To think if you had to kill the animal yourself you wouldn’t eat meat

[Starchime22]

First off I’m not vegetarian, although I’m starting to lean that way, (as in, I eat fish, and occasionally meat if I’m in a restaurant, but never buy or cook meat myself) so it’s not my intention to criticise or goad omnivores.

But I’ve been thinking about how I’d have no problem killing a fish to eat, (and have) but definitely couldn’t kill a cow or a pig, and probably not a chicken. I’m not sure how many people could, really.

Is it right to eat something you couldn’t bear to kill yourself? Or watch being killed? I’m not saying it isn’t, just interested in what people think.

ChelleDog2020 you’d enjoy killing animals? That sounds a bit wrong. If someone came on here and said they enjoyed killing dogs there would be uproar but if you enjoy killing pigs it’s fine

I have killed animals to eat. Thing is it was a long time ago and I doubt I should remember how to butcher a large animal effectively.

kikisparks

Yes but they are your morals, not mine. I don't happen to think that the meat industry is immoral, therefore I do not consider myself a hypocrite.

And also I did not say that I couldn't do it I said that I did not want to do it.

Yes i could i think. I'd also love to do a butchery course where you do the whole animal.

I'd happily eat a human tho, so i'm not squeamish. I always laugh at those disaster movies where they are agonising whether to eat the dead bodies. I think i doubt i'd even wait for someone to snuff it before i took a huge bite!

Makingdinner if you’re the one cooking just make what you want and they can like it or lump it .

That being said veggie food doesn’t have to be strange or alien- tomato pasta with salad and garlic bread; lentil soup with crusty bread and marg; baked potatoes with bean chilli; hummus and roasted veg stuffed pittas; chickpea curry with rice, samosas and chapatis; mushroom gravy pie with veg; veg lasagne; butternut squash risotto and loads more.

You could alternatively replace the meat with vegan versions like quorn vegan pieces or M&S soya chunks for chicken, Linda McCartney sausages for sausages, ooomph pulled pork from Tesco, farmfoods chicken-style poppers, quorn sandwich slices and loads more. Obviously don’t taste exactly the same but taste similar with a similar protein content and none of the unnecessary cruelty.

Also if your family really won’t then you can get ready meals for yourself for example Tesco’s new wicked range is fully vegan and M&S does some and there’s a veggie haggis neeps and tatties one, it’s a shame about the plastic but it’s mostly reusable or recyclable, and they’re generally pretty healthy.

For treats you can now get vegan Ben & Jerry’s and vegan milk style chocolate and that’s just the tip of the iceberg there’s so much out there.

Genderwitched I think the point of the thread is would you find it too upsetting to do it. It looks like your answer to that is no so then no you are not a hypocrite. Obviously I disagree with unnecessary violence but I recognise that others condone it and that’s a view I’m unlikely to be able to change.

MrsKoala I’m not sure you should go around telling people you’re comfortable with cannibalism it’s generaly frowned upon!

About 20 years ago I solicitor that I worked with had to visit an abattoir for a case she was dealing with.

She was a big meat eater but after that visit she has never eaten meat again

Anyone ever watch that programme, ‘kill it, cook it, eat it’

A studio was set up in an abattoir, they bought in some pigs or a cow etc, the audience watched them be killed, be butchered and then cooked and at the end they had to decide whether they wanted to eat some

(Apologies if this has been mentioned, haven’t RTFT!)

I only mean if i was starving of course. I wouldn't just take a bite out of someone on the 267!

Eolian. It's absolutely not about anthropomorphism for me. There are many animals (and people, especially ones who write lol) I don't find fluffy and cute but I don't want to kill and eat them either.

MrsKoala I feel the same. I'd eat an (already dead) person in a desperate situation if the alternative was starving to death.

As long as I could guarantee death would be instantaneous I would. I have eaten meat my uncle has shot

I am willing to bet the number of vegetarians working in abbatoires is zero thereby making the original proposition moot.

Lol scottish the insults are hurting now

I’m a chicken ringer, a pheasant plucker, a rabbit skinner. These days you can’t do your own pigs and cows, but I’ve received them back in halves and done my own butchering. In Africa the rules are different and I’ve helped prepare a deer.
Each to their own.
Well bred, well fed, well cared for animals wouldn’t be born if not for ending up in the food chain.
I am highly suspicious of vegetarians. I just don’t get it. But more meat for me.
In answer
To the original post I think animals deserve respect, but have no hesitation to kill one to feed my family and I.
But then I grew up on a farm so it’s second nature.

I’ve killed pigs and sheep and watched dozens of cows be killed. If anything it made me happier eating the meat as I knew the animals had been humanely killed. If ever I was on one of those survivor TV shows I would volunteer to kill the animals as I would just get on and do it rather than make a big fuss about it. I wouldn5 like to do it but I know it would be best for the animal.

I’ve said this many times before but I don’t think it’s the killing of the animals that is cruel. Generally it’s in everyone’s interests for animals to be killed quickly. It’s safer and more efficient for the slaughter men. The cruelest part of the industry is the transportation of animals. It’s not right that animals are transported such huge distances.

Why is killing a sentient being not cruel, Melt? They don't know that's the reason for their being.
Agree wholeheartedly though that animal transportation is beyond ghastly.

I could and I have done in the past - I'm lucky in that I have the opportunity and ability to raise most of our own meat for the table so I know those animals have had the best raising I can give them and I know they haven't been pumped full of medication or crap - just been allowed to roam outside and just be. Our larger animals (cows, pigs and lambs) go to the local abbatoir which is only a couple of miles up the road in a familiar trailer to minimise transport stress and I either have the carcasses back to butcher myself or the largest ones go to our local butcher for prepping.

We also produce our own eggs and consequently chicken and duck for the table. In season we also eat venison, pheasant, partridge, rabbit and hare all of which I prepare.

My dc have also been brought up with this lifestyle but what I find interesting is that my younger ds is veggie by choice ( doesn't like the texture of meat) while the other 3 are complete carnivores. All are happy and able to butcher if required - oldest dc is about to start a butchery apprenticeship too.

Agree with pp that most people today are far removed from where their food comes from which is really sad but is a sign of the development of society - not everyone has the space or means to produce their own food be it vegetables or meat.

Apoloogies Daffodillia. It's just when you went off on one about farming - felt I had to explain.
I very much admire those who teach practical subjects, I could never be organised and patient enough. A pound of mince is so much more volatile in the hands of a teenager than a novel!

MeltSnow it is of course cruel to kill something that doesn’t want to die. Unless it is also not cruel to kill a healthy, young human for enjoyment, as long as the killing is quick (shot to head for example).

FruitBat1980 it’s not treating an animal with respect to kill it though. Not killing it, until old age/ illness means that would be the humane thing to do, is respectful.

If my husband wasn't a complete carnivore (has to have meat in every meal) I would definitely be vegetarian, if not vegan. I could never kill an animal

We raise our own poultry- chicken and turkey and our farmer neighbour provides us with pheasant. We kill our own chickens and turkeys. We can’t have cattle- not enough land but we purchase pasture raised, organic from a farm 6 miles away so all really low food miles/carbon. Probably better than some sort of palm oil and soya based product shipped from the other side of the world. Our chickens eat our scraps and we use their manure on our veg garden so it’s a really neat, closed cycle. It’s fab- hard work, but fab.