Foods that we eat...

I've been veggie for 50 years but I still cook meat for the carnivores in the family. Then I have to cater for a vegan and a cow's milk protein allergy too. Each to their own, I think.

I have no problem with people eating meat as long as they choose carefully. Unfortunately, though, I think most people chose by price and just don't care how it was produced.

..in Spring..if you are lucky enough as I am to watch the lambs in their fields...they actually interact with each other,playing etc and the mums often join in...
Cows. Mourn for weeks,their cries are heart wrenching.
....when their calves are taken away from them to be slaughtered...

Let's all join in. I am an ethical omnivore.

OK as I said up thread I eat meat but have cut down. After reading this thread I e mailed my farmer asking him about the slaughter of the animals. If I’m going to eat them I think that I should know how they die etc.. which is exactly what the farmer said in reply.

Please look away now if you are squeamish.

He uses a small abattoir very close by, 5 miles away.

The animal is taken early in the morning (6am) to a clean and quiet room. Because he rears them organically they are always slaughtered first to avoid any contamination. There are no queues of animals. There is calm quiet. The animal is checked and inspected by a vet. The animals are treated with compassion and respect. They are killed with a bolt. It is instant.

So now I know. It is important to know I think how the animals are slaughtered for my consumption.

MamaCaz - I absolutely agree! ShewhomustbeEbayed - to see lambs frolicking in the fields just makes me very unhappy, knowing how dreadful their fate is. When I lived in a town I occasionally ate lamb. As soon as I moved to the countryside & regularly saw lambs & other animals in the fields backing onto my house, then heard them crying in the lorries taking them to their death, I never ate another mouthful.

MamaCaz....I totally agree with your post
CocoPops...contentious and inappropriate...not at all...maybe we all 'read' things differently...

If we lived more naturally, the animals around us would also be living natural lives, and meat would be only a small part of our diet, as it was in the past. We evolved as omnivores, not carnivores.

Yes, our countryside would look very different, but it would be much more natural. I certainly don't think that our being able to see cute lambs frolicking in the fields in any way justifies our rearing of them with the express purpose of killing and eating them!

I became a vegetarian for ethical reasons 50 years ago. Later I added environmental and health reasons for my choice of diet.
I believe a plant-based diet is the way forward and am actually transitioning to a vegan diet now. There's an enormous variety of foods available these days and I don't think a plant based diet needs to be boring or restrictive at all.
Admittedly, I don't understand why some people choose to eat meat. I assume they do so because they enjoy it and I respect their choice.
Personally, I find the original question somewhat contentious and inappropropiate. I prefer to "Live and let Live".

I think it is worth noting that it is very unlikely there would be cute lambs frolicking in the field if they weren’t being raised to eat. The countryside would look very different place if our diet was purely plant based.

My farmer provides nitrate free sausages and bacon.

We buy our meat from an organic farm, where the animals are almost entirely grass fed, leading as near as normal life as is possible. I can see how the animals are kept on line, I can if I wish visit the farms and am entirely satisfied, that the animals and fowl are well looked after.

Saying all that though, I have taken in the need to eat less meat for environmental, and climatic reasons, so eat meat at present every third day and have done so for about 3 years now. The other days are vegetarian and fish. Works well, and means we have a very varied diet.

Joplin yes I agree but it won’t change people’s minds I’m afraid. Their own health should but all of us have been taught that we can’t be healthy without meat by the people who sell it. It’s going to be like the cigarette campaign which took many many years. I do think the tide is turning though. I’m finding many more vegan dishes on cafe menus.

LindaMcCartney sausages have something in them, perhaps preservatives or something unnatural, can't remember, but there are far better/nicer ones if you shop around. H&B for starters. Such a lot of ignorant & biased comments posted here. Although some people obviously have a heart, just not enough of you. Sarahellenwhitney " providing we are not harming one another..." Since when is it alright to harm an animal! They don't harm us but my God, how we harm them, often just for the fun of it. Like the donkey I saw in a video yesterday who had his back legs hacked off by a man, crawled along the ground on his stumps then died. If some of you saw how sheep, & other creatures, were electrocuted, hair & skin ripped off their bodies while they screamed in agony, plus other atrocities I won't go into here, perhaps, just perhaps, a few of you might begin to think differently. As for needing meat, we don't, it has been proved it is carcinogenic & we are healthier without it.

There's a Flesher's Vennel in Perth. It's a narrow lane, where presumably butchers used to carry out their work at one time.

Gonegirl I hope you're okay after the Linda McCartney sausages! I spent the night in the bathroom after eating them. ?

“Flesher, Poulterer and Purveyor of Game” old fashioned butchers and possibly still to be seen where original Edwardian or Victorian tiled facades survive.

AlexaThank you.

mammal!

Alexa it worked (the mamma thing)

Polished off the last sausage cold. Now that was quite nice!

I am like you I think, NotSpaghetti. Some animal products are a lot crueller than others. The worst of all is foie gras. A close second to the very cruellest is any food made from low value horses and donkeys that have been transported a long distance before slaughter.

Thanks, NotSpaghetti, bujt I chose "mammal flesh" instead of 'meat' to make the stuff seem as revolting as it is.

MawB:
"I knew there was a reason I won’t have one.hmm"

One needs staying power to persevere with soya

I don't think Alexa is going out shopping for something called "non-mammal flesh". I think she's simply explaining her choices to other Gransnetters in a way that is clear.

PS I cannot remember having seen 'Fleshers' above a shop in Scotland for many years.

Maw, I like that word 'arcane'.

When I was a small girl I often was left with three old Borders ladies who always said the Selkirk grace before high tea.