Please Do Not Be Angry! (bbq, tasting, animal, eating)

[JetJockey]

I'm not quite a vegetarian, but this topic is very interesting to me. I grew up in an agricultural area and worked on a cattle ranch (traditional, not feed lot) and showed livestock in 4H for 13 years. That said, I have zero respect for the factory farming industry and only buy local, humanely raised meat products or else I simply go without. If you've been involved directly in an industry, you have a vastly different view of what goes on than if you simply read articles in a newspaper, or watch an 'expose' on tv.

There are ways to get milk and meat from resources that treat their livestock as humanely as possible and generally speaking, that is where you're going to get the best cuts anyway... they simply care more to provide you with an excellent product. When you know what to look for, it's much easier. Of course it's far more expensive, which is what it should be. Meat should be pricey and that would cause the demand to go down which would cause factory farms to basically go away.

I will never be a vegetarian (it's not my thing, but to each their own) but I think it's each and every persons responsibility to research where their food is coming from.

[groar]

Originally Posted by Apples&Oranges

And I don't have a problem with individuals slaughtering their own well-kept, grass-fed animals if they simply must be carnivores.

yeah, i feel the same way. i'm even ok with people going to small, sustainable local farms for meat. i don't think it's right, but i don't think it's realistic to expect that the whole world will go vegan or even vegetarian, and that's the next best thing.

there's even some compelling evidence that the least-harm (to all sentient beings) diet is actually a low-meat diet, where the meat comes from local, sustainably raised ruminants (cows, goats, & sheep basically, no pigs!) i still couldn't bring myself to eat meat though.

[Apples&Oranges]

JetJockey said: Of course it's far more expensive, which is what it should be. Meat should be pricey and that would cause the demand to go down which would cause factory farms to basically go away.

True!

[TKramar]

Watched a show about "Life After People" and they opined that cattle used to being domesticated would not survive our disappearance. I would imagine the same would happen if ranchers stopped raising them.

[Apples&Oranges]

Originally Posted by TKramar

Watched a show about "Life After People" and they opined that cattle used to being domesticated would not survive our disappearance. I would imagine the same would happen if ranchers stopped raising them.

That will never happen.

[katzenfreund]

Originally Posted by treebw

Ok, I am a vegetarian and have been for over 16 years but I have a question:
I know we are all veggie for one reason or another, my daughter has recently (last summer) became a vegetarian because of animal cruelty and it got me thinking...
Is it more cruel to raise animals for clothing and consumption or is it more cruel to let an animal race go extinct?

Again, please do not be angry, it is an honest question. I asked my daughter what she thought would happen to the cows that were raised yet not used and she assumed we would go old-school India and let the cattle roam. I told her this would not happen and that ranchers would either need to sell their land to survive or they would have to stop raising cattle and grow corn or soy.

So, is it better to let cows, pigs, chickens, etc to die off than to continue consuming them?

Would you rather never be born, or tortured and killed cruelly in the end? If animals would "die out" because people don't eat them anymore, that would be far superior to me, than what is currently going on. Ideally we would all quit consuming animals - the farmers could grow hemp for clothing (grows almost anywhere without the use of pesticides) or another crop. The animals should be able to live their natural lives out. Of course this will never happen, but that is what would be the right thing to do, IMHO.
There is no excuse for cruelty to animals. NONE.
And I am not saying this "angry", that is just my opinion.

[TKramar]

Originally Posted by Apples&Oranges

That will never happen.

What it was saying is that without our assistance, domesticated animals would not know what to do. Many of them would starve--they're USED to having someone else feed them, now they have to forage for food on their own. Also, with domestication comes some protection from predators. Turn them loose, and they wouldn't get that.

[Apples&Oranges]

Originally Posted by TKramar

What it was saying is that without our assistance, domesticated animals would not know what to do. Many of them would starve--they're USED to having someone else feed them, now they have to forage for food on their own. Also, with domestication comes some protection from predators. Turn them loose, and they wouldn't get that.

Be realistic. This would never happen.

[quiet walker]

I think that any domestic animals would not do well if turned out into the wild. I don't think the idea is that suddenly all factory farm animals would be released on their own but that the industry would decline and disappear. I wonder about the bovine ancestors of the modern, genetically engineered food animals. How about the American bison that thrived in the wild in hundreds of millions, before Europeans arrived and slaughtered them on an industrial scale.

[Apples&Oranges]

Originally Posted by quiet walker

I think that any domestic animals would not do well if turned out into the wild. I don't think the idea is that suddenly all factory farm animals would be released on their own but that the industry would decline and disappear. I wonder about the bovine ancestors of the modern, genetically engineered food animals. How about the American bison that thrived in the wild in hundreds of millions, before Europeans arrived and slaughtered them on an industrial scale.

But remember, after the automobile took over, horses did not become extinct. There are probably fewer horses around now, but why is that not ok?