Has anyone else rethought meat and dairy after seeing Slingshot adverts?

[Wyatt148]

Has anyone seen the slingshot_uk ads in the London Underground?

I’m a 43(f), about two months ago I googled vegetarian meal planning/recipes as I was trying to both cut my weekly shopping bill and be a bit healthier. I was always semi-conscious of animal welfare but always kind of put it to the side of my mind.

Well, the algorithm kicked in and wow.. I was genuinely shocked at the info that poured into my feed…what I learned about ‘big agri’ and mass factory farming. I couldn’t believe what I was reading/seeing/hearing so dug a bit deeper thinking I was just being fed the extreme versions….but no. The supply chains for the big supermarkets: Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Lidl etc. I then started looking into the practices of more local dairy farms, slaughterhouses, thinking I’ll just pay a bit more to a local butcher, a way to find a way of buying these things and being ok with myself, but…same practices. The bottom line wins out.

The Slingshot campaign is focused on marketing tactics and exposing factory farming at a large scale, but the data I kept (keep) getting is about all dairy farming and slaughterhouses and my world view has shifted entirely. I’m genuinely shook. The suffering of these animals, bred for this, is undeniable.

I can’t believe I’m this age and didn’t realise or understand the exploitation and what these animals go through (for those of you who are aware I’m sure this sounds completely idiotic). I really wish I’d known this sooner but I guess a combination of slick marketing and my own denial/wilful ignorance won out.

I feel stunned and ultimately really guilty. I’ve been vegan for a month now (cheaper shopping bill and feel great for it both physically and mentally). I’ve heard lots of arguments about health (although the scientific research wins out there but understand it may not be feasible for some), and it’s been an adjustment as I live with a partner and three large dogs who still eat meat/dairy. But I just wanted to share as I really wish I’d known to look into this in detail before now, maybe there are some of you who will appreciate this also.

I promise this isn’t an underhanded, goady post and I fully expect to get folk arguing for meat/dairy for health reasons, but wanted to highlight this as I wish I knew the realities of what goes on behind those dairy and slaughterhouse walls before now, so maybe some of you will too.

I know some vegan activists are aggressive and off putting but ultimately I understand they’re trying to highlight the injustice of it all. When I watch the footage (I’ll not share links as very graphic but easy to find and I can share if anyone wants) it’s clear as day. I’d urge everyone interested to take a look, I wish I’d known sooner.

Waffle waffle self discovery waffle… OP has discovered that some farms abuse & mistreat the animals they raise for slaughter.

It’s well known OP. Either eat animal products or don’t.

Ive seen these ads. Some people mistreat animals that is terrible but most slaughterhouses and farms dont.

Ultimately i dont think too deeply about where my food comes from other than a grateful.appreciation of farmers who keep the food rotation turning.

I haven't seen that particular campaign, and don't intend to, but I have seen some pro-vegan advertisements and programmes.

Some farm workers abuse animals, and should not be working with them. Some do not.

One practice which is frequently shown (lifting cows with a hip hoist, using a JCB) might look cruel... but how else are cattle (often somewhere around 700kg+) who have damaged their muscles and/or legs supposed to be moved? The injured ones are moved to a safer place with a less slippery surface, sometimes shackled (to keep their legs and hips in the right place, and to make doing the splits less likely), in the hope that they will recover in time.

Interesting 1st post. Feels like the adverts you get on Facebook all the time now. All faux innocence. "I just came across this info and wow... Just had to share with you all...!!"

My reason for posting was because I didn’t know the extent of the exploitation and suffering I was buying into and wish I knew sooner, and maybe there are others who don’t know and would be interested. From my research it’s all slaughterhouses not some. But I take your point about self discovery waffle.

It is perfectly possible to buy meat from well treated animals which have been slaughtered in smaller abbattoirs in UK. Most vegan arguments/evidence is based on American data. Try looking for organic, forage fed beef, OP.

I read animal liberation by Peter Singer when I was 16. I got over it 10 years later and now eat meat. I’m amazed that anyone with a fully formed adult brain would react the same way tbh. It sounds more like you fell down an internet rabbit hole and you should be glad it fixed on animals not qanon or similar.

Nice advertorial.

If you’re that surprised, you haven’t been paying attention. The issue is that most consumers are extremely removed from the animal they are eating and the entire process. They just see the sanitised packaged with the meat all clean and nicely cut, ready to cook. How do you think it goes there? The growing, the killing, plucking, hair, guts removal , cutting etc.
I saw animals being slaughtered since I was a kid. Some that I hand reared /looked after myself .

You are 100% correct imo OP. But most people don't care unless it affects them directly. If they saw a chicken/lamb/calf being attacked by a human, they would intervene or at the very least they would be very upset, yet have no issue with shitting the same animal out their arse.

Good luck on your journey OP.
I was vegan for about 8 yrs before I caved and started eating dairy again. Now after about 10mths I'm going back to it both for ethical reasons and because i just felt better eating that way.

I do think everybody should educate themselves about where the animal products they buy come from though. It's a personal decision but given what it involves it should at least be an informed one.

@Wyatt148 i knew you’d get a pasting just for wanting to be a kind person OP so predictable

I understood that they were reared, killed and cleaned for us to buy, but I didn’t realise the practices inside the slaughterhouses (gassing for eg) or the realities behind the ‘assured’ labelling (free range for eg). I took a lot (all) of the labelling as genuine so that’s been a wake up. But you’re right, on a mass scale of course it’s going to be a production line and about the profit line

Complete ignorance. Intensively farmed animals suffer, some abattoirs are awful. These tend to supply large supermarkets etc.
I know plenty of farmers who raise animals well, use smaller and better abattoirs, and either supply local butchers or sell at the farm gates.
Our local butcher can tell you where all of their meat comes from, it's all locally bred and slaughtered as ethically as possible.
Don't lump all farmers and abattoirs into the same group.

I delved a little few years ago and it is truly more horrific than I ever could have imagined. I hear ya OP

What utter nonsense. What part of 'slaughterhouse' do you think isn't mistreatment??

I haven’t seen these particular videos but I can imagine what they include, I’m quite aware of how meat gets to my table. Remember these are made by an organisation with a specific aim, they are not going to feature anything that doesn’t enforce their mission - eg the delicious lamb I have in my freezer bought straight from a farm (I know the owner) who use a mobile abattoir or venison from animals that have been culled due to overpopulation (no large predators in the uk). Everyone is free to make their own choices on these things but always remember the other side of the situation, farm animals only exist as commodities

Yeah right. Definitely shackled to help them 'recover' ....

Thank you, that’s it really, just understanding where your moneys going and what you’re buying into. Not meaning to be preachy, everyone makes their own choices of course. I’m just having a reckoning with myself because I’ve learnt about those industries a bit more

I think I’m moving towards just not consuming animals who were bred for slaughter atall but I’ll definitely look into this, thank you

Animals are killed & we eat them. That’s basically it. We also take their milk, make them work & look at them in a zoo or circus for entertainment.

I hope you're going to take a principled stand on intensive farming of plant foods, e.g. palm oil in Indonesia which is leading to deforestation and placing orang utans at risk of extinction; avocado farming leading to water shortages because they need so much water to grow. Are you going to eat local and just consume plants grown in the UK? Or are you going to eat foods airfreighted in from the other side of the world?

Humans have evolved to eat meat as part of our diet. I don't have any ethical problem with it at all.

I take your point and don’t mean to be ignorant, apologies. I think I’ve come to the conclusion from those ads and then subsequent research into the smaller operators, that for me ‘as ethical as possible’ still isn’t for me. But I appreciate what you’re saying

The meat needs to be killed somehow 🤷‍♀️ if it follows the regulations and isnt going out its way to cause additional hurt or harm thats fine.

Like I said...I dont think too deeply about it. I live in the countryside surrounded by farms and farmers. Thank god for them and they treat their animals well.

We do, you’re right. I guess I’m questioning whether we (I) should