Is Meat Really Murder?
 

Well, here's a thread that's fun for the whole family:

• How many of you are vegetarians?
• To what degree? (ie ovo-lacto, vegan...etc)
• Is it just a matter of not enjoying meat, or do you feel there's a principle behind the whole thing?

There you go, discuss ;)

(Insert Vegangelica's essay here ;))

I'm a former vegan, current ovo-vegetarian. I got lazy with what I ate when I was vegan, and ended up anemic, with these huge ugly bruises all over my body. That being said, it is totally possible to live healthy on a vegan diet, if you're not a lazy ass. I've been vegetarian most of my life though, because I think it is disgusting to eat, not just to mention the cruelty part.

Oh, and ovo vegetarians are ones that eat stuff with egg or eat eggs. I'm lactose intolerant.

I ****ing hate PETA though, I don't believe anyone should force their dietary beliefs on anyone else. I get a lot of flak for my vegetarianism just because of what they force on people, they make vegetarians and vegans look bad. Plus, they kill animals. I also really hate people who find it necessary to tell me "Oh, hey I ate a steak!". Hey, great! I don't give a ****! So really, I don't bother people who eat meat, as long as they don't bother me about NOT eating it.

Militants also bug the **** out of me, because no, mother****er I am not going to make my cat eat vegan/vegetarian cat food. He's a ****ing cat, he can eat whatever the hell he damn well pleases. I was called a bad vegan for this, irony of ironies.

No. But the industrialized food system is a big, big problem. Eat meat from your local area and that greatly decreases the enviromental footprint - not to mention the animals are treated far better and honestly... they taste much better.

I don't find anything wrong with eating animals for sustinence, it's when the animals are born into this world and treated merely as product then living creature that I get involved.

oh jesus ****ing christ.

humans are omnivores. we breed chickens and cows and cute little furry little lambs so that we can slit their throats, chop up their dead bodies, and eat their toasted/roasted/broasted muscles. there is nothing objectively wrong with that.

anyone who believes otherwise is deluded.

I just quoted myself because I think I made a good response to that without knowing it :D

I've always felt that humans were definitely meant to eat meat, but I just prefer not to, because I think it's gross

Exactly, people who shove vegetarianism down others' throats really tend to annoy me. And i believe that meat, as fur, is sometimes necessary for survival. If we consider Yakutsk, for example, those people definitely need fur, or else they'll freeze to death.
I respect you immensely for choosing not to eat meat and not being self-righteous. Also, you were called a "bad vegan"? Is there some kind of union you join when you decide you wont eat from specific food groups?...

how long have humans been eating meat - 50,000 years? 100,000 years?

homo spaiens emerged 200,000 years ago. homo neanderthalensis, even earlier.

who are we to deviate because from this behavior because we feel it's "gross" or "wrong"?

personally, i'm inclined to go with the time-honored trends...

hahhaha, VEGAN POLICE!

Yeah, I won't feed my animals vegan food. They like their food, it would be animal cruelty to deprive them of food they like.

I just think it tastes gross. Who am I to deviate? Well,I'm a girl who can make her own dietary decisions based on what she likes.

It's a personal choice. Just because i don't like broccoli there doesn't need to be a whole theory about the fact that people shouldn't eat brocoli because it's gross and nasty.
I do find it rather disturbing when there's i see footage of animals being slaughtered, and if one could avoid that without affecting our life much (human selfishness I suppose), it'd be the ideal situation for me.

you go girl

I fuckin' love broccoli!

Meat is really good.

I'm totally against broccoli cruelty. The ones contrary to this position should die.

baby animals taste the best. they're so tender and juicy. yummy!

Mmm brocolli.

I think I favor fruits though, especially little clementine oranges. I ****in' live on those things. Or some apples and bananas and fruit salads om nom nom nom nom nom

Again, it's industrialized food that's the problem with eating meat. I eat meat all the time not only because it tastes good but because it's a healthy attribute to your diet. But I make sure of where the meat comes from - that it's not from a feed lot.

Fruit is fairly awesome. Broccoli are the spawn of the devil, though.

but de-clawed, de-beaked, factory-bred chickens are cheaper than farm-bread birds. why pay more?

I admit I'm such an inconsiderate bastard that I don't even bother to do what you do. I salute you, sir.
And yes, the breast enlarging done to the chickens to make "nuggets" is pure cruelty, for example.
And again, i'm not really a die-hard meat fan. Although I do enjoy some meat, i could do without it for a while.

Well, because supposedly it tends to taste better/be better for your health.
I'm not sure there's any proof of this though, and until there is, factory-bred chicken it is...

Soy is pretty good for you too

We're omnivorous, have front teeth for cutting through meat and back teeth for grinding it up, naturally get significant protein from meat, etc... That much we all know.

So we know eating meat is 'natural'.
Obviously, farming animals for meat the way we do isn't 'natural', but it's certainly better than not doing it at all and decimating entire populations of animals in the wild. We're already doing that to fish, so naturally the answer is to farm them if possible, and if not, restrain from going overboard and killing off species of animals.

The only other thing we're left with is how we treat these animals we're killing... One side says why should you care about an animal's feelings when you're about to eat it anyway, and the other apparently wants us to what... give them social security numbers and take them on long walks on the beach and let them sleep in our beds or something.

Me personally, I think the meat industry should do what it can to maintain sanitary conditions for the animals it processes and maintain as much of a stress-free environment as possible while still keeping efficient productivity at a reasonably high level and waste at a reasonably low level.

Being extreme on either side of the argument isn't going to do anything. If people want better treatment of animals, both parties are going to have to meet somewhere in the middle on these issues.

<3

Whether or not it's better for your health is one thing. But it tastes much, much better because it doesn't have to be flashfrozen and transported hundreds of miles. It's common knowledge that fresh food tastes better then frozen.

Beyond that, it also has to do with the cruelty shown to the animals, the pneumonia added mixed with the meat to clense it - and the fact that corn fed cows are unhealthy and more likely to produce contaiminated beef. And why are they fed corn? Because it's cheap and the same companies harvesting corn run the feed lots.

But I don't want to push anything on any of you, that's not my intention. Just wanted to share my reasons.

Here's the problem with that -

Food in the United States went from a loose collection of farmers providing good for their local areas to several small companies operating across the U.S to four giant corporations running the show. To prevent things from going overboard, we would need to revert to several small companies operating across the U.S. Why? Because big business doesn't change - and the bigger the individual operation the bigger the enviromental footprint left behind. Crops and feed lots are becoming more and more confined to middle America and shipped elsewhere while this allusion is maintained to the public. People are further and further removed from where their food comes from and just don't care any more. All the while the enviroment is suffering heavily.

but factory meat is cheaper

Here's a gem from the good ol' days.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/n...ious_troll.jpg

Exploiting workers is also cheaper.

Yes, but so is salad.

no trollin' here. just making a point.

who am i to scoff at cheap beefy goodness? you think McDonald's or Taco Bell or Wendy's or Burger King buy free range beef? are your $9 free range burgers as tasty as a $2 Whopper?

Yes, and I can eat them without the four hours of shitting later.

EDIT: And I don't pay near $9 for a good burger. 5 or 6 dollars including sides is the usual and they are much more filling then fast food hamburgers. Fast food does have that certain taste though that I don't mind getting every now and then, but it's rare for me. I've gone for probably 3 months since my last Jack in the Box.

I loooove Taco Bell

"Real" meat lovers everyone would crucify you for that.
And fast food does have a knack for causing burp fests, atleast in my case.

Not for me, I have beans with everything, too. Chalupas, sub beans, no dairy, with salsa mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

**** I'm hungry now

I motion to change this thread into the

"Lets talk about food" thread

Yes! Another food thread! Can I post pictures? I had some lamb at the Indian buffet today.

Go for it!

@ sidewinder:

I hope they let you club it in the head right fresh out in the kennel. :D

That kinda reminds me of those restaurants where there's a huge fish tank and you pick the live, swimming fish you want to eat (totally the best way to get fresh fish at a restaurant) but for a hesitating moment, you look into fishie's eyes (you've already named him at this point) and he looks into your eyes...

...then you LOL and crack a joke about guys wearing pink shirts and sit down and drink a beer like a real man.

Meat isn't murder, but the meat industry is sick.
I watched a PETA video once, it almost converted me.