View Full Version : Humane Meat?
hardkandee
11-30-2006, 09:04 PM
You, um, have less fat and tendon? Ahem...
;)
Tendon's I don't know, but yuppers on the fat!
Plus I know how to butcher a side of beef like a pro.
Mastridonicus
11-30-2006, 09:34 PM
Oooo OOoooo not to interject on your two's hot meat tenderizing.... but uhm my last statement got me thinking.... Do you ever do the whole "Rocky" thing from the movie?
tootsie
11-30-2006, 10:32 PM
hey, if this doesn't bother you, enjoy it. I personally can't.
http://www.goveg.com/photos/cows/cow14.jpg
i get the picture, he was probably killed with a shot to the head, and was in so much pain that the cow died in his own shit. :(
Emily
12-01-2006, 01:32 AM
Honestly, that picture doesn't tell me anything. What if he was a sick cow (thus the faeces) separated from the rest because they didn't want to contaminate? What if he's someone's pet cow and he's sick in his stall at night after being out to graze all day? It doesn't say anywhere this is a butcher's cow. This picture says nothing.
That picture is a veal calf in a veal crate. That's what it looks like. You can believe that it could be staged or something than what it is, but I don't think anyone is in denial that veal calves are kept in tiny crates their whole lives. And it doesn't change that animals are abused. And it doesn't change that someone probably ate this cow. (Would you want to?) There are lots of photos that show this. I picked one.
in a perfect world, everyone would boycott meat that came from animals that had been treated badly, and it would stop happening. but this isn't a perfect world, and if i don't eat steak from a supermarket then someone else will.
Well, I can't control everyone else. I can only control myself, and yeah, it's not going to change the world if I stop buying meat, but I'd rather boycott animal cruelty than support people who profit off it. And no, if you don't buy that steak, someone else won't. Nobody is buying extra to make up for what I don't buy.
MrChristopher
12-01-2006, 01:55 AM
Honestly, the whole "humane" debate still mystifies me. Did anyone ask that animal if it thought its death was humane, or if it felt any pain? I eat meat. I loves me some beeeeef, but all the semantics about the whole argument make me staggeringly ill. I listen to Consolidated, I've read "The Sexual Politics Of Meat", I even eat tofu on a regular basis. As I said before...either you're veggie, or you're not, IMHO. You don't get to pick and choose what seems to fit into your scope of morality just to make you feel better about your supposedly superior life choices. "It's okay to eat fish, beacause they don't have any feelings."
Emily
12-01-2006, 01:59 AM
ask the animal if it felt pain? It's quite obvious when they cut their teeth, tails, balls, etc. off that they are in pain because they scream. Ive never been prodded with electricity to move faster down a cattle shoot or branded, but I imagine it hurts too. I don't think having a feeding tube shoved down my throat would be all that pleasurable either.
But I guess since they can't be asked, it should be assumed they are in agreement with what's going on.
MrChristopher
12-01-2006, 02:02 AM
I agree, Em, and that wasn't directed at you. I was just trying to make a point about the silliness of the whole "humane" argument. If you're interested in trying out a cattle prod, though, perhaps something could be arranged.}:D
Emily
12-01-2006, 02:05 AM
I agree, Em, and that wasn't directed at you. I was just trying to make a point about the silliness of the whole "humane" argument. If you're interested in trying out a cattle prod, though, perhaps something could be arranged.}:D
yeah, and not eating veal, but other animals are okay?
I guess veal calves are a higher life form.
I'd be a veal calf over other cows any day. The torture doesn't last as long.
I'm not trying to be preachy or nasty, but I think the majority of people do have a preference for how animals are treated but do nothing about it. If one person stands up for these animals that didn't before this thread started, then I feel a little better.
MrChristopher
12-01-2006, 02:14 AM
Damn, you didn't even rise to my innuendo. I know you IRL, maybe that's why. You've seen my bald pasty ass and....yeah. Heh.
Whenever anyone talks animals like this, I always think of the Denis Leary bit where he goes "What are you" "I'm an OTTER!" "oh, and what do you do"? "Well, I swim around in the water and do these little cute human things with my hands!" "Ah...you're free to go"
"What are you?" "Uh, I'm a cow" "Get on the fucking truck pal, youre a baseball glove"
Susan Wayward
12-01-2006, 02:16 AM
^^^ ah hell, they don't care in China. They'll make coats out of Mr. Meowskins the housecat.
Buying food consciously is like making the choice to drive less or buy American -- you can vote with your dollars. The less money spent on factory farmed meat and animal products, well, obviously the less that will be produced.
But do your homework. Buying Horizon milk or other big "organics" doesn't do any good.
Also, I would like to highly recommend that everyone (well, those of you who like books and food) read The Omnivore's Dilemma (http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-1594200823-11). Great book about the choices we make (and really entertaining, esp. in the last section where he hunts and gathers all the ingredients for a meal) when it comes to food.
MrChristopher
12-01-2006, 02:24 AM
I've never heard of that book, Susan, gracias. I'll check it out.
(Also, I know, other countries do rather nasty things with what we consider pets. That only enforces the craziness of the "humane" argument, though. "Dolphin safe tuna"? Well, it wasn't terribly safe for the tuna, now was it? And why is that? Dolphins are cuter or more sentient? THEY CAN COUNT TO FIVE THEREFORE WE CANT EAT THEM! I digress.) Okay goodnight.
badpixie
12-07-2006, 05:43 PM
kosher meat. they are free to roam, eat grass, slaughtered by slicing of there throat instead being shot in the head.
I don't know who told you that, but they come from the same places as other animals (usually "factory farms"). You have to understand that there are 10 billion animals a year slaughtered in the US. There are not enough Old MacDonalds in the country to house them all on cozy little farms.
Kosher slaughter was the most humane method thousands of years ago, when most people were clubbing their livestock to death. It can still be humane in theory, but in practice, things go wrong. The people who slaughter these animals are undereducated, working in dangerous, dirty, and stressful conditions, for very little pay. They have quotas to meet. And they are not all kind people who care about the animals. Even in the biggest, most important plants, the rules and laws are often ignored. Please watch "If this is Kosher" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXS_Ekd_r80) for a small example of this.
http://discover.com/issues/may-05/features/what-do-animals-think/
Law and practice don't always match up in reality, unfortunately. Dr. Temple Grandin is mentioned and quoted in that video as being disgusted by the blatant violations in the kosher slaughterhouse.
Fun fact: farm animals are covered by the Animal Welfare Act ONLY when they are used in research. Animals raised for food and fiber are not regulated. No joke. Here it is on the USDA's own site in plain English: http://awic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?tax_level=1&info_center=3&tax_subject=170
Please also note that poultry birds are specifically exempt from the Animal Welfare Act in ALL cases. (Many people are surprised to hear this.) Chickens are by far the most commonly slaughtered animals. Likewise, rats and mice are exempt from the Act, not because they are undeserving of our consideration, but because there are so many of them. The only reason behind that fact is money. It would cost "too much" money and time to bother with the most basic needs of these animals.
Poultry birds are also exempt from the Humane Slaughter Act. How convenient for the slaughterhouses. The Acts are a joke; they make arbitrary exemptions and are rarely enforced.
As Susan said, I am far more concerned by the way animals live than the way they die. There is no practical, economically viable way to treat all 10 billion animals slaughtered in the US every year humanely from birth to death. It will never happen. Small, local organic farms (the large organic corporations, like Horizon, are a joke) may be your best bet for the way they are raised, but they're subject to the same slaughterhouses as the others, unless Farmer Brown is killing them himself. And this kind of meat is expensive. It just seems easier to give it up entirely.
I balk at people who say veganism is difficult. We live in a country with fresh food year round, plus a ridiculous supply of meat analogues that didn't exist even a decade ago. My boyfriend loves the taste of meat; he is a vegan and he doesn't eat it. He just realizes he is not the only sentient being on the planet.
As far as humane meat goes - when lab meat grown in vats becomes available, he'll indulge. I'll try it, and then probably puke. No one gets hurt, except the bacteria in our herbivorous guts.