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This is an important perspective. We all have to find our own peace with how the food we eat is produced. Temple Grandin discusses this in "Animals Make Us Hum
by pacaro 4y ago
This is an important perspective. We all have to find our own peace with how the food we eat is produced.
Temple Grandin discusses this in "Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals" [1]. She discusses the distress she felt when the first slaughter house that she had designed opened, and she watched the cows calming going to be slaughtered. Even with the reduced distress, or perhaps because of it, that she felt like a betrayer. But she also talks about how she comes to terms with consuming ethically produced meat. Prey species like cattle — or the nearest wild equivalent — live with high stress levels, with threats from predators, and the constant search for food. On a farm the food is assured, and the environment is less stressful. Her thesis (which I hope I am representing correctly) is that this can be a trade. The animal lives a calmer safer life, without cruelty, and in return, we eat it.
Not everyone will be happy with that argument. The world would be arguably be a better place if more people thought about this
[1] https://a.co/d/bQwSb4q https://a.co/d/bQwSb4q
- uxcolumbo 4y agoInteresting. If all animals currently consumed would be treated like that - then yes suffering overall would be reduced. But it's not realistic to feed the world with these farming methods. And 'ethical farming' is not without cruelty. Cruelty is still applied at the end. And I wouldn't call it a fair trade either. These cows are being bred because we want to eat them. If there wasn't a demand then the cow on the ethical farm wouldn't exist or experience cruelty. Animals in nature are free and yes are being hunted by other animals who need to eat other animals to survive. It's the nature of things. Most of humanity don't need to eat meat anymore and hence have the choice of not causing suffering or being cruel.