I just spent a wonderful weekend teaching animal Reiki at Chenoa Manor, a farm sanctuary in Avondale, Pennsylvania. The animals (and people) were so welcoming! I just loved spending time with them and being on the farm. There is something special about farm animals. I feel like these days, everywhere I turn I’m hearing stories of how farm animals opened people’s hearts to compassion, inspiring amazing lifestyle and diet changes. Even Jon Stewart of Daily Show fame has purchased a New Jersey farm to turn into an animal sanctuary. Here are a few more inspiring examples of farm animals inspiring change:
1. Rowdy Girl Sanctuary: A cattle rancher’s wife in Texas, Renee King-Sonnen recently converted their cattle ranch (which had been used to sell livestock for meat for four generations) into the Rowdy Girl Sanctuary. Now the 96-plus acres save farm animals from slaughter and give cows, chickens, pigs and the like a safe place to live out their lives. She and her husband are also practicing vegans.
2. Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home: Here’s an amazing (and sometimes difficult to watch) documentary from 2009 that tells the stories of farmers who underwent life-changing transformations regarding the animals in their care. The film follows their animal connections, the realities of factory farm conditions, and the farmers’ conflicted emotions—and suggests why we should all adopt a vegetarian lifestyle. Here’s a link to the trailer:
3. Back Into Daylight Animal Sanctuary: This vegan sanctuary in Ireland is co-run by Declan Bowens, an animal-rights activist who grew up on a farm and became a vegetarian at the age of 9. But even as a child, he knew the conditions of the animals he witnessed on his family’s farm were not humane. A beautiful quote on the Back Into Daylight website says: “We ask people to look at the beauty and serenity in every animal and then they will know that they are not ours to use or abuse.” You can read more about his inspiring story here.
4. Farm animals inspiring a vegan lifestyle: Gentle World is a nonprofit organization that educates about the vegan lifestyle. The info-packed site posts interesting articles on topics such as vegan recipes, why we shouldn’t eat honey, what happens to the birds that produce down for our jackets and beds, essential oils, how to transition to vegan and more. If you’re ready to try vegan and looking for some vegan recipe inspiration, here are some of my favorite vegan blogs: Oh She Glows, Gluten-Free Goddess, Gluten-Free-Vegan-Girl and Clean Eating Chelsey.
Have farm animals inspired you to live a different life? Share your stories here, along with your favorite vegan blogs and recipes.