Are hunters more moral than industrial vegetarians?!
Are hunters more moral than industrial vegetarians?
I heard an article on NPR that suggested it was more moral to hunt your own game and grow your own vegetables than to be a vegetarian who eats produce and things that have to be shipped cross country out of season or vegetarian products from companies who have any connection to "factory" meats. What are your thoughts?
Answers:
I agree with that statement whole-heartedly.
If I could bring myself to hunt for my food, I probably would. If I could grow my own vegetables I would. I live in a Condo, with just enough garden space for my spices.
People who are disagreeing with the statement aren't reading it right. It is immoral to support corporate giants who are transporting our veggies across the country, after storing them and using underpaid migrant workers to harvest the goods.
Storage, and transportation add to environmental problems. Underpaying illegal immigrants is just wrong, but as Americans we refuse to pay "too much" for vegetables.
But given the option is to eat prepackaged meat from an animal that ate more vegetables than I would in a year, I believe morally speaking it is better to be a vegetarian than a grocery store-hunting meat eater.
For Kit Kat - step outside of your righteous snow globe and realize that for every action there are consequences. I am a vegetarian, but we all must realize there is a cost for our actions. Immigrants do deserve better pay, and benefits. you do contribute to their injustice.
I go to great lengths to grow my own vegetables and fruits. I have an indoor hydroponic garden with grow lights for year round production, and outdoor gardens when the season is right for whatever I am growing. I think it is more moral and humane to hunt and kill an animal, then to let someone else do the dirty work, and buy it packaged in a store. If more people had to hunt, slaughter, and butcher their own meat, there would be more vegetarians than not. Unfortunately, most people cannot grow their own produce, or hunt their own meat. The flaw in that article is that they don't mention about meat being readily available for most consumers.
yes
I'm not sure how a vegetarian ordering vegetables from the other side of the country is "immoral".
I grew up in an area where there was a lot of hunting. I don't hunt myself, but my feeling about hunting and fishing is that if you are doing it to feed your family, that's fine. There are people that depend on shooting that deer every fall so the venison gives them a winter's supply of meat. I'm fine with that - it's not any worse than buying meat at the store.
Same with fishing - if you're going to eat it, fine.
I'm against sport hunting & fishing. Hunting for deer heads or "racks", or catch-and-release fishing. That makes no sense and is just cruel. But if you'll consume the food, that's fine.
You honestly think it's immoral to buy vegetables? Think about that for a moment and realize how incredibly stupid it sounds.
I'm not sure if it's immoral or not.
I am not a hunter. I have family that are hunters. I live in a small town in the country. I have seen deer die of disease and starvation. If you were to ask just about anyone in my county, they would tell you they have either hit a deer or were in an accident where a deer ran out in front of them. I see deer on the side of the road everyday that have been hit by cars.
I hit a deer about 4 months ago. Since we do not have street lights, the deer was not visible till I was right up on it and hitting it was unavoidable. I hat to sit and watch the deer suffer for 30 minutes till the police arrived and were able to put it out of its misery.
I am not for hunting as I said. But I would much rather see a deer killed and used for nourishment then to watch them suffer as I have.
I hunt deer and turkeys, but I think the question is an unfair one. How is someone, lets say, in my geographical area going to grow their own vegetables from October to May? Not real feasible doing it inside now, is it? No. What other choice do they have?
I agree.
If you hunt your own meat and grow your own veggies, you are reducing your "Ecological Footprint" by a lot.
By buying food products that need to be shipped, you are in fact indirectly supporting many industries (most of which probably do not jive with many Vegan and Vegetarian Ethics). Plus you are stregthening our reliance on GAS, and this is not good.
"Think Globally, Act Locally"
I would say that hunters are better than meat eaters who buy meat such as 'billy bear meat' and cheap tesco sausages, or whatever. Butcher meat is a bit better, but i think (as a non-meat eater)it is completely acceptable for tribesmen to hunt and kill their own food, especially since it is a rare treat for them, and so they only have it on the odd occasion.
However, i think it is hard for someone to kill for their own meat.
I wouldn't eat meat even if it was all free range anyway, and meat eaters also eat food such as fruit that has to be shipped across when not in season.
There are plenty of vegy meals that get a mix between these two, and that are made from fresh ingredients.
Do you even know the definition of moral? I'm so horrible for purchasing produce and I'm so much worse than a guy who shoots his own animals in the face and hangs them by their feet. Smart observation... Let me go tell my friends...