Chicken (In)humanity [NSFW]

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Peregrine

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Trigger Warning: There is severe animal cruelty in this video. Only watch it if you are comfortable with that.


I'd like to preface this by saying that I love meat. I consider it a perfectly viable food source, if better consumed in moderation rather than with every meal.

My dad exposed me to a lot of the modern meat practices when I was just entering high school, and I've been (mostly) vegetarian ever since. When people ask, I tell them I'm vegetarian, simply because it is easier, and most people don't really want to know the whole logic behind it. However, about once a month, I'll go to the local health food store/ organic store / farmer's market, and buy an organic, free range, vegetarian fed steak/chicken leg/tenderloin. In my head, I've rationalized it as such: Not buying inhumane meat says I don't like the practices. Buying humanely raised meat shows that I support the practice, and is therefore not breaking my resolution on humane treatment of livestock. That is why I had to preface saying I was vegetarian with "mostly".

It is hard for me, honestly. Unlike many of my vegetarian friends, I've never become disgusted by meat. So when I do fold and eat meat that I know is not "good", I instead feel disgusted with myself. I watch these videos on occasion, to remind me of why exactly I made this resolution.

How many of you here already knew about the kind of conditions most livestock is subjected to on a regular basis? If you do, was it enough to convince you to go vegetarian, or do you still eat meat? Why?

I'm posting this thread in an attempt to raise awareness, because some people don't know about the kind of conditions that are standard for the mass production of meat for the supermarkets. That's why I labeled this a discussion, rather than a debate. Please keep that in mind if you reply to this!
 
Aww... Sorry, Fijo. :hug:
 
Not watching that video. Some of stuff I've seen in the past and heard in the past is enough. I just about went vegetarian after watching Food Inc alone, but I could never do it. I love poultry and steaks and whatever- it's yummy for me. And I can't really afford to buy organic or to buy anything better than what I eat now. With a Food Stamps budget, my dad does his best to get enough food to last the month, and in addition to snacks and school lunch stuff and cat food (and I'm incredibly unhappy with my cat's food, too. More so than my own), we can't go and buy organic foods. Frozen chicken will have to suffice! Although I hope to dear god the stuff he buys at the nearby meat-shop (I don't know what percent of it is cut up in-store, really, but it seems the place to do it) is at least a bit more fresh and a bit less.... ugh...

And it's horrible what is done to animals but I feel, personally, that being vegetarian won't help. Really, I just get disturbed by the gross stuff used to 'clean' the food and the conditions of it. My history teacher is gonna have us do a reading on some book (can't remember the name) by some muckraker that wrote about the meat packing industry. Not looking forward to it.

But yeah, I still eat meat even though I know. I can't get better meat products and if I went vegetarian I would die (I hate hate hate beans and most other protein-but-not-meat-products, they make me feel sick) most likely, but at least when I'm older and have my own job and cash intake, I can hopefully go 100% organic.
 
Why do I still eat meat? Because it's delicious and good for you. Protein and iron are important to the body. It would be a lie and very ignorant to say that there aren't food providers that are inhumane. There's plenty of that going around still, even after the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. I suppose it's safe to say that at least the food we consume is more sanitary than it used to be. However, how people operate their farms and meat businesses is no one's business but theirs unless the products they produce are harming other people - like it's tainted and is giving people fatal food poisoning. Sure, you may not like how they do things, but it's not like you have to buy anything from them. That's the purpose of a market and product variety - there's always an alternative. By not buying their products, you're already showing your lack of support for their methods. However unfortunate, there are a lot people who are aware of such things, but simply don't care and keep buying such foods by personal preference of some sort. And you know that a lot of things are going organic, with all the new health fads. I'm not the one who does the shopping in my household, however I knew about all this. It is sad to see how some companies treat the animals, but remember that there are always alternatives. If you really want organic stuff, go to your local farmers' market for locally-based vegetables and meat products.
 
I'm very well aware of this, actually, which is why I force my parents to buy organic meat XD It's never once made me want to become a vegetarian, though, because I'm not against the concept of eating meat as a whole. Meat is delicious, and good source of protein and other nutrients. But I am very much against animal cruelty, which I can limit by choosing organic, while at the same time supporting local farmers.

That being said, my diet doesn't consist of meat and meat alone. I believe there's a balance to everything. I try to eat vegetarian at least once a week, because there are many environmental pros to vegetarianism as well, and the reason why slaughter factories such as those exist is because of the high demand on meat, and methods such as those are unfortunately the cheapest ways to produce enough to please all consumers. Simply by limiting how much and what kind of meat we eat, those methods will become impractical and won't pay off, meaning more humane methods will become the norm.

There's still a large issue about organic products being very pricey, and in some places hard to obtain, though. People who aren't that well off have to eat this kind of meat, because it might be the only thing they can afford, and for them it's very hard to have this shoved in their faces all the time because they're just doing what they can to get by. But if enough people who have the possibility to choose more freely what to put on the table "pitch in" by buying organic, then eventually it will fall down the lines and become accessible to more people.
 
This video reminds me of the time back in early elementary school where my grandmother forced us all to watch animals being slaughtered. Thank god I don't remember it much.
Either way, I love meat and it's one of my favorite flavors (?) of food. I agree with Akiko a lot on the points put out. I think that's part of why horse meat has yet to become a thing in my state
 
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Thanks for letting me know, everyone, and it is good to hear that knowledge of what happens "behind the scenes" is more widespread than I thought it was. It still makes me sad, though, that these processes are the industry standard, and the only thing I can try and do to stop it is not buy the meat these companies process. It has never felt like enough to me.

However, how people operate their farms and meat businesses is no one's business but theirs unless the products they produce are harming other people
I have to politely but emphatically disagree with this statement. Whether or not their actions are harming other people does not change the fact that their practices are undoubtedly harming the animals they abuse. Our laws may not let us interfere unless it is human life on the line, but is it really okay to say that animal cruelty isn't our business because it isn't harming people?
And it's horrible what is done to animals but I feel, personally, that being vegetarian won't help.
Unfortunately, consumerism pretty much dictates that the only way to stop a practice, unless it is dictated by the federal government, is by a large enough boycott by the consumers that it no longer becomes cost efficient for the companies to produce it. As multiple people have commented, it is very expensive to buy organic and humanely raised meat, and I get that. But that means, unless we are going to wait for the federal government to interfere with a very lucrative market, vegetarianism is the only remaining way to make a statement that people see exactly how horrible it is. At least, that is how I see it. May I ask why you think it won't help?
 
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No, that doesn't make the cruelty okay, but that's just the point. The government won't interfere unless there is human life at stake, they don't have the power otherwise. The government was only ever meant to have limited power, and they don't have the power to interfere in privately owned business. Frankly, that's how it should stay. But I think Rainjay's point was that, even if you go vegetarian, there are still a lot of people who eat meat. If you want to protest, find a local business who participates in these unsavory acts and peacefully protest there. Make this aware to your local government, tell your senator - or whomever happens to be the nearest power you can address wherever it is you live - and rally others who share your views to do the same and keep doing it until something gets done about it.
 
even after the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.
Ah! The thing I was talking about that I forgot the name of even though I learnt about it today!

Unfortunately, consumerism pretty much dictates that the only way to stop a practice, unless it is dictated by the federal government, is by a large enough boycott by the consumers that it no longer becomes cost efficient for the companies to produce it. As multiple people have commented, it is very expensive to buy organic and humanely raised meat, and I get that. But that means, unless we are going to wait for the federal government to interfere with a very lucrative market, vegetarianism is the only remaining way to make a statement that people see exactly how horrible it is. At least, that is how I see it. May I ask why you think it won't help?
Mostly I believe it won't help because America at least is too full of people that enjoy eating greasy hamburgers all day every day (not counting people that only eat a MikkyD's burger once a blue moon or can't afford anything better) and doesn't have enough people at this point in time to understand and act on the concept of boycott. Ferguson is great and the Black Lives Matter protests are brilliant and are heart warming even though the fact that they are needed hurts like heck, but I don't see it happening with meat, a commodity a lot of people couldn't bear to part with even if it means the result is getting a better product. It also would probably equate to the rise and then fall of the prices but people probably don't want to have to live through the beginning rise to reach the fall, especially not if the increase equates to not having enough food to eat.

I would absolutely love for vegetarianism or at least the have-a-vegetarian-day concept (something I'd love to get a chance to participate in. Sounds yummy and inventive) but I don't think the world has it in it to pull it off successfully yet. We'd need a really horrific, largely publicized Food Inc./Jungle esque publication followed by a lapse in the need to protest/reform other serious issues. At least as far as I view it; my view of the world is largely skewed by what I learn in school so what I say shouldn't be taken to heart.
 
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A lot of the schools here in Sweden serve only vegetarian food for lunch once a week. The kids don't have any problem with it, it's always the adults that complain. It just goes to show that our craving to constantly eat meat isn't something we're born with, it's something we learn, and unfortunately, a lot of the times it's the big corporations like those who run animal factories that do the teaching. Which makes me glad I live in a country where the government can put restrictions on the market, but I don't want to dwell too much on the politics behind it since it's not really the topic at hand.
 
It always amuses me where people draw the line. It's not okay to treat chickens destined for slaughter cruelly, but it's okay to eat plants, when plants clearly aren't okay with being eaten. Plants in nature have a million ways to avoid getting eaten by animals, and many plants are palatable to us now because we've spent centuries if not millenia selectively breeding them and manipulating their genes to make plants just perfect for our consumption, which we soullessly raise. But no it's okay to eat the plants.
 
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I knew about this stuff a number of years, and it hasn't impacted my diet in the least.
Note, I do support the idea that animals should be treated more humanely (For both moral and health reasons).
But I'll openly admit the healthiness of my diet is of minimal priority to me, I'm not one to change what I'm eating in order to be healthy.

Plus, it can be pretty tricky to find meat that is produced morally, especially with con/loop hole labels such as "Free range", where simply adding a small cage extension outside counts.
 
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Top of the intelligent food chain, that's why.

Aliens must think we're scary as fuck.

Think about it, we raise with artificial means, then slaughter creatures that outweigh us by hundreds of pounds of PURE. MEAT.
 
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How many of you here already knew about the kind of conditions most livestock is subjected to on a regular basis?
I've heard the tales, seen the videos, had the discussions in high school many times over. I didn't watch the video this time because I've already seen my fair share, and while it messes me up, it doesn't affect my eating habits whatsoever.
If you do, was it enough to convince you to go vegetarian, or do you still eat meat?
I still eat meat. I have meat with about one meal a day, as the primary component. I almost never, if given the choice, go for a vegetarian option if at a restaurant.
I'll start by saying this: these videos mess me up. They make me feel unpleasant sensations all across my body, they cause me to feel guilty that mankind would do these things to animals, they are horrendous on a moral level.

For this reason, I am against animal cruelty.

But when it comes to food? I simply don't care. I know all the steps between the animal and the food on my plate, I've seen the horrors all along the way. And yet, when I look at that burger, I don't go into detail thinking about the animals that suffered to make it. Even when I do, I have no difficulty dissociating it from the burger.

Why? Is it because I don't care?

Yes. It is far easier not to care. I can take all the suffering out of the burger effortlessly, because eating that burger is all that matters in the moment. I won't even feel guilty for it later, because there is nothing to be gained from doing so. It's just a burger, after all—I may feel guilty about how I got it, but not that I'm eating it.
 
I definitely did not feel easy watching the video. Although I am fully aware of all the suffering animals go through, I still eat and enjoy eating meat. When I have a meaty meal, I don't think about what the animal has gone through to get to my plate. Thinking about it would simply put me off my meal. Unfortunately, if it's not going to my meal then it will simply become someone else's meal or another animal's meal. That's how the world works. We, as humans, need to survive.
 
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With all this talk on Organic food I feel this video is relevant.

Plants in nature have a million ways to avoid getting eaten by animals,
I would have answered this earlier, but when I made my last post I was sleepy and lacked the time to read other answers.

The reason plant's evolve to avoid being eaten is evolution, if they didn't evolve/develop ways to keep themselves alive they would have all been eaten which means extinction.
But that is purely natural selection at work, it was no more a conscious choice than humans having a conscious choice in having two arms and legs.
 
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I'm sorry, but I'm weak and I love meat, so I can safely say I'll never become a vegetarian. Maybe I'd consider it if most of vegetables didn't taste fairly bland and/or horrible to me, but I guess I'm just meant to be a carnivore. I did know about these practices before, but I don't really think about them. Does that make me heartless? Maybe. On the other hand, I'm fairly sure meat I personally consume doesn't come from such atrocious conditions; I don't eat in McDonald's or other fast foods. Actually, I only buy my meat from farmers. To be honest, it's not because I feel for the animals - that would be somewhat hypocritical since I still eat them with gusto - but because the meat simply tastes better and I know the animals aren't fed so much chemicals. As a qualified Chemist, I know certain... forbidden practices that some companies use and I'd never put result of that in my mouth. Alternatively, as a girl originally from a village, I can hunt/kill/disembowel my lunch and I obviously don't go out of my way to be cruel, so I guess that counts, too?

Whatever, I'm gonna go eat my chicken soup and boiled chicken with rice I've prepared for lunch :D

P.S.: I apologize for any typos, but my tablet sucks.
 
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I'll just pop a few things in here real quick.

#1: Animal cruelty is unfortunate but if the entire world went vegetarian (or vegan by extension really because cows get abused too and guess where dairy products come from) we'd have a massive food crisis. Not to mention, what would we even do with the animals that already exist? Remember, some animals we have can't survive without human assistance anymore (sheep & turkey come to mind as examples), and others would multiple wildly out of control and overrun their respective environments before being promptly slaughtered by predator populations, which would also subsequently explode in size.

At the very least eating them after we kill them is a better use of their lives than simply killing them en masse to prevent environmental disasters. Now this doesn't excuse animal cruelty, where possible we should be making their lives comfortable, and we should set at least some rudimentary laws about animal handling, living conditions, and clean kills, which we don't because convenience.

#2: Entire economies would subsequently collapse and there would be hundreds of thousands out of work as a double whammy to point 1. "Farmers could just switch to fruit and veggies and wheats!" Many couldn't afford to make the switch, and this totally ignores the question of fisheries. "Well how bad could that be?" In Canada, Newfoundland & Labradour's main export is fish. It'd hit a lot harder and closer to home than one might expect.

#3: Speaking of the above point, many developing countries depend on these kinds of foodstuffs, especially fishing moreso than raising herds of animals. They would suffer even more than anyone else.

#4: This wouldn't end animal cruelty as much as people would like to imagine it would. So long as humans continue to own any animals for any reasons--guide dogs, scientific animals, pets--there will be abuse, and to a certain extent, it will be systemic. For instance, from my obsession with ferrets, I can woefully inform you that there are still many breeders all across Canada that willfully inbreed ferrets to get "pretty" coat colours and store them in abhorrent conditions where they often get sick and die if they don't suffer from PTSD first.

#5: The same people that advocate for the secession of consumption of poultry and other animals often abused in the system also often decry GMOs. The very same GMOs that make various foodstuffs more abundant, cheaper, and healthier for you than before. Yes, healthier, believe it or not, a lot of them have vitamins and other healthy components added, not removed. Those arguing about pesticides should know organic farms also use pesticides, just not genetically modified ones--which are usually deadlier and less effective.

#6: I noticed some people arguing that plants evolve methods to combat being consumed. While this is true, by and large, plants tend to be utterly defenseless against the assault of herbivores and omnivores consuming them. What keeps plants around is primarily carnivores, who consume the herbivores and thus keep the population in check via natural selection. Human beings are part of this food chain, we are from the Earth and while we have an obligation to ensure that we don't ruin her, we're also equally allowed to be what it is we are--omnivores. Consumers of both meat and veggies.

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While I agree that more needs to be done to be kind and merciful and empathetic, anybody telling you to stop eating meat is deluding themselves into thinking that it'll make the situation better. It won't. It'll just make people who sell meat more desperate to sell their product. If the product doesn't sell, they'll just mass execute it, burn it, and switch to another product. That is the way of things.

Instead, do what you can to remain educated, try to purchase meat where possible that doesn't come from these shit shows, and throw money at causes that fight for animal rights which suit your particular paradigm of how the world should be. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my haddock and chicken breast, soaked in soy sauce. Mmm mm, delicious.
 
How many of you here already knew about the kind of conditions most livestock is subjected to on a regular basis? If you do, was it enough to convince you to go vegetarian, or do you still eat meat? Why?
I've been aware of it for most of my life, still eat meat almost every day. Mainly it's due to a lack of empathy for animals I eat. I really can't be fucked about the living conditions of something that was bred purposely for slaughter and consumption. I've already decided that I'm totally fine with the thing being killed so I can devour its various parts, so why should I care about its conditions as a living creature? All I care about is getting that delicious meat in my belly, and if the most efficient way for it to be produced includes treating those animals like shit, so be it. Abused chicken meat still tastes acceptably delicious to me, so it's all good as far as I'm concerned.
 
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