The Dreaded Slaughter-House

[cleomiele]

I am reminded of a rather apt quote on the subject...

"You can judge the morality of a nation by the way the society treats its animals." -Mahatma Gandhi

 

If that is an accurate measure of morality, the United States is certainly not very saintly.

I've been a vegetarian for about five and a half years, but like some have also said, I do not push my lifestyle onto others. However, I do encourage my meat-eating peers, family members, and friends to research what companies they buy their meat from, what cosmetic products they use, etc. to facilitate more support of companies/farms that treat their animals ethically and without such disgusting, gruesome practices as seen in the Meet Your Meat video...

 

The argument that going vegetarian will not affect the meat industry at all is false, my friend. You can pull the "you're just one person!" argument all you want, but every person and voice that is heard and every pound of steak left sitting on the selves at the grocery store IS a change. Albeit a small one, but more and more people are consciously reducing their meat intake--or making their meat consumption smarter, as mentioned above--as time passes by. Every individual makes a much larger impact than you might think, and just as many other grassroots causes have been a catalyst to change in the past, so will the vegetarian/vegan community in the present and future.

 

Yet another quote for that mindset:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

[Rebecca~]

I am reminded of a rather apt quote on the subject...

"You can judge the morality of a nation by the way the society treats its animals." -Mahatma Gandhi

 

If that is an accurate measure of morality, the United States is certainly not very saintly.

I've been a vegetarian for about five and a half years, but like some have also said, I do not push my lifestyle onto others. However, I do encourage my meat-eating peers, family members, and friends to research what companies they buy their meat from, what cosmetic products they use, etc. to facilitate more support of companies/farms that treat their animals ethically and without such disgusting, gruesome practices as seen in the Meet Your Meat video...

 

The argument that going vegetarian will not affect the meat industry at all is false, my friend. You can pull the "you're just one person!" argument all you want, but every person and voice that is heard and every pound of steak left sitting on the selves at the grocery store IS a change. Albeit a small one, but more and more people are consciously reducing their meat intake--or making their meat consumption smarter, as mentioned above--as time passes by. Every individual makes a much larger impact than you might think, and just as many other grassroots causes have been a catalyst to change in the past, so will the vegetarian/vegan community in the present and future.

 

Yet another quote for that mindset:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

Speaking as a vegetarian, the Meet Your Meat video is pure propaganda. A lot of the footage in it is very old, and some of the regulations have changed so the things seen in it aren't allowed. It was like that when I saw it ten years ago, when I became a vegetarian. I imagine that some more regulations have changed in the meantime.

I'm not arguing that the meat industry is saintly or anything, but there are far better, and more reliable, sources of information than PETA. They embarass me, to be honest. :/

 

There are lots of sustainable and cruelty free meat options available now, which is nice to see. :) The best thing to do, I think, it actually not to stop eating meat all together (though, I have little interest in starting again). I think it is better (if it's an available option) is to buy directly from farmers that do their own slaughtering. You can get to know them, find out how the animals are kept and how they're killed, what they're fed, etc. By supporting people who treat their animals right, you are showing the large slaughter-houses that you care about that, that you're taking your money away from them, and giving it to someone who cares about the problem, and is combating it. By supporting the people whom are doing it right, you enable more people to try to do the same. :)

[cleomiele]

Speaking as a vegetarian, the Meet Your Meat video is pure propaganda. A lot of the footage in it is very old, and some of the regulations have changed so the things seen in it aren't allowed. It was like that when I saw it ten years ago, when I became a vegetarian. I imagine that some more regulations have changed in the meantime.

I'm not arguing that the meat industry is saintly or anything, but there are far better, and more reliable, sources of information than PETA. They embarass me, to be honest. :/

 

There are lots of sustainable and cruelty free meat options available now, which is nice to see. :) The best thing to do, I think, it actually not to stop eating meat all together (though, I have little interest in starting again). I think it is better (if it's an available option) is to buy directly from farmers that do their own slaughtering. You can get to know them, find out how the animals are kept and how they're killed, what they're fed, etc. By supporting people who treat their animals right, you are showing the large slaughter-houses that you care about that, that you're taking your money away from them, and giving it to someone who cares about the problem, and is combating it. By supporting the people whom are doing it right, you enable more people to try to do the same. :)

 

I will agree that PETA is not an overly reliable source; they operate in the hopes of the shock factor producing greater results. I personally hate being associated with the organization simply because I am vegetarian... -_-

 

However, many large meat-producing companies (e.g. Tyson, Hilshire Farms, etc.) do function in a similar fashion, though perhaps not as extreme as in the aforementioned video. By that I mean having too many animals cramped into dark, filthy spaces smelling of ammonia and other chemicals while being given excessive amounts of antibiotics and/or growth hormone injections, the animals not being able to move properly or thrown around like cargo, all of that. I know that the USDA is slowly switching their regulations to make sure that people KNOW that they're eating animals given growth hormones and the like, as well as to decrease the use of those things, but it is still a widespread problem and will be for a long time, as not every community is lucky enough to have local farmers to buy from and peopke might not have any other option but to support companies using deplorable methods.

 

It also becomes a more difficult fight when you take into consideration the legal loopholes; for example, just because a carton of eggs says "cage-free" does not mean that the chickens are actually allowed to roam. Oftentimes, "cage-free" birds are treated in a similar fashion to what I described above, which frustrates me to no end. You would think a legal consequence would ensue for people that knowingly mislabel their products. With that said, even when you try to do your research, it can be difficult to know what kind of products are "safe" to buy and truthfully labeled... :(

[Rebecca~]

I will agree that PETA is not an overly reliable source; they operate in the hopes of the shock factor producing greater results. I personally hate being associated with the organization simply because I am vegetarian... -_-

 

However, many large meat-producing companies (e.g. Tyson, Hilshire Farms, etc.) do function in a similar fashion, though perhaps not as extreme as in the aforementioned video. By that I mean having too many animals cramped into dark, filthy spaces smelling of ammonia and other chemicals while being given excessive amounts of antibiotics and/or growth hormone injections, the animals not being able to move properly or thrown around like cargo, all of that. I know that the USDA is slowly switching their regulations to make sure that people KNOW that they're eating animals given growth hormones and the like, as well as to decrease the use of those things, but it is still a widespread problem and will be for a long time, as not every community is lucky enough to have local farmers to buy from and peopke might not have any other option but to support companies using deplorable methods.

 

It also becomes a more difficult fight when you take into consideration the legal loopholes; for example, just because a carton of eggs says "cage-free" does not mean that the chickens are actually allowed to roam. Oftentimes, "cage-free" birds are treated in a similar fashion to what I described above, which frustrates me to no end. You would think a legal consequence would ensue for people that knowingly mislabel their products. With that said, even when you try to do your research, it can be difficult to know what kind of products are "safe" to buy and truthfully labeled... :(

Ugh, yes, I agree with the Cage-Free eggs. I did some research a couple of months ago, and (in Canada at least, I don't know if the US has different regulations) but the only way to know if your free-range eggs actually get to live outside of cages for more than an hour a day (or something stupid like that) is if they're organic. When the farms get organic certified they check on the living status of the chickens to see if they actually are free-range the majority of the time.

So now I have to pay almost 7 dollars for a dozen eggs instead of a dollar fifty. -sigh- But they are yummy. And cruelty free.

(In case anyone is interested, I buy Rabbit River Farm eggs. They're also SPCA approved, and once their hens go to slaughter, they are killed humanely. So that's nice!)

 

Complete agreement- animals kept by large corporations are treated horribly, most of the time. And both Canada and the US need far better regulations when it comes to the treatment of animals, and how they're allowed to be slaughtered. And, to be honest, about how things are labeled- I want to know if the stuff I'm eating has been genetically modified and stuff. D: Ick.

And yeah, I know that not everyone is able to support local farmers (which is why I said if it's available ;)). I'm pretty lucky where I am- I am less than an hours drive from a big agricultural area, and on the street I live on, in the heart of a large city, there are tonnes of local produce stands, and several shops that sell local meat/seafood that has been ethically treated/caught, and is sustainable. But like I said, I am lucky.

[cleomiele]

Ugh, yes, I agree with the Cage-Free eggs. I did some research a couple of months ago, and (in Canada at least, I don't know if the US has different regulations) but the only way to know if your free-range eggs actually get to live outside of cages for more than an hour a day (or something stupid like that) is if they're organic. When the farms get organic certified they check on the living status of the chickens to see if they actually are free-range the majority of the time.

So now I have to pay almost 7 dollars for a dozen eggs instead of a dollar fifty. -sigh- But they are yummy. And cruelty free.

(In case anyone is interested, I buy Rabbit River Farm eggs. They're also SPCA approved, and once their hens go to slaughter, they are killed humanely. So that's nice!)

 

Complete agreement- animals kept by large corporations are treated horribly, most of the time. And both Canada and the US need far better regulations when it comes to the treatment of animals, and how they're allowed to be slaughtered. And, to be honest, about how things are labeled- I want to know if the stuff I'm eating has been genetically modified and stuff. D: Ick.

And yeah, I know that not everyone is able to support local farmers (which is why I said if it's available ;)). I'm pretty lucky where I am- I am less than an hours drive from a big agricultural area, and on the street I live on, in the heart of a large city, there are tonnes of local produce stands, and several shops that sell local meat/seafood that has been ethically treated/caught, and is sustainable. But like I said, I am lucky.

 

I'm sorry if I implied that you hadn't acknowledged that not everyone can buy locally--I didn't mean to! I was just reinforcing the point :)

 

Yeah, I try to buy everything with an "organic" label if it's available just to be safe. But, of course, even then it's hard to discern if that is a truthful contention. The ways to get around cage-free and free-range are just ridiculous, honestly -_- However, in the US (and perhaps in Canada and other like countries) many products that have the organic label don't actually have to be 100% organic. In the US, the cutoff is 95%, but I'm sure in many cases it is lower than that...trying to be conscientious about what you eat is so difficult!!

 

The only kind of labeling I've ever seen pertaining to genetically-modified foods is the "No GMO" sticker on some corn products I have purchased in the past. Which makes me wonder if absolutely everything without that sticker IS genetically-modified x_x (and who would be surprised?)

 

But to get back to the topic, I need to move to your area! I wouldn't feel so bad about my friends and family eating meat if they actually knew who they were buying from :) in my area, we have produce at the farmer's market, but I don't believe there is any meat/poultry. It's not a very popular thing, either :/ I would feel much better buying from a local farmer, if I did eat meat, as opposed to buying an animal's meat that was processed on an assembly line in an ammonia-soaked factory. Pink slime, anyone?

[passiflora]

I know it's a little off-topic, but I just wanted to make a comment on the discussion around hormones/antibiotics and GMOs:

 

None of the above have been found to be unsafe for human health. Some countries even have regulations in place where animals have to be off antibiotics for a certain amount of time before the animal is slaughtered or its milk can be sold; the main concern with antibiotics is bacterial resistance, which should be prevented if medications are used responsibly. Cows produce hormones no matter what and whatever is contained in the meat would be residual. Some hormones have been banned (e.g. bovine somatotrophin in dairy cattle in Canada), but due to risks posed to the animal's health - not humans.

 

Most of (if not the only) GM foods you'll find in the marketplace will be plants (maybe fish, soon), but not meat or poultry. Again, it's not a health risk, but more of an environmental one if any.

 

 

 

Not to say that people shouldn't be able to avoid these things if they so choose to (i.e. through labelling), but usually the main concern is human health, which I don't think is warranted. I'd prioritize eating local and knowing the conditions in which animals & plants are raised rather than fretting about labelling, as I don't think antibiotics or hormones are inherently cruel.

 

 

n my area, we have produce at the farmer's market, but I don't believe there is any meat/poultry.

If you really wanted meat, you could ask some of the produce vendors - where I'm from, some of them actually sell meat but just don't advertise it as much, or they'll probably be able to tell you where you can buy local meat.