This is why i am a vegan.

[miller-time]

This is a cruel response, and I'm really not as awful as I may seem in this thread but....

Thinking economically, can the US afford such reforms at the time being? In a day where we live with the highest quality food inspection/production...can we really bootstrap the industry and kill revenue and hurt US GDP?

food for thought..

not sure, i'm australian. but we have a similar situation here where we send our livestock to indonesia to be slaughtered in their abattoirs (which are just awful). the problem is that it is more feasible and necessary (they have little to no storage capability so the animals need to be freshly killed) to send them live rather than slaughtering them here. unfortunately this is a major export deal for our country and stopping it would cause economic problems and large amounts of job loss in the farming industry. what do you do?

my only guess is that gradual reforms would have to occur. you can't just places taxes and restrictions on everything over night, but i'm sure some eventual equilibrium can reached over time (obviously the price of meat will rise and hopefully demand won't suffer too much as a consequence).

if anyone is interested here is a video made last year on the australian/indonesian livestock industry (it sounds boring but it really is interesting, the state of the indonesian abattoirs is tragic and a lot of the cruel practices are justified by appealing to islamic beliefs), not sure if it works internationally though? it is the link on the left hand side: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/speci...110530/cattle/

[MMM]

Correct me if I'm wrong but because of how our stomachs are designed proteins/other nutrients are more accessible from meat products than vegetables.

[MMM]

Except that we are living longer than ever. Medical advances and things to keep us safe from nature in general far outdistance our unhealthy eating habits far as impact on lifespan.

And people who dont eat meat dont live longer because they dont eat meat. They livel onger because they tend to be health minded people who take care of themselves. Im quite sure the average vegan is gonna exercise more than the average american. And be less likely to smoke. And generally be a do nothing fatass. Its not the meat...its the person deciding not to eat it. People who eat meat and take care of themselves are perfectly healthy.




The planet is not going to die. Worst case...we wipe ourselves out. The planet is cool.



And? Animals are in the food chain. Have been for billions of years. Just because in the last few thousand years a few people decided not to eat meat doesnt mean its the natural order of things. We dont have canine teeth to grind up roots and our species didnt survive on eating grasses.

No we dont currently NEED meat. We dont really need any individual kind of food. But that doesnt mean we should stop eating everything but water, vitamins, and whatever bit of other matter needed to keep our hearts beating. Factory farms suck but there isnt a better way im aware of to meet the demand. If people only ate al ittlem eat as we did for generations maybe then...but not as the world is now. Not the "first" world at least.

Animals on the bottom of the food chain are prey. Always were. Always will be. If we arent eating deer something else will. They arent all nervous wrecks ready to bolt at a moment notice because they fear human hunters. Millions of years of being prey makes them that way.

The extreme majority of animals born in the wild never even grow up. Its a harsh world. But its the world we have.



Eat a nice steak. It starts to make sense.


For the record...I hate the idea of hunting for sport. hate it. Feels weak to me to take a gun and shoot something that has no idea you are there and call it sport. But im not gonna say someone who kills to eat is a bad person because of it.

Agreed the Planet is fine
the People are f**ked
pack your sh*t folks
we're going away

[johndeeregreen]

For the record...I hate the idea of hunting for sport. hate it. Feels weak to me to take a gun and shoot something that has no idea you are there and call it sport. But im not gonna say someone who kills to eat is a bad person because of it.

If you eat what you kill, it's no different than buying a cut of meat at the supermarket.

[MMM]

If you eat what you kill, it's no different than buying a cut of meat at the supermarket.

How so?????

[IGOTGAME]

check out this site for info on the debate. Or read the guys books. Im not turning vegans but he will raise some interesting ethical questions and has answered every question you can think of regarding the debate 100 times already.

http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/

[flipogb]

Pigs would eat you along with your clothes and shoes if they could.

[hoopaddict08]

If you eat what you kill, it's no different than buying a cut of meat at the supermarket.

Actually it is. I would much rather eat what I killed compared to eating what's at the supermarket. I work in a meat/seafood department at Kroger. Companies like IBP, Excel add stuff to their meat. Even little things like color to make farm-raised Salmon that nice reddish/pinkish color.

[Hazard]

The meat industry is designed to function at top efficiency, produce the most meat per animal, and in the shortest amount of time. That's how things work in capitalist society. You not eating meat will do nothing to harm the industry, you are only harming yourself by not giving your body the necessary protein and nutrients it needs that is only available in meat.

The farming industry is not any better, countless natural habitats have been destroyed to clear space for agriculture. The pesticides and all the additives poison the areas around them as well. So if you want to boycott cruelty to animals, then you gotta stop eating completely.

I get where you're coming from and I agree with you that its ****ed up, but depriving yourself of essentials to make a statement is not hurting anyone but yourself.

[Meticode]

Pigs would eat you along with your clothes and shoes if they could.

The wild pig or boar scene from Hannibal popped into my head.

[vinsane01]

Some theories suggest that our drive to consume meat, a high protein source, was an essential requirement that drove us to develop larger brains. Our brains needs lots of energy and meat contains lots of calories. Like dogs and wolves we have canine teeth for a reason. We are omnivores like others had previously said here.

I didnt watch the video but i presume it's a video about maltreatment of livestock. To which i say, we can do better and there is a more ethical process. As we became demonstrably self conscious and intelligent, we also developed the ability to think rationally and morally, we should act as so.

[magic chiongson]

I refuse to be a vegan and this is why:

i think about my old cannabis plant and feel terrible about this pic

[QuebecBaller]

If I can enjoy more all the vegetables, I think I would become vegetarian (but not a vegan), because this kind of pictures touch me a lot. But eating what you don't like it's kind of a hard thing to do

[Randy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but because of how our stomachs are designed proteins/other nutrients are more accessible from meat products than vegetables.

You are wrong. 100% wrong. Our saliva has enzymes to break down carbohydrates. Our intestinal track is not designed for animal flesh, compare ours to a wolf or a bear or any animal that is actually a carnivore. Humans are built to be herbivores, fact.

And 2nd, pandas and apes have canine teeth, if you think canine teeth alone designate an animal a carnivore, you're an idiot.

And the "protein" you all worry about is a joke. Per calorie, broccoli and asparagus both have more than twice the protein of beef, not to mention nuts and legumes. I guarantee I eat more more protein than 80% of America's meat eaters, plus zero cholesterol or disgusting animal saturated fats

[Randy]

I'm done preaching to people who consciously inflict pain and suffering on others and justify it. I don't view any of you as my enemy, I just wish that you would take a critical, and objective view and show some empathy for the animals who are suffering at the hands of an abominable industry.


Peace and love my friends. Extend it to the animals

Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.

-Albert Schweitzer

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.

- Thomas Edison