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The entire endeavor is unethical, from choosing to raise chickens to slaughtering a parade of mammals. None of this is necessary for the well-being of someone w

The entire endeavor is unethical, from choosing to raise chickens to slaughtering a parade of mammals. None of this is necessary for the well-being of someone who "spends all her hard-earned money on overpriced coffee and pizza."

GlenTheMachine 9y ago
Local agriculture is one of the most ethical practices around. For one, it's far better for the environment, for a wide range of reasons starting with the improved living conditions for the chickens vice a Perdue chicken factory, and ending with a dramatically lower carbon footprint. In addition, it erases the curtain we as a society have drawn over where food comes from. Society cannot make ethical decisions about what to eat, how food should be produced, where it should be produced, and whether/how much waste to accept - because most people have no idea how the food gets from the soil onto their plates or into their refrigerators. Erasing our connection with the land and farming is what is unethical about this situation.
- pavel_lishin 9y ago
  > Local agriculture is one of the most ethical practices around I've heard arguments to the contrary, based on the efficiency of scale. Basically, it's better for the environment to grow most of your food in one place, and then ship it into a dense city, rather than everyone growing a bit of what they need, and then schlepping around in a car to gather up your other various supplies. In this specific example, I'd be curious about what sort of carbon footprint is generated by ordering chicken feed, vs. having farm eggs shipped to a local store you can walk to.
pavel_lishin 9y ago
Why is raising chickens unethical in her situation?
- asciimo 9y ago
  Because it's completely unnecessary. She admits that there are limitless cheaper alternatives available. Yet she exploits these sentient beings for little more than a hobby.
  - pavel_lishin 9y ago
    > Because it's completely unnecessary I have bad news about 90% of your life. edit: I figured I'd go back and expand on this, to make it better than a reddit joke comment. These chickens seem like they're moderately well cared for, and are effectively pets - albeit pets that are at risk of being eaten by a possum. If having chickens is unnecessary, so is having pets of any kind - but we have studies that show this to be a falsehood. You might as well argue that having more than a few sets of clothing is unethical (sweatshops exist), eating off-season fruit is unethical (gasoline doesn't grow in trees), having books is unethical (paper doens't grow on, uh, nevermind), etc. The author of the original article seems to be somewhat inept as a farmer, but she freely admits this by sharing this story. I don't think she handled this particular situation well, but I'd wager that she learns from this and does better in the future, ethically speaking.

GlenTheMachine 9y ago

Local agriculture is one of the most ethical practices around. For one, it's far better for the environment, for a wide range of reasons starting with the improved living conditions for the chickens vice a Perdue chicken factory, and ending with a dramatically lower carbon footprint. In addition, it erases the curtain we as a society have drawn over where food comes from. Society cannot make ethical decisions about what to eat, how food should be produced, where it should be produced, and whether/how much waste to accept - because most people have no idea how the food gets from the soil onto their plates or into their refrigerators. Erasing our connection with the land and farming is what is unethical about this situation.

pavel_lishin 9y ago
> Local agriculture is one of the most ethical practices around I've heard arguments to the contrary, based on the efficiency of scale. Basically, it's better for the environment to grow most of your food in one place, and then ship it into a dense city, rather than everyone growing a bit of what they need, and then schlepping around in a car to gather up your other various supplies. In this specific example, I'd be curious about what sort of carbon footprint is generated by ordering chicken feed, vs. having farm eggs shipped to a local store you can walk to.

pavel_lishin 9y ago

Why is raising chickens unethical in her situation?

asciimo 9y ago
Because it's completely unnecessary. She admits that there are limitless cheaper alternatives available. Yet she exploits these sentient beings for little more than a hobby.
- pavel_lishin 9y ago
  > Because it's completely unnecessary I have bad news about 90% of your life. edit: I figured I'd go back and expand on this, to make it better than a reddit joke comment. These chickens seem like they're moderately well cared for, and are effectively pets - albeit pets that are at risk of being eaten by a possum. If having chickens is unnecessary, so is having pets of any kind - but we have studies that show this to be a falsehood. You might as well argue that having more than a few sets of clothing is unethical (sweatshops exist), eating off-season fruit is unethical (gasoline doesn't grow in trees), having books is unethical (paper doens't grow on, uh, nevermind), etc. The author of the original article seems to be somewhat inept as a farmer, but she freely admits this by sharing this story. I don't think she handled this particular situation well, but I'd wager that she learns from this and does better in the future, ethically speaking.