The first seven of the Ten Plagues appear in this week's Torah portion, Va'era. The first plague, if you remember from the Passover Seder, is the plague of blood. According to the Torah, when Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites leave Egypt, God instructs Moses to stand before Pharaoh and warn him that if he doesn't let the Israelites go, Moses should strike the water of the Nile with his staff and God will turn the water to blood, killing all the fish in the Nile. As if that weren't enough, all of the water in Egypt, even the water stored in people's personal vessels, would turn to blood.
Pharaoh understands that by not allowing the Israelites to go, his entire country's water supply will be ruined, the fish that live in the water (off which the Egyptians likely receive nourishment) will die, and there won't be a drinkable drop of water in all of Egypt. Still, Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites go, allowing his country's water source to be destroyed.
When we read this, we think of Pharaoh's foolishness, yet are we much different? We know that unless we change the ways in which we eat, we will destroy the sources of our nourishment, as well. When we buy meat raised on factory farms where the goal is not how well we treat the earth and God's creatures, but rather, how much meat we produce, we pollute our food and water system. Animal waste present in runoff from factory farms pollutes local water systems. Pharaoh is warned time and time again of the dangers that lie before him for not making the right decisions. We know the dangers, and yet we choose not to do anything to avoid them. Is locally sourced, sustainably raised meat more costly? Maybe. Maybe not. Sure, the sticker price is higher, but when we pay a lower price for unethically raised food, someone else - the people living near the factory farm, whose water supply is polluted - foot the bill, at least for now. Eventually, we'll all pay the price.
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