What do vegetarians think about people who raise their own beef?!
What do vegetarians think about people who raise their own beef?
I was just curious after looking on this site about how a lot of vegetarians complain about how beef is slaughtered and say its a inhumane process? What about people who raise the own beef? I own 15 head of cattle and slaughter one per year which will feed my family of 4. I do the slaughtering and butchering myself. I make sure it is done as humanely and cleanly as possible. If you problem is with the process, then would this be a solution for you as well?
Answers:
I don't want any animal to die just to satisfy my hunger. There are many more things to eat than a steak or a drumstick. That would be like eating my cat.
If the cow you slaughter could speak, would it tell you to kill it? Or would it ask you to spare his life and let it live? Because animals cannot speak our language, we often believe we are at the "top of the food chain", that they need to die because we need to eat their meat.
You may be practicing a "gentler" approach, but in the end, it is what it is: murder.
As a vegan, I'm in it for mostly health benefits, although it was what I saw about inhumane animal slaughter that turned me vegetarian in the first place. I live in an area where a lot of people do raise their own food (whether it be pigs, chickens, or cows) ... including my boyfriend's family. They ask me if I will eat the meat that they raise ... I say no, because I feel that my body would be most pure and healthy if I don't eat anything that came from what was once a living animal. That is just my personal perspective. If I WERE to eat meat, I would only eat those that are free range and treated well.
It's a very complex issue for me personally, although I know I will never eat meat/dairy/eggs again, I get a lot of flack for not being an animal rights activist - I AM an animal welfare activist.
Sorry for the rant. But since turning vegan I realize it is the healthiest diet for me. :)
I don't care what anyone else does. I am a vegetarian because I like vegetables. It is secondary the fact that meat processing can be inhumane. I think it would be nice if the animals were fed and housed properly. and the conditions were clean and that no pesticides or antibiotics were used. I don't like sloppy work habits anywhere- whether it involves meat or not.
As an aside-I saw a sign on the highway yesterday- "Vegan or Vegetarian roommate wanted"- not sure whether someone was serious or just having fun.
I also wonder- did Hannibal Lechter want his victims to be vegetarian?
At first, maybe. But it didn't take me long as a vegetarian to realize how much better I felt when I cut meat out of my diet.
If I were to eat meat again, I'd want it to be from a farm like the one you've described; at this point, I don't want any animal to be slaughtered for me, but I can't tell you how happy it would make me if slaughterhouses would use a humane and clean process to kill their animals. What a huge step that would be.
Any murder is still murder. Plus, meat is unhealthy for you and the meat you feed your family will only hurt them.
The perfect person you need to talk to or read about this situation is Howard Lyman, a cattle rancher who knows all the ins and outs of the business. After he almost died from a tumor on his spine, he became a vegan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/howard_lyma...
I WOULD NEVER EAT MEAT. No matter where it came from! I'm a vegan and I don't believe that any animal that has a soul and can feel pain should have to give up their life so that a human could have ONE nice meal or ONE nice jacket. How would you like it if somebody cooked your sister and asked if you wanted some because she was killed in a humaine way? Sorry to be harsh...got wrapped up in the moment lol but yea.
As someone once told me:
Is it okay to kill a human as long as you did it humanely? What if you granted their 3 wishes first, then is it okay?
Killing an animal for food is an unneccessary violence no matter how much care you put into killing it.
I am an animal abolitionist. I do not believe that animals are property. I believe that all animals have a right to live their lives without human interference. Humans can life rich, fulfilling, healthy lives without any animal products and that is what I chose to do!
My father raises cattle and I grew up eating the meat he butchered so I understand where you are coming from and I don't expect that my opinion will change you. But I think as a farmer you would understand that cows are sentient beings and they want to live. Even though my father is not a vegetarian by any means (he still raises cattle) he understands my views and respects that I stand firmly with my convictions. Although I disagree with his views I respect that farming is a way of life for him and a part of who he is.. I suspect that most farmers are like that.... And for every one farmer who is raising their own animals there are thousands of people who have no connection to the animal products they use.
Anyone that claims animal welfare or industry abuse reasons for their vegetarian diet choice would be a hypocrate to not support a lifestyle where someone raised their own meat in a humane way. Now an animal rights person would not approve of course. Personally I don't go that far but my "beef" is with the labor and environmental violations that mass production facilities produce so obviously those complaints don't apply to your opperation unless you have a huge pond of pig poop or you beat your family.
To me, there is no such thing as a cow that would be considered "food" or "beef." I don't view living things in a way that would cause harm to them. It's not necessary and it's not peaceful. :)
I am a vegetarian, and I raise chickens for eggs.
My personal belief is that if someone is going to eat meat, then they should make sure that the meat comes from a humane farm - i.e. free range, if not organic. One thing that angers me is people who are totally disconnected from their food. I have a friend who was incredibly surprised at how big cows actually are, and she said this at age 15 on a D of E expedition. Eek.
you slaughter cows? i hate the fact that animals have to be killed just so the human race can consume them! why cant you feed your family something else besides slaughtering animals that want to live?? would you like it if they got your family and slaughterd them to feed the pigs? no, didnt think so. thats how i think and i despise the humnan race for that...im unique on how i think but i dont care cuz thats just how i am, i just get so mad when it comes to this kind of topics!
I would have a problem if i witnessed it or was involved in it, but that is for you to decide.
I think it is great that you are slaughtering your own meat rather than having someone else do it. A lot of the big plants have major safety violations and treat their workers badly.
If you want to ease your concience you could join one of the "locally produced" co-ops and sell the meat to people living within a 100 km radius.
Slaughering an animal is never a solution. I dont believe in "humane" murder or "happy meat". There is no such thing as a happy corpse. Animals have a desire to live, just like we do. We dont need meat or other animal products to survive, I know this, because Im a vegan and I feel healthier than ever. Meat and dairy makes so many people sick. So why do you need to "raise beef" at all?
Just because something is common doesnt mean it is natural or right. Open up your mind.
I would NEVER eat a cow, no matter how it was slaughtered!!!
IT IS STILL MURDER!
for me, it is not simply the inhumane way animals are killed, it is the idea that a life has to be taken just to feed me when i could be eating food that was not killed. also, i, personally, cannot understand how someone could raise any animal, watch it grow, and then kill it.
if texas spice 9 is an "animal abolitionist", doesn't that mean she wants to rid the world of animals? lol, jk. to answer your question, i feel so bad for cows and piggies any way( i know it is wrong to just favor them) so i NEVER eat them. in addition, i rarely eat chicken and when i do, it's free range, like your cows. still, i feel guilty whenever i see a tiny little bone and think about the little chicken i am rudely devouring. but, the fact that it lived a good life until its death does just make me feel better (wrong, i know) then i think, at least it lived like that than like the OTHER group of chickens that get eaten(caged,hormoned-fed,etc)s... ya. though if i myself had to watch an animal grow up like a child or one of our cats, then kill it only to eat it, i would just kill myself really, i would not be able to go through with that
It is certainly better than factory farming but at the end of the day, I couldn't justify taking an animal's life so I had a little more choice in my dinner options. I have plenty of other things to eat...
The way I see it, if I'm hungry, and I have some pasta in the cupboard and a cow in the backyard, I would never say "well I think I'd prefer a burger over the pasta" and go kill the cow. I couldn't justify that. In fact, if this were actually the process people had to go through when it was time to eat, I don't think many people would.
nothing