Do you have a problem with any of the companies who produce?!
My example is if you found out that a meatless option you wer eating was produced by a company that went against you ethics, ie: Tyson, would you still eat the veggie burgers?
I saw something in someone's answer today that made me contemplate this.
Thanks!
Answers: meatless options, such as Morningstar, Boca, ect, that may be owned by larger corporations that distribute meat products?
My example is if you found out that a meatless option you wer eating was produced by a company that went against you ethics, ie: Tyson, would you still eat the veggie burgers?
I saw something in someone's answer today that made me contemplate this.
Thanks!
Hey Trace :-)
The truth is if they buy those products they are hypocrites. They will argue that they can't use by-products of meat animals because the companies that slaughter the animals make a profit off of selling the remaining parts. If they don't use the by products that's less $$$ into the meat industry.
This is no different. They are putting $$$ into the meat industry company coffers and the products they buy are NOT unavoidable by a longshot. Buy vegetables, buy beans or whatever base items that don't have a meat industry connection.
If you eat veggie products that are sold under the same company umbrella that sells meat, you are a hypocrite.
You shouldn't. You should recognize that the company, especially a giant like Tyson for reaching out to all consumers. Plus remember how many people make their living off of these companies, come on, do you want them to go out of business (not that they would simply be veggies boycotting) but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.
Well, there are two sides to this. One is that you may not want to support the companies that make a buck off animal suffering. The way I look at it, the more people buy meatless products the more it sends a message to these companies that vegetarians are out there and their dollars are valuable, too. This will cause there to be more vegetarian/vegan options on store shelves and more people in the general populace will be exposed to the options that are available and perhaps this will result in more vegetarians. Who knows, maybe one day some of these companies will make more money off meatless products than they do on meat and they'll just stop offering meat altogether. One can dream, right?
This same idea can work if we demand healthier (non GMO, organic, no artificial flavors, etc.) foods. Well, it IS working right now, as evidenced by everyone jumping on the organic bandwagon. Now if we can just get those qualifiers tightened up a bit so organic really means organic (especially in regards to animal products) we'll be doing much better.
This is an interesting question, and occasionally a tough one. The most popular soymilk in the world is Silk, which is owned by a company that also make money from meat and dairy. Most other large companies like Boca and Gardenburger also derive some or most of their profits from animal products.
Obviously, the best thing to do for the environment and for animals is to make all of your own food, or only buy from local, organic, and strictly vegan sources. This is not an option for the vast majority of us.
Sometimes I do feel a bit of a sting when I buy some of these larger products, but we have to remember that, even if our money goes to a meat-producing company, we are still not adding to the demand for meat and dairy products as long as we don't buy them.
For example, if a company produced meat burgers and veggie burgers, and people began to buy the veggie more and more, the company would have to change it's supply and focus more of its resources on the veggie products. With every veggie burger people buy, they are sending the message to the company that that is what the consumers want.
Yes I do. I try my hardest to grow my own food.
But at school being a football player I have to eat some stuff made by bad companies which makes me feel bad.
The way I see it factory farms and meat producers will all have to make a living at something else if the majority of the poulation goes veg. So then, if a company like Tyson already has the infrastrucure in place to create a cruelty -free product that is a plus. If the public finally decides it doesn't want to risk eating poultry contaminated with dioxin, salmonella, and bird-flu strains it will have Boca products to run to. It's a good thing for people to buy the products in order to keep the demand up and the production of mock meats rolling.
It seems most of the companies that make veg-friendly options are owned by nasty corporations that exploit animals. But as Jenasaurus and others pointed out, if more and more people buy the veg option and fewer buy the meat option, the company will hopefully start changing their production to meet that demand.
It's the same thing with buying stuff on shared machinery. If more and more people buy the vegan option, even though it's produced on the same machinery or in the same factory as nonvegan items, the company may someday be able to afford dedicated machinery to produce vegan items.
A true vegan would ahve a problem with it. However, on this forum all we have is convenience vegans.