the Meat Thread

zhao

there are no accidents
I heard a fellow the other day on the radio saying that "we eat as though it were a feast day, everyday". That's spot on. The frequency with which we eat meat is the problem, not the fact that eat meat at all. IMNSHO.

agreed. the sheer amount is just disgusting. plus bad for all parties involved: humans, animals, earth.

a very good NY Times cover story which thoroughly analyses the issue from all angles, including Animal Rights, Environmentalism, Religion, Morality, Economics, etc. and the conclusion he came to was not simple vegetarianism - which is actually also harmful to animals and the environment - but rather getting rid of industrial meat farming in favor of raising animals in farms both ecological as well as humane -- both quality and cost of meat would rise, and people would eat less of it.

An Animal's Place -- it's a bit long, and the first part is philosophical debate, but it gets into specifics later.
 
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Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I'd never give up meat, but more responsbile meat production can only be a good thing, for people and animals alike, as you say. I'll have a look at that article when I get a chance.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
The One Straw Revolution

from Amazon review:

Masanobu Fukoka was a laboratory agricultural scientist who worked on fighting plant diseases. He also had many unanswered questions about the interrelationship between man and nature. After a long sabbatical he resigned his position and took over his father's rice and mandarin orange farm. Fukuoka thought that by putting the subjects of his questions into actual material challenges he might find the answers he sought.

We must change our frame of reference and establish a different relationship with the world. Concise and yet elegant, Fukuoka's prose is pregnant with meaning. Altogether, this work provides poetic an intelligent critique of industrial agricultural practices and the linear notions of nature and progress that underlay those practices. In fact, Fukuoka goes as far as to declare that the scientific method itself limits our experience and knowledge of nature.

sounds good
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
He also had many unanswered questions about the interrelationship between man and nature.
Am I just being pedantic when I see things like this and want to shout "Man IS part of nature, you idiot!"?
I'd like to think I'm not.
In fact, Fukuoka goes as far as to declare that the scientific method itself limits our experience and knowledge of nature.
This is so vague, it could mean anything from "let's try to appreciate the organic world for what it is, rather than what it can be made into for human benefit" (good) to "let's go hug some trees and maybe do a little rain-dance or something" (not so good).
 

mos dan

fact music
Does anyone know where I can get a nice bit of game? Or is it the wrong season?

I know this thread was started with a particular idea in mind, but then it is called 'the meat thread'.
 

Lichen

Well-known member
Most winged game out of season...you gotta wait til Aug 12th for some grouse....


Rabbit's in season though: very cheap, genuinely wild, very lean but you have to cook it slowly and with the addition of something less lean, mind.

No closed season for Venison, either.


Ask a good butcher: I've never seen a rabbit (live or dead) in a supermarket
 

Numbers

Well-known member
Did anyone see the We Feed the World-documentary? It's highly relevant on matters of the meat/food-production/processing industry and its international repercussions. If you're curious to witness how the food industry doubles in its own grotesque way the (supposed) difference between technological rationalisation and organic, living beings, you'd better have look.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
thanks for the tip m23543465234.

does anyone know if Europe's industrial meat farming practices are any better than in the US? i've heard both that it is and that it's the same.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I expect it varies a great deal from country to country.
France is quite notorious for its lack of welfare standards (crated veal calves, foie gras etc.).
I think the UK is generally regarded as being one of the better countries as far as livestock welfare is concerned, at least for bigger animals. There's still battery farming of hens, but an increasing number of people are buying free-range eggs and chicken.
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
If we reduced the frequency with which non-human animals eat other animals (especially humans), none of us humans would have to cut down on meat. :D

*reading the Pollan article* surely the principle of equality that can be used to regulate human conduct is not applicable across species. I refuse to enter into a contract with a lifeform that can neither understand nor honour its side of the bargain.

Re Mr Tea and nature: obviously everything is natural - our creations are as natural as the termites' mounds or the badgers' setts. I agree with you.
 

bruno

est malade
Did anyone see the We Feed the World-documentary? It's highly relevant on matters of the meat/food-production/processing industry and its international repercussions. If you're curious to witness how the food industry doubles in its own grotesque way the (supposed) difference between technological rationalisation and organic, living beings, you'd better have look.
also see unser täglich brot (our daily bread), it almost made me a vegetarian.
 
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