Re: But most of the food on the British dinner plate will be factory farmed. Archived Message
Posted by dereklane on December 26, 2019, 11:19 am, in reply to "Re: But most of the food on the British dinner plate will be factory farmed."
I'd say conservation vs trophy hunting would have to be considered on a case by case basis too, but that I'm not keen on the concept. If westerners were a little more enlightened the same could be achieved with viewing/photography safaris. In the us, bear and moose/elk hunting probably contributed a net positive gain to the preservation of forests, and of course there's a big difference between shooting bears(trophy only) and animals killed for meat. For the latter, with responsibility and sensitivity, I'd say it's fine; often long lives for the animals, no transport, abbatoirs etc. Moral vs ethical depends on how you view the whole industry of food (meat or veg). I view it mostly dimly, but can't honestly categorise it as one side of the industry vs the other, because they are intertwined. Most is factory farmed, but a good goal would be a transition back to small farms, if welfare and environmental considerations are primary (which they should be whether you're a vegetarian or an omnivore). I'm not veg, my daughter is. We had a vegetarian Christmas dinner and I eat mostly vegetarian, but also enjoy (and need, depending on the work in doing) more. Whilst doing so I'm considering the transport miles of various foods, local food I can often personally vouch for, etc. I spend a lot of time looking after animals (way more than the average person), and a lot of that is watching them (they don't tell you when somethings wrong!). I get what you're saying about pragmatism, which is why I don't think there is a problem with being veg or vegan. Because the bottom line is that animals suffer. I just baulk at arguments on the subject that are too generic, because like everything, the practises vary and it's only the commercial market values placed on products that allow society to turn a blind eye to that stuff. It needs redressing, but the only sensible way to do that is for vegans and vegetarians to find common ground with the farmers who produce food (all food), rather than alienating themselves from them with poor emotive arguments that don't match up to small farmers' experiences. were not going to change the world by trying to stop people eating meat, because it's not going to happen ever(and I don't see it as important to happen, because we are after all just another animal, classified as omnivorous). But what can be done is potentially massive, and like most things starts with addressing big industry which is environmentally and ethically damaging in every area. Cheers
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