To ask you to think twice about eating chicken regularly

[Tigofigo]

...it's just not sustainable for us to consume as much as we do.

Intensive chicken farming is polluting and destroying our rivers and also potentially causing breathing difficulties and lung issues in those who live near farms spraying chicken / other animal manure as fertilizer.

Really worrying too, at a time when govt are ripping up EU regs on environmental laws that will further destroy our rivers and the animals, plants and people that rely on them (along with the shit already pumped into them...).

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/25/chicken-farm-giant-linked-to-river-wye-decline-was-sued-over-water-blight-in-us

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/14/muck-spreading-could-be-banned-to-reduce-air-pollution

inews.co.uk/news/brexit-bonfire-environment-regulations-otters-dolphins-birds-conservationists-1875799

I see farmed animals as a source of food yes.

I do too. I feel no guilt eating them.

Farmed animals exist in the main to be a source of food.

That's just a statement of fact.

I do eat chicken, but when I was a kid, I did write to the prime minister (john major,) about battery hens/animal cruelty etc. It was a big thing in the news at the time and obviously distressed me!..
My dad tells me it included a drawing of a chicken in a cage and was signed, "I am never eating chicken again so there!"
I did get a response and was vegetarian until I was 17! I still feel guilty if I eat chicken now.. what would John think if he knew!?

Yes of course

but should they?! Battery chickens live a miserable life and there are alternatives. It’s basic compassion for living creatures.

I don't understand. People who say farm animals are for eating and don't feel bad about eating them.

Have you seen the conditions that some animals are kept in? Do you actually think that is okay? They are alive just like you are.

There is no reason to treat animals so badly. It's entirely possible to give them a nice life and still eat them if you just

OP would have better luck asking folks to stop smoking or drinking

I bet they all love their dogs though 🤷‍♀️

Yes and some countries eat dogs, much to the distress of many (meat eating) britons.

one thing is to hunt and kill your prey as I guess you’re supposed to do and another is to farm these sentient beings in a way that subjects them to a life of pain, misery and death.

All these people complaining about their mental health during lockdown (despite being in a warm home with a lot of entertainment) think nothing of subjecting a sentient being with feelings and senses and pain to a life encarcerated in a very small space, no basic rights and then death.

and when people had no choice, fair enough. But now there is a choice

They weren’t ‘put’ anywhere. There is no purpose to life. It’s an ongoing accident. The ideas that animals is were created to be eaten and suffer for is is…icky.

But that’s a side issue, and a personal opinion. I have no issues with farm animals being food. I have raised, killed and eaten my own. I do not view them with sentiment. They were largely a pain in the arse. (Chickens especially practically throw themselves at the first fox they can, die of horrible diseases or get horrible parasites at the drop of a hat). BUT I did feel, as a moral, educated and sentient human being a RESPONSIBILITY to ensure they lived as pleasant a life as possible and as quick and as a painless a death as I could orchestrate (on a completely selfish note, it also makes them taste a LOT better) It’s what separates animals from humans in my opinion. If you truly believe one being is ‘destined’ to feed another, and the people are superior to animals, surely that goes with the turf?!

They usually are, but I don't think the hens can be kept outside at the moment because of bird flu, so they're all barn eggs at best.

I bet they all love their dogs though

well there's a whole other debate to be had about whether having pets is ethical.

The comments about processed vegan stuff make me laugh, I very rarely eat any fake meats, they’re not necessary

I don't really get the fake meat thing anyway. Surely if you don't eat meat you don't want a meat-like alternative either. I don't like the taste of red meat now so I wouldn't eat an alternative.

I love my dog. But if I get hungry....

What's complicated about it? Some people enjoy the taste and texture of meat, but don't want to eat it for moral reasons. Therefore something that feels and tastes like meat but doesn't actually involve any animal products is going to meet their needs perfectly.

People always say they don't get why vegans eat pretend meat. I find it baffling that they don't understand!

Fake meat involves no death or cruelty. It's easy

Fake meat isn't particularly healthy. And it tastes revolting.

But animals don't suffer for me eating it

It's difficult to change childhood eating habits. I am veggie mostly because I was raised veggie, so I eat vegetables, lentils and eggs rather than fake meat. I have tried meat but dislike the texture and taste. I can imagine that it is the same for people raised eating meat and trying to switch to lentils.

If people think that, it's understandable why they don't want to eat fake meat.

But the argument often trotted out is some disingenuous (or stupid) variant of "Why would you want to eat something that tastes exactly like meat when you're a vegan?"

I have no intention of giving up or even cutting down on meat, but I have to roll my eyes at that level of stupidity.

Great. Enjoy your fake meat then. Yummy.
The animals will be very grateful to you.

@DuckBilledFattypus

you don’t need fake meat ffs

I don't. Not when there's real meat available:-)

@ZeroFuchsGiven @Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious

do you really not care about the awful suffering they have to go through so that you can needlessly eat chicken three times a week plus every week?!

sooo many other foods you could be eating (which don’t mean you have to eat fake meat), if you could reduce your chicken consumption to once a week that would help loads

I don't care, no.