tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7794836422803225879.post8410260850595152457..comments2023-08-26T20:08:25.993+08:00Comments on Opinionation: I Am Giving Up Meat (Mostly)Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09570841904308934998noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7794836422803225879.post-5940989136711262912012-04-28T21:33:37.034+08:002012-04-28T21:33:37.034+08:00I do worry about the animals' lives (especiall...I do worry about the animals' lives (especially the pigs because they are such intelligent, sensitive creatures; my grandfather was a farmboy and had a pet pig too, and used to tell us stories about Weaker all the time). <br /><br />Even if they end up dead in the end, it seems like the least we could do would be to make their few months/years of life pleasant. Especially because they are dying for our benefit: in other words, I feel that we owe them something.<br /><br />On the other hand, making their lives pleasant is expensive. For chickens for example, if they are free range they waste a lot of calories on exercise, which means you wasted a lot of food/resources on increased chicken happiness that could have gone to something else, like malnourished third world children or curing malaria. I love animals but I would always pick a human's benefit over theirs (I am a speciesist). <br /><br />So I'm not sure what is best. This doesn't affect the meat decision, but as far as dairy and eggs go it's a big deal. I will have to do more thinking.Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09570841904308934998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7794836422803225879.post-58363347894188569252012-04-27T22:17:48.849+08:002012-04-27T22:17:48.849+08:00I think your ideas about sustainable/humane meat o...I think your ideas about sustainable/humane meat only being a reduction of suffering are really interesting. And I have definitely heard and somewhat agreed with the argument that living in the wild is filled with predators and injury and slow painful deaths, so living on a farm where you are cared for is better, even if you are going to be slaughtered (of course I wouldn't apply that same though to factory farms where you are not cared for in any way). <br /><br />I do still have a desire to provide the animals with nice lives (I think I'm unclear whether that is important to you?). I think this is because I grew up raising pigs during the summer. When I would go down to the pen they would stick their little noses through the gate to say hello! At the fair I would wash them clean and then lay down with them in the pen full of fresh sawdust and snuggle. I loved my pigs. :) And so it makes me really sad to think of the pigs who never get to splash happily in the mud or roll around freely because they are in tiny cages and cared for by men who are mean to them (even though I am famous in my hometown for losing my temper and thwacking my pig across the back with a wooden stick while showing him at the fair).Jennahttp://thatwifeblog.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7794836422803225879.post-35804164081933915182012-04-27T20:26:32.296+08:002012-04-27T20:26:32.296+08:00I'm with the commenters above: this is so well...I'm with the commenters above: this is so well-said. I've been wrestling with these issues myself. I've come to (almost exclusively) limit myself to the meat that comes from my parents' farm, though I still wonder if there are some ethical problems at play.<br /><br />Thanks for your thoughts on the matter. I'll probably be revisiting this post.Kathleen Quiring | Becoming Peculiarhttp://becomingpeculiar.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7794836422803225879.post-49512337808440529922012-04-27T03:26:22.557+08:002012-04-27T03:26:22.557+08:00I agree with you on so many of these points and ha...I agree with you on so many of these points and have been attempting to educate myself further on the "cost" of meat production. We've been much more meat-free since we moved here, opting instead for more locally caught fish. But when we go back home, will we eat more meat? We might, considering we'll probably be going back to the farmer's market where I feel more comfortable buying meat anyway.<br /><br />I think I'm definitely still on the journey to finding out exactly where we want to be on the scale of meat-eating. Like you, I don't think we'll give it up, but I agree that we just don't need as nearly as much as is marketed to the average American.<br /><br />I'll be interested to hear more about your journey as you guys figure it all out for your family.Mandyhttp://www.marriedupwithwine.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7794836422803225879.post-8865353146513846572012-04-26T22:17:57.628+08:002012-04-26T22:17:57.628+08:00Very thought-provoking post. I have read and heard...Very thought-provoking post. I have read and heard others say similar things, but you write with such a succinct clarity that it sounds so obvious that's how everyone should modify her diet. Thanks for sharing.Lindsay Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782597955844156580noreply@blogger.com