The Un-Humain Treatment of Animal Thread

Humans are at the top of most food chains and have the ability to take advantage of that. That doesn't mean animals should be treated inhumanely before becoming food, but they should still be used for food. Temple Grandin did a lot to help ranchers and meat processors understand that a calm animal is a tastier animal. 

 

If someone doesn't want to eat animal products then don't, but don't preach at me telling me I shouldn't either. If you believe the Bible then we have dominion over animals. If you believe in evolution, we have obviously evolved further than any other creature and it's in our nature to utilize products available to us, including eating meat.

I'm all for getting the Vegans/Vegetarians to stop pushing their ideas on me (I don't push my views on why meat is better on them, why should I take it from them?), and I'm all for killing some animals to eat 'em. But... actually abusing them and promoting that is a bit much if you wanna talk about that.

Its Inhumane.  

 

Spelling that is, not philosophically.

Also, watch Your Mommy Kills Animals.  Great Documentary.

I think I will have some steak tartare now.

Just think of all the cows and chickens and the sacrifices they made to supply the milk and egg! 

Just watch one of the many documentaries on the meat industry and you have a good chance of turning away from it...cows, chickens,etc.

 

That is if eating it doesn't make you physically sick first.

My cat thinks she is mistreated.

The other night, I gave her a pouch of a seafood dinner.

Her head jerked back and she looked offended. But I wasn't going to open up something else. She could eat the dry food if she didn't want it.

After a few hours, I took it out and fed it to the feral, who was much more appreciative.

As for eating meat, I do about twice a week. The rest of time I go vegetarian or fast a day or two. Ethically, I don't like how a lot of meat operations are run. Though I do think we're meant to eat meat. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to digest it. Thing is we eat a lot more than we need. You can get by with a couple modest servings a week and plant matter is fine for the rest. Eating mostly plants also saves money and strips off unnecessary weight.

Watch the 4 Corners report on the treatment of Aussie live cattle in Indonesia... caused our government to impose a temporary live export ban of animals there.

I watched the movie "Temple Grandin" last week, which was sneaked in the Netflix queue by my spouse.  Claire did a great job with the role. 

 

In the spirit of this thread, I respect all choices when it comes to food.  Me personally, I'll will never become a vegan.  I love my meat too much including seafood all the animal by-products (egg, cheese, milk).   Funny, Roadcykler and I come from the same city and state, and I agree with his opinion.  I feel lucky that I can afford what's classified as luxury meat (free from hormones, antibiotics, less processed...etc).   However, I'm all for with proper treatment of animals before they make it on my plate.  The damn greedy, corporate food companies is to blame IMO. 

 

I remember my grandparents had a farm in the suberbs of Battle Ground, WA and boy it was a treat picking up less than a day old eggs, freshly squeezed cow milk, rabbit and chicken meat - you name it - delicious.   It was a sad day when Moses the cow was shot in the head by my grandpa where thereafter a local butcher and his huge white truck went to town on the carcass. Brutis, my grandparent's St. Bernard also when to town on the left overs and after he was done, I swear he was Cujo's double twin. 

 

What you can buy in the stores cannot compare to the taste and quality, which leads me to a nice solution that follows localized organic produce.  The key is to localize.  We need to have local farmers provide the meats you buy at the local grocery or butcher store.   The local goverrnment need to support this as it benefits the long term health of current and future generations.

 

The sad farmers who work or contracted out for the corporate companies are literally forced or coerced into unethical and in-humane practices just to fatten the bottom line of said greedy companies and at the same time helping Americans get unhealthy and  fatter than than need be with processed meats and none food substance such as chemicals. 

Edited by alphaphoenix - 9/26/11 at 7:18pm

Most of my food that I eat is vegetarian these days because I feel that meat is overrated in my suburban area. What I mean is that IMO, the quality of meat is generic. To me, the common chicken and beef is pretty much the same and somewhat flavorless. I did not realize this until I began traveling to other parts of the world and country when I was exposed to seriously good quality meat that is usually absent in my general area.

 

Thus, I began to think that eating the generic meats over and over again is repetitive and if you are a good cook, you will realize that there are so many over looked really good vegetarian dishes out there. As a result, I feel lighter and better when I reduced my meat consumption. Eating fruits and vegetables in season is delicious and if you have access to an ethnic market, there are outstanding quality beans and starchy veggies out there like the exotic beans from India and the starchy types of items from South America like the yuccas for example. Lately, I've been enjoying steamed and grilled pumpkin since it is now in season.

 

I find that there are a lot of great spicy rice dishes too that can be Indian/Latin American/Asian influenced that can easily be meatless and it also cuts down on the grocery bill because meat is generally expensive IMO.

 

What I do is, on the weekends, I will go out and drive to a farther distance and find some better quality meats either in a restaurant or market  and enjoy it.  I would rather eat better quality meats less often than eat generic quality meat on a daily basis. Maybe it's because I love meat so much that I am more picky and selective and as a result, I eat less flesh. 

 

I do feel that the fast food industry in America is appalling with the enormous over kill of meat distribution in our society and IMO, brain washing kids into thinking that the meat and potatoes diet is the norm. I am an advocate of the Mediterranean style diet or old Italian way where meals where much less meat oriented and better for the body. I also feel that the quality of pork in many parts of the country is horribly bland because of the growth hormones and I never realized this until I traveled abroad where the pork really tasted like pork and much more savory. 

 

I am also an advocate of eating more small fishes like mackerel and sardines instead of larger fishes like tuna because small fishes reproduce very fast and they are delicious too IMO and Americans should learn to eat these fish on the bone like how people used to commonly do in the old days. It's not very practical if the population fashionably favors large fish which can result in over fishing of certain species even if they are not currently endangered now but the future is uncertain for these sea animals.

 

Lastly, I am an advocate of eating wild plants in your back yard and parks. I have discovered free food like dandelions, onion grass and other plants that grow in the woods. It can be delicious and it's good for the body and it's free. But make sure it has not been tainted with chemicals. It's also insanely easy to grow herbs too in the summer.