Do you eat meat?

[Anouck]

I suppose there are worse arguments. As things are now, cows are fed incompatible feed that makes them agonizingly sick just for the taste. No consideration is given for comfort or health, and most of them are pumped full of antibiotics and hormones. It could be better.
However, even the 'natural way' has it's flaws. Energy is lost in stage between plant and human. Just existing causes the cow to use energy we could have. The large numbers of livestock also cause an increase in CO2 emissions. If there are 65 cows for every human in America for our agriculture system, that's a lot of gas. There's also the animal waste to consider. A lot of it has a use in fertilizer, but there's only so much growing we can do before we have a surplus of the stuff.

I totally agree there. The meat industry (the complete food industry actually) is fluffed up. But it's difficult to solve this problem since we are dealing with overpopulation. We have to feed more people every day and companies want efficiency. Is that a good thing? No... But I have no awesome solution to this problem. Many people more intelligent than I am thought about this.

...It's a very difficult problem...

BTW: you said 'I suppose there are worse arguments'. I hope you understood what I meant to say? I lack the English vocabulary to explain exactly what I mean..

 

[Mighty Pecan Pie]

I suppose there are worse arguments. As things are now, cows are fed incompatible feed that makes them agonizingly sick just for the taste. No consideration is given for comfort or health, and most of them are pumped full of antibiotics and hormones. It could be better.
However, even the 'natural way' has it's flaws. Energy is lost in stage between plant and human. Just existing causes the cow to use energy we could have. The large numbers of livestock also cause an increase in CO2 emissions. If there are 65 cows for every human in America for our agriculture system, that's a lot of gas. There's also the animal waste to consider. A lot of it has a use in fertilizer, but there's only so much growing we can do before we have a surplus of the stuff.

Ofcourse that's a bad thing! they should let animals walk free, and live a good live! The whole adapted feeding and adding antibiotics and hormones is just wrong!

 

[Mighty Pecan Pie]

companies want efficiency.

That is the real problem behind it all!

Everything in this freakin world is about power and money! every-thing!
you can dress it up as you want, it will always be a money/power problem.. how sad it may be..

 

[FullmetalHeart20]

to be honest, I could try stop eating meat.

but this is something I could never keep up. It's to much in my system to eat meat, I like it too much. As stated before, I believe humans need meat, especially when growing up!. altho there are people who won't eat it and are perfectly fine.

Well people can be raised on veganism their entire lives. There are some basic molecules we need to survive, and they aren't restricted to meat.
When you say you love meat too much, have you ever tried any of the alternatives? Tempeh and seitan, a well made veggie burger charred to perfection, vegetable curry with rice and just the right about of heat. I recommend all people try these things before dismissing meatless foods out of hand. After all, it's the seasoning that really makes a good steak.

 

[Mighty Pecan Pie]

Well people can be raised on veganism their entire lives. There are some basic molecules we need to survive, and they aren't restricted to meat.
When you say you love meat too much, have you ever tried any of the alternatives? Tempeh and seitan, a well made veggie burger charred to perfection, vegetable curry with rice and just the right about of heat. I recommend all people try these things before dismissing meatless foods out of hand. After all, it's the seasoning that really makes a good steak.

Actually, I didn't try all those things, I don't know what Tempeh and Seitan are, never heard of it or saw it even!

If I come across something, I'll try it out! btw, if I love something, I mostly stick with it. I do skip meat every once and a while

 

[FullmetalHeart20]

Actually, I didn't try all those things, I don't know what Tempeh and Seitan are, never heard of it or saw it even!

If I come across something, I'll try it out! btw, if I love something, I mostly stick with it. I do skip meat every once and a while

I'll be the first to admit it tastes nothing like meat in most cases, but it's certainly better than anything I ate at 5 Guys.

 

[Mighty Pecan Pie]

I'll be the first to admit it tastes nothing like meat in most cases, but it's certainly better than anything I ate at 5 Guys.

At least you tried!

 

[FullmetalHeart20]

At least you tried!

Oh, but I never said it was bad. Quite the opposite!

 

[Mighty Pecan Pie]

Oh, but I never said it was bad. Quite the opposite!

Ah, well. I'll try it out, and let you know if I liked it!

 

[FullmetalHeart20]

Ah, well. I'll try it out, and let you know if I liked it!

Be careful about the recipies. Some of them are a bit iffy depending on your tastes.

 

[Mighty Pecan Pie]

you mean this stuff?

 

[FullmetalHeart20]

you mean this stuff?

I mean just stuff you've never eaten before. Some things sound good, but don't work with your tastes.

 

[Dagmar]

...As for price, there's already a demand and system for meat...

And it's broken. Meat is priced the way it is because it's the product of CAFO's. The CAFO pricing system only accounts for private costs of the industry. It fails to account for the significant public cost incurred from their operation. These public costs include increased healthcare costs of residents living near a CAFO, decreased property values near the CAFO, and increased taxes due to pollution mitigation costs. In some cases these can be extreme. There are instances where CAFO's have literally destroyed entire towns. Because people remain ignorant or indifferent to these costs which all consumers have to pay on varying levels they aren't factored into their purchasing decisions even though they probably should be.

 

[Lady Redpool the Unlifer]

And it's broken. Meat is priced the way it is because it's the product of CAFO's. The CAFO pricing system only accounts for private costs of the industry. It fails to account for the significant public cost incurred from their operation. These public costs include increased healthcare costs of residents living near a CAFO, decreased property values near the CAFO, and increased taxes due to pollution mitigation costs. In some cases these can be extreme. There are instances where CAFO's have literally destroyed entire towns. Because people remain ignorant or indifferent to these costs which all consumers have to pay on varying levels they aren't factored into their purchasing decisions even though they probably should be.

And Dagmar swoops in for a well informed win yet again!

Honestly I am surprised that this thread has survvied this long and I would like to give congratulations to FullmetalHeart20 for stubbornly sticking to his guns. Bravo good sir.
Also, props to Kyleekay for continually making intelligent observations on both bias and perception.

 

[Dagmar]

I just think the problem isn't eating meat but the industry behind it. The government wants more and more and more meat every single day. Almost 50% of the meat doesn't even get eaten but ends up in the bin. The waste is massive and the methods we use to slaughter the animals are not always animal friendly.

The CAFO industry in the United States is problematic as well. Why does your government push for so much meat production?

 

[FullmetalHeart20]

The CAFO industry in the United States is problematic as well. Why does your government push for so much meat production?

It's what the people want. We consume, not really thinking about where it came from, where it's going, or the cost beyond our checkbooks. Maybe Communists had a point about consumerism.

 

[Dagmar]

It's what the people want. We consume, not really thinking about where it came from, where it's going, or the cost beyond our checkbooks. Maybe Communists had a point about consumerism.

It's what the people are programmed to want. Several books including Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma outline the history of how the public's eating habits were actually shaped by the industrial food industry through carefully planned marketing techniques. That doesn't explain why a government would actually push for more meat production above the market's needs. AFAIK that doesn't happen in the United States.

There are federal subsidies for CAFO's but that's really not the same. They are however, yet another way we end up paying more for our meat than the sticker price indicates. In some years the federal government provides over a quarter of a billion dollars in subsidies which overwhelmingly go to large industrial CAFO's and farms (not the iconic farmers that the industry likes to trot out for commercials when they lobby for those subsidies). It's adding insult to injury as we not only have to pay to clean up their messes but also hand them truckloads of cash regardless of whether they need it or not.

 

[Two Bears]

Vegetarian here. It was the second best decision that I have ever made, the best being proposing to my wife. I'm now in the best shape I have ever been; I hold a second dan in Aikido and will be competing in my first triathlon this summer. I only wish I had dropped meat sooner.

 

[FullmetalHeart20]

Vegetarian here. It was the second best decision that I have ever made, the best being proposing to my wife. I'm now in the best shape I have ever been; I hold a second dan in Aikido and will be competing in my first triathlon this summer. I only wish I had dropped meat sooner.

Thanks. I thought I was the only one here.