Thoughts On Meat-Eating.

[Khandro]

When you eat meat (if you do) do you consider that you are eating what was once a living, sentient being?

[pixie374]

Humans are designed to eat meat. Not just the teeth and digestive system, but the eyes are placed on the front of the head for predators and on the sides on "prey" animals.
I was vegetarian from 8-20 roughly, on principle and restarted while breastfeeding and needing to eat everything that did or didn't move...
Most of the animals we eat actually wouldn't exist at all, if they weren't bred for eating (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it lol). But they should be treated humanely and properly while they are alive no matter what.

[vetuste_ennemi]

//If God hadn't meant us to eat animals he would not have made them out of meat//

And other human beings are made of the same stuff. Or are they not?

(PS: nice, though, to see NJ indulging himself in a bit of levity.)

[mallyh]

I won't buy NZ meat after I read they only slaughtered the halal way and I wont eat veal .

[pixie374]

Also, dogs... cats... I don't believe it is natural to eat carnivores, only herbivores... I agree on principle that eating a horse or a cow shouldn't really be any different, but I am a hypocrite there as I have horses.

[vetuste_ennemi]

//Humans are designed to eat meat//

Yes, but the process is evolutionary and thereby accidental. It has nothing to do with morality which is an artificial(?), but valuable construct of advanced animals who have the capacity to examine their own behaviour and its causes, Pixie.

It may be that we can't as a species survive, or at least remain healthy, without eating meat. In which case we do what we must, but with the provisions of humane treatment you prescribe. Or we might challenge the necessity bit by asking if there are alternative ways of feeding ourselves and remaining healthy.

[pastafreak]

Mally...you can get Rose veal, which isn't treated in the same way as traditional veal nor is it slaughtered as young. Considered perfectly ethical, and UK produced.
I eat meat, poultry and fish because I feel best on those foods. I also believe that animals are just as much part of nature's bounty as are plants. Without that purpose, many species would no longer be needed and would become extinct.

[pixie374]

Yes, I agree it isn't necessary for survival. It's a choice and I was no more or less healthy when I wasn't eating meat.

[vetuste_ennemi]

// I also believe that animals are just as much part of nature's bounty as are plants//

I admit to my own hypocrisy in this matter, but I think the interestingly named Pasta Freak should find a more honest word than "bounty".

[bainbrig]

Some odd opinions, some from people whose scientific or moral knowledge should have taught them better.

Pastafreak, on veal eating: “Considered perfectly ethical.” Not amongst veal calves, it ain’t.

Vetuste: “It may be that we can't as a species survive, or at least remain healthy, without eating meat.” Perhaps he's forgotten the tens of millions of vegetarian Hindus (and other religions) who are perfectly healthy without eating dead flesh. I might not be 100% healthy, but most of my ills are self-inflicted and came out of a bottle…

BB

[dannyk13]

Bainbrig:-
//The last survey of diet habits in India shows that 71% of the nation is not vegetarian, with roughly 80% of the nation identifying as Hindu.//

[Khandro]

Danny; //The last survey of diet habits in India shows that 71% of the nation is not vegetarian, with roughly 80% of the nation identifying as Hindu.//

Do you have a link for those stats? Have you been to India? There's hardly any meat to be had!
Perhaps the figures mean vegan not vegetarian - many people drink milk and eat cheese and eggs but not meat. I tried to eat a chicken curry once and it was so tough & stringy I gave up and joined the masses.

[dannyk13]

Khandro:-
https://www.hafsite.org/blog/4-things-about-hinduism-and-vegetarianism/

[Khandro]

He doesn't quote his source either, but I really think he means vegan.
https://www.treehugger.com/author/mat-mcdermott/

[dannyk13]

Khandro, as the link says vegetarian I think we must accept that is what the article is about.

[dannyk13]

Khandro, another article in the same vein:-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-43581122

[Khandro]

Many people think that not eating meat is 'vegetarian'. I'm not trying to make an argument, but the population of India is getting on for one and a half billion, the majority of whom live (by our standards) in poverty and in crowded conditions without refrigeration. If 3/4 of them were eating meat where would all those animals live and what would they eat and drink?
Vegetarianism isn't simply a choice in India, it's a necessity.

[Buenchico]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-43581122

[Khandro]

Well, there you have it, a photograph of a (Muslim) chef cooking meat (where?) bearing the caption; "The majority of Indians are meat-eaters".
It's on the BBC & the internet, so it must be true.

[pastafreak]

When I used the word "bounty", I meant "abundance". I'm not sure what is wrong with that, nor why I am "interestingly named". It was right at the time of choosing...

[bainbrig]

1) Whether a majority of Indians are or are not vegetarians is irrelevant and smacks of angels on pins. The point is that millions of people, Indian Hindus, Buddhists, etc., live perfectly healthy meat-free lives.

2) Pastafreak, you still ignore the essential ethical question. (Pastafreak, on veal eating: “Considered perfectly ethical.” Not amongst veal calves, it ain’t. ) Or maybe the unspoken views of animals doesn’t count?