we can eat on location. I did some research online and was delighted to find the 2009 programme for the festival, informing me that they provide free range meat from the barbecue. But 2009 is four years ago and the 2012 booklet did not state this. It being the same caterer (The Cooking Highlander FYI) I hoped that their situation had not changed but to make sure, I e-mailed them. They replied this morning and while there's no point copying a Dutch message here it came down to this:

"We can't sell free range meat anymore. The costs are too high. We don't like it either".

This made me very angry. If they had just said they don't do it anymore due to cost I would not be pleased but business is business. However, it's this "can't" and "we don't like it either" that I have a problem with. They make it sounds like they have no choice but they do and they chose profit. Which is necessary to stay in business of course but what about raising the prices on the meat? People are well aware festival food is expensive and the notion that meat should be anything but is ridiculous, it's the most precious of foods. I know people might not accept the price rise as unfortunately the horrors of intensive farming are not a priority for most but still, there is a choice here and implying there isn't makes me see red. I told them all of this in a reply as well as that it will negatively influence my decision to attend the festival. They probably don't care but here's hoping it makes them think at least a little bit.

Going full time cruelty free.

In the last few months of 2012 I started living with an increased awareness of how our consuming styles affect those living creatures that cannot defend themselves against humankind but feel pain and fear just as we do: the animals. This was always something I had in the back of my head and I have been buying freerange eggs and chicken and largely non animal tested cosmetics for a long time. However, my principles were often still overruled by convenience, finances, cravings and whatever else “stood in the way”. But enough is enough and it is time to stand by my principles. And these are that animals should not have to needlessly suffer to serve our purpose.

This does not mean that I will become a vegan or even a vegetarian. I do not see a problem with eating meat, eggs and dairy or using other animal products such as leather and wool, as long as the animal it came from was raised in an ethical way and is not threatened to be extinct. Animals kill and eat other animals and to me the only difference between us and them is that we can feel guilt and can think beyond our need to feed. I believe eating and using animal products is part of our nature, we have done it for many years. Where we have gone wrong is the intensively farming of animals for this purpose; causing pain, fear and disease among those we should protect.

So this is my principle and I will stand by it by reducing my consumption of meat and only sourcing it on rare occasions from local farms of which I know the animals were well treated. The same goes for any other animal products and cosmetics: I make a special point of not buying anything as frivolous as an eyeshadow when the products or ingredients were cruelly tested on lab animals.

I want to continue this blog by sharing my musings and some of the products I end up buying as part of the cruelty free lifestyle and where I source them from. I hope this will benefit some people and inspire them to keep in mind our animal friends when spending their money.

One of my major examples when it comes to food awareness is Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. I very much share his opinions and have recently bought and cooked from his River Cottage Veg! book. It has wonderful recipes that I can recommend to vegetarians and meat eaters alike.