Janet & Gregory, New York City

A documentary converts a couple to humaneitarian eating

My husband and I became humaneitarians two or three years ago, the moment we walked out of a showing of the film “Food Inc.” The scenes of farm animals being so dreadfully treated, the indifference of those who owned the chicken farms and feedlots, and the unmitigated cruelty of so many, opened our hearts and minds to the plight of suffering animals in a way we had not known before. Our daughter, Carrie, the creator of this website, had, just before this, been telling us about her ideas for Humaneitarian as they were unfolding in her imagination; we were very supportive and said we’d do what we could regarding the eating of only humanely raised meat. But after seeing the film, we became passionate supporters.

Now we only buy pasture-raised pork, grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, and cage-free eggs, choosing as often as possible to buy these from local sources. We also enjoy Applegate bacon and sausages now and then. As for eating out, we don’t go to restaurants where there are no options for a pastured or organic meat entree; if we do go to such restaurants, we decide in advance to eat vegetarian there.

Is all of this a sacrifice? Not really. The cost of non-factory farmed meat may be a little more but we try to eat smaller portions of it, so costs come out only a little higher, and we eat at home more often than before. Even when the meat does cost more, we feel it’s worth it.

The Humaneitarian web site has proved to be invaluable to us as I do my shopping and my husband and I do restaurant planning because it has educated us in ways we could find nowhere else. So, thank you, Carrie!  Our hope is that the humaneitarian movement will grow to such a degree that the word will eventually become part of the mainstream vocabulary and, therefore, will not appear in the Spell Check on our computers!

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