Here piggy piggy . . oink oink

[The Lurker]

Just read this Article on the bbc website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7998780.stm about a guy who spent four days 'living as a pig'. There is a programme on it tonight (BBC3 at 9).


A few things jump out:


On my last day I visited an abattoir to see how pigs are exterminated on a massive scale. I was put through the whole process with the pigs and it was absolutely clear to me that they had a very good idea that life was taking a significant turn for the worse. You only had to listen to the screaming.

Thankfully, I was spared electrocution followed by the knife through the heart. If we are going to eat animals, particularly the more sentient ones, then we must accept that they must be killed to be eaten. I cannot think of a nice way of doing that part.



then sadly . . .


It was two months before I could eat pig after coming out of the farm. I finally cracked and hypocrisy played its role as I was lured back to tearing my former bedfellow's flesh with my teeth. And by what? Spare ribs. Chorizo. Plain old bacon.

As much as I hate to say it, they really do taste very good. But I am a responsible shopper now. I think more about where all the things that I buy come from.



but the comments are, as always, where the real brainboxes kick in . . .'oh how terrible it all is *munches on bacon sandwich*

[manics_fan]

...it was absolutely clear to me that they had a very good idea that life was taking a significant turn for the worse. You only had to listen to the screaming.

That sentence makes my blood run cold. I don't understand how people can't see that that is wrong, and completely messed up. I certainly can't understand how that man can witness that and go back to eating them.

[derwenna]

I thought that article was interesting. He even recognises the disconnect:


We have selectively bred and overfed these animals so that the product - meat - is cheaper than cheese and everybody's happy. To be forced to have to connect with our pink pals made me appreciate how disconnected from it all we have conveniently become.

... and then like you say, carries on eating pigs' flesh, but his experience did make him feel bad enough to abstain from eating it for a couple of months, and now he's a "responsible" pigs' flesh eater, so that makes him a good, noble flesh-eating human being and that's ok then.

Humans are strange. Even after being made to not only think about killing but made to witness it and realise it's not right, they can still disconnect their brains and carry on eating meat. Power of the majority I guess...

[derwenna]

but the comments are, as always, where the real brainboxes kick in . . .'oh how terrible it all is *munches on bacon sandwich*

I didn't even attempt to read the comments, I know from experience stuff like that just makes me way too angry and frustrated with human beings, I just can't any more...

[Almeria]

That sentence makes my blood run cold. I don't understand how people can't see that that is wrong, and completely messed up. I certainly can't understand how that man can witness that and go back to eating them.
I know, that bothered me a lot, too.

I don't know why I read the comments. I should take my blood pressure someday when reading comments on a story like this, I bet you anything it does go up.

ETA: the talk about cheap meat in the article reminded me of something. I used to be friends with this guy on another message board. Well one day someone posted an article about factory farming and it caused a big argument of course, and as I was reading the responses I saw a post from him that said "I don't care where my food comes from as long as I can get it as cheap as possible." He was quoting someone who was talking about how all this cruelty is due to people wanting cheap food. So I PM'd him asking for clarification, if he was indeed saying that he doesn't care if animals are treated cruelly as long as the meat was cheap. And that was what he meant, that he doesn't give a crap about what goes on as long as he isn't paying a high price for meat. I was really appalled by that kind of attitude coming from someone who I thought was a decent person.

[rosiem]

Wow. Just... Wow. :down:

[Idhan]

The whole "I saw slaughter and stuff, and gosh, it sure was thought provoking! I'll still eat pigs, but now thoughtfully"-type of article practically seems to be a genre in itself. I wonder if there's some sort of tacit understanding beforehand that the journalist doing the article has to come to that conclusion. One sees dozens of articles of this sort (call them "Pollanesques"), and they never conclude with either "whatever. Who cares about a bunch of pigs anyway?" or "woah! This is awful stuff! I'm going vegan!" It's always "that was disturbing, but I'll eat pork anyway as a conscious omnivore" or something to that effect. Is the uniformity of these articles a coincidence, or is it a fashion generated by subtle collective pressure to adopt the "animal journalist party line" exerted by all the other journalists reaching similar conclusions, or do editors enforce it as an "inoffensive middle ground" and avoid publishing articles that take a more callously indifferent or more actively AW/AR-oriented conclusion in the hopes of avoiding alienating readers, or what?

[Sevenseas]

Is the uniformity of these articles a coincidence, or is it a fashion generated by subtle collective pressure to adopt the "animal journalist party line" exerted by all the other journalists reaching similar conclusions, or do editors enforce it as an "inoffensive middle ground" and avoid publishing articles that take a more callously indifferent or more actively AW/AR-oriented conclusion in the hopes of avoiding alienating readers, or what?I think it's simply that a lot of people are apathetic assholes.

[sallyomally]

i think it's simply that a lot of people are apathetic assholes.

amen!

[Hotchilidog]

I think it's simply that a lot of people are apathetic assholes.

Ah, the sound of a nail being hit firmly on the head.

These sort of these are just pathetic attempts by omnis to assuage their guilt about eating meat. People just don't understand that there is no such thing as cruelty free meat.

[Quinoa]

The whole "I saw slaughter and stuff, and gosh, it sure was thought provoking! I'll still eat pigs, but now thoughtfully"-type of article practically seems to be a genre in itself. I wonder if there's some sort of tacit understanding beforehand that the journalist doing the article has to come to that conclusion. […]Sure. It’s just another form of advertising, and a popular one. The “humane meat” industry has lobbyists and PR specialists too, they’re busy encouraging journalists to write such allegedly "investigative" articles.

[The Lurker]

I think it's simply that a lot of people are apathetic assholes.

That does describe society in general really

[Hotchilidog]

Sure. It’s just another form of advertising, and a popular one. The “humane meat” industry has lobbyists and PR specialists too, they’re busy encouraging journalists to write such allegedly "investigative" articles.

Totally agree, this is especially prevalent in the UK with lots of high profile AW initiatives from celeb chefs etc.

I'm not against these awareness campaigns per se, anything that encourages a reduction in suffering is to be encouraged, but they still essentially miss the point that these animals are unnaturally raised and are basically considered a product and not the sentient beings they actually are.

People don't realise that only a minute percentage of meat comes from the "humane meat" industry, 90 per cent comes from intensively reared animals. Yet consumers kid themselves that they can go buy 'happy meat'. Pretty much most pork products consumed in the UK will come from some torture factory in holland or denmark and not from some free-range organic farm in the British countryside.

[rissierissie]

This is why even if I were to ever go back to eating meat again (which I doubt) I would never be able to eat meat anywhere outside of my own home. If I couldn't research the animal and know that it came from a happy farm, raised contentiously and humanely slaughtered (contradiction in terms there maybe) then I wouldn't be able to stomach the thought of eating it knowing what it had been through.

[shine247]

This sounds like my sister no matter how much I tell her about the suffering that went into her meal, no matter how much she says she an animal lover and hates to c an animal mistreated, no matter how much she fights tooth and nail for cats and dogs- she still will sit down to a plate of ribs or a med- rare steak. And it jus makes me mad the hypocrisy of people, I know a while ago I was the same so who am I 2 talk but how can u continue 2 eat somethin that u know had 2 suffer no matter how humane if there is any humanity in killin could u do it. U cannot eat an animal and feel bad or be more considerate b4 u eat that jus makes no sense.

[Scarlet Soul]

I can't believe he actually went back to eating pigs after that experience.

[derwenna]

Sure. It’s just another form of advertising, and a popular one. The “humane meat” industry has lobbyists and PR specialists too, they’re busy encouraging journalists to write such allegedly "investigative" articles.

That hadn't really occurred to me before but it does make sense. Especially in this example as the conclusion is so at odds with the rest of the article.

[Hotchilidog]

I can't believe he actually went back to eating pigs after that experience.

I know it does seem incredible given all that he discovered that he could so casually return to consuming his former companions, just because they taste good! Unbelievable! and the guilt assuaging 'responsible shopper' crap at the end of the article also made me furious.