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CRYPTICLXVI -> RE: Before you grill it, ya gotta kill it (9/3/2012 4:00:14 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JstAnotherSub
Another thread took an ugly turn, from being bitten by a turkey to the cruelty of eating animals.
With apologies for quoting Ted Nugent for the title of this one, what say any of you?
We have eaten meat since (or maybe before) we discovered fire. The end result of any animal raised for food is, they die. Does it really matter what happens before then? Nicer living conditions? Being petted? Maybe if you want to eat meat, you have to raise your own?
I want to take it back to this... yes, personally I do believe it matters. I do not eat meat, that was an ethical decision made almost two decades ago. The primary aspect which turned me towards this decision is that I disagree with the factory agribusiness on many levels. One, I do not like the corporation element which has turned food production into a model which is primarily focused on profit margins over the health risks, damage caused. This is not only with livestock but also with the factory farming and genetically alteration of other food sources as well. I have nothing against profit but when that is the only motivation, then there is something out of balance. Be it food production, health care "industry" or subcontracting military work...
Yes, I am opposed to the treatment of animals in feed lots, the fact that the majority of antibiotics manufactured go to livestock, living conditions, etc. I believe that these conditions have been caused by the centralization of "manufacturing" and distribution. There are only a handful of processing plants for livestock, where before it was regional and local. Personally, I think that the food industry is just one aspect which is symptomatic of our culture as a whole... one of which an economy is based upon consumption.
I think that a lot of areas, food being one, would benefit from a more sustainable model... and that a lot of money in marketing has been done to provide an image of happy cows, lazily eating grass in a field because that is what people would like to believe their meat comes from. I worked in a meat department for over a year and there aren't even butchers in grocery stores for the most part any longer, the meat comes in cases, cut to section and sent from a distribution plant. I recall hearing several things talking about the conditions of the workers for such companies as Tyson, Smithfield etc... how slaughter houses have gone from one of the best places to work to one of the most dangerous occupations. So, this type of model is not only ethically questionable for the treatment of the livestock but it is detrimental to everyone from farmers contracted to them, to the individuals who work for the processing plants.
So, the one thing that I do believe, is that people should be aware of where their things come from, be it material goods or food items. Like I said it isn't just livestock... look at the damage that Monsanto has done to farmers in India for example, or even Canada.
... or the backlash that Nike here in Beaverton received when the conditions of their production facilities in China and then Viet Nam were discovered. The one way that people have to make their interests known is by how they choose to spend their money and I am all to aware of what it means to have to budget and live check to check and not quite make it (which is why you twue subs need to send me stuff) but there has to be a balance somewhere. I also know that people are more aware, more interested if not where there food is sourced, at least what is in it... and there is money to be made which is why organic/ free range/ local is one of the largest growth markets currently in the grocery field.
Also, I think one of the things missing is the sense of a loss of respect for "people" as a whole, which is why large entities can act with seemingly few consequences or regulations with essentially the government's blessing...
Shrug, just my two cents without stepping on anyone's toes.
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