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> we all know how sausages are made. I'm doubtful. There's a few documentaries showing the process and I've had people tell me multiple times that they were ge

> we all know how sausages are made. I'm doubtful. There's a few documentaries showing the process and I've had people tell me multiple times that they were genuinely shocked by it. I'm assuming those people "knew" and it's just that knowing "it's all the waste at the butcher getting stuffed into guts" is not quite the same as seeing it first hand.

jebarker 1y ago
I wasn't even really thinking of the actual sausage stuffing process so much as how the meat gets to the butcher (which is really a meat grinding factory in most cases) in the first place.
raincole 1y ago
And what happened after they told you they were shocked? Did they all become vegan once and for all?
- staunton 1y ago
  Most just expressed their shock (which didn't seem staged) but changed nothing. One person became vegetarian for about a year, then started to eat meat again. I'm not sure if they still eat sausages.
mvdtnz 1y ago
People get upset because we use every part of an animal for food? I think it's absolutely great. I am a meat-eater who doesn't feel ethically great about it, but I'd feel much worse if I knew a large percentage of a carcass went to waste.
jfengel 1y ago
I'm not sure what documentaries you're watching. Natural sausage casings are specialty items. If you're buying it at the grocery store, it's probably collagen (closely related to gelatin). And it's not "all the waste". It includes fatty cuts that people wouldn't want to eat whole, but it doesn't include organ meats outside of specialty items. Perhaps people find meat-grinding distressing, though it's really not all that different from ground beef. The emulsified filling of hot dogs and bologna looks odd, but the ingredients are inoffensive. I'm less disturbed by sausage-making than by the slaughter and prime butchering of animals. They're no less dead and dismembered if you're eating a steak or pot roast. I'd rather we at least make use of all of the other parts.
- staunton 1y ago
  Indeed, the images I remember most vividly myself (though I wouldn't say they shocked me at any point) is the guts being emptied. So it was some more traditional process for specialty sausages, not a huge factory. Then again, some people find seeing a huge Industrial room full of raw meat distressing, perhaps somewhat analogously to how they might not be afraid of one spider but suddenly panick upon seeing hundreds at one spot.
smitty1e 1y ago
Assuming a disdain toward sausage is straightforward and natural. Hunger is an unforgiving teacher, and the reality that our forebears grew expert at squeezing every last calorie out of everything in sight might afford a lesson.

jebarker 1y ago

I wasn't even really thinking of the actual sausage stuffing process so much as how the meat gets to the butcher (which is really a meat grinding factory in most cases) in the first place.

raincole 1y ago

And what happened after they told you they were shocked? Did they all become vegan once and for all?

staunton 1y ago
Most just expressed their shock (which didn't seem staged) but changed nothing. One person became vegetarian for about a year, then started to eat meat again. I'm not sure if they still eat sausages.

mvdtnz 1y ago

People get upset because we use every part of an animal for food? I think it's absolutely great. I am a meat-eater who doesn't feel ethically great about it, but I'd feel much worse if I knew a large percentage of a carcass went to waste.

jfengel 1y ago

I'm not sure what documentaries you're watching. Natural sausage casings are specialty items. If you're buying it at the grocery store, it's probably collagen (closely related to gelatin). And it's not "all the waste". It includes fatty cuts that people wouldn't want to eat whole, but it doesn't include organ meats outside of specialty items. Perhaps people find meat-grinding distressing, though it's really not all that different from ground beef. The emulsified filling of hot dogs and bologna looks odd, but the ingredients are inoffensive. I'm less disturbed by sausage-making than by the slaughter and prime butchering of animals. They're no less dead and dismembered if you're eating a steak or pot roast. I'd rather we at least make use of all of the other parts.

staunton 1y ago
Indeed, the images I remember most vividly myself (though I wouldn't say they shocked me at any point) is the guts being emptied. So it was some more traditional process for specialty sausages, not a huge factory. Then again, some people find seeing a huge Industrial room full of raw meat distressing, perhaps somewhat analogously to how they might not be afraid of one spider but suddenly panick upon seeing hundreds at one spot.

smitty1e 1y ago

Assuming a disdain toward sausage is straightforward and natural. Hunger is an unforgiving teacher, and the reality that our forebears grew expert at squeezing every last calorie out of everything in sight might afford a lesson.