04/08/20 Plant-based eggs give you strength
Animal Friends Croatia calls for compassion and celebration of life with traditional plant-based Easter dishes
- It is possible to have Easter without eggs and meat, buying rabbits and chickens, having wooden instead of chicken eggs for decoration
At a time of increasing awareness of the harmful effects of consuming animal products on human health, the demand for plant substitutes is increasing rapidly. Mummy Meagz's Creamy Chocolate Egg in the UK is sold every 30 seconds! Also, this month Just Egg became the first vegan product to win the NEXTY Award in the “Best New Frozen Product” category. In addition to being cruelty-free, it takes 98 percent less water to produce a vegan egg, and it emits 93 percent less carbon dioxide than animal protein production.
"There is no social distancing for animals, heavily stocked on farms. If they get a contagious disease, people kill them right away. This is the case with the current bird flu that has recently erupted in several states and caused the killing of several hundred thousand birds. Therefore, we urge everyone not to contribute to the suffering and death of animals through their habits. Easter without eating eggs, ham, lamb and other meat is quite possible. Today, one does not need to be particularly adept in the kitchen to make vegan tasty and healthier equivalents of egg dishes such as pancakes, bread mixes, creamy cakes, mayonnaise, and scrambled eggs. Tradition can be compassionate,” AFC said.
They also recommend that, instead of buying rabbits, chickens and other animals that will be forgotten after Easter, anyone who has the conditions adopt a dog or cat and thus help themselves as well as animals. Wooden eggs are ethically and environmentally better and will last decades. We do not have to give up tradition, but we can give up the cruelty that goes along with it.
Holidays like Easter are an opportunity to extend our compassion for other sentient beings who want a life worthy of living, but they are also an opportunity to make ethical decisions that respect the life of every creature. Every year, 68 million tons of eggs are sold worldwide, while in Croatia alone, during the Easter holidays, this figure amounts to 30 million pieces. In addition to the billions of lives that could have been saved, the planet suffers the long-term and irreversible consequences of breeding eggs and meat for chicken, paving the way for the emergence of new and more invasive pathogens, while our health becomes more compromised and susceptible to diseases.
Each year, about five billion female chickens are slaughtered all around the world so they can be used in the egg industry. The first sensation they experience as soon as they are born is painful cutting a beak. After that, they are confined for life in more or less cramped cages or in cluttered dirty hangars. In the cages, their wings can’t even be extended. Wires are cut into their legs, which are deformed, their bones weakened, and their bodies filled with sores. The evaporation of ammonia burns their eyes. They have to endure the stressful unnatural conditions and shocking periods of complete deprivation of food and water for a whole week in order to manipulate their bodies and produce better productivity. Tortured and physically and mentally exhausted, after a maximum of two years of life, they are killed by cutting their necks. In addition, every year the egg industry kills billions of newly born male chickens by gas or grounding them up alive because they are an unwanted by-product of egg production.
You can see what a chicken farm looks like in this video.
While starvation and malnutrition are constantly present on one side of the planet, natural resources are ruthlessly consumed on the other by eating meat, eggs and other animal products. At Easter time eggs are bought in huge quantities. Breeding animals is extremely wasteful and our eating habits are directly linked to world hunger.
Therefore, Animal Friends Croatia suggests that instead of chicken eggs, prepare traditional Easter dishes from plant-based food according to the recipes you can see HERE.