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Gold Member Username: PitbullguyThe Chicago area Post Number: 4627 Registered: Oct-06 | I think Chad's thread featuring the animal cruelty video brings up some interesting debate questions. This idea is based on a conversation I had with a friend yesterday about the video. She's a vegetarian (for health reasons not really moral), and asked me if I feel bad or grossed out eating meat. The conversation led to some other interesting questions. I'll start things off without throwing my opinions in yet. -How do you feel about hunting? Does it make a difference to you if the kill is going to be used for it's resources, versus being killed purely for sport? -Do you eat meat? Do you ever feel bad about it? -What about eating beef or chicken versus, say, dog meat or dolphin meat? In other countries it's common to eat these other meats. Is it okay to eat meat from some animals but not others? -Do you care how the animals you're eating are raised and killed? I'm very interested to see what everyone thinks. |
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Gold Member Username: SkdooleyRoanoke, VA Usa Post Number: 1175 Registered: Oct-09 | My question is, where does all this meat come from? Of course the logical answer is from farms, etc. But if you really sit and think about it, every restaurant, every store, in every city or town in every state, has chicken (or any other type of meat). That is a lot of chickens. A LOT of chickens. I just don't see how its possible to raise that many chickens, that quickly to keep supplies like places have. |
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Gold Member Username: SkdooleyRoanoke, VA Usa Post Number: 1176 Registered: Oct-09 | As for your post, I think hunting is ok to a degree. If its for the consumption of food, I find it understandable. Lets take deers for example. I live in SW, Va and there are a lot of deers around here. All the time you hear about people hitting deers. I drive a delivery truck and I see a few dead deers a week that have been hit or imploded along the highways. Hunting deers and decreasing the population I can see as justifiable. Any killing though just to kill, with no reason to justify it, I don't agree with. I eat meat. Pretty much every meal. Most common is chicken, but I'm also a huge fan of seafood. I don't tend to eat as much hamburger meat or steak. I believe the types of meat we eat is a culture thing. The show Bizarre Foods on food network sums that up. Depending on where you live and how you're raised, some cultures don't waste any part of the animal. I believe since America is a "rich" country, we've been brought up to only eat high quality type foods. There have been chinese restaurants, one near where I live years ago, who have been shut down for serving cat meat. In some cases if we didnt know any better, we could be eating cat or dog and not even know it. I honestly don't think about the process of how the meat got to the store most of the time when I'm purchasing it. Its such a norm to just go into a store and grab a bag of chicken breast, its just like getting a loaf of bread. Every once in a while, like the post above this one, I think about how hard it is to imagine what it takes to supply such a demand for meat, and other types of food for that matter. One thing that does bother me is people who waste food. People who act like they're too good to eat something, or get more than they know they're going to eat and just throw it away. Wasting anything tends to bother me. |
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Diamond Member Username: WingmanaliveWww.stainles... .ecrater.com Post Number: 23417 Registered: Jun-06 | We as a species are meat eating animals. It's in our nature. Those who choose to go vegetarian do so out of their own moral issues (mostly). Our digestive system as well as our own teeth have evolved, over 1000's of years, to consume all types of food, giving us a more balanced diet. We just need to control ourselves in a manner that's consistent with that balance. Too much of anything isn't good for you. Hunting? Well that's a debate that can be argued from both sides of the fence. We again as a species are hunters. It's just today with all our advances we don't NEED to hunt but still feel the primal need to do so. Killing for sport is so much a human trait and an embarrassing one at that to me. Like the sport of shooting doves right out of a wooden box, for sport. I also feel the animal hunted has a HUGE roll in how we feel about it. Beef is our most consumed meat and if you've ever seen a cow slaughtered you'd think twice about that next burger. On the other hand we know how fish are caught and processed and don't raise an eyebrow over it, I think because it's not an animal we believe to have a soul. Dolphins hold a special place in our hearts because of their intelligence and grace so when you see one getting slaughtered you get shocked and angry, yet hauling in a swordfish is worth getting a pat on the back for and hung on the wall as a trophy. I think Chad's vid is an eye opener for many but it really shouldn't be. I mean this kind of "cruelty" and behavior towards all animals has gone on for........ever. We slaughter a cow being held upside down by it's legs with a slice to it's throat. Most of us know that but deem it normal because a cow is just a cow to us. Show a vid of it to someone in India and you get the same response as you would when an American sees a cat skinned alive and boiled. Ironically my father for years was a deer hunter. Did so for 30+ years and never felt bad about it. Mind you we consumed the meat he brought home and he always taught me to find the fastest way to kill an animal, not just wound it and let it die 5 miles and an hour away. Well today he feeds the deer and wild turkeys in his yard cracked corn and puts out a salt lick for them. He also hand feeds the squirrels and puts out seed for the blue jays. He still eats meat, just doesn't wish to be part of the process anymore. |
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Gold Member Username: Mrskullz1New York Post Number: 1802 Registered: Feb-07 | How do you feel about hunting? Does it make a difference to you if the kill is going to be used for it's resources, versus being killed purely for sport? - IMO this can go both ways depending on your location/environment. To me, hunting for fun is just wrong. I feel killing ANY species for fun is wrong. Everyone has their own opinions and ethics to follow. What is ethical to you may not be ethical to someone else. The fact of the matter is, killing for sport IS bringing down animal population (even if it is over crowded) to a point where it will effect everyone. The smallest change in the environment or levels of species does effect humans whether we see/feel it or not. Bringing the animal population lower than what it is WILL be catastrophic in the long run. Do you eat meat? Do you ever feel bad about it? `Personally I do eat meat....and love it. Would imagine it nearly impossible for me to survive without any sort of meat. IMO its because of the way me/we were brought up. We were fed meat and are now accustomed to it and where having no meat can be really tough. Don't get me wrong, we can definitely survive as vegans or so but many of us are just not used to it and would imagine that to be a real challenging lifestyle. What about eating beef or chicken versus, say, dog meat or dolphin meat? In other countries it's common to eat these other meats. Is it okay to eat meat from some animals but not others? =Again, i think it depends on where you are from. As you said, its common to eat these meats in other countries. Whether its their tradition and a part of their lifestyle, its considered food for people. Whether eating meat from some animals and not others also depends on your psychological state. If you don't usually eat birds (just an example), but are stranded and starving, you wouldn't think twice about killing one and filling your stomach. Do you care how the animals you're eating are raised and killed? =Absolutely. And i believe EVERYONE should care and know about what they are eating. There are so many hormones given to animals so they can reproduce at a faster rate, its despicable and plain nasty. For instance, check out rBGH that is given to cows. That sh!t will make you by organic milk for life! Haha. No BS, but organic IS the better way to go for certain, if not all, products Sure, its costs a little more, buts its not filled with crap. Anyways, my knowledge on this subject is only so much. Bottom line is, we all have to eat. Ehren, i wish you would have brought cannibalism somewhere in here. That would be a fun topic to talk about to see what extent people would go if there was NO food at all and humans were the only living species on the planet. It's 2am and i'm fudged up! Sorry if some of my stuff prob doesn't make sense...too much for me to double check at this time |
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Gold Member Username: PitbullguyThe Chicago area Post Number: 4628 Registered: Oct-06 | Skullz, this is an open debate, feel free to expand to any related topics. I started my morning today by making myself eggs and bacon, which isn't untypical. I eat meat virtually every day. I don't feel it's wrong to eat the meats I eat, chicken, beef, fish, turkey, pork, shrimp etc. As I sit and think about it, I do feel a little guilty however that I wouldn't know the first thing about how to prepare these meats myself from step one. I, like most Americans, just buy them from a store. As far as which animals are okay to eat and which aren't, I think different animals are meant to serve different purposes in life. I am sort of offended by the idea of someone eating a dog or a cat, and not just because I find them cute and cuddly. I think if you look at what dogs are meant to do for example, it isn't to be eaten. What other animal can offer a human the type of companionship that a dog does? What other animal is capable of being an invaluable worker on a farm, and in law enforcement, as a therapy animal, a bomb/drug sniffer, home security and protecting your family etc. A cow on the other hand, as horrible as it may sound, seems much more naturally intended to be utilized for the food it can produce and the sustenance its body can provide. I think it's okay to eat meat obviously, but when you look at animals like dogs, cats, dolphins and others, their level of intelligence and complexity is proof to me that they aren't meant to be eaten. With that said, I do think it's important for us to take care in the way we treat and kill the animals we DO eat. And I feel somewhat guilty. I'm sure not all the meat I eat was treated fairly and killed humanely. And I do feel bad about that. It's unfortunate that greed and excess are a part of our nature as humans. If I was a better man, I'd make more of an effort to know where my food is coming from. In fact, if I take something away from this discussion, that will be it, make a better effort to not support stores/businesses who get their animal products from less reputable people. I've never hunted in my life, but hunting for sport kind of rubs me the wrong way. Seems like it's basically an ego thing. Having deer heads mounted on walls and bear skin rugs seems like kind of a slap in the face to mother nature to me. Not to mention it's a tad laughable, like, congratulations for "conquering" this animal, which you shot with a $1200 rifle from behind some bushes. Just my $.02 I'm hoping we can get some opinions from someone who may be adamantly vegetarian or vegan, but I'm not sure any forum regulars are. |
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Platinum Member Username: Rovin1 15 = 153 DBs ...Trinidad & T... Post Number: 16639 Registered: Jul-05 | in the mornings i dont like to eat meat - may eat eggs once per wk on mornings but generally its some sort of cooked vegetable with what we india indians called "roti" which some american tv shows hosts called "indian bread" or a type of "bread" ...google it if u dont know what im talking about , there r different types now for lunch & dinner i always eat something with meat or even fish 7 days a wk because i cant just eat a veggie only meal since i still feel hungry so i gotta eat some meat in whatever meal im having to fill me up & stop my hunger do i know how meat\fish reaches the market & the processes involve ? : hell yes i do however when u get hungry u wont be thinking about that though its good to know hunting & consuming what u killed - well i dont like to do it but i dont see anything bad HOWEVER those ppl who want to often go hunting & kill more than what they can consume & take the rest home to freeze it or share with ppl or sell it etc OR if u saw 5 deer that day u felt to kill all 5 in other words really over do the hunting well i dont like that at all : give the animals a chance to live & reproduce so that u dont kill them faster than they can regenerate themselves ppl who want to stop eating meat for whatever moral or religious reasons - well im cool with that if that is what u choose to do BUT do not try to enforce ur beliefs on me since thats BS since if thats is ur choice fine but dont try to make it mine ... |