Question Authority (Durty Dave) [InterStitial #4]:

Each American meat, egg, and dairy product consumer can claim responsibility for the abuse and death of, oh, a few thousand animals. Each American meat, egg, and dairy product consumer also contains antibiotics and steroids, saturated fats and cholesterol, feces and filth, and torture and misery with each mouthful.

Think a fuzzy yellow chick or a pink baby pig is just the cutest thing? Chickens are killed when they are less then 2 months old, pigs are slaughtered before the age of 6 months, and cows barely see their first birthday.

They�re shoved, kicked, and tossed into crowded trucks for long, often crippling, sometimes deadly rides through sweltering heat or freezing rain to the slaughterhouse. Food, water, and veterinary care aren�t �wasted� on animals who are going to be killed. Countless animals arrive at the slaughterhouse with broken legs, hips, or other injuries or DOA. Workers drag, shove, and beat the animals from truck to slaughterhouse , where they hoist them upside down and slit their throats. The �lucky ones� get stunned, but many animals are fully conscious, kicking and crying out, as they are skinned and cut to pieces. At some plants, �dead� animals have inflicted so many broken limbs and teeth that workers wear chest pads and hockey masks.

It�s no secret that eating animal products - full of saturated fat, cholesterol, pesticides, dioxins, hormones, and antibiotics - eventually kills meat addicts with heart disease, cancer, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. Fine worry about that later, but know that up to 33 percent of kids and teens are classified as obese and that 50 percent of young adults have early atherosclerotic damage - the building blocks of a heart attack. Oh, and BTW, only 2 percent of vegans are obese.

You�re angry at what big corporations are doing to the Earth, you conserve water, and you recycle where you can, but you still eat meat? Well , before you label yourself an Earth saver, know this about animal agriculture.

A 7,000-sq mile �dead zone� in the Gulf of Mexico that can no longer support aquatic life was created by too much nitrogen from animal manure and feed-crop fertilizer. Cattle-ranching is the number one cause of Amazon deforestation . In Central America, two-thirds of the rainforest have been cleared, primarily to raise cattle. Raising animals for food consumers more than half of all water used in the U.S. It�s not rocket science. More than 27 billion animals are killed for food every year in the U.S. alone; they have to eat, and their waste has to go somewhere. Factory farms are ruining the planet. Walk the talk and go vegan, or hell even vegetarian .

Here is an easy alternative to participating in their abuse of animals and the systematic slaughter of them.

Eat these yummy products:

Meat - There are so many choices: Faux chicken nuggets, veggie �hot dogs�, mock �steak� strips, even faux �shrimp� are out there to make the transition easy. Even Burger King, Taco Bell, and Subway have great vegan options.

Butter-- Use vegetable margarines and oils.

Ice cream - Try Tofutti, Soy delicious, fruit sorbets, and ices. Cow�s milk - Try chocolate, vanilla, and plain soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk for cooking, on cereal, in coffee, and in hot chocolate - any way you�d use milk.

Cheese - Use soy cheese for pizza, sandwiches, and sauces. You can also make a great creamy �cheese� sauce using nutritional yeast flakes.

Cream cheese - Try Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese.

Sour cream - How about Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream?

Eggs- For baking, use egg replacer. For breakfast, scramble tofu with onions, mushrooms, mustard, turmeric, and soy sauce.

Jell-O- Use Hain�s Super Fruits, a vegan gelatin that comes in four fruit flavors.

Now its your turn to do something for yourself, the planet, and the animals. PETA can help you all along the way. For a free vegetarian starter kit, call 1-888-VEG-FOOD or go to peta2.com. E-mail [email protected] and they will hook you up with info, more lit, and even other activists in your area. For tons more information on easy ways to make a huge difference, check out peta2.com.

Some facts and info taken from PETA �05 pamphlet .