I doubt I will ever become a vegetarian, but sometimes I get a guilty feeling of eating meat knowing what the animals go through. Anyone else go through this?
I suppose it wouldn’t make any difference as hundereds of thousands of animals are killed, and not even used for food, during grain harvesting for vegetarian foods.
P.S. - The PETA web site says that most americans actually eat 7 times the amount of protein they are suppose to eat!!
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: I’d say far fewer animals are killed in harvesting grain than are slaughtered strictly for human consumption. As someone who gives a toss I prefer to support local certified organic producers who don’t stuff their animals full of hormones and antibiotics, raise them in humane conditions and generally place ethics before profit.
Everything dies, all creatures eat other living things, the majority of deaths are violent and because of another creature’s hunger. That doesn’t mean you can’t make better choices about where your food comes from.
No.
Thats what animals are here for.
I feel no guilt from eating meat.
I’m a card-carring member of PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals.
As for that other, lesser-known PETA, I’d take whatever “information” they have with a boulder of salt. They’re basically fanatics; you can’t really argue any of their points with them as they won’t consider any “science” that disagrees with their propaganda. They started out with good intentions (we can’t really be against the ethical treatment of animals, can we?) but somewhere along the way, they veered off into extreme views that are simply unpalatable to the general public.
Protein: I’m not sure about the average american, but I eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean bodweight per day. According to PETA, I’d have to cut my protein intake from 200g to something like 28.5g per day. And get those proteins from vegetable source? Soy? Right. I’m sure I’d make great gains on that diet.
One of my favorite South Park episodes is the one where the boys go to a ranch for a school trip and the farmer shows them the calves and then explains that veal comes from baby cows. Cartman sees one particular calf with big puppy dog eyes and exlaims to the group how delicious that one looks! I love it! Anyway no, I dont feel guilty for eating meat.
Your average American is also sedentary, obese, has joint problems, is on their way to obtaining type II diabetes, cannot do a pushup, and gets winded walking up a flight of stairs.
I suppose I could eat one-seventh the protein I currently eat, but frankly, I don’t want to be average. PETA can eat my ass with a spoon.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
I doubt I will ever become a vegetarian, but sometimes I get a guilty feeling of eating meat knowing what the animals go through. Anyone else go through this?
I suppose it wouldn’t make any difference as hundereds of thousands of animals are killed, and not even used for food, during grain harvesting for vegetarian foods.
P.S. - The PETA web site says that most americans actually eat 7 times the amount of protein they are suppose to eat!![/quote]
Dear lord…not 7 times!! I have clearly been eating chicken breasts and steaks at the detriment of those poor animals for no reason. Yes, I did gain a lot of muscle, feel great, got stronger and I get my arms felt on a lot…but 7 times???
First, make this a rule, never get all of the information you decide to believe from only one site and definitely not if it is extremely biased towards a certain position. Bodybuilders know that protein in larger amounts than is recommended by the FDA are needed for muscle growth and anabolism of tissues. It is guaranteed that the average PETA member would faint if they saw my grocery basket…and that only lasts me for a couple of days. I think I ate enough chickens last week to be brought in for genocide.
No, I don’t feel bad about eating animals. Never once have I shed a tear for a chicken or a cow because they ended up on my plate grilled and seasoned.
[quote]venteuse wrote:
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: I’d say far fewer animals are killed in harvesting grain than are slaughtered strictly for human consumption. As someone who gives a toss I prefer to support local certified organic producers who don’t stuff their animals full of hormones and antibiotics, raise them in humane conditions and generally place ethics before profit.
Everything dies, all creatures eat other living things, the majority of deaths are violent and because of another creature’s hunger. That doesn’t mean you can’t make better choices about where your food comes from.[/quote]
Fact: if we only used organic, not modified foods, the planet could only sustain 2/3 of its population.
…If you feel so strongly about organic foods, then go and off roughly two billion people.
If we were not designed to eat meat, then our bodies couldnt handle it. you couldnt feed herbavores meat all day long and expect them to take it well, but we are omnivores by nature.
As for PETA, i wouldnt call them much more than a terrorist organization. they use propaganda, violence, and destruction as a means to support their agenda. They set up their own research to tell people that high protein diets are bad, in an attempt to stop you from eating meat, not to improve your health.
No.
The animals I eat are not human beings - how could I feel guilty about eating them?
Of course, when I think about, I do regret that they are killed in a more painful fashion than they could be. It is not WRONG to kill animals, but needless cruelty should be minimized.
The PETA guys need to get their priorities straight. As long there are human beings being wrongly killed in the world, to spend your time worrying about animals is worse than silly.
[quote]UB07 wrote:
As for PETA, i wouldnt call them much more than a terrorist organization. they use propaganda, violence, and destruction as a means to support their agenda. They set up their own research to tell people that high protein diets are bad, in an attempt to stop you from eating meat, not to improve your health.
[/quote]
I could not agree more.
PETA makes several “front” organizations and has them support their own group to give them validity. (this in itself should speak VOLUMES to anyone agreeing with PETA on anything)
The latest I’ve seen was one in regards to school lunches and while up front looked great and was getting lots of internet support… Once you started digging you saw that 99% of the meals they were proposing were vegan and even the milk was replaced with soy!
PETA = FANATIC
Every once in my life I felt guilty about how animals are treated - and I stopped eating meat for some time. And I started again when my body told me to have some again. I like meat and fish, but I like to be conscious what I eat.
Organic food is a solution to the poor quality of the crap meat many consume, but it does not solve the initial question: May we kill for food? My answer is clearly yes. But we have to make sure the animals more or less completely used (so as not to eat only the parts we like best, and for clothing and whatever else is made out of animals), as I don’t like wasting a life just for nothing. I’ve seen this in Asia - eat the whole animal, don’t waste stuff; it can be actually quite tasty. Is there humane killing? Nope, a killing is always gruesome. But there are fast ways, and an animals live should not be torture before that.
As for the argument that if we only produced organic meat, we could not feed the world - we are obviously having trouble feeding the world already. And it’s not that people are starving because they don’t get meat, but they don’t get rice, potatos, water, you name it. Should “we” eat less meat? Our health professionals tend to say yes, as most of us are not athletes. Should we concentrate on better quality - you bet; better for us, better for the animals.
Makkun
I kinda posted that protein number as a joke… Most americans get 7 times the protein they need… yeah right. I barely get the amount I need chugging 2 or 3 shakes a day AND eating meat with every meal(4-6 per day).
I was just posing the question because every now and then I get a guilty feeling for whatever reason and was just curious if any of you ever felt the same way.
Asking PETA what they think about animal protein consumption is like asking the KKK what they think about having Rice as Secretary of State.
Having hunted I can say to look into the eyes of an animal and shoot it and just leave it there is sickening. Not sure how some folks do that. But to use that meat to feed your family instead of going to the store or when you have no money, yes I will do that.
Animals are just like humans, their populations need to be kept in check. We try to be too nice to the deer and then they end up starving because their are too many of them. No measure of animal control, or ecosystem control, no matter how tiny has ever worked. Look at any national park. Yellowstone is a great example. Look at the large beef farms that produce so much manure each day they can barely process it, if at all. There are problems everywhere. It basically comes down to a choice. You either eat meat or you don’t but if you don’t you probably won’t be here. If everyone in this country was a vegan we probably couldn’t live because we wouldn’t have enough grains especially with all of the animals that would be around (that didn’t get eaten) that we would eventually kill them anyway through starvation.
mike
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
I doubt I will ever become a vegetarian, but sometimes I get a guilty feeling of eating meat knowing what the animals go through. Anyone else go through this?
I suppose it wouldn’t make any difference as hundereds of thousands of animals are killed, and not even used for food, during grain harvesting for vegetarian foods.
P.S. - The PETA web site says that most americans actually eat 7 times the amount of protein they are suppose to eat!![/quote]
I have not eaten meat for years now, but I would not trust PETA to clean my toilet.
Rock on!
Takuin
I’d eat a Peta member if I thought it had any nutritional value…
“Guns don’t kill people, Cows kill people”
If you feel guilty for eating meat just trick yourself into thinking its kill or be killed.
Damn this makes me want a steak.
I agree wit Human Anvil. The only thing that stops me is the suspicion that all of that soy shit they eat might make them high in estrogens.
As far as that “we have choices now” line of crap, I do have choices and I choose to eat bloody red meat with lots of black pepper and garlic!Cooked on a fire to juice dripping perfection!I even love the sound the flesh makes as it rips and squashes in the molars.
Now I gotta go, even just the thought and I’m hungry.
Save a cow, eat a Vegitarian.
Saw that in the GuitarCenter parking lot last night, oh my god i almost died laughing.
I like my steak fresh, i’ve eaten it raw even, take little bits off while im marinating it. Oh, umm no i dont feel guilty BTW.