PETA~ Are you familiar with these folks?

[Jay_Gatsby]

We had a PETA protest in our little town last week by 2 "naked" gals. The police had to come to the place to get the gawkers to move on & keep traffic moving.

KFC doesn't raise chickens, it just fries them.

Interesting that there are two guys just standing there in the cold...."observing" the protest.

 

[farmerEd]

As a vegetarian (who tries my best to avoid renit laden cheese) I wish people wouldn't eat meat, but I know that is not going to happen.

What I have reduced my wishes to is this: folks would think about how the animal lived while it was alive. Was it in a pature eating grass as cows were meant to or in a feedlot eating grain (which is a modern thing) while being pumped full of antibiotics due to the various infections it is getting from living in its own filth.

I recently learned of how awful egg laying hens are treated, so I'm eating less eggs and only ones that are from a reliably cage free farm.

I know that my opinions aren't popular here, but hey, thats just me.

I am not a vegetarian, but applaud people who make that decision - (as long as that decision is consistent with not wearing leather etc).

I am just finishing up "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals ". Its a good book if you are at all interested in what the "industrialization" has done to the America food supply -and not coincidentally related to the obesity and diabetes epedemic we are facing in this country. ( if you have an open mind, you just might decide that the cheapest food you can buy, may not in fact be the least expensive.)

If you are not a vegetarian, but care about how animals are treated -(even if they are eventually being butchered) - you should go out of your way to buy grass fed/free range, local and sustainably grown meat when possible from a farm in your area.

If you don't care how animals are treated, don't care how much antibiotics you are ingesting because the feedlots pumped the animals full of meds to keep them alive while being fed food they weren't intended to eat (like chicken crap for example), and generally do not care about the environment, or preserving open spaces and supporting small farms...then by all means keep stuffing your throats with the cheapest food you can find at Walmart or Costco.

I'm no PETA member either...since retiring from programming I farm...I raise lamb, chickens and next will be adding pork and possibly beef - as I write this I have a load of lambs in the back of the pickup that I just picked up from the slaughterhouse after dropping them off last week.

And BTW, I have no idea why the the author of the OP's article thought for a second that PETA would help rescue animals on the way to the slaughterhouse....whats next, asking Operation Rescue to give snow-bound pregnant teenagers a ride to the abortion clinic? What a dumb article.

 

[cube_rat]

Probably a financial advisor. That's what they do in between killing babies and stealing old peoples' money.

 

[CCdaCE]

What I have reduced my wishes to is this: folks would think about how the animal lived while it was alive. Was it in a pature eating grass as cows were meant to or in a feedlot eating grain (which is a modern thing) while being pumped full of antibiotics due to the various infections it is getting from living in its own filth.

I recently learned of how awful egg laying hens are treated, so I'm eating less eggs and only ones that are from a reliably cage free farm.

I know that my opinions aren't popular here, but hey, thats just me.

I agree there's gotta be a middle ground here somewhere. Instead of the PETA protestors raising a stink... what am I supposed to do other than "not eat at KFC"? I don't even eat there, but if I did, what's the alternative?

I'm not convinced that egg laying hens care how they're treated. But, I agree they should be able to see the sun, stretch their legs, etc. Maybe that's currently not the case.

-CC

 

[farmerEd]

>>I'm not convinced that egg laying hens care how they're treated.

I don't know, seems to me that even those these chickens are probably not capable of much thinking...I bet they wish they were not kept in little cages like this their entire lives, with their beaks cut-off so they don't eat their "cell-mates" out of sheer boredom.

 

[Goonie]

I'm an omnivore!!! I'll eat anything that doesn't eat me first!!!

When I go to buy my slab of cow, I'm not going to ask for it's biography or family history. Personally, I don't care where it was raised or what it was fed, only that it was raised and fed. Same with the cluckers, gobblers, oinkers and the rest.

The only time it might bother me, would be if I knew that the cow (or whatever) had been raised (almost as a pet) by a kid in 4H. I mean if I knew I was eating little Jimmy's Blue Ribbon angus, that he's raised from a pup calf, that might bother me. On second thought.....screw Jimmy.....I'm gonna char his cow on the grill with onions and mushrooms!!!

And so as not to offend PITA PETA or vegheads....I'll eat my veggies, too!

 

[Khan]

I'm an omnivore!!! I'll eat anything that doesn't eat me first!!!

When I go to buy my slab of cow, I'm not going to ask for it's biography or family history. Personally, I don't care where it was raised or what it was fed, only that it was raised and fed. Same with the cluckers, gobblers, oinkers and the rest.

The only time it might bother me, would be if I knew that the cow (or whatever) had been raised (almost as a pet) by a kid in 4H. I mean if I knew I was eating little Jimmy's Blue Ribbon angus, that he's raised from a pup calf, that might bother me. On second thought.....screw Jimmy.....I'm gonna char his cow on the grill with onions and mushrooms!!!

And so as not to offend PITA PETA or vegheads....I'll eat my veggies, too!

Grass fed is much better than grain fed (at least for ruminants).

 

[Goonie]

Grass fed is much better than grain fed (at least for ruminants).

I prefer the taste of grain fed over grass fed......however, I'll gladly char either!

 

[Nords]

Interesting that there are two guys just standing there in the cold...."observing" the protest.

Nah, they're reading the poster behind the girls-- just making sure that they appreciate both sides of the issue, so to speak...

I am just finishing up "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals ". Its a good book if you are at all interested in what the "industrialization" has done to the America food supply -and not coincidentally related to the obesity and diabetes epedemic we are facing in this country. ( if you have an open mind, you just might decide that the cheapest food you can buy, may not in fact be the least expensive.)
If you are not a vegetarian, but care about how animals are treated -(even if they are eventually being butchered) - you should go out of your way to buy grass fed/free range, local and sustainably grown meat when possible from a farm in your area.

Reading that book and "Fast Food Nation" have dulled (but not quenched) my carnivorous urges. I eat a lot more tofu & fish, though.

It's hard to eat the sustainable products when places like Whole Food are exploiting their suppliers just as much as Piggly Wiggly exploits the meat packers.

 

[farmerEd]

It's hard to eat the sustainable products when places like Whole Food are exploiting their suppliers just as much as Piggly Wiggly exploits the meat packers.

Absolutely it is - and you could drive yourself crazy trying to do it perfectly. I don't know what its like in Hawaii, but in New England I am driving distance from a lot small farms and if I chose to, could probably live on the "100 mile diet" if I wanted to (but some things, like coffee for example), would be a real problem.

 

[Texas Proud]

The only time it might bother me, would be if I knew that the cow (or whatever) had been raised (almost as a pet) by a kid in 4H. I mean if I knew I was eating little Jimmy's Blue Ribbon angus, that he's raised from a pup calf, that might bother me. On second thought.....screw Jimmy.....I'm gonna char his cow on the grill with onions and mushrooms!!!

Goonie.... you must not have had meat from a 4H grown cow.... they are GREAT... these cows are individually taken care of... almost spoon fed... their meat is sooooo good... I wish my BIL would get in another syndicate and buy a cow at the Rodeo....

 

[Goonie]

Goonie.... you must not have had meat from a 4H grown cow.... they are GREAT... these cows are individually taken care of... almost spoon fed... their meat is sooooo good... I wish my BIL would get in another syndicate and buy a cow at the Rodeo....

Oh yeah....been there, done that. And you are QUITE correct!!! We have the 4H fairgrounds real close, and they also auction off State Fair winners here in town each year. Some of my friends while growing up...and now their kids....were/are in 4H and raise there beasts.....put them thru competitions....and then many times take them straight to the meat locker for cuttin' & coolin'.....Mmmmmm.......Goooood!

 

[Outtahere]

I remember my grandparents had chickens that they raised for eating, they took them to someone to butcher them, none of us grandkids would eat chicken after that for months.

Same thing happened with a neighbor, they had two steer that they kept for meat and they had a couple of ponies that myself and two friends would exercise for them (we were 12yrs old). After they butchered the steer they gave our parents some of the meat, all the kids in the neighborhood knew these two animals and refused to eat beef for months.

Could I eat a 4H project, yes as long as it was a vegetable or fruit

 

[Alex]

I keep it pretty simple. If it tastes good, I eat it. I don't want animals to suffer, but I don't own a farm either.

Example: I buy cage free eggs...but I don't really give a **** about the chickens, the eggs just taste better.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

ever since i stopped eating meat (about 10 years ago) i can yell "mooooo" out the window when i'm passing a cow and feel completely guilt free. i may be going 60 mph but i really feel like we connect now.

 

[HFWR]

Old Gary Shandling routine:

"Why do people 'moo' out the window when they pass a herd of cows? What do they think? The cows will go 'Hey, look at that cow, driving a car? How can she afford that...?'"

 

[Goonie]

ever since i stopped eating meat (about 10 years ago) i can yell "mooooo" out the window when i'm passing a cow and feel completely guilt free. i may be going 60 mph but i really feel like we connect now.

When I drive past the local pasture full of "pre-slaughter" bovines, I always get the urge to stick my head out the window and holler "STEAK!!!"

 

[polloloco]

The ultimate goal of PETA and the other extremist animal rights groups is for all of us to go vegetatian. If a corporation eeven answers the phone and says hello to them, they claim they are "in the process of negotiating animal rights"

Best to completely ignore their existence.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

When I drive past the local pasture full of "pre-slaughter" bovines, I always get the urge to stick my head out the window and holler "STEAK!!!"

what a coincidence. because i yell out the same thing when i drive past the cardiac unit.

 

[Nords]

I don't know what its like in Hawaii, but in New England I am driving distance from a lot small farms and if I chose to, could probably live on the "100 mile diet" if I wanted to (but some things, like coffee for example), would be a real problem.

Eh, I'll trade you Kona for rasberries & blueberries.

They're each equally rare outside of their time zones...