3 ms·

This is going to sound sanctimonious, but I'm vegetarian and to me bacon smells like rotting corpse (because that's what it is).

ericd 13y ago
Except it's not - it's well preserved, and not decomposing in the way that a rotting corpse would be.
- nikatwork 13y ago
  It's still a decomposing dead animal, preservation just slows down the process. If you don't believe me, leave a pack of bacon in your fridge for two months then take a big sniff. Of course, picked vegetables are also decomposing at a certain rate - but they don't have a dead animal smell. This is also why I'm excited about Soylent, and I haven't seen them play up the sustainable/ethical angle as yet.
  - noptic 13y ago
    Yes bacon is "a dead animal", but the typical bacon smell is not related to that. Bacon smells of cured meat, and there if you fry some cured vegatarian/vegan products you get a simmilar smell. (Deep fryed, thin sliced, King Oyster Mushrooms with smoked Salt).
  - ericd 13y ago
    You and I are also decomposing, I wouldn't say we smell like decomposing animal. The rate of decomposition changes the dominant smell, so it's not really valid to say that bacon smells like decomposing dead animal, because it smells much more like other things.
    - nikatwork 13y ago
      Unless you're a zombie, you are not decomposing, you're aging[1]. I'm afraid there's a rather sharp binary distinction between alive and dead. I suppose one could argue that the pigs confined within a factory farm never really get to live. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomposition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomposition
      - ericd 13y ago
        Ah you're right, sorry, my point was that cells are being damaged all the time and then repaired, but it's not quite the same.
      - waps 13y ago
        Except we've established : 1) bacon's smell has nothing to do with bacon itself - it's the preservatives that are used just the same for vegetables (sometimes) So you're just responding to a bad eating experience from long ago. I have the same - with fish. I can't stand being in the same room with it, I can't eat it without throwing up. I also know it's safe because for the first 3 years of my life I ate almost nothing but fish, and then I guess I ate a bad batch, and given my parent's habits I'm guessing I was forced to finish that. That's what's causing my aversion. I like to say that it's animals (and plants) forced to swim in their own faeces all their life, even in human faeces near coastal cities where nearly all fishing happens. I know several other people who have an aversion to certain foods (different from allergy because aversion is psychological, allergy is physical). But I'm under no illusion that fish is actually unhealthy. On the contrary, I fully realize it's healthy (and yes, I make sure to eat/drink/season things with fish oil on a regular basis) I would say that there's a lot of reasons you should reconsider vegetarianism though. 2) humans can't survive without eating the components of meat. There is no doubt about it, all human species are omnivores : while we can live for long periods without meat, it's risky, and going entirely without meat leads to death (even replacing meat with fish is risky). In the modern world it's actually possible to get a meat-replacing diet, using many components. Most vegetarians don't do it this way - they ignore the problem. Result : at first, slimming, which is what they're generally going for, and after a while (generally months or years) : sudden shutdown of a bodily function, or sudden death after a medical incident or blood loss (because it depletes stores of critical molecules they can't replace). Vegetarianism not healthy, it just slows the rate of depletion of critical proteins to a rate that won't cause issues for years (in an adult. Try it on a baby and they WILL die. E.g. http://naturalhygienesociety.org/diet-veganbaby.html http://naturalhygienesociety.org/diet-veganbaby.html ) A lot of vegeratians seem to think an attack against vegan/vegetarian diets is an attack against them. And because they've developed this psychological aversion, that there is something evil about a person trying to "convert" them. No matter the science behind it. there's an argument that while vegetarianism certainly isn't an ideal diet, it's better than McDonald's. And that's probably true.
  - darkarmani 13y ago
    > It's still a decomposing dead animal, preservation just slows down the process. Isn't that the same for all dead vegetables as well? You can dry cure meat to a point where it will barely change if the environment is just right.
    - nikatwork 13y ago
      Looks like you didn't bother actually reading my comment before responding to it. It was only two very short paragraphs, the second of which began: "Of course, picked vegetables are also decomposing at a certain rate - but they don't have a dead animal smell." And dry cured meat is not relevant to my initial statement that to me, bacon smells like dead animal. Actually, jerky doesn't have that smell. I miss jerky, but I like cows more.
lotsofcows 13y ago
Mmmmm, gamey. Makes me think of well hung duck.

ericd 13y ago

Except it's not - it's well preserved, and not decomposing in the way that a rotting corpse would be.

nikatwork 13y ago
It's still a decomposing dead animal, preservation just slows down the process. If you don't believe me, leave a pack of bacon in your fridge for two months then take a big sniff. Of course, picked vegetables are also decomposing at a certain rate - but they don't have a dead animal smell. This is also why I'm excited about Soylent, and I haven't seen them play up the sustainable/ethical angle as yet.
- noptic 13y ago
  Yes bacon is "a dead animal", but the typical bacon smell is not related to that. Bacon smells of cured meat, and there if you fry some cured vegatarian/vegan products you get a simmilar smell. (Deep fryed, thin sliced, King Oyster Mushrooms with smoked Salt).
- ericd 13y ago
  You and I are also decomposing, I wouldn't say we smell like decomposing animal. The rate of decomposition changes the dominant smell, so it's not really valid to say that bacon smells like decomposing dead animal, because it smells much more like other things.
  - nikatwork 13y ago
    Unless you're a zombie, you are not decomposing, you're aging[1]. I'm afraid there's a rather sharp binary distinction between alive and dead. I suppose one could argue that the pigs confined within a factory farm never really get to live. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomposition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomposition
    - ericd 13y ago
      Ah you're right, sorry, my point was that cells are being damaged all the time and then repaired, but it's not quite the same.
    - waps 13y ago
      Except we've established : 1) bacon's smell has nothing to do with bacon itself - it's the preservatives that are used just the same for vegetables (sometimes) So you're just responding to a bad eating experience from long ago. I have the same - with fish. I can't stand being in the same room with it, I can't eat it without throwing up. I also know it's safe because for the first 3 years of my life I ate almost nothing but fish, and then I guess I ate a bad batch, and given my parent's habits I'm guessing I was forced to finish that. That's what's causing my aversion. I like to say that it's animals (and plants) forced to swim in their own faeces all their life, even in human faeces near coastal cities where nearly all fishing happens. I know several other people who have an aversion to certain foods (different from allergy because aversion is psychological, allergy is physical). But I'm under no illusion that fish is actually unhealthy. On the contrary, I fully realize it's healthy (and yes, I make sure to eat/drink/season things with fish oil on a regular basis) I would say that there's a lot of reasons you should reconsider vegetarianism though. 2) humans can't survive without eating the components of meat. There is no doubt about it, all human species are omnivores : while we can live for long periods without meat, it's risky, and going entirely without meat leads to death (even replacing meat with fish is risky). In the modern world it's actually possible to get a meat-replacing diet, using many components. Most vegetarians don't do it this way - they ignore the problem. Result : at first, slimming, which is what they're generally going for, and after a while (generally months or years) : sudden shutdown of a bodily function, or sudden death after a medical incident or blood loss (because it depletes stores of critical molecules they can't replace). Vegetarianism not healthy, it just slows the rate of depletion of critical proteins to a rate that won't cause issues for years (in an adult. Try it on a baby and they WILL die. E.g. http://naturalhygienesociety.org/diet-veganbaby.html http://naturalhygienesociety.org/diet-veganbaby.html ) A lot of vegeratians seem to think an attack against vegan/vegetarian diets is an attack against them. And because they've developed this psychological aversion, that there is something evil about a person trying to "convert" them. No matter the science behind it. there's an argument that while vegetarianism certainly isn't an ideal diet, it's better than McDonald's. And that's probably true.
- darkarmani 13y ago
  > It's still a decomposing dead animal, preservation just slows down the process. Isn't that the same for all dead vegetables as well? You can dry cure meat to a point where it will barely change if the environment is just right.
  - nikatwork 13y ago
    Looks like you didn't bother actually reading my comment before responding to it. It was only two very short paragraphs, the second of which began: "Of course, picked vegetables are also decomposing at a certain rate - but they don't have a dead animal smell." And dry cured meat is not relevant to my initial statement that to me, bacon smells like dead animal. Actually, jerky doesn't have that smell. I miss jerky, but I like cows more.

lotsofcows 13y ago

Mmmmm, gamey. Makes me think of well hung duck.