Eating meat

pboy

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Messages
1,681
Im just wondering, this baffles me all the time....why is it that meat smells good, can taste good, but the act of producing it is terryfing and grotesque? Im just wondering how many people would eat meat if they had to kill and process every animal they ate? There seems to be a sort of contradiction in the human nervous system...we are naturally empathetic, yet our senses would lead us to commit acts that are highly stressful and gut wrenching. I'm not concerned with moral perspectives here, but rather just wondering how people think this contradiction came about? I'm thinking possibly humans started eating meat via scavenging but not through direct killing, possibly in a food (fruit) scarce environment? any thoughts?
 
J

j.

Guest
When people have animals, if they live in farms, for example, and have to kill them for food from a young age, killing them is completely natural. Nothing strange about that.
 

charlie

Admin
The Law & Order Admin
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
14,363
Location
USA
j. said:
When people have animals, if they live in farms, for example, and have to kill them for food from a young age, killing them is completely natural. Nothing strange about that.

Yep, I agree.
 
OP
P

pboy

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Messages
1,681
so im just too sensitive? lol...I don't doubt it
 

jaa

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2012
Messages
1,035
You've been raised in a culture that is completely divorced from the act of killing an animal for food. I've heard just one hunting trip can change your outlook completely.
 
OP
P

pboy

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Messages
1,681
probably. I also know that it isn't a problem for me to swat a fly, or accidently step on an insect. Insects are apparently denser sources or essential nutrition than meat fish or fowl...they also have copper blood instead of iron. I think perhaps there's something to that...not that I eat insects, but technically shellfish are giant insects...and it has been a common human habit. Is there really any specific reason to eat red / white meat?
 
OP
P

pboy

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Messages
1,681
I should add to the above...any specific reason other than caloric density in an otherwise scarce situation?
 

HDD

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2012
Messages
2,075
"not that I eat insects, but technically shellfish are giant insects"

I will never be able to eat shrimp again without thinking about this. Thanks, pboy. :sick:
 

jaa

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2012
Messages
1,035
pboy said:
probably. I also know that it isn't a problem for me to swat a fly, or accidently step on an insect. Insects are apparently denser sources or essential nutrition than meat fish or fowl...they also have copper blood instead of iron. I think perhaps there's something to that...not that I eat insects, but technically shellfish are giant insects...and it has been a common human habit. Is there really any specific reason to eat red / white meat?

Shellfish are giant insects - but they have iron blood :x

I'm sure you could construct a very healthy diet absent of red meat if you included shellfish.
 

Bruv

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2013
Messages
90
Most people would be able to slaughter an animal eventually if their survival depended on it. Anybody that doesn't do what it takes to survive, would not survive very long
 

Jenn

Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Messages
1,035
Not every animal on a farm gets eaten. Some earn their right to a protected grave, burial, composting, burning....something that protects their body from scavengers.

You have to realize, a good clean kill and butchering is a lot better than being taken by a weasel or bobcat or coyote.
 

BingDing

Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2012
Messages
976
Location
Tennessee, USA
I went to Mexico for spring break one year and we ended up staying in a small town near Mazatlan. One afternoon a guy in the neighborhood slaughtered and butchered a pig, right in his front yard. Everyone went over to watch and after I got over the initial shock I realized that was what they do. There was no one else to do if for them and everyone who lived there was used to it.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan is well worth a read for several reasons (especially if you can borrow it from a libary :):. One of his points is that the food industry makes a deliberate effort to hide the supply chain from the consumer. Food is supposed to be just another consumable, don't think about what it is or how it happened to get there, just buy it.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom