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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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To believe that eating meat should be illegal?

533 replies

BySpoonyBlueScroller · 10/02/2025 09:34

The environmental damage and animal cruelty outweighs the cultural or personal benefits. AIBU to think it’s time to outlaw meat production?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
vodkaredbullgirl · 10/02/2025 12:22

MinnieBalloon · 10/02/2025 12:20

I eat meat, though I’m not a huge meat eater, but attitudes like this just makes me want to eat more 😆

I'm going to make a chicken and stuffing sandwich lol

5128gap · 10/02/2025 12:22

LaundryPond · 10/02/2025 12:07

Hear hear. Though I didn’t actually grasp what that poster meant — is she actually under the impression beekeepers chase down individual bees or something?

I think she thinks if bees didn't want to be used to make honey for human consumption they would simply fly away.

margeyoursoakinginit · 10/02/2025 12:23

5128gap · 10/02/2025 12:03

I guess it's easier to have a giggle at things you don't understand than educate yourself. If you can control your mirth long enough, maybe read why vegans don't eat honey. Spoiler: It's not because they're so stupid they don't think an individual bee can fly away from a human. You might read it and disagree or not care, but at least you'll not be saying daft things based on ignorance of the reasoning behind it. Also, what with the 'pale' business? Do you think all vegans share a skin tone?

Yes pale.

Lostcat · 10/02/2025 12:24

Anotherparkingthread · 10/02/2025 11:50

I was vegetarian for 20 years. I went to live on a farm, and I started eating animals because I realised they are utter fucking bastards lol. I would look at some of them and think 'i can't fucking wait to send you to the slaughter house'. Pigs and cows are both awful animals, I'd happily kill and eat one any day. I think people have very fluffy ideas of what animals are like that do not at all align with reality.

I would look at some of them and think 'i can't fucking wait to send you to the slaughter house'

what a truly disgusting thing to say.

why on earth were you a vegetarian?

Thelnebriati · 10/02/2025 12:24

@BySpoonyBlueScroller

What do you want diabetics to eat?

Fencehedge · 10/02/2025 12:26

margeyoursoakinginit · 10/02/2025 12:23

Yes pale.

Please can you explain which vegans you are talking about, that you have experienced as all sharing a pale skin tone? Where do you live? And do no black people live there?

Plus how do you know that they were all vegan? Were they wearing their approved vegan badges and chanting "meat is murder" whilst taking a dump on your chicken & stuffing sandwich?

5128gap · 10/02/2025 12:28

margeyoursoakinginit · 10/02/2025 12:23

Yes pale.

OK. Well at least you've indicated the intellectual level at which you're able to contribute to the discussion.

Lourdes12 · 10/02/2025 12:32

BlondiePortz · 10/02/2025 10:19

But if humans are not designed to eat meat why would people need this?

Not asking you specifically

So veganism isn’t our natural diet then?

5128gap · 10/02/2025 12:36

Fencehedge · 10/02/2025 12:26

Please can you explain which vegans you are talking about, that you have experienced as all sharing a pale skin tone? Where do you live? And do no black people live there?

Plus how do you know that they were all vegan? Were they wearing their approved vegan badges and chanting "meat is murder" whilst taking a dump on your chicken & stuffing sandwich?

Edited

Clearly they have never heard of Serena and Venus Williams .

Fencehedge · 10/02/2025 12:37

Lourdes12 · 10/02/2025 12:32

So veganism isn’t our natural diet then?

We do lots of things we haven't evolved to do, but that scientific advancement makes possible.

100A · 10/02/2025 12:45

I wish everyone would stop eating meat OP yes, but a govt 'ban' isn't the way. People have to realise this for themselves.

Eating beef is so entrenched in the Western psyche. Our capitalist societies refer to cows as 'livestock' - basically economic units. Cows are reared and slaughtered outside of cities. Out of sight, out of mind.

Of course the beef industry doesn't want people to know that the carbon and methane emissions as a result of the beef industry are greater than the whole airline industry - globally. Of course they don't want people to reflect on the complex social relationships between 'livestock' - but how modern farming practices routinely separate mothers and calves. I won't go into what happens to male calves. Dairy cows are milked dry and then slaughtered as they have no economic use.

In Hindu India, by contrast, there is no tradition of eating beef. The cow is sacred - the mother - providing milk which is believed to produce calmness and wisdom. Why eat the cow meat when the same nutrients are in milk and so many foods can be made from milk. Eating cow meat is seen as producing stress and anger in humans - leading to war, psychological and physical illness.

The meat industry is the evil of the world. But people don't question it. Most people don't want to know. Nobody questions the logic of why we eat cows and sheep, but not horses or whatever. Humans insist on putting animals in categories and that's it, most people just accept it or forget to question why. Maybe in another hundred years, most people will have woken up?

Regardless, the meat industry will have to drastically downsize. Those involved will one day be called to account. It is an ethical and ecological nightmare. But what is happening now, is rather than take responsibility, the meat industry (in conjunction with pharmaceutical companies only too keen to cash in) is trying to reframe itself as the 'solution' - ie. "Look we can give cows these hormones so they produce less methane, Look everyone 'carbon free cows! Yay! Buy our beef, don't buy theirs. Look at us - we are the climate saviours."

So while consumers are distracted with the of issue 'which type' or 'which source' of beef to buy, methane emissions overall are soaring and conditions for cows becoming more horrendous. Because even though methane emissions per cow may be falling, overall methane emissions are higher than ever - because reducing methane is too often synonymous with hormones that mean a cow matured and is therefore slaughtered faster. Meaning more cows in their place and the industry can accelerate even faster. More methane globally. More rainforests cleared for grazing land. Humanity looks the other way and goes to Tesco.

EilonwyWithRedGoldHair · 10/02/2025 12:51

I disagree.

I think we overall need to eat less meat, and that meat should be produced in a way that has far higher welfare standards for the animals. but banned completely? No.

If nothing else if you banned meat and dairy my autistic child would starve, and I'd rather that didn't happen

AlmostAJillSandwich · 10/02/2025 12:54

But is there enough land with the right conditions to grow enough to feed everyone in the world? What about the African continent where a lot of the landscape is desert and wouldn't support anywhere near enough crops? They'd have to import the majority and it would be incredibly expensive, when already large percentages of the population can't afford to eat without breeding, raising and slaughtering their own animals, or should they all be left to starve to death?

As for in the first world, in recent years there's been so much news coverage of complete or heavy percentage crop failure all over Europe due to unpredictable weather causing droughts or severe flooding that ruins entire yields. Throw in other unpredictable events too, like war. Thats diminished the supply and pushed up the prices because of demand, such as wheat as Ukraine was a major exporter to the rest of Europe and there was massive shortage as everyone witnessed on the shop shelves. All it takes is one bad season and there's not enough food to go around, and the prices of what is available skyrocket beyond being affordable to many.

In trying to prevent animal cruelty you'd create massive human cruelty, mainly in the form of starvation. Simply put, cutting animals as a food source, drastically reduces the ammount of food there is to go around. The grain etc we feed animals isn't human food grade, so that portion of crop would be wasted or create a class system of who gets the poor quality crop rather than increase the ammount of human food grade quality crop. All the animals that would be bred for food just wouldn't exist, so if a major incident wipes out a large ammount of edible crop, there would be no animals to fall back on to eat instead, so there just wouldn't be enough food, hundreds of thousands would starve and probably die, as you can't force crop to grow out of season.

That doesn't take in to account how many jobs globally would be wiped out and leave millions unemployed unable to afford the inflated prices of fruit and veg. Because the world going vegetarian/vegan would skyrocket the prices or fruit and veg, not reduce them.

100A · 10/02/2025 12:55

Will nobody think of the jobs!

EnterFunnyNameHere · 10/02/2025 12:58

If you add up all the people in the UK, multiplied by their calorific and nutritional needs, is there a strong enough food supply chain to keep everyone fed and healthy?

Putting aside ethical considerations, what about plant-based food that has a more negative carbon impact than farming?

What's the plan for all the currently active prosperous farmland that will then be useless for food production?

Basically, how would it actually work?

Moonmelodies · 10/02/2025 13:00

How would all the arable land get fertilized?

LoganberryWay · 10/02/2025 13:04

Moonmelodies · 10/02/2025 13:00

How would all the arable land get fertilized?

Mulch.

BoredZelda · 10/02/2025 13:04

I get a fresh mixed random delivery from a local supplier every week.

Super. And your local supplier has enough to supply everyone in your local area? All year round?

Or, are we going to have to rely on imported fruit and veg from overseas?

Lourdes12 · 10/02/2025 13:08

BoredZelda · 10/02/2025 13:04

I get a fresh mixed random delivery from a local supplier every week.

Super. And your local supplier has enough to supply everyone in your local area? All year round?

Or, are we going to have to rely on imported fruit and veg from overseas?

the veg box I used to have stated their produce were local yet there was always tropical fruit included 😂

LoganberryWay · 10/02/2025 13:13

BlondiePortz · 10/02/2025 10:19

But if humans are not designed to eat meat why would people need this?

Not asking you specifically

Because some people have a problem absorbing iron in the gut.

This can happen with coeliac disease, too much tea/coffee or excess use of calciulm supplements.
So too much milk in the diet can affect iron absorbtion.

Nanny0gg · 10/02/2025 13:19

BySpoonyBlueScroller · 10/02/2025 09:44

They’d probably be thrilled not to be farm animals anymore to be honest.

Quite

They'd be dead either way

Househunter2025 · 10/02/2025 13:23

DiscoBaIIs · 10/02/2025 11:52

Both. I don't view animals as being here for human use.

No one is here for anything apart from propogating our DNA

Househunter2025 · 10/02/2025 13:24

Moonmelodies · 10/02/2025 13:00

How would all the arable land get fertilized?

Chemical fertilizer just like it is now

Howmanycatsistoomany · 10/02/2025 13:28

BySpoonyBlueScroller · 10/02/2025 09:34

The environmental damage and animal cruelty outweighs the cultural or personal benefits. AIBU to think it’s time to outlaw meat production?

AIBU to think it's time to outlaw tofu production, because of the environmental impact of soy production?

Househunter2025 · 10/02/2025 13:29

100A · 10/02/2025 12:45

I wish everyone would stop eating meat OP yes, but a govt 'ban' isn't the way. People have to realise this for themselves.

Eating beef is so entrenched in the Western psyche. Our capitalist societies refer to cows as 'livestock' - basically economic units. Cows are reared and slaughtered outside of cities. Out of sight, out of mind.

Of course the beef industry doesn't want people to know that the carbon and methane emissions as a result of the beef industry are greater than the whole airline industry - globally. Of course they don't want people to reflect on the complex social relationships between 'livestock' - but how modern farming practices routinely separate mothers and calves. I won't go into what happens to male calves. Dairy cows are milked dry and then slaughtered as they have no economic use.

In Hindu India, by contrast, there is no tradition of eating beef. The cow is sacred - the mother - providing milk which is believed to produce calmness and wisdom. Why eat the cow meat when the same nutrients are in milk and so many foods can be made from milk. Eating cow meat is seen as producing stress and anger in humans - leading to war, psychological and physical illness.

The meat industry is the evil of the world. But people don't question it. Most people don't want to know. Nobody questions the logic of why we eat cows and sheep, but not horses or whatever. Humans insist on putting animals in categories and that's it, most people just accept it or forget to question why. Maybe in another hundred years, most people will have woken up?

Regardless, the meat industry will have to drastically downsize. Those involved will one day be called to account. It is an ethical and ecological nightmare. But what is happening now, is rather than take responsibility, the meat industry (in conjunction with pharmaceutical companies only too keen to cash in) is trying to reframe itself as the 'solution' - ie. "Look we can give cows these hormones so they produce less methane, Look everyone 'carbon free cows! Yay! Buy our beef, don't buy theirs. Look at us - we are the climate saviours."

So while consumers are distracted with the of issue 'which type' or 'which source' of beef to buy, methane emissions overall are soaring and conditions for cows becoming more horrendous. Because even though methane emissions per cow may be falling, overall methane emissions are higher than ever - because reducing methane is too often synonymous with hormones that mean a cow matured and is therefore slaughtered faster. Meaning more cows in their place and the industry can accelerate even faster. More methane globally. More rainforests cleared for grazing land. Humanity looks the other way and goes to Tesco.

Never seen so much rubbish in one post but I'll restrict myself to correcting one thing. Growth promoting hormones are not used in the UK or EU for farm animals.

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