Why is it okay to eat some animals and not others? (Amish, cost)
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Why do most people have no problem eating cows, but get repulsed by the thought of eating horse or dog? And what makes cats so special that they can't appear on our dinner plates? And why do some vegetarians eat fish? Are fish not animals? I understand the people who eat no meat, by why do those who do eat meat feel that some animals are ok to eat and others are not?
Lots of questions there. Dog is actually consumed in another country, and cats were widely rumored to have been eaten by Italians during WWII. In Peru they've been eating cuy, a type of guinea pig, for eons. It's funny what hunger can drive people to do. Heck, those airplane crash survivors went 'Donner party' in the frozen Andes. As far as which animals are food and which aren't - I think taste and hunger level dictate. I've eaten all sorts of animals, I'll try just about anything twice.
Since I'm not a vegetarian, I won't speak to 'why' some are ovo-lacto, pescaterian, vegetarian, vegan, etc. eat what they do.
it's the culture/society you live in, if you were raised in a culture that accepted dogs and cats as a snack, you wouldn't feel bad about eating them. In India, cows are holy and not to be eaten, Muslims and Jews won't go near pork, ....In some countries horse meat is part of everyday meals
Why do most people have no problem eating cows, but get repulsed by the thought of eating horse or dog? And what makes cats so special that they can't appear on our dinner plates? And why do some vegetarians eat fish? Are fish not animals? I understand the people who eat no meat, by why do those who do eat meat feel that some animals are ok to eat and others are not?
Duh....because some animals are tastier than others.
To me it's just a cultural thing and what you are used to. Personally my own taboo when it comes to food is Dog and that is purely an emotive and deep rooted irrational feeling. But I also realise how silly and illogical it is and have no problem with people eating Dog as long as the animal has not been made to suffer which is my prime concern when I hear about the way Dogs are treated and killed for food in some countries.
At the end of the day I eat meat, I am an omnivore and as such it would be utterly hypocritical for me to decry other people's eating of certain foods simply because it seems odd or even appalling to me. The idea of eating a Dog upsets me deeply and I am not sure I could knowingly eat one unless I was starving but it is only because my culture has assigned a higher "value" to the life of a Canine than that of a cow , because to us in the West Dogs are seen as faithful companions and pets and not food sources. To an Hindu eating a Cow is a sacrilege , to us it is normal.
We all have our own cultural values and ideas of what is "right" and "wrong" and these mostly without much logic a part of the process.
My prime concern with meat is how it is reared, sourced and slaughtered and I can accept all animals as a source of food when it comes to it as long as there has been minimum suffering.
I am always amused at how many people , even on this forum for example seem shocked and horrified at the idea of eating even commonplace meats ( for me and many other people) like venison, wild boar, game birds, rabbits, hares etc... I remember a gasp of horror when I mentioned loving rabbit ( "Thumper" as someone called it along with his cousin "Bambi" the Deer), it was almost as if I had condoned the roasting of small babies on a satanic fire !
I have eaten some distinctly unusual and odd foods in my travels , most of it perfectly nice, all of it offered in hospitality and kindness and been grateful to be the recipient of such kindness to be honest. It is all about context.
My taboo about Dog has never to my knowledge been put to the test and I am still squeamish about even the concept of it but who am I to judge other people's cultures and their perceptions of animals around them ?
Also hunger will tend to change your priorities quite drastically in my experience and opinion... A couple of days without any food and all of a sudden that seal blubber will start to sound pretty appealing and the monkey or tree rat as appreciated as the finest meal in a posh restaurant.
I have only been truly hungry twice in my life and I believe I would have eaten pretty much anything... Funny how unfussy the stomach becomes when it is truly tested ! We are still animals at our core and the instinct to survive is not that removed from the thin veneer of our "civilised" ways !
I was grossed out by eating insects and grubs the first time I tried it but gave it a go and actually found out they taste quite nice. Something which looked so positively repulsive to me became logical when I tried it out and found out that actually what my brain had told me had been erroneous and simply tainted by my cultural upbringing and expectations.
We are at the end of the day a product of our culture and environment, both social and natural. Humans are incredibly adaptable ( as they have had to be) and pragmatic when it comes down to it and our survival instinct has allowed us to "dominate" but also embrace whichever environment has been thrown at us.
There is no wrong or right when it comes to meat if we are logical about it. We are only reacting to certain things in an emotional pre-programme manner with knee jerk reactions but in the end the stomach is far more adaptable than we believe it to be...
At the end of the day I eat meat, I am an omnivore and as such it would be utterly hypocritical for me to decry other people's eating of certain foods simply because it seems odd or even appalling to me.
Bingo!
There is a poster who calls themself an omnivore, but then proudly describes how she wants nothing to do with people who hunt. This is a wildly skewed view - to demand to hide the truths of how our food is produced away, and then bash those with the consistancy to take their own meat!
As long as my other options are plentiful, I won't eat cat or dog. There is no need. I would eat horse, have eaten game, no problem. But if the bottom fell out and my family was hungry? Stray stew.
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? And what makes cats so special that they can't appear on our dinner plates? And why do some vegetarians eat fish? Are fish not animals? I understand the people who eat no meat, by why do those who do eat meat feel that some animals are ok to eat and others are not?
