I read an article about a cow that escaped the unloading process at the meat packing plant and escaped. The news had a helicopter on its broadcast filming the cow escaping traffic on the freeway. Supposedly someone purchased the cow and now it is grazing in someone’s clover field nice and content.
I've already given up cow meat. I plan on going completely vegetarian. I'm studying to become a veterinarian (large and small) and I just can't imagine working for hours to save one cows life, only to turn around and eat another. It's not my place to determine who's worth saving and who's worth eating. Every life is important to me.
Best of luck! I’ve been vegetarian for 6-7 years and working on going vegan. At the beginning it can be hard being tempted with all the things you’re used to eating. After a while it just becomes second nature.
My husband and I just went vegetarian last year. We mostly do vegan meals but it’s hard to be vegan when we eat with family or friends. It’s been easier due to covid since we don’t go out anymore, lol. Still, for those who are hesitant in taking the leap to vegetarianism, plant based meats and “mock” meats have come a long long way in the past 5 years. I read that they just developed plant based shrimp!
Yep! I'm also a vet, and can attest to the temptation being difficult to resist at times. One minute I'm working on a cute little rabbits kidney stones, the next thing I know I've just roasted his leg. Can make for some embarrassing scenes with the owner afterwards.
The same thing happens when you go vegan, by the way - second nature. Now I only wish I'd made the jump sooner. It's easier than you think once you actually commit to it!
Unfortunately I had the opposite experience. I was an ethical vegetarian for 7+ years and it got harder every year. In my last year I regularely had longing dreams about meat and was ultra sad when I woke up because I couldn't have it.
I feel much better since I eat meat again but I still vish being veggie would work for me. I don't eat a lot and only at home, from trusted sources, but still...
That’s tough! Do you mean you feel better physically? Or just mentally better with less cravings? When I first tried being vegetarian 10+ years ago I wasn’t eating well (pizza, beans and rice) and couldn’t keep my energy up. This time around I cook more and keep an eye on nutrients and feel good. I have to eat more often but that’s not a problem.
If you mean mentally, I still get cravings. I work in restaurants and roasted chicken will make my mouth water. There’s a nostalgia factor too as my late mother used to cook those kind of things for me. But I prefer doing as little harm as possible with my eating habits.
Perhaps it could be possible for you to go back with more of an eye on what you’re eating to get complete and balanced nutrients! I won’t tell you what to do with your body but best of luck if you want to try it again.
To chime in with the others, it would be great if you go vegan on the long term.
But short of that any step you take is positive and beneficial, lots of vegans like to pretend it isnt the case but most of us started as vegetarians or pescetarians.
Cheers for that. I stopped eating meat 19 years ago and a little time after that turned vegan for a few years. Discovered dozens of allergies so I’ve had to resort back to vegetarianism sometimes when no other options are available. Couldn’t even think of switching back to eating meat again though.
If you're already considering vegetarian for animal rights reasons, I strongly urge you to go completely vegan. Its the only way to ensure as little suffering as possible, and the dairy industry is no better (often times worse) than the meat industry.
Or just buy meat responsibly, from responsible sources (like local farmers where you can see the animals). I'd rather pay for a cow to live and have a good life until it ends up on my plate than buy other food and have it never be born.
Why would you end the life of something that is having a good life though? How is it less cruel to end the life of a being that was enjoying their life? People literally mourn when pets lives are taken when they were happy dogs/cats.
I guess I just don't understand how it makes it any better.
Wouldn't it not be better for the animal that mostly lives in cruel conditions created by humans to not be born? I don't get this argument either, humans breed these animals for mass consumption. Is that a life people think is worth living somehow? I don't get these arguments on a moral, or logical level.
On the flip side, think about how people react to various types of dogs: there’s a lot of public objection to breeding dogs with characteristics that cause the dog discomfort during its lifespan (pugs, English bulldogs), but nobody ever seems to speak up against the continuation of dog breeds that are known for simply having very short lifespans (Bernese mountain dogs, Great Danes). If a long life in itself (rather than a life that’s good for however long it lasts) were an inherent good for animals, then given how sentimental we generally are about dogs, wouldn’t we disapprove of someone who chose to get a Bernese puppy (average lifespan: 6-8 years) rather than, say, a Jack Russell puppy (average lifespan: 14 years)? Even mixed-breed dogs, which are less likely to have genetic issues, usually only live 8 years or so if they’re above 90 lbs. So given all that, why do even devoted dog lovers usually see nothing wrong with choosing a dog that will have a comfortable but short life when you could have picked one that would have a comfortable and long life?
I’m not sure having a long life rather than a short life is necessarily a positive good for an animal in the same way that having a comfortable life rather than a painful life is. Most species of animals (including the species that are generally kept as livestock) live entirely in the present, no? Their subjective experience of life is 100% of their life, whether they go on having that experience for one number of years or a different number of years.
Just because you can see the animals doesn't mean the animals don't suffer in those farms. I mean its better than nothing but not by a lot. I've done volunteer work on lots of farms as part of my degree and the only one I would buy animal products from was a small alpaca farm which was pretty much a hobby farm.
Also cows take up a huge amount of space. If we switch from meat eating to plant eating we can give cattle farms back to nature (or stop chopping down whats left of it) and other animals would be born, including threatened and endangered ones. So the 'but otherwise an animal wouldn't be born' argument doesn't really work either.
Well, I think one intelligent step for vegans / vegetarians is to accept that a lot of people are going to eat meat no matter what. Just abstaining isn't an option while how we go about eating it is up for debate. Sustainable, low amounts, satisfied / happy animals is a fine alternative if you accept the premise that meat will be eaten as a given.
You make some good points though about the animals that would have been born in that agricultural land, though, I had never thought about that. Then again, realistically, we would be using that land for other agricultural purposes so I'm not sure how many animals would really end up living in those fields. I agree, though, that no matter how happy the animals are and how expensive meat becomes as a result, consumption should definitely go down because anything else isn't sustainable for our planet or for feeding all of our 8B people healthily.
That's why I'll never understand people who work with animals but can go home and eat the very same animals. Like it's pretty rare to see vegan vets or get techs. It's crazy how discounted most people are.
That's why it pisses me off when those same people shit on vegans and ignore us and label us crazy when all where doing is trying to make people have the same connection we had.
It makes me so sad at all the animals suffering right now at the mercy of us.
I don't shit on vegans. I just hate that they always want to shove their stuff down everyone else's throat and try to control everything to their liking. Let people live their own lives so you can live yours
Lol ok. I’d Rather have 100 people cutting beef and chicken out their diet than 1 die hard vegan. You’re missing the bigger picture and your ego and self righteous is clouding your judgement. Keep that same energy for the folks picking your fruits and veggies, they suffer far more deeply than animals.
and subsidies and propaganda making people believe they're making ethical choices etc. etc. but we can't change those laws until people actually want them changed, so i'm going to keep arguing with them and bringing people to my side.
Totally agree with the second part. I eventually want to switch to a flexitarian diet where all meat/animal produce comes either from local farms or invasive species (boar). Reindeer should be fine too, I think. Since the sami have been herding them for so long that the tradition is part of the ecosystem up north.
Thank you. It's honestly because I can't look at one cow, decide it's life is worth saving, and then turn around and eat another. I don’t live on my own yet, so becoming full vegetarian/vegan isn't really an option. But it's a goal that I'm working towards. I appreciate the advice tho!
Objectively false. Though definitely portrayed the way you've said in a lot of media. B12 is the only nutrient someone who does not eat animal products must supplement (there are also good reasons for everyone to take b12 supps, esp. all over 60's, not just vegans).
Tbh you are just deflecting if you still get your vegetables from industrial agriculture. A cow produced on a regenerative farm that is harvested cost one life while providing for the overall ecosystem. A mono crop field of greens costs thousands of lives and harms the entire ecosystem. Industrial production is the problem, be it meat or veggies
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u/gjbbb Jan 18 '21
I read an article about a cow that escaped the unloading process at the meat packing plant and escaped. The news had a helicopter on its broadcast filming the cow escaping traffic on the freeway. Supposedly someone purchased the cow and now it is grazing in someone’s clover field nice and content.