Something I need to talk about *Trigger Warning*

[Toby2000]

Our teeth suggest that we've evolved to be omnivorous.

To Toby2000; I once asked a friend why he became a vegetarian, expecting it to be just a typical lifestyle choice. Oh no, it was due to some halfwit taking him round a slaughterhouse when he was seven! He was so traumatised he never ate meat again. He's not a full-on vegan (I know two 'ethical' vegans and a few 'fashion' vegans) but he will refuse anything cross-contaminated with animal fats during cooking and won't eat anything with gelatin or rennet in it, or prepared with animal fats.

My late father used to help out at a butchers in his spare time and one day asked me if I could re-insulate a pair of tongs used for stunning animals; not having access to a heat gun to shrink the sleeving I took them into work. A colleague - an animal rights activist - saw what I was doing. The atmosphere took a turn for the worse, shall we say.

Oh god, that must have been horrific for him. Like I say, I don't know how people who work in slaughterhouses can do it. Like, if I even see a picture from inside one, I start crying

I'm not vegetarian or vegan but I'm almost vegetarian because I barely eat meat anymore

[Toby2000]

Yeah but I think we're designed to eat meat. I mean we're meat eaters. Actually probably omnivores. Plus many people with digestive issues actually do better with meat. And to be honest with you even if you only eat plants you're still killing a living thing. I don't hunt. But I don't have anything against hunters so long as they eat what they kill. I don't understand trophy hunting. Be heartened though many animals live very long lives. I was watching a nature show recently about the bowhead whale. It said they've recently discovered the bowhead can live for 200 years or more. The narrator said that one your looking at now was probably a calf when Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States. He was our third president serving in 1801.

That's a nice fact... I know there's a tortoise who is something like 500 years old?

I just hope that farm animals at least have nice lives before they involuntarily sacrifice it for us

[Lencoboy]

I have no idea why, but I find myself getting more upset when it comes to animal abuse etc. than I do with child abuse, though obviously the latter is still horrible. I think it's because the animals have no voice, no say and are just so innocent.

I know. Sometimes I just get the urge to watch them, almost like my mind knows what triggers me. I have been resisting though, since last night. It's just a horrible reality that is ignored by most people because the truth is heartbreaking

I understand what you're saying, Toby, but not all children have a voice, especially those who are unable to talk or communicate properly, e. g, babies, toddlers and of course, children with certain disabilities. And sadly many adults still continue to have the 'children should be seen and not heard' mentality, especially certain factions of the older generation.

I don't mean to be judgemental nor patronising, but your frequent viewing of such videos, dare I say it, sounds a little like morbid OCD to me.

[ErinKC]

Even though we have evolved to eat meat, I think it's still valid to be horrified by the industrialized meat industry. Animals hunted and killed for food of course are still being sacrificed for us to eat, but I think it's the level of cruelty that makes the current meat industry harder to accept for some.

I don't honestly know what the solution is because without the industrialization of the food industry many, many more people would go hungry. At the same time, there must be a better way.

[Noivous]

Well I don't know that we've evolved to eat meat I think humans have always eaten meat. But have you ever seen the seemingly cruelness of nature? The way most animals die is very ugly. Whether it be from being preyed upon or just getting old. Nature is brutal. Many animals get eaten alive by other animals. I don't know that that is any less cruel than a beef or poultry farm. Death isn't pretty in any form. But everything has to eat. It's nature's way.

N.

[Toby2000]

I understand what you're saying, Toby, but not all children have a voice, especially those who are unable to talk or communicate properly, e. g, babies, toddlers and of course, children with certain disabilities. And sadly many adults still continue to have the 'children should be seen and not heard' mentality, especially certain factions of the older generation.

I don't mean to be judgemental nor patronising, but your frequent viewing of such videos, dare I say it, sounds a little like morbid OCD to me.

That's true... I didn't mean to make it sound like I don't care about the suffering of children, but I mean at least they aren't systematically killed for food. That's the bit that's really getting to me

and I think it's OCD too... it was the same with my cancer worries, I always used to force myself to google the worst scenario cases and it was pure hell.

[Toby2000]

Even though we have evolved to eat meat, I think it's still valid to be horrified by the industrialized meat industry. Animals hunted and killed for food of course are still being sacrificed for us to eat, but I think it's the level of cruelty that makes the current meat industry harder to accept for some.

I don't honestly know what the solution is because without the industrialization of the food industry many, many more people would go hungry. At the same time, there must be a better way.

Agreed, there must & should be a better way :(

It's just tragic & not fair on the animals

[Toby2000]

Well I don't know that we've evolved to eat meat I think humans have always eaten meat. But have you ever seen the seemingly cruelness of nature? The way most animals die is very ugly. Whether it be from being preyed upon or just getting old. Nature is brutal. Many animals get eaten alive by other animals. I don't know that that is any less cruel than a beef or poultry farm. Death isn't pretty in any form. But everything has to eat. It's nature's way.

N.

I know, but I mean we don't have to eat meat.

But you're right, sadly it's just something that will continue

[Scass]

I know, but I mean we don't have to eat meat.

But you're right, sadly it's just something that will continue

Hey Toby!
It’s a personal choice on whether you should eat meat or not. You don’t have to. I think it’s great that you’re looking into this and making choices for yourself.
The world will mostly carry on regardless, but that doesn’t mean you should be disheartened, you can still make your voice heard.


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[SnowyGreen]

I feel the exact same way Toby. I can't handle even thinking about it