blog

Have you seen the undercover video from Cedar Valley Farm?

Nov 5, 2021

This recent video got me feeling sick to my stomach and feeling a need to share today about dairy. Please read more if this is something you would like to dive deeper into.

One of Kindred Farm core values is Kindness

I remember having a conversation with our board about moving away from vegetarian food to vegan at our events. It was a good deep discussion. We went round and round until one board member said, “killing an animal for food breaks the human/animal bond.” That really got to the core of the issue for us because our mission is, to honour, respect and protect the human/animal bond. Since then, all our events serve only vegan food. Many people believe that dairy does not contribute to killing animals because it’s not meat. Unfortunately, dairy cows are all slaughtered. Some as young as 1 day old if they happen to be born a baby boy. Female cows are killed when they no longer can become pregnant (only a cow who has given birth can be milked), or they no longer are producing enough milk, or they become sick.

Once I discovered the unseen world of the dairy industry this is when I became vegan. It didn’t happen overnight. I was already vegetarian but it took me a year to become fully dairy free. And I can’t actually remember how many years ago this was.

Kindred’s values includes kindness to people. When animal practices, abuse, neglect, and cruelty is exposed in the Food Animal Industry this can be trauma inducing to the vast majority of people. Kindred Community Farm Sanctuary is a trauma informed non-profit which means we recognize trauma events and believe that trauma is at the base of many of society’s ills. To this end, Kindred has a policy of not posting animal cruelty photos or videos. Instead, Kindred encourages people to move towards a plant-based diet by promoting kindness.

The recent undercover video from Cedar Valley Farm in Abbotsford, BC is difficult to watch. Animals that have no escape are subjected to violence. Personally, I will never turn away from these images. Instead it keeps me going to advocate for food animals in Canada.

Most of the media stations are covering this story and it is being shared heavily on social media. For most people, it will make you cry, cringe, want to look away and question humanity. If these images trigger trauma, I suggest you don’t watch it.

I feel very strongly that it is super easy for the average person to prevent the abuse of dairy cows. You can start by replacing dairy with plant-based (cruelty-free) products found in most grocery stores now.

There is no judgement at Kindred Farm for choice of diet. I have eaten my fair share of dairy. We all make choices in our daily lives whether the choices are thoughtful, habit, convenient, faith or culture based.

Do you want to explore some dairy free recipes and join me in kindness to dairy cows? Check out the vegan recipes below.