Why is it okay to eat some animals and not others? (compared, retirement)
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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...
Survival of the fittest means that most of us would die if others didn't take care of us, and kill for us. That makes most of us scavangers, eating others kill. I don't think that's right, but that's the world we live in.
It's all cultural. But I do believe there are some animals that shouldn't be eaten because they're too bacteria ridden. But beyond that, it's mostly just what we've been taught to be squeamish about eating.
If I had a dog and was starving, I'd try to use the dog to find food rather than eat the dog.
I agree, it's really just cultural. We in the US assign attributes of intelligence to various animals. We don't like killing creatures we believe have intelligence. There's no monkey meat or dolphin/porpoise steaks sold in supermarkets (dolphin fish is a different thing). We only buy meat from 'dumb' animals and big animals and those not considered domesticable pets.
Like a poster above noted, as a dog owner, I'd be very reluctant to eat dog. I probably could eat cat if it was served to me in a culture that typically ate cat. I've eaten horse in Italy, along with kangaroo, guinea pig, snake in other countries.
Couldn't do the eating monkey brain out of a skull thing though. Even the northern Chinese people I know think that's gross and suggest southern Chinese will eat anything that moves.
Many of the animals we eat have personalities, including chickens. People do make them pets. All animals respond to kindness, including people.
If you look at our teeth and our digestive systems, we are not meat-eaters by nature. That is probably why we are in such ill health, clogged arteries full of fat, heart problems, diabetes, etc.
If you found that humans tasted just like pork, would you have a problem eating human meat? Protein is protein, right?
We don't need meat, we eat it because we like it.
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?
There are different types of vegetarians, some eat fish, some eggs, some don't. I think all animals can be used as food, it just depends on what culture you were raised in. Arabs are known to eat camels, Chinese dogs, some South American countries eat guinea pigs. We freely eat cows here, but they are sacred in India and would never be eaten. It all comes down to what is or is not acceptable in the culture you are in.
In prehistoric Europe and Asia, beef cattle were only killed and paraded around mainly for religious reasons.
It would have been economically better in North America to have domesticated the bison, as well as the caribou and antelope, as they're much more efficient converters of grass into protein food than beef cattle.
Also, chicken, at one time, was a luxury meat to the upper classes. But when a luxury meat then becomes mass produced, eaten by the masses, then the snobbish upper classes move on to something else that the masses can't afford! Kobe Beef?
Many of the animals we eat have personalities, including chickens. People do make them pets. All animals respond to kindness, including people.
If you look at our teeth and our digestive systems, we are not meat-eaters by nature. That is probably why we are in such ill health, clogged arteries full of fat, heart problems, diabetes, etc.
If you found that humans tasted just like pork, would you have a problem eating human meat? Protein is protein, right?
We don't need meat, we eat it because we like it.
Your comments are a matter of opinion and fall far from fact. Based on your comments, the Innuit who survive on a diet exclusively of flesh and blubber shouldn't even live to see adulthood. The clogged arteries and chronic conditions you list are due to a western diet. The nomads in the Steppes sustain themselves mostly on *** and their dairy products - they eat virtually no vegetables and are a healthy hearty people.
Man has been eating meat ever since we were able to chase it down and kill it. It is the agrarian component of our diet that was most recently added to our diet, and the refined versions are more likely to be the culprit for those illnesses paired with a sedentary lifestyle.
I am so tired of reading the deliberate misinformation by parties with emotional interests. If someone doesn't eat meat then don't eat meat, but please stop trying to convince people that it isn't healthy or that we are not meat eaters by nature. History cannot be rewritten to save the animals.
Last edited by DontH8Me; 01-15-2013 at 11:38 PM..
Reason: Since when is *y. A. K* a bad word?
Your comments are a matter of opinion and fall far from fact. Based on your comments, the Innuit who survive on a diet exclusively of flesh and blubber shouldn't even live to see adulthood. The clogged arteries and chronic conditions you list are due to a western diet. The nomads in the Steppes sustain themselves mostly on *** and their dairy products - they eat virtually no vegetables and are a healthy hearty people.
Man has been eating meat ever since we were able to chase it down and kill it. It is the agrarian component of our diet that was most recently added to our diet, and the refined versions are more likely to be the culprit for those illnesses paired with a sedentary lifestyle.
I am so tired of reading the deliberate misinformation by parties with emotional interests. If someone doesn't eat meat then don't eat meat, but please stop trying to convince people that it isn't healthy or that we are not meat eaters by nature. History cannot be rewritten to save the animals.
If you actually could chase it down and kill it with your bare claws, and rip it with your canines, you might have a valid argument, but that's simply not the case. Without guns and traps, humans are not capable of competing with true carnivores, and are truly pathetic hunters.
I'm just stating facts. We would live much longer, without partaking in the flesh of animals. I am not a vegan, not even a vegetarian. I eat some meat, but it's a small part of my diet. If I had a serious illness, I would probably go raw or close to it. It's simply healthier, and I believe better for the spirit. Sorry if that's too emotional for you. http://www.vegan-nutritionista.com/humans-are-herbivores.html
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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?
