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.

I don't know about slingshot, but I went plant based for health 6 years ago. Like you I ended up seeing the way animals are treated. Mostly from undercover cameras, documentaries and good old fashioned fact checking. From then on, I decided to be vegan. I couldn't contribute to the awful suffering of these poor creatures. It is horrific. Its never a one off. Its the norm. Never mind the pollution, zoonotic diseases, killing our oceans and deforestation. I have children and I want to do the right thing for their future.
The thing is. You will tell people, expecting them to be as shocked as you, and think they will act accordingly. But they don't. People don't care. Its frustrating. I want to shake people. I wonder why they don't think or care about their childrens future. I like you have to live with it. You can't make people care.

Well done on going vegan OP. I was vegetarian from aged 10 to 21 and have been vegan since then, so 25 years now. Farming animals is brutal, it upset me, so I decided being vegan was the best thing for me to do. It didn’t go down well with my dad and grandparents who were farmers. 😬 I had seen too much though. In my 20s, I got involved in activism and campaigning, even went undercover at some farms and abattoirs. There was a level of deliberate cruelty at many of them, but even following procedure, it was awful.

Good luck. 🌱

When we send our pets to be euthanised at a slaughter house instead of with a vet, not for them to enter the food chain.

Thank you. Yeah changing what I was buying/eating was actually a lot easier than I thought, but I was/am surprised by the push back (in real life) when it comes up. But I think you actually have to go looking for the info because as previous posters have mentioned, we’re sold a story, but when I watched the undercover docs and saw the actual practices and the welfare stats it really opened my eyes.

And then I saw the slingshot campaign go mainstream (well, in London anyway) and now think maybe there’ll be more awareness, it’s genuinely brutal. (Appreciate a lot of posters here seem to be already aware though). Thanks for your post

Thank you. Yeah what I’ve seen is horrific and upsetting, I was also just so annoyed with myself for not having looked into it sooner, I could have. I don’t think I could visit a slaughterhouse so well done on bringing attention to it.

I appreciate not everywhere is the same and some previous posters have pointed out smaller slaughterhouses and their practices and I’ll look to those where we are (because my partner still eats animals) but ultimately I think for me now there’s no ethical way to kill for something most of us don’t need.

I’ve seen the Slingshot adverts.
It was revealing and horrifying for me.

Im mostly pescatarian/vegetarian anyway and am revolted by the smell of meat, let alone cook it.

I recently had a long chat with a local butcher whose slaughter house is “just up the road”
in a nearby small town. He runs his own herd & flocks and knows his slaughter house very well. He was reassuring about his practices especially since he’d been a butcher all his working life and is appalled by what he knows goes on in the meat for food industry.

Good luck OP. I have been vegan for about 6 years after eating meat and dairy for the first 50. It was a health experiment for me, encouraged by my adult DC, and I've never regretted it.
I've lost two stone, and keep it off without too much difficulty.
My diet is excellent because I can eat so many nutritious foods without filling myself up on meat and dairy. I cook from scratch now, all whole foods, as I don't like the fake stuff. I'm also not a fan of vegan chocolate, so there's another bad habit kicked.
I can honestly say, I've never felt better. All my little digestive niggles and sluggishness has gone and I'm full of energy.
Its not easy and it's not for everyone, so I would say, try not to come at it from a place of guilt based on what you've discovered, or torture yourself with the information. I avoid it myself. Once you know, you know.
Nor would i try to convert. It wont work and it gives us a bad name. Just carry on doing what you can for your ethics and your health and people can see for themselves that it can be a beneficial way to live. I've accidentally 'converted' two people just because they saw what it's done for me.

That's absolute nonsense. Do you really think all vegans are living on Beyond Meat burgers? You can cook delicious vegan meals from scratch using fresh vegetables and pulses, for example. A chick pea curry is far healthier than a sausage roll made from mechanically recovered meat, for example.

And lots and lots of vegan/vegetarians avoid palm oil, too. It's quite easy to do if you don't eat processed foods.

Yes, I have a friend who was brought up on a farm who is now vegan. Which is pretty telling.

No it hasn't made me change my view on meat and tbh OP you sound you're trying a new way to preach. I've got many vegans onh SM and they all give the same spiel apart from one.

The lifespan of an animal killed for meat is what- two years? So we stop breeding them now, and in two years there aren't any.

Many conservationists, soil scientists etc believe that the world could do very well being vegan. Many have discussed how it could be done with land management, alternative fertilisers, what would happen to animals, effects on the environment etc. It is really interesting.

"Listen, it's either the animals die or you die. Eating this vegan slop will kill you, make no mistake." You're quite right @worldshottestmom. It killed the co-founder of the Vegan Society ... when he was 95 years old 😂😂😂

ETA 😂😂😂

Given you've just had this epiphany I'm assuming you haven't thought about the animal impact on everything else in your life.
Animals have suffered to provide you with just about everything, phone in your hand, clothes on your body etc
Ref food, a lot of pulses come from countries with woeful human and animal rights legislation. That bag of lentils may technically not contain animal products, but certainly animals have been used in the growing/harvesting/transportation.

Essential I think everyone should be mindful of their choices and make a well rounded judgement that's right for them.

I would rather source meat from a local butcher/farmer then buy a bag of lentils grown in India.

This is not true. None of us have any idea what kind of horrific lives these animals endure. A lot of meat products give the impression that the animals are well cared for when they really are not. And there is no humane way to slaughter an animal that really does not want to die. I just wish people would be more honest with themselves.

It seems that once people become vegan, lots of people say things like this, as if they expect perfection. I’m vegan because I believe it is the way of living that causes the least harm. I eat locally sourced food as far as possible, I choose products that I think cause least harm. It is not always easy being vegan in a non vegan world, but I exist, and to exist, it’s impossible not to cause any harm.

From what I know and have seen, vegan is the best way to live imo. Others can make different choices. I do wish everyone thought more though and that they were informed. Lots of people are ignorant and their actions aren’t really something they think about, they just do what they’ve always done without much thought at all.

I'm a meat eater. But I have worked in this field ( not physically ) and no one has to mistreat the animals for it to be extremely upsetting. Cows are painlessly dispatched and fast. But they can smell fear and death. Go stand near a slaughter house and you can smell it for yourself.

The smell from the one in a local industrial estate is nothing else like I have smelt in my life.

I think we all need to know where our food comes from even it doesn't turn you vegan.

It's true. If they don't have the shackles around their ankles, they are more likely to do the splits again.

I've worked on dairy farms, so I'm not making it up for the fun of it.

I’ve considered things like leather/wool and use of animals for entertainment but you’re right, I haven’t gone down the route of understanding how animals are used in vegetable processing or transportation or other commodities etc. Not sure it needs to be an all or nothing approach but point taken.

“Essential I think everyone should be mindful of their choices and make a well rounded judgement that's right for them.”

Completely agree with you, it’s the point of the original post.

It’s early days for you OP. You’ll learn more as you go along. The people I know that have been vegan for years now, started with making small changes. Many were vegetarian for a while first, like I was, then they changed their diet to vegan, then looked into other things as they got used to the changes they had already made. Trying to change everything at once can feel overwhelming and that’s when people are more likely to give up. Keep going and don’t let people put you off.

Sorry that you think I’m being disingenuous, like I said in the op, I’m not trying to be underhanded, I’m honestly interested in people’s reactions to that particular slingshot campaign (as it has a load of evidence attached) and also wanted to highlight factory farming for people who might not have considered the detail of the practices inside it (like myself) but who are interested (I appreciate from this thread that a lot of people seem well aware already).

I‘m with you OP.
Sad to read all the comments where people don’t care and are “too busy” to care.
No such thing as “humane” slaughter. Animals are carted significant distances only to be killed. They are hungry, thirsty and terrified. They are tormented and abused. This is not a rare occurrence, you just have to ask yourself what type of person would chose a job in an abattoir??!

The dairy, egg and meat industries are big business, ie money, hence why compassion and kindness are often left behind.
If consumers were willing to pay more for dairy, meat and eggs and eat them less frequently, then animal factories needn’t exist.

Human greed knows no boundaries, it’s shameful.

I think that's a bit unfair tbh. We are built to have empathy and compassion. But if we were all vegan wtf do we do with the multiple population of animals who, like humans, actively breed.

I have chickens, ended up with a young cock as the farmer made clear he was for the chop so my kids guilt tripped us into having him (free). I now have a chick who I suspect is a cock. Options....... feed him to the snake or let him be killed by the alpha.

Or you could rehome him. If you google you will find some ideas of how to do that. Obviously be careful and vet well but there are lots of rescues, sanctuaries and groups that will be able to provide advice.

I don't live in the UK, maybe people are different there, but I live in a rural town in another country where the freezing works, as they were called, provided large amount of jobs to the locals, and still do although on a smaller scale. I know many, many, of the people who have worked there, often generations of families, and not one of them could be described as a potential murderer. They are normal people doing a job to earn money.

I seriously wonder if the majority of the UK populace know the first thing about agriculture.