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San Francisco, 1:09 PM
Sun Nov 8
11 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/08/09
I've lived less than a mile from a feed lot for cows (not down wind). The cows didn't seem unhappy to me. To me, the question isn't about "quality of life" for food animals.
Should we send them on vacation for a week before they are slaughtered?
09/04/09
09/04/09
09/04/09
From a health perspective, I think it's probably better to have an animal calm when it's killed, so that its meat isn't all full of cow adrenaline when you eat it.
09/04/09
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09/04/09
This sounds to me like some marketing ploy dreamed up by a geneticist to squeeze more money out of the Agriculture industry.
09/04/09
I never understood why so many "ethical" arguments bring up pain.
Who here would be happy to die if they felt no pain?
The only question that matters is if Cows are sentient or not. Are they self-aware.
Personaly, I think not. Allthough I acknowledge its impossible to be sure.
Therefor, the safest path for ethicaly fine meat is just to grow it direct without a brain, like Better-Of-Ted.
Id be perfectly fine eating it as long as it tasted fine. (and dam all those people that think natural is automatically better then man made)
09/04/09
09/03/09
I guess what I really want to say is, we have canine teeth for a reason. Please pass the A-1 sauce.
09/04/09
Our instincts to eat when we -can- however, havnt gone, thus as a species we are eating FAR too much meat.
Thats the problem really (environmental, healthwise etc). Its not we eat meat, its that we eat too much.
09/03/09
People waiting at the DMV are subject to similar suffering, so STFU.
09/03/09
09/04/09
You are correct.
However, we could just as easily genetically engineer cows that are rendered ecstatic by suffering.
The easier thing would be to just stop caring about whether food has a fulfilling life, though.
-Kle.
09/03/09
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09/03/09
Facts not in evidence.
Smaller farming units are also less efficient, so it is not clear that in the end you could actually win on any of those axes for anything near the same production.
09/03/09
09/03/09
Not to mention that cows feeling pain is a small fraction of why factory farming is problematic. Weren't those No-Country-For-Old-Men captive-bolt pistols specifically designed to dish out painless, instantaneous deaths? It's the horrible conditions that they live in that's the ethical problem, like feeding them corn that they are not evolved to digest, and then pumping them full of antibiotics to stave off the inevitable sickness.
This coming from a guy who loves beef and meat of all kinds.
09/03/09
I love this type of shortsightedness, just for the raw stupidity.
09/03/09
:(
In all seriousness though, I do remember reading, some animals (don't remember if cows were included) that have stressful deaths produce worse meat.
Something about hormones that get released into the bloodstream.
I don't know I wasn't really paying attention.
09/03/09
Srsly tho i work in a pork slaughterhouse and we spend shitloads of money to make sure that the animals are not stressed before they slaughter them, and then when they do, its from being put to sleep with co2.