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Would you still eat meat even if you knew the farm animals were horribly mistreated even tortured before consumption???
Posted by Leiominala • 3/30/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: death on a factory farm, vegetarian
I have done animal rights projects and continued to eat meat but recently I saw a documentary called Death on a factory farm and it has inspired me to consider becoming vegetarian.
User Comments
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I love animals, especially with a side-dish, preferably something with cheese and potatoes in it. -
You can avoid this problem by sourcing the meat you buy. Polybore is careful when buying meat and only gets it from a local butcher. The butcher can direct polybore to the exact farm the livestock was reared. Polybore suggests that, rather than boycotting meat entirely you would do better to support farmers that rear livestock properly.
Livestock that has been treated badly produces bad meat so even if it is cheaper it is a false economy. -
maybe not. depends on how graphic the information is. -
Yeah, probably. They're outside my sphere of concern.-
I bet you picked the wings off flies when you were a kid! -
No. I don't go out of my way to hurt animals, and I'd join the rally to get people to stop torturing animals, but I would still eat meat.
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you would still eat the meat that comes from farms that you would rally against?
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Only if that was the only available source of meat. But I wouldn't lead the rallies, either.
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"only available source of meat" meaning the only brand left in your local supermarket or the only one in the world? You wouldn't go for a meal without meat in order to avoid supporting these producers?
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Not if I wanted meat. My ethics only extends to humanity is the point I'm trying to make, Siuil.
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Well, I do think animals should be treated better. The idea of them being tortured doesn't sit well. If more information were given to the public it would probably make a difference. When I saw the documentary, "Super size me" I stopped eating meat at Mc Donalds....gross -
I don't eat much meat anyways. I saw a video of how KFC chickens are farmed and I haven't touched KFC since.
But NO I would not eat it if I knew the animal who provided it lived a life of hell. -
So buy your meat locally right from the source or go hunting, although it really stinks to clean a deer. -
Eat kosher meat. -
What i dont get is why it costs more to buy free range or similar fair trade or animal friendly products - wouldnt it just make more sense to charge a lower price and let the "bad" products suffer. -
It costs more because they don't cram so many animals in one spot...more costs on their end mean they charge a higher price
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I guess im not business minded, but wouldnt it still pay off in the long run, if they reduced their prices to compete with their competition?
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Let's not eat plants, either. They may not have a face, or a voice, but they have feelings, too!
Mmmmm ... plastic.-
I guess that would mean I have to cut paper out of my diet too, since it is made from trees...
Thanks... Thanks a lot!
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These plastic rinds are very crunchy. They taste really good with sals--- oh, wait.
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I was vegan for quite sometime because of this - now due to economic concerns, we either hunt or purchase from cage free/ethical farms.
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The overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture contributes to the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans that are costly and difficult to treat. I have a compromised immune system and cannot eat the meat from animals that have been fed antibiotics, enriched feeds, kept in confinement, and improperly slaughtered and processed. Even if I could, I would not eat the meat from tortured animals - we are what we eat.
The bottom line is that my husband and I do not want to eat meat or fish any more frequently than 2 to 3 days of the week. We are aware of how to balance our nutritional intake properly to achieve and maintain good health. Neither of us is overweight. We are both fit. The meat we do eat is from organic local producers. The fish we eat is caught by local fishers. -
i'm going to eat meat no matter what. it's good for us - yes yes yes, i know about all the additives/chemicals/etc. - and honestly, it's how the food chain works. sure, it's not kind or fair or anything of that sort, but we've got to eat something. and let's face it plants are in the same situation - they're living too.
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I think it would have been interesting to first determine how many of those posting to this thread could answer "yes" to the question: Have you ever visited a confined animal feeding operation or factory farm? What I have discovered is that many people would live in cities fantasize that the meat they are eating came from animals who were raised in bucolic settings on family farms, when nothing could be further from the truth.
IMHO every school ought to have a field trip program wherein children and their parents are taken to witness how the animals that become their food are treated and kept at every stage of the process right up to and including the packing plant.
Watch the critically-acclaimed, award-winning first episode of The Meatrix Trilogy. www.themeatrix1.com/
The Meatrix II: Revolting exposes the dark side of the dairy industry. www.themeatrix2.com/
The Meatrix II ½ takes us to a processing facility, where we learn how we feed our Fast Food Nation
www.moremeatrix.com/
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I have not viewed the film you are speaking of so I would need you to define the torture and mistreatment.
While I eat meat, and a crap load of it, I don't believe any animal should be tortured or mistreated.
Your definition of torture and mistreatment may differ from mine.
Someone in the thread mentioned sourcing the meat you purchase, I'd say that is a good idea.-
There are videos at youtube and I have stumbled some at stumbleupon as well. I will not post the links because the cruelty that is depicted makes me weep, and I am a country woman who has been involved in livestock breeding and rearing and slaughter my whole life.
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well some of the torture reported included workers stomping on chickens as a break pastime, inserting electrical prods into the anus of pigs and livestock, and there have been a tremendous amounts of reports of beating the livestock just to do it because the disturbed individuals that work on the farms just think it's hilarios to do these things.
You have to keep in mind that working in a factory farm, or slaughter house is not exactly considered to be a sexy job so the type of people who end up working there usually have issues to begin with, for example ex-con, or other type of social delinquent who couldnt find a job elsewhere, also the working conditions even for the employees really are not that favorable either, they work in non ventilated, non- air conditioned hot as hell STINKY places and kill and literally take apart animals all day, you can see how a person with this career is likely to lose compassion, and judgment oh did i mention they often make like 8 or 9 dollars and hour
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I am a meat lover! I don't think *cruelty* in farm raised animals for food should be tolerated. I very seldom eat the store bought meat as we have plenty of hunters and fisherman in the family to keep our freezers stocked with moose, caribou, bear, Salmon, pike, trout, makes a clean healthy diet and good untouched and doctored up meat!
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We've been eating open range chickens. I don't know about the beef, but my wife shops at Whole Foods a lot and they tend to have that kind of thing for us liberal types.
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Thank you Timethief.
I'll look some up. -
I hate animals that's why i am a vegeterian. Someone said.
Its good not to have meat.. & so i don't. -
NO! I am on the edge of being e vegetarian. -
I haven't eaten meat for two years but that was for medical reasons. Now the thought of eating meat repels me, it just seems wrong. I won't even eat meat flavour crisps! I still eat fish and can't know how much they suffer in the catching but at least they don't get to live in tiny sheds with no air before they die. -
haven't eat meat lately but as soon as i finish the lent i will be back eating healthy meat on the market. -
It's not just about animal cruelty, factory farming conditions are dangerous to our health! Ever wonder where E-coli comes from or Mad Cow Disease? E-coli grows in the stomachs of animals with elevated acid levels from an unnatural diet of corn, protein slurry, and antibiotics.
Put simply, cows are meant to graze grass. Biologically, they are perfectly designed as nature's perfect wild grazer. Factory farms force cows to eat corn, which their stomachs cannot digest. Their immune systems so haywire because of the corn diet, hence the reliance on antibiotics.
The corn diet also hijacks the cow's natural growth cycle. Naturally raised, grass fed cows take about 3 years to reach full maturity. In the factory farming system where hormones, protein slurry, urine (yes, they feed the animals their own urine rather than water) forces the animals to bulk up at an accelerated rate. As a result, most factory animals are sent to slaughter after only 14 months.
The reason behind forcing the cows to slaughter so early? If kept in feedlot conditions longer than a few months, the cows sicken and die.
Also, everyone should be highly concerned about what goes in the protein slurry that is fed to feedlot animals. Feeding rendered meat by products to herbivores is insanity. This is where Mad Cow disease comes from. The prions that cause Mad Cow can survive the rendering process and can jump from species to species.
In the US, it is illegal to feed cows to cows. It is acceptable to feed rendered meat by-products (from pigs and chickens) to cows (hooves, tails, brains, spines, feathers, eyes, anuses you name it and Bessie has eaten it). It is also acceptable to feed rendered beef by-products (all the stuff that can't be eaten by humans) to pigs and chickens.
Basically, what factory farming has done is create a circle in which Mad Cow Prions can travel from cow, to pig, to chicken, and then back to cow again.
The whole process is hugely UNPROFITABLE to farmers and unsustainable to the environment. The average profit on ONE steer is about 50 dollars.
Did I mention we are feeding petroleum to our animals in the form of fertilizers and pesticides? Or that the acres of corn dedicated to animal feed uses up huge amounts of energy resources and is subsidized by your tax dollars? Or that the proteins slurry corn diet causes cows to emit huge clouds of methane and creates pools of toxic waste that literally cover thousands of acres of land? Or how about the super bugs that arise from the abuse of antibiotics on livestock.
There is a solution to this without resorting to vegetarianism. Eat organic, eat free range, eat natural and eat local. Know where your food is coming from. If expense is an issue, everyone's health would benefit from stepping back meat consumption to a couple times a week instead of several times a day.
Ok, I am done. I feel like this issue comes up at least once a week.
Even if you don't care about animal welfare, you should care about what you put in your body.-
This is scary stuff but bears out my fears that so much meat is contaminated, and I guess it's not just meat.
@Svelmoe I agree re the dressing up cats and dogs and pushing them around in pushchairs - what is all that about? -
@stillthinking
We are both aware of the same facts and we are on the same page. However, IMO the vast majority have placed their forefingers in ears so they don't have to hear the realities, think about them, and act to affect change. -
I agree. I think that the Meat Industry has such influence over public perception and the government that the truth about factory farming has been labeled as extremist propaganda by animal rights nut jobs.
This is why Oprah faced a lawsuit from the cattle industry in Texas where is it ILLEGAL to defame beef. That is just how much they need the public to be unaware of where their meat comes from.
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bump
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Movies made by biased parties aren't representative - they find the worst examples and use them (naturally).
Yes, some food producers act less then "honorable" and don't follow the legislations, but it isn't everybody or a majority.
I'd still eat meat. I like meat - no I love meat.
Would I want the offenders to treat animals better - sure. But I'd like for everybody cruel to animal doing so - whether it is animals for food or "pets". I also want people to stop dressing up their dogs or cats, and treating them like babies.
Then again I'd also like for people to stop killing other people as well in the name of what ever excuse you can find.
Heck - I just want to stop people from running a red light almost clipping me over. Or .....
Some people will always do stupid and messed up things.-
No, that's where you are wrong. The VAST majority of meat on the market is produced by factory farming methods.
Don't kid yourself. This isn't an animal welfare issue. It's a food safety issue. Read my entry above. -
Who said anything about it wasn't factory produced? :rolleyes:
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I am like you I love my meat. This isn't just one or two not following guidelines, it is the practice itself of factory farming that is abusive and producing weak and sick animals, and you did say you would prefer that animals are not treated cruelly.
It doesn't end there though, our current farming practices overall have major safety problems.
www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=sick-farms-infected-food
Unless the public is aware how can they demand changes that address health safety and the humane treatment of animals.
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Very good post above Stillthinking. I hardly eat any meat for those reasons (which I did not know in as much detail). Still eat fish regularly.-
I am not a vegetarian. I eat both meat and fish. I am however conscious of my buying decisions. I rarely buy red meat or pork. When I do, I buy all natural, organic, grass fed, antibiotic and hormone free.
Yes, it costs more which is why I eat less of it.
I do eat organic, free range chicken several times a week.
I eat fish regularly as well. I try to eat fish that is sustainable. No Chilean Sea Bass! I usually stick to Wild Caught Salmon and Albacore tuna.
One thing I have an utter and total weakness for though: Sushi.
The type of tuna that is used for sushi is becoming increasingly endangered as massive overfishing by fishing trawlers have decimated entire schools.
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no, which is why I have become almost vegetarian. I enjoy meat, but as others have mentioned besides the abhorrent abuses in factory farming and slaughter practices, there is also the health consequences of eating sick animals (as a result of the way they are fed, housed and treated). Here is what Stillthinking is talking about why factory farmed meat is unhealthy.
www.associatedcontent.com/article/262745/chicken_the_unhealthy_white_meat.h...
I haven't stopped eating meat, just that now I buy less because free range and local is more expensive. -
I also have to add that you should not be feeding meat by products or pet food with corn in it-especially to cats.
Common sense- cats are carnivores. They should be eating meat. Pet food companies that claim that corn is a wholesome part of a cat's diet are lying to you. Your cat's insulin levels are going beserk every time they consume carbohydrates. Because their insulin levels are elevated, cats become even more lethargic. Because poor quality pet foods are mostly filler, pets are not getting the nutrients they need to be healthy and have to eat more food in order to feel full.
Poor quality commercial pet food is one of the leading causes of the uptick in cancer, obesity, diabetes in pets. Also, wheat gluten? Soy gluten? It's all filler and if it's from China (the worlds largest producer of wheat gluten), there is a very high chance of it being poisonous.
I know this was off the topic, but I started thinking about how corn really isn't good food for many different animals including humans. -
Yes I would still eat meat. Our systematic raising and butchering of plants is much more horrid than our animal treatment. I can understand not eating meat for health reasons, but not eating meat because it requires killing a living thing is something I could never understand...
I'm actually interested, what kind of products can we eat that do not come from another living thing? -
Probably not, because that meat wouldn't taste as good. When an animal is stressed before slaughter it makes the meat different. I don't know how to describe it really, its like a nice piece of sir loin feels like your munching on round or something chewy.
Someone who enjoys their meats already knows what stress will cause to happen to the flavor/texture of it. -
yes, but I'm not a big red meat eater anyway. -
I wold just like to say personally I loovvveeeeee meat love it!!! however after seeing the conditions in which the farm animals are kept I honestly cannot eat it anymore at least not in large portions maybe in the form of bacon bits on a salad or chicken cubes in a wrap but seriously the way the animals are kept are disgusting, not even from a save the animals p.o.v but from a damn!! I'm not putting that in my body perspective i CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE
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And as far as the popular documentaries or peta information being extreme, the problem isn't even so much the neglect, and reports of abuse from employees, the major issue is that any meat factory/ farm even when running in it's cleanest, most faorable conditions with loving employees is triflin if for no other reason than for how these animals are housed, the cages r too cramped and that's an understatement
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I encourage everyone to seriously do some research on this topic and if you are one of the people who believe that some of this information is slanted than please go and visit one of the factory farms yourself, I've heard that once the smell hits you that its enough to make you go vegan
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I will certainly stop eating that for a period. But i think i will resume it after that certain period.
irene-whatsoever.blogspot.com
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