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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

meat.org

32 replies

captainBeaky · 22/01/2014 20:46

Please look at this. I am not preaching vegetarianism or vegan in the slightest, but this is truly horrific. I think it is so important that we know where our food comes from. I appreciate that many of you will already be aware, and are making your own informed choices, but in case you are not aware, or are curious, then please take a look. It is upsetting (I warn you of that in advance), but educational and important. Please sign the petition.

OP posts:

notundermyfoof · 22/01/2014 20:58

Can you give us a link please?

Original poster

captainBeaky · 22/01/2014 21:00

sorry,a bit computer illiterate, but if you google meat.org it's all there.

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RandyRudolf · 22/01/2014 21:03

If it's the video 'if slaughterhouses had walls' then yes, I recommend watching it. It's difficult to watch but I think it's important not to turn a blind eye to these things.

If these videos are too much however I strongly recommend checking out the compassion in World farming website here.
It recognises that people want to eat meat but asks you to consider where your meat comes from and the conditions in which the animals are reared. A real eye opener.

RandyRudolf · 22/01/2014 21:04

meat.org

newfavouritething · 22/01/2014 21:06

YABU. Do you know where your vegetables come from?

frogwatcher42 · 22/01/2014 21:07

Cant look at it to be honest. I won't sleep for days.

Can you give a summary of the main points. Or the main things people can do to prevent the cruelty?

I don't think many people will look at the link.

RandyRudolf · 22/01/2014 21:09

I'm happy for my veg to travel across Europe in crates with no water and cramped into a little wooden crate. Not so much the animals. If they have to be slaughtered, do it here and transport them in an ice box to the point of sale.

WorraLiberty · 22/01/2014 21:09

The video won't play for me

But surely the pledge should be to try a vegan diet for 30 days?

I mean given how cruel dairy farming is etc?

RandyRudolf · 22/01/2014 21:10

frog. Go to the Compassion in World Farming site. It will answer your questions without the gore.

newfavouritething · 22/01/2014 21:14

If people stopped buying cheap imported meat everything WOULD be slaughtered here.

RandyRudolf · 22/01/2014 21:15

what you can do

Original poster

captainBeaky · 22/01/2014 21:21

brilliant newfavourite, thanks for your input.
Frog, I can't bear to look but since viewing I have become aware of the fact that cows are kept in a permanent state of lactation throughout their lives and their calves are slaughtered. Also male chicks are slaughtered horrendously (and not always thoroughly) so that we can have eggs. You need to research to see it.
I used to be totally vegetarian, but in the last few years I have lapsed a bit (in that, what difference can I make mindset), but I am returning to my previous view. If we all make a stand then these animals need not suffer as badly. It is truly barbaric, and I completely appreciate that it is not nice viewing, but it is essential viewing, or at least worthy of our research.
As Paul McCartney states "If slaughterhouses had glass walls we would all be vegetarian"
We need to be aware, be educated in the practices of farming, and then make our own decisions. I have no qualms about eating meat that is reared humanely and slaughtered humanely, but the way many animals are treated is truly barbaric. The public need to open their eyes to this.

OP posts:

Original poster

captainBeaky · 22/01/2014 21:23

Worra, I agree, my eyes have been opened recently about dairy farming practices. I think a lot of people are unaware. That is my point.

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DollyHouse · 22/01/2014 21:23

The thing is a lot of the public won't care. Not everyone sees animals as anything but food. And many people can't afford to have principles.

Original poster

captainBeaky · 22/01/2014 21:26

I think if they saw this they would care a bit more. I agree with poverty and principles, this needs to be tackled higher up.

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RandyRudolf · 22/01/2014 21:26

I agree captain there are many many people who are not informed. Intensive farming methods are taking over, they're nothing like the farming we learnt about at school. The meat industry is big business and the demand for cheaper meat means corners are cut and conditions are hell on earth for animals.

What a lot of people don't realise is that the quality of meat reared in intensive conditions is so poor and pumped with so many antibiotics. The producers don't care, they're churning out pumped up chickens in 49 days. This isn't natural.

Original poster

captainBeaky · 22/01/2014 21:33

Thanks Randy. We all need to read up before we buy.

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NoraRobertsismyguiltypleasure · 22/01/2014 21:36

I read a fascinating book recently 'The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals'. It looks at the way farm animals would behave in their natural state. I was already doing my best to eat only organic and free-range, but we are now having several meat-free days a week and I try not to eat meat when I'm out unless I know where it's come from. (finding it hard to go completely vegetarian)
It is horrific the way sentient and intelligent animals are treated.

RandyRudolf · 22/01/2014 22:02

I've been vegetarian for almost a year and have to say it hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would. It's taught me to cook and opened my eyes to a whole new range of food stuff I would never have thought about before.

Even cutting down makes a huge difference.

Using milk alternatives on cereals too. Try rice/almond/soya milk...you won't tell the difference.

notundermyfoof · 22/01/2014 23:27

I agree, what these animals go through is horrific! I've been vegetarian for a long time and I have been seriously considering going vegan but it seems like such a hard step to take especially with young dcs to cook for. I might try going dairy free 1 day a week to start with, is that a massive cop out?

BohemianGirl · 23/01/2014 04:52

Almond milk - Tesco £1.59 per litre
Rice milk - £1.38 per litre
Soya milk - £1.29
Cows milk £1 per two litres

I do 16 of those 2 litre bottles minimum, a week. £16. Almond milk would cost me £50.88. Three times as much. In fact that's £2645 per annum as opposed to the £832 I spend on cows milk.

So if people are going to advocate changes, the financial impact is usually considerable.

beluga425 · 23/01/2014 06:15

Tesco cheap soya milk is 58p per litre though, so yes more, but not as much as your examples.

BohemianGirl · 23/01/2014 06:17

I just put soya milk into the tesco site and those were the first ones that showed up

HairyGrotter · 23/01/2014 06:49

Is that you, Morrissey?

Ladyflip · 23/01/2014 07:02

What is specifically cruel about dairy farming? We are dairy farmers. It is a biological fact that cows have to have had a calf before they lactate. It is also true that we sell the male calves as they won't produce milk in the future and we don't have space to keep them to be beef animals. We keep the dairy heifers to bring into the herd in two years time when we have reared them and got them in calf.

We aim for a yearly calving I.e. one calf per year to keep lactation levels up. The cows are dried off six weeks before they are due to give birth, so they get six weeks holiday, if you like.

Currently the herd are in sheds, because it is winter and the grass isn't growing. They are being fed a combination of silage made in our fields last spring and bought in feed. Come summer, they will all be out in the fields.

Please explain the "cruelty" that you think you see?

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