is our intersectionality speciesist?

we rightfully call out

forms of discrimination

sexist behaviors 

racist thinking

exploitative work

torturous immigration policies

ableist practices

authoritarian governments

hierarchical religions

anti-revolutionary beliefs

we cancel feminists

for being exclusionary

liberals playing the race card

activists hiding privilege 

everything under the sun

as well as hidden in the shade

we are confidently 'woke'

proud of being non-binary,

pro-sex and pro-porn

saviors of 'rescued' pets

equal in every way

a brave new world

awaits our righteous rage

with not a blind spot

at the intersection

of past, present and future

we are the courageous ones 

we have been waiting for

calling out every form of bias

leaving no one behind

and yet

as the world crumbles

it is not our fault

we are the solution

"they" are the ones that hate

we are blameless

but, if our intersectional discourse

confluence of discrimination 

multiple forms of oppression

multi-discipline analysis

ignores nature 

excludes food animals 

most of the world's injustices 

remain hidden 

sharing the same Earth

we exploit nature's innocents

at our own risk

cancelling our survival

festering pandemics

fueling climate change

fires, hurricanes

our intersectionality is speciesist

but we're too "woke" to care

Altering Gut Bacteria & Meat Parasites

Pandemics Ahead: Number 14 in a series looking at the link between animal protein and global health disasters.

Excerpt from Meat Climate Change: The 2nd Leading Cause of Global Warming by Moses Seenarine, (2016). Xpyr Press, 348 pages. ISBN: 0692641157. http://amzn.to/2yn7XrC

Gut Bacteria

Research show that consumption of plant-based foods versus those of animal origin is the main cause for variance in human gut microbes. Long-term vegetarian diets have contributed to large shifts in microbiota composition. And importantly, gut bacteria are related to the body's immune system.(1011) Carcass from pig, cow, and sheep contains a sugar, Neu5Gc, which is naturally produced by carnivores, but not humans. That means that when humans eat red animal flesh, the body triggers an immune response to the foreign sugar, producing antibodies which spark inflammation, and eventually cancer.(1012) This may help explain potential connections of animal consumption to other diseases exacerbated by chronic inflammation, such as atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes. Further, a pigment in red meat may damage the DNA of cells lining the digestive system.

Meat Parasites

There are several parasitic diseases associated with ingestion of cattle and pig flesh, and organic flesh may have higher parasite risk. Parasites include toxoplasma cysticercosis, sarcocystis, taenia saginata, taeniasis and trichinosis. T.solium, also known as pork tapeworms, can measure up to 10m (33 ft) when mature and are among the biggest of a ribbon-like worm that infect humans. Malnutrition can occur as the worm competes with the body for food.

Eating under-cooked carcass especially from pig, sheep and wild animals such as deer, is one of the main ways people become infected with the toxoplasma parasite. T. gondii presents more of a threat to pregnant women and people with a weakened immune system. In its earliest stages, the illness causes flu-like symptoms, and if severe, can cause damage to the brain, eyes and other organs. In the US, T. gondii is responsible for more than 4,000 hospitalizations and 300 deaths annually, ranking it fourth among food pathogens.

The pig tapeworm, cysticercosis, is particularly common in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. In some areas it is believed that up to 25% of people are affected. The ancient knowledge of tapeworms in pigs may be one of the reasons for pig flesh being forbidden by Jewish and Islamic dietary laws. People may have little or no symptoms for years. Some parasites affects the brain and can have neurological symptoms. In developing countries this is one of the most common causes of seizures.(1055)

Sarcocystis is a genus of protozoa related to toxoplasma and eimeria. They are parasites infecting mammals, reptiles and birds. Four different species can infect cattle, sheep, and pig and infection is very common. The infection rate in sheep is above 90%, and it is over 80% in cattle and goats. Ingesting infected animal flesh can lead to anorexia, nausea, abdominal pain, distension, diarrhea, vomiting, dyspnoea and tachycardia. Symptoms may last as long as five years. Infection by Taeniasis is due to eating cysts in poorly cooked pig carcass. Treating those with taeniasis and other parasites is important to prevent their spread, but many people go untreated.(1056)

Chapter 28: HUMAN DISEASES, page 269.   Previous  |  Home  |  Next

For more information, see MeatClimateChange.org

Food-borne Illnesses

Pandemics Ahead: Number 13 in a series looking at the link between animal protein and global health disasters.

Excerpt from Meat Climate Change: The 2nd Leading Cause of Global Warming by Moses Seenarine, (2016). Xpyr Press, 348 pages. ISBN: 0692641157. http://amzn.to/2yn7XrC

Animal consumption is a major cause of food-borne illnesses, a preventable public health challenge that causes illnesses for millions of people and thousands of deaths each year in the US alone. Food-borne illnesses come from eating food contaminated with bacteria, like (a) Campylobacter jejuni from raw or unpasteurized cow's milk; (b) raw or undercooked carcass, birds, or shellfish; and (c) contaminated water. 

There are over 2,300 types of Salmonella that can come from raw or undercooked chicken eggs, chicken flesh, cow carcass, unpasteurized cow's milk and juice, cheese, seafood, and contaminated fresh fruits and vegetables. The CDC estimates that Salmonella causes upwards of one million illnesses per year and over 20,000 hospitalizations. On top of that, Campylobacter causes in excess of one million illnesses annually.(1043)

Over 1.1 million Americans are sickened each year by undercooked, tainted chicken flesh. A USDA investigation discovered E. coli (Biotype I) in 99% of supermarket chicken. This shows that chicken butchering is not a sterile process. Feces tend to leak from the carcass until disembowelment, and the evisceration stage itself gives an opportunity for the interior of the carcass to receive intestinal bacteria. So does the skin of the carcass, but the skin presents a better barrier to bacteria and reaches higher temperatures during cooking.(1044) 

Food-borne illnesses are oftentimes caused by other animal-based pathogens including (i) Clostridium perfringens from carcass, animal products, and gravy; (ii) Vibrio vulnificus from uncooked or raw seafood; and (iii) Escherichia coli from uncooked cow carcass, unpasteurized cow's milk and juices, and contaminated raw fruits and vegetables, or water. Another common food-borne illnesses is (iv) Listeria monocytogenes from ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs, luncheon meats, cold cuts, fermented or dry sausage, and other deli-style flesh and chicken carcass.

Chapter 28: HUMAN DISEASES, page 267.

    Previous  |  Home  |  Next

For more information, see MeatClimateChange.org