Monday, November 14, 2005

Meat-eating

F42 from fark.com said, "When we go to the petting zoo, my mom feeds and then pokes the cows like she's shopping for meat, and she tells the cow how tasty it looks... The cows seem to enjoy it."

"If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?" -Unknown

"I'm not a vegetarian because I like animals, but because I hate plants." -I forget

A well known hypothetical is, "If you could grow meat without ever killing an animal, would you eat it?"

A favorite story of mine has a girl with something akin to universal understanding; not only could she speak with humans (gasp), but also plants, animals, and the environment itself. She was a very compassionate girl and so, for a while wouldn't eat anything (after all, they were all her friends!). But, the plants were all like, "You've gotta eat! Please eat us!" (paraphrasing)

And of course, there are those who are vegetarian for health reasons or religious reasons. Can't really argue with that.

I eat meat because meat tastes good.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmmm...meat.

Deals On Wheels said...

I am a cattle rancher's daughter.

I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian for 10 years. My dad thought that this was a sign of teenage rebellion (it was really a sign that I didn't like the taste of meat that much).

A couple of years ago, my doctor told me that I had to reincorporate meat back into my diet (protein levels in my blood were too low). Therefore, today, I eat chicken and turkey (but not red meat, which still irritates my father to no end).

I haven't eaten pork since I was little. This is because I had a friend who was allergic to "normal" pets (dogs, cats, etc.). However, she wasn't allergic to pigs (something about their dander, or general lack thereof), so her parents got her a potbelly pig as a pet. That pig (whose name was HAMLET, by the way) was trained just like a dog. It was housebroken, knew how to sit, stay and EVEN roll-over.

One day I was eating bacon, and my friend was horrified (I was essentially eating HAMLET's distant cousin, after all). Up until that point I do not think I realized that bacon came from pigs, but that was the last time I ate it.

Anyway, people are always asking me, "Why don't you eat pork?" I always answer this question with the story about my childhood friend and her pet pig, HAMLET.

Generally, people don't understand the connection between HAMLET and my refusal to eat pork. So, let me clarify:

1. HAMLET was a pig.
2. HAMLET was a pet pig.
3. HAMLET was a pet pig who knew tricks like a dog.

Therefore...

4. ...HAMLET fell into the same category as "pet dog" in my mind.

Conclusion:

Since I don't eat "dog", it made perfect since not to eat "pig" either.

(There's some 7 year-old logic for you!)

gabe said...

Ah, that makes sense, but if you can't eat bacon anymore, maybe you should try some pork chops or sausage... "Dad those all come from the same animal!" "Right Lisa... one magic animal..." :)

Well, I dunno, I just never saw pig's as cute, but if I had one as a pet, I probably couldn't eat pork anymore, either. Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw, tho. And a t-shirt.

I know I talked some smack, but at one point I thought I could become vegetarian, but mostly because there are just so many tofu and vegetable dishes I like (if i moved to some place like taiwan).

Beef tastes good, tho. You're just plain wrong about that. Mmmmmmm...beef.

Anonymous said...

Being vegetarian I don't really understand how the texture of red meat doesn't disgust you. It makes me sick just thinking about it. I admit sometimes I smell something cooking or think about how I used to love certain meat dishes, but I've come to realize that it no longer tastes the same. I haven't eaten red meat in forever, but I tried chicken again about a year ago and I have to say I prefer my soy "chicken" better.

gabe said...

That's another thing that annoys me: "vegetarian meat". Ugh, that's part of the reason for this post in the first place. If you like meat, just eat meat! If you like "soy chicken", I think it's a disservice to the food to relegate it to "meat substitute".

As I said, I love tofu. It annoys me to no end when Americans say they hate it because, chances are, the only experience they've had with it is when they ate it as a "meat substitute".

The line between "food" and "not okay to eat" seems to be a rather arbitrary one when it is drawn with sympathy. I don't know why you became a vegetarian, but I hope it's not for some PETA-ish type reason.

BTW, I have a friend that was a vegan who started eating meat again. He loves it :)

Anonymous said...

The texture of meat makes me gag. It's gross and stringy. And I don't eat any of the fake meat products that try to taste like the real thing. I don't eat meat because I can't stand the taste or texture, so I certainly don't want my fake stuff to imitate it! In addition to not liking meat I can't eat it for psychological reasons. If you want to call it a PETA thing, whatever. I can no longer make a distinction between meat/food and the cute cow with the big brown eyes. A friend asked me if I would eat meat if I was lost in the woods. I told him I would probably starve because I couldn't bring myself to eat an animal. Hey, survival of the fittest, right?

gabe said...

Really, to each his/her own. I guess I have no justification complaining about what people do as long as it doesn't affect me.

But as for killing to survive... I think anyone would. Stavation's a helluva way to go.