I grew up eating meat.. all kinds. In a small farming town, you grow up eating meat at just about every meal.
I still eat meat now, but I stay away from veal and lamb. (yes I know there is likely veal/lamb in hotdogs/burgers but at least I don't explicitly ask for it).
Why not lamb or veal? Stupid reason but I see them as too vulnerable and cute to eat. Illogical but it makes me feel better.
Why eat meat at all? My only rationalization to myself is as follows: - is it better for an animal to be born, live for a while and then be slaughtered than to never to be born at all? I can't answer that.. maybe after I'm dead and I have more answers (hopefully). - if it is better to be born, then if the animal lives in relative ease for a while then is this a good thing? As long as the animal is not living in pain is this ok?
One thing I find amazing is that some people will not eat meat but they will eat dairy products. I would like for a vegetarian dairy-eater to go to a dairy farm someday. Most cows are kept in tie-stalls with limited movement for most of the year. The cows are in constant lactation and give birth once a season.. hence the production of veal cows. Lovely.. is this better than eating beef cows that usually have a free-stall setup? Some dairy operations have free-stalls..I like this trend.
My challenge to any meat-eaters out there is: - visit a farm. see how dairy and beef operations work. visit a hog farm, poultry farm. - look a cow in the eye. Most domesticated mammals (cows, pigs, goats, sheep) will look a human in the eye. Sense the vulnerability and the fear. Sense the intelligence. - could you kill an animal that you will eat? I have had to do so when growing up. I still do not like thinking about those times.
If you can do the above and still eat meat then go ahead.. I have done all the above and I still eat meat and drink dairy. But like I said.. maybe after I am dead I will find out the answers I seek. I have to stop doing shots before writing blogs posts.. sorry for the ramble. :-)
I grew up eating meat.. all kinds. In a small farming town, you grow up eating meat at just about every meal.
ReplyDeleteI still eat meat now, but I stay away from veal and lamb. (yes I know there is likely veal/lamb in hotdogs/burgers but at least I don't explicitly ask for it).
Why not lamb or veal?
Stupid reason but I see them as too vulnerable and cute to eat. Illogical but it makes me feel better.
Why eat meat at all?
My only rationalization to myself is as follows:
- is it better for an animal to be born, live for a while and then be slaughtered than to never to be born at all? I can't answer that.. maybe after I'm dead and I have more answers (hopefully).
- if it is better to be born, then if the animal lives in relative ease for a while then is this a good thing? As long as the animal is not living in pain is this ok?
One thing I find amazing is that some people will not eat meat but they will eat dairy products. I would like for a vegetarian dairy-eater to go to a dairy farm someday. Most cows are kept in tie-stalls with limited movement for most of the year. The cows are in constant lactation and give birth once a season.. hence the production of veal cows. Lovely.. is this better than eating beef cows that usually have a free-stall setup? Some dairy operations have free-stalls..I like this trend.
My challenge to any meat-eaters out there is:
- visit a farm. see how dairy and beef operations work. visit a hog farm, poultry farm.
- look a cow in the eye. Most domesticated mammals (cows, pigs, goats, sheep) will look a human in the eye. Sense the vulnerability and the fear. Sense the intelligence.
- could you kill an animal that you will eat? I have had to do so when growing up. I still do not like thinking about those times.
If you can do the above and still eat meat then go ahead.. I have done all the above and I still eat meat and drink dairy. But like I said.. maybe after I am dead I will find out the answers I seek.
I have to stop doing shots before writing blogs posts.. sorry for the ramble. :-)