Meat or Vegetarian?
I get a lot of posts urging me to go vegetarian. Along with these posts are graphic clips of the horrors of the slaughterhouses. Besides being extremely graphic, they are intensely upsetting.
While I agree that the horrors and torturous methods used by some of these places are reprehensible, I also look at the other side of the coin.
Humans are basically animals. And, like animals, some are carnivores and some are herbivores. Do we condemn the lion for taking down a zebra to feed its family? No. Do we blame the elephant or the giraffe for stripping the leaves and eating the vegetation? Again, no. The difference being that the kill by the lion is swift and efficient with little suffering involved. Both are animals, both have different needs.
In recent years, I find myself not able to eat poultry or pork. Not for any specific reason, I just don't like it anymore. When I see the clips of how these animals are treated, I am glad I don't. But there are ethical farmers and meat plants that don't do these types of things. If everyone went vegetarian, think of all the farmers/ranchers that would lose their homes. There is a place for everyone in the food chain. I am not saying one option is better than the other, just different depending on one's tastes.
So please stop trying to convince me to be vegetarian and I won't offer you a burger.
While I agree that the horrors and torturous methods used by some of these places are reprehensible, I also look at the other side of the coin.
Humans are basically animals. And, like animals, some are carnivores and some are herbivores. Do we condemn the lion for taking down a zebra to feed its family? No. Do we blame the elephant or the giraffe for stripping the leaves and eating the vegetation? Again, no. The difference being that the kill by the lion is swift and efficient with little suffering involved. Both are animals, both have different needs.
In recent years, I find myself not able to eat poultry or pork. Not for any specific reason, I just don't like it anymore. When I see the clips of how these animals are treated, I am glad I don't. But there are ethical farmers and meat plants that don't do these types of things. If everyone went vegetarian, think of all the farmers/ranchers that would lose their homes. There is a place for everyone in the food chain. I am not saying one option is better than the other, just different depending on one's tastes.
So please stop trying to convince me to be vegetarian and I won't offer you a burger.
Comments
I'm vegetarian - but didn't grow up this way, my husband inspired me to make the switch. I went veg because I found out more and more about how humans treat animals in the mass slaughterhouses and just couldn't support it.
However - you ARE absolutely right in pointing out that there are ethical farms who don't do this kind of treatment of animals. When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in small villages in Russia - staying with family and friends, enjoying the sunshine, but also seeing how they tended to their animals. They cared for all their cows, goats, and chickens, their animals had the best free-range lives - and if a chicken ended up in the day's soup, well, that was a fact of life. It was killed humanely and quickly, and they would raise more chickens. There's nothing wrong with that way of life.
My parents' point of view is also this - they love animals, but they are not vegetarian. They believe that they have made their own impact by having rescued and raised and helped so many animals together over the years. They believe in helping animals with their own hands and hearts directly.
I think you are like that :) You care so much about animals and you make such a difference inspiring others!! I only know you online, but through your posts about the elephants, petitions, spreading wildlife news to others who love animals, helping others - your thoughtful, caring way of thinking is making a difference!!