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I am mainly a vegetarian, although I will eat ethically raised eggs and dairy products. I grew up in farm country and will also, on a very rare occasion, eat ca

I am mainly a vegetarian, although I will eat ethically raised eggs and dairy products. I grew up in farm country and will also, on a very rare occasion, eat cattle raised on a proper farm/ranch - even though I absolutely love cows, who can be extremely affectionate, I believe they can be slaughtered relatively humanely. Cephalopods, on the other hand, are extremely difficult to farm in the wild or cull. They show immense and immediate signs of stress, such as attacking others or themselves, going as far to tear off limbs or kill others/commit suicide. I've never seen a cow, when properly taken through the slaughter process (such as using processes innovated by Temple Grandin), express anywhere near that level of despondent agony prior to their death, which is thankfully nearly instantaneous when done properly. The intense response by octopi to their impending slaughter shows me a level of emotion and intelligence that is eerily close to our own.

patrec 5y ago
> going as far to tear off limbs or kill others/commit suicide. Not to distract to much from your wider point, but I was under the impression that most species of octopi are solitary and it was not uncommon for them to kill and even eat each other on encounters even when not captured for slaughter. Is that not the case?
- atdrummond 5y ago
  This is absolutely true - but the immediacy and severity of these attacks when being "farmed" in the wild is brutal and very much unlike the occasional attacks in the wild, which aren't necessarily nearly as fatal nor as likely to result in loss of limb(s).
Ntrails 5y ago
> I grew up in farm country and will also, on a very rare occasion, eat cattle raised on a proper farm/ranch - even though I absolutely love cows, who can be extremely affectionate, I believe they can be slaughtered relatively humanely. I agree that eg Cattle can have a good life living on pastoral land eating grass and so on. Can be slaughtered humanely close to home. That meat born, raised and slaughtered all within 20-30 miles of the consumer can be relatively low impact. I'd quite like to only eat meat matching that description. I'd also like to minimise my food miles overall. But honestly it's not trivial to even approach the problem when eating out. Even the supermarket makes for a long slow shopping process looking for anything fresh that hasn't been flown in. I am simply too lazy to be good about this, so outside of weekends when I have time to go to a butcher or a farm shop... well I'm part of the problem
xattt 5y ago
> The intense response by octopi to their impending slaughter shows me a level of emotion and intelligence that is eerily close to our own. It’s almost an expression of existential dread and the realization the end is nigh.

patrec 5y ago

> going as far to tear off limbs or kill others/commit suicide. Not to distract to much from your wider point, but I was under the impression that most species of octopi are solitary and it was not uncommon for them to kill and even eat each other on encounters even when not captured for slaughter. Is that not the case?

atdrummond 5y ago
This is absolutely true - but the immediacy and severity of these attacks when being "farmed" in the wild is brutal and very much unlike the occasional attacks in the wild, which aren't necessarily nearly as fatal nor as likely to result in loss of limb(s).

Ntrails 5y ago

> I grew up in farm country and will also, on a very rare occasion, eat cattle raised on a proper farm/ranch - even though I absolutely love cows, who can be extremely affectionate, I believe they can be slaughtered relatively humanely. I agree that eg Cattle can have a good life living on pastoral land eating grass and so on. Can be slaughtered humanely close to home. That meat born, raised and slaughtered all within 20-30 miles of the consumer can be relatively low impact. I'd quite like to only eat meat matching that description. I'd also like to minimise my food miles overall. But honestly it's not trivial to even approach the problem when eating out. Even the supermarket makes for a long slow shopping process looking for anything fresh that hasn't been flown in. I am simply too lazy to be good about this, so outside of weekends when I have time to go to a butcher or a farm shop... well I'm part of the problem

xattt 5y ago

> The intense response by octopi to their impending slaughter shows me a level of emotion and intelligence that is eerily close to our own. It’s almost an expression of existential dread and the realization the end is nigh.