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> The aftermath of the tragic fire revealed that a staggering 18,000 cattle died - nearly three times the amount of cows slaughtered each day in the US. That n

> The aftermath of the tragic fire revealed that a staggering 18,000 cattle died - nearly three times the amount of cows slaughtered each day in the US. That number sounds too low. According to [0]: > According to the USDA, in May 2019 2.94 million cattle were slaughtered in the U.S. This equates to roughly 95,000 cattle being killed per day during the month. If you're a meat eater, this shouldn't shock you at all. Hundreds of millions of cows are killed for food each year and even if not killed for food but used for milking, their conditions are horrible mostly. [0] https://sentientmedia.org/how-many-animals-are-killed-for-food-every-day/ https://sentientmedia.org/how-many-animals-are-killed-for-fo...

local_crmdgeon 4y ago
[flagged]
- barbazoo 4y ago
  You're right, it looks like it's closer to 8000 as per https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/lstk0522.pdf https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/report...
Gordonjcp 4y ago
That sounds like a lot. 95,000 cattle is enough to feed 95 million people. Edit: I guess that's about 1/3 the population of the US, so it's probably not far off.
- barbazoo 4y ago
  You're right, it looks like it's closer to 8000 as per https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/lstk0522.pdf https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/report...
  - Gordonjcp 4y ago
    See, 8000 doesn't seem like enough. Only eight million people eat a portion of beef on a given day? Obviously it doesn't quite scale like that - not every cut of meat is a prime steak, some of it you'd chop up and stew. But a big pot of stew will feed a dozen people, and doesn't use a lot of cow, and what it does use is not an expensive bit. Right now livestock is the best thing we have for turning stuff humans can't eat into stuff humans can. I can't eat grass. Sheep can. Cows can. Hens eat everything.
    - barbazoo 4y ago
      > Right now livestock is the best thing we have for turning stuff humans can't eat into stuff humans can. I can't eat grass. Sheep can. Cows can. Hens eat everything. Almost all humans can live healthily without eating animals. > Because there are so many protein-rich plant foods, you can easily get enough protein on a vegan diet. Plus, experts agree that a well-planned plant-based diet provides all of the nutrients you need, including protein (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source). https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-protein-sources-chart https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-protein-sources-c...
      - Gordonjcp 4y ago
        Okay, but you can't eat grass.
        barbazoo 4y ago
        A strawman, how apt :-) Obviously I didn't advocate for eating grass as humans can't digest it. Have a look at [0] for a diverse list of foods that don't involve animals. It's nutritious and delicious. And no cruelty involved at all. [0] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-meal-plan https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-meal-plan
  - mazugrin2 4y ago
    Keep in mind that the 2.81 million cattle slaughtered number you are taking from the cited document is just for the month of April, 2022. So each day of April, 2022 there were, on average, about 93,667 cattle slaughtered.
    - barbazoo 4y ago
      facepalm I can't read it seems.
tinglymintyfrsh 4y ago
If anyone in the US ever wanted to become vegetarian, I suggest they drive through Greeley, Colorado past the lines of cattle cars waiting to enter the slaughterhouses. Their nose may curse them, however.
- Kretinsky 4y ago
  It's a common mistake to think all farming is done like american industrialized farming. If you want to start eating meat again, I'd recommend you come to France's Morvan to see Charolais cattle in the green pastures, living a semi-wild life away from any stress. Or in the Alps, where the cows spend their summer eating grass and flowers outside, with only a guard dog taking care they don't get lost.
  - eindiran 4y ago
    If you are eating meat in the US and aren't going significantly out of your way to get meat not farmed "that" way, you're getting meat farmed "that" way, whether or not that offends your sensibilities. The pretense that you can wishfully pretend that your Aldi's steaks and McDonald's burgers were farmed in some preindustrial idyllic georgic is offensive to a degree that cannot be overstated.
    - Kretinsky 4y ago
      If consumers were signaling their demand for meat from ethical farming, then be sure that American capitalism would change plenty of things to improve animal conditions. Because vegetarianism is mainly a habit of the wealthy in the US, it may even increase the share of industrial farming, as the ethical farmers lose their natural customers with enough spending power to buy their products.
      - tinglymintyfrsh 4y ago
        It doesn't take wealth to be vegetarian. It takes eyeballs and a brain to realize it's suicidal and omnicidal in the way of vulture capitalism to continue to eating meat. (No pun intended.)
_zoltan_ 4y ago
And that milk and beef is delicious. I understand you prefer something else based on your comment and I accept it. I suggest you try the same with others.
- ratg13 4y ago
  Cannibals think human flesh is good as well, you wanna give them a pass too? It’s okay to have opinions, and there is nothing forcing you to accept everyone’s opinions on every subject. Also, the person said nothing disparaging about meat eaters, and you are only guessing they don’t eat meat and trying to create context that allows you to try and put them down.. for seemingly no reason.
  - _zoltan_ 4y ago
    you should ask somebody else to read the parent comment then and ask them if they think the commenter eats meat. I guarantee 100% that they don't.
- uxcolumbo 4y ago
  A few factors to consider: - Animals have pain receptors like we do. Richard Dawkins even thinks animals feel pain more severely than we do. - Feeding ourselves with animal products requires multiple times more resources than sticking to a mostly plant based diet. It produces more green house gases - not something we should be doing during the climate crisis where the IPCC is urging the world to limit global heating to 1.5C to 2.0C. Currently we are on a path that's above that with catastrophic consequences if we don't act and reverse this trend. - Animal factory farms create tons of pollution causing biosphere destruction - Humans in modern societies don't need meat to survive Given the above, is it rational to continue this practice of killing Billions of animals each year just to satisfy our taste pleasure? This ex special forces guy put it best: https://youtu.be/BUMGBwgGYWw?t=100 https://youtu.be/BUMGBwgGYWw?t=100
  - trollerator23 4y ago
    Sure it is. Just tax it or something.

local_crmdgeon 4y ago

[flagged]

barbazoo 4y ago
You're right, it looks like it's closer to 8000 as per https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/lstk0522.pdf https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/report...

Gordonjcp 4y ago

That sounds like a lot. 95,000 cattle is enough to feed 95 million people. Edit: I guess that's about 1/3 the population of the US, so it's probably not far off.

barbazoo 4y ago
You're right, it looks like it's closer to 8000 as per https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/lstk0522.pdf https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/report...
- Gordonjcp 4y ago
  See, 8000 doesn't seem like enough. Only eight million people eat a portion of beef on a given day? Obviously it doesn't quite scale like that - not every cut of meat is a prime steak, some of it you'd chop up and stew. But a big pot of stew will feed a dozen people, and doesn't use a lot of cow, and what it does use is not an expensive bit. Right now livestock is the best thing we have for turning stuff humans can't eat into stuff humans can. I can't eat grass. Sheep can. Cows can. Hens eat everything.
  - barbazoo 4y ago
    > Right now livestock is the best thing we have for turning stuff humans can't eat into stuff humans can. I can't eat grass. Sheep can. Cows can. Hens eat everything. Almost all humans can live healthily without eating animals. > Because there are so many protein-rich plant foods, you can easily get enough protein on a vegan diet. Plus, experts agree that a well-planned plant-based diet provides all of the nutrients you need, including protein (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source). https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-protein-sources-chart https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-protein-sources-c...
    - Gordonjcp 4y ago
      Okay, but you can't eat grass.
      - barbazoo 4y ago
        A strawman, how apt :-) Obviously I didn't advocate for eating grass as humans can't digest it. Have a look at [0] for a diverse list of foods that don't involve animals. It's nutritious and delicious. And no cruelty involved at all. [0] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-meal-plan https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-meal-plan
- mazugrin2 4y ago
  Keep in mind that the 2.81 million cattle slaughtered number you are taking from the cited document is just for the month of April, 2022. So each day of April, 2022 there were, on average, about 93,667 cattle slaughtered.
  - barbazoo 4y ago
    facepalm I can't read it seems.

tinglymintyfrsh 4y ago

If anyone in the US ever wanted to become vegetarian, I suggest they drive through Greeley, Colorado past the lines of cattle cars waiting to enter the slaughterhouses. Their nose may curse them, however.

Kretinsky 4y ago
It's a common mistake to think all farming is done like american industrialized farming. If you want to start eating meat again, I'd recommend you come to France's Morvan to see Charolais cattle in the green pastures, living a semi-wild life away from any stress. Or in the Alps, where the cows spend their summer eating grass and flowers outside, with only a guard dog taking care they don't get lost.
- eindiran 4y ago
  If you are eating meat in the US and aren't going significantly out of your way to get meat not farmed "that" way, you're getting meat farmed "that" way, whether or not that offends your sensibilities. The pretense that you can wishfully pretend that your Aldi's steaks and McDonald's burgers were farmed in some preindustrial idyllic georgic is offensive to a degree that cannot be overstated.
  - Kretinsky 4y ago
    If consumers were signaling their demand for meat from ethical farming, then be sure that American capitalism would change plenty of things to improve animal conditions. Because vegetarianism is mainly a habit of the wealthy in the US, it may even increase the share of industrial farming, as the ethical farmers lose their natural customers with enough spending power to buy their products.
    - tinglymintyfrsh 4y ago
      It doesn't take wealth to be vegetarian. It takes eyeballs and a brain to realize it's suicidal and omnicidal in the way of vulture capitalism to continue to eating meat. (No pun intended.)

_zoltan_ 4y ago

And that milk and beef is delicious. I understand you prefer something else based on your comment and I accept it. I suggest you try the same with others.

ratg13 4y ago
Cannibals think human flesh is good as well, you wanna give them a pass too? It’s okay to have opinions, and there is nothing forcing you to accept everyone’s opinions on every subject. Also, the person said nothing disparaging about meat eaters, and you are only guessing they don’t eat meat and trying to create context that allows you to try and put them down.. for seemingly no reason.
- _zoltan_ 4y ago
  you should ask somebody else to read the parent comment then and ask them if they think the commenter eats meat. I guarantee 100% that they don't.
uxcolumbo 4y ago
A few factors to consider: - Animals have pain receptors like we do. Richard Dawkins even thinks animals feel pain more severely than we do. - Feeding ourselves with animal products requires multiple times more resources than sticking to a mostly plant based diet. It produces more green house gases - not something we should be doing during the climate crisis where the IPCC is urging the world to limit global heating to 1.5C to 2.0C. Currently we are on a path that's above that with catastrophic consequences if we don't act and reverse this trend. - Animal factory farms create tons of pollution causing biosphere destruction - Humans in modern societies don't need meat to survive Given the above, is it rational to continue this practice of killing Billions of animals each year just to satisfy our taste pleasure? This ex special forces guy put it best: https://youtu.be/BUMGBwgGYWw?t=100 https://youtu.be/BUMGBwgGYWw?t=100
- trollerator23 4y ago
  Sure it is. Just tax it or something.