Between a rock and a hard place

The horror stories about animals on farms and at the abattoir are a cause of grief to vegans but not only vegans. They horrify and confront sensitive non-vegans too, but for them it’s mixed with a fear of finding out too much. Whatever they hear implicates them personally, and more so when they realise that it actually happens routinely and on such a massive scale. If their heart isn’t touched then we can assume we’re dealing with a cold hearted person, or possibly a person trying to bury their head in the sand.
We may feel depressed about it, we may become aware of the animal holocaust going on all about us, but it’s a question of whether or not we are prepared to act to prevent it (or rather act to discontinue our support of it). How horrific do the stories have to be, to make us boldly step away from what others are doing? Even to act solo in defiance of members of our own family and network of friends? People-pressure and social acceptability are so powerful that we can feel unable to act independently, even though we know we should.
Animals, from which our foods come, are badly used and we know it. But even though we feel guilt, even though we know animal foods are nutritionally dangerous, we may yet not act. For if we do decide to change, it’s all or nothing and we must go all the way. There are no in betweens and in reality there’s no going back. It’s as if we step out of one world into another.