Should eating meat be outlawed unless you raise it, slaughter it, skin it, and butcher it yourself?!
Answers:
This is a good question Grams, and I think something very similar to what you just stated. A person who eats meat (which I do) should know first hand what it is like to have to harvest and dress a living animal..even if it's through hunting.
This also instills a principal of having to "do for ones self," what would happen if a person was suddenly placed in a situation where going to the grocery store and fetching what they need pre handled was not an option?
Even a person who does not indulge in meat should be able to grow their own food. I consider it a survival skill.
No I don't think that it should. Meat is a product and like all products, we pay/hire some people to do it for us because we can't do it ourselves for a variety of reasons. If that is going to be your logic, then perhaps you should make anything and everything we do as "hands -on" before we are allowed to do it. As others have suggested, make growing of other foods hands on before you have the "right" to eat it. Teachers have to be married with children themselves before they can be "allowed" to teach the children of others. Policemen must be victim of crimes first before they can stop criminals from victimizing others. Drivers must make their own cars, you must generate your own electricity, make your own computer, program your own software etc before you can use any of it. And so on and so forth. If you think that any other industry does not involve the killing of another living thing, then you are wrong and sadly very naive for your supposed implied age. And unless you were already alive and butchering animals yourself back in the 1890s, your "time" the 1950s, was as detached from not only the the "horrors" of the meat industry as today, but from the "horrors" of what the world was going through back then.
Your suggestion is not only impractical, it is also unfair and does promote the vegetarian stance no mater how much you deny it.
How do you think my family holds onto all their money? They are subsistence hunters, we raise our own dairy goats, a lot of our clothes are handmade, where we live it is actually easier to ski to visit the Sami community several km away (our nearest neighbors) or hook up the dogs and take a sled so we can barter with them for reindeer meat, etc etc. I don't think I had any purchased meat besides whale or seal meat until I immigrated to the US. Everything was hunted or raised by ourselves or the Sami, who we traded with frequently. I have a veggie garden every year now that I live in California. I have a very large property, so I also have some fruit trees. Such a long growing season here! I love it!
No, I don't think it should be outlawed simply because a lot of people in the US would starve. Can't really keep a cow in your condo, ya know.
Nordic expat
should we make our own clothes, make our houses, grow our own vegtables, make our cars, police ourselves. paying for it creates jobs
edit - The animal is killed anyway. The vegetarian stance should be it is always morally wrong. It doesn't matter by whose hand.
I think you'll find that you'd be surprised at how educated people are on the issue both meat eaters and vegetarians. There have been numerous undercover documentaries on the subject.
edit -Lancaid We need a structured police force unless you want animal farm.
You days are gone,Olga.Even in your day most people were already living in cities and getting their meat from a butcher or market.
Killing an animal isn't that big of a deal.I will grant it's messy business,though.
PETA-People Eating Tasty Animals.I'm eating beef tonight and chicken tomorrow.I don't care who killed either.I'm eating fresh Maine Shrimp for lunch tomorrow.I don't care who killed them either.
The important question is can we make stupidity illegal.
i think thats an awesome idea! i love the ranch life myself and this is just one step closer, although for the city folks its impossible with city regulations to kill an animal in any context, it is a messy process so we would see an increase in rural life, and a decrease in industrial life.. or wed see the gas prices sky rocket because it would take a lot more gas to get to work, thus increasing consumtion, then people wouldnt be able to get to work! and live off their land, and since everyones selling fruits and veggies probably not going to get much of a profit.
and theyll be like 60 handy men in one town, and then some of them will start doing under the table slaughters and a black market would start for meat for people who live in cities... so an increase in the number of people in jail which would then increase taxes to try and pay for their care food and more gaurds for the jails and prisons.
oh well lets just keep it as it is eh.
outlawed?
No I don't think so, i think human beings should use their brains and stop being so thoughtless and wasteful.
I'm a vegetarian, and I do feel the day I stop being a vegetarian will be the day I can do what you listed. I know thats a bit extreme.
I'm not against eating meat or meat eaters, I know we started at day one eating meat, we ate it to survive/live, so we could take care of our family and evolve, now we just live to eat and don't think about anything else but ourselves and the effect of what we are doing. Supporting huge corporations that are just after the dollar and don't give a second thought to humanity or the environment.
The animal wouldn't be killed anyway- the only reason they are bred is to be slaughtered. If there is no demand, why would they put the money into breeding an animal just to put money into slaughtering it?
And to say that it creates jobs, should we have stopped using the internet and ordering online and downloading ebooks to stop angus and roberstons or borders book store from going down and all their staff losing their jobs???
I do wish that people had more of an idea of where their food came from. I am horrified by the number of people who don't have any clue about how they get their food. I'm not just talking about kids. I can forgive a child for not knowing that ham comes from a pig. But some adults are like that, too. Some people are just clueless!
I feel this way about pretty much all food. No, I don't think you should have to plow a field with a farmer and plant the seeds, etc, before you should be allowed to eat bread. But at least know what goes on. Do I think people should have to grow their own tomatoes if they want a pizza? No, but stick your hand in the dirt. Sniff a tomato plant. Get used to the fact that food used to be part of a whole animal, or a whole plant, before it was processed into whatever you're eating.
Do I wish people would raise and slaughter their own meat? Yes. I would love it if people had that experience. I believe that you can't truly be conscientious about some things unless you experience them. If you would not be willing to do something, is it really fair to ask someone else to? Most people are not equipped to raise an animal, or grow crops. I know I'm not! The best I can do is steal part of my mom's garden to grow vegetables, which I love to do. I am the Tomato Whisperer of the neighborhood.
I would have no qualms about raising chickens for eggs if I had the ability (zoning, alas, means I cannot). The same goes for cows for milk. I would love to have a pet cow or pet chickens! I would have no ethical qualms with doing so, so I don't mind asking someone else to do it for me. I have no problem with growing plants to eat, so I don't mind asking someone else to do it for me. Would I *like* to toil in the sun to get acres of plants in? No. Would I *like* to get up at 4 in the morning to take care of the cows? Not at all. But I don't think there is an ethical problem with it. Would I kill an animal in a non-survival situation? Nope. I don't think I could do it. I would think that was morally wrong. Therefore, I'm not going to pay someone to do it.
That being said, I do not think people should be required to do it. As I mentioned, most people are not equipped to do so. We don't live in the country with enough land to properly care for animals. I live in an apartment. Even if it were legal, it would not be fair to keep a cow or chicken there. People don't have the time, money, or expertise to raise, slaughter, and butcher an animal properly. I would much, MUCH rather see another change than that one. If I had a magic wand, I would wave it and the government would stop subsidizing corn (which is pretty much junk) and start subsidizing pastured cattle (both for milk and meat).
I do hunt, kill, and butcher the meat I eat. So sure lets pass that law. But it goes both ways. ALL food must be this way then. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes must all be planted, watered, and harvested only by the individual that is going to eat it. Tit for tat.
That makes no more sense than to claim that eating fruits and vegetables and grains should be outlawed unless you sow it, plant it, water it, and harvest it yourself.
After all, isn't that just as "hands-on" an experience?
Absolutely not, but I do agree that it would be a good experience for people to have. People don't need to stop eating meat, but they also shouldn't be blind to what they're eating.
@Ginny Jin: Yes we should police ourselves.
Good but we should apply that to all foods. If we did that, 90% of the population would perish, and the world would be exclusively populated by hunters and farmers who produce their own food.
guess what, I am one of those and you aren't.
I'd support that.....as long as vegetarians are required to plow, plant, harvest, and process all the foods they eat.
And I'll eat the meat raw as soon as I see vegetarians eating uncooked beans and rice for their complete protein.
Hello,
That would never happen, but good idea,
As i am a chef be trade, I have killed prepared and eaten,, the first time I cried, but I had to get used to it,
Good question though
It's kinda fun to throw lobsters into boiling hot water. They even make a sound hissing sound. Cats however, make a horrible noise, also they try to escape.
nope, should drinking cow's milk be illegal, should eating eggs be illegal should eating any product that comes from an animal be illegal?
F*** NO!! People need protein that doesnt come from crap like nuts people need real protein to actually grow so we wont all be midgets.
many years of experience...
DUHHHHH WHUTTTTTTT??????
MEH AND MAH AWSUMMNUSSS
If it was that way there would be a lot more vegetarians.
no way
Yes eating meat should be banned.