A few days ago, we ran a poll asking if our readers felt that Americans' longstanding cultural taboo on the consumption of horse meat would ever lessen. Somewhat to our surprise, only 30 percent of respondents believed that it would hold firm, and the rest felt, to varying degrees, that pending economic and ecological factors, horse meat would eventually find its way onto domestic menus.
From the comments:
I don't see horse meat as a huge deal. What makes it different from eating a cow, deer, or elk? They are all mammals of a similar type, and it can be said that moose, elk, or deer are as intelligent as a horse, and many cow lovers would talk about how intelligent they are.
I don't understand why people see some meat as being wrong, and others as being normal (primates aside), and cultural bias aside I'd like to hear a valid argument against eating horse meat (or cat/dog for that matter). - Tyler
It's psychological, I think. I struggle sometimes with what's the difference between my dog and a cow. Animals we've been trained to view as pets tend to not be socially acceptable as food. I have to admit, the thought of horse meat turns my stomach – but I know there's no rational reason why it should if I also eat beef, pork & chicken. - Laura
The difference is humans have a social contract with horses, much the same way we do with cats and dogs. Horses serve a purpose in our lives: they are companions and provide transportation. Implicit in that social contract is to not eat them. In other words: we do not eat our friends. It breaks down the bond that exists between human and pet. We rely on these animals for work and companionship. How can we ask so much of them and then slaughter them for food? Obviously this is cultural. Many cultures either do not feel this bond or don't consider it taboo to (in my mind) disrespect this bond. - Ben
For me, it's not only for my personal belief as an Christian (read Leviticus chapter 23), but also my personal feelings as a Christian as no other animal is mentioned in the Holy Bible as often as is the Horse. - Lona
We'll talk a bit more about this later today and delve a bit deeper into personal reasoning (not to mention sharing a wicked cute picture of my pet rabbit Claudette), but for now, how far will you go in the name of adventurous eating?
And no, we didn't include human meat. Just not going there.
I have a personal suspicion that we are not meant to eat other carnivores.
We eat animals that feed on plant matter and it's pretty much safe. But once you eat a bit higher on the food chain, i.e. animals that only eat other animals, then I have a suspicion that a) the nutrients are not as plentiful and therefore the meat is not as nutritious, and b) somehow - I can't explain the science except that I read it somewhere during the Mad Cow scare - the proteins are more prone to harm the animals that eat the animals that eat animals.
By my theory, it would seem to be OK to eat horse, then. I think I can't because of my personal feelings toward them, but I don't think it would be "wrong." Eating lion, on the other hand, just seems really unhealthy.
My theory doesn't explain why we can eat fish, though, so I admit there's not a whole lot to back it up outside of a gut feeling.
MooMoo's Friend
Warning! Please read the following!
===============================================================
I've eaten the following:
Baby humans
Baby diapers
Baby Cougar
Baby moon
The sun
Baby wombatt
Laptops
Airplains
Zebra
Money, lots and lots of money!
Chuck Norris's peepee
Moby STICK
Rocks
Glass
Mexicans
Weiners
Books
Speakers
Chair legs
Legs
Your mother
keys from MacBook's
Paper- A lot!
iPhone
iPad
People
Mice
Rats
Rat poisoning
Propane and Propane accessories
Cars
I ove eating stuff that's big and can kil you!
-Jack needs to die he doesen't know how to chop his head off!!!
DoooooooooooD
Warning! Please read the following!
===============================================================
I've eaten the following:
Baby humans
Baby diapers
Baby Cougar
Baby moon
The sun
Baby wombatt
Laptops
Airplains
Zebra
Money, lots and lots of money!
Chuck Norris's peepee
Moby STICK
Rocks
Glass
Mexicans
Weiners
Books
Speakers
Chair legs
Legs
Your mother
keys from MacBook's
Paper- A lot!
iPhone
iPad
People
Mice
Rats
Rat poisoning
Propane and Propane accessories
Cars
I ove eating stuff that's big and can kil you!
-Jack needs to die he doesen't know how to chop his head off!!!
----------------------------------------–
Hey, shut the hell up and kill yourself ok? i'm not mentaly ill I just choose not to be smart, I do not have mental problems biatch I'ma go whack it to your name, sexah
I have ethics based food exceptions. That includes anything produced by Tyson, Smithfield, Monsanto and others of their ilk who have a strangle-hold on our food supply and are power-sick enough to try and foust something like this off on the unsuspecting consumer. This would justify in their minds the slaughter of thousands of wild Mustangs every year. The last wild bison of Yellowstone are right up there with the Mustangs in this government sanctioned slaughter.
i have eaten:
Y-religious-taboo food
Y-meat
Y-animal products
Y-cute and fuzzy animals (guinea pig)
Y-dog (no cat yet)
Y-horses
N-primates (turned down monkey brains)
N-dolphin (will do given the opportunity)
Y-rodent (water rat)
Y-whale (deelish)
Y-fetus (balut = mmmmmm)
Y-insects (probably not again)
Europeans started eating horse meat because the Nazis would wipe out their livestock as they moved through – but horses would be left dead on battlefields and it was the only recourse. Some europeans still do as a left over cultural element- but it is falling in disfavor.
Humans should not eat animals who are intelligent and conscious enough to:
Play with toys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52UxyjnBQTI&feature=related
figure out how to open complicated door locks
act in a helpful manner
enjoys competing and doing a good job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQU8YVHc3iw&NR=1
There are very few things I won't try at least once. I wouldn't eat primate because genetically they are so close to us that it would poison a human. Cannibalism slowly deteriorates the muscles, much like eating primate would for a human we are just too close. The other thing I would have a problem eating is dolphin, the mercury level in the meat is too high and again becomes poisonous in large amounts, or over a long period of time. Other than that I think I'd try anything once, as long as it didn't wiggle too much ;)
First, I do not appreciate someone on this list of comments calling another an idiot. As for me, I do not eat the flesh of dead animals, based on health. The animals have the uric acids left in them, as well as the fecal matter that hadn't been expelled. The vegans have the longest life span. I am an egg and butter and milk/cream eater. Also cheese. But I do find Leviticus Chapter 11 in God's book very informative when it comes to what is clean and unclean with regards to animal flesh. I figure God created them and Hhhe knows about their make up. He also says he will require the life of the person whoever kills an animal and eats it.(see Gen.9:5). CNN is to be thanked for allowing this privilege to express our thoughts but it would be nice to be able to report abuse, such as calling someone an idiot because they disagree with you.
Respects,
Paul
I'll pretty much try anything once, and will indulge again if I liked it. I do have a few won't-even-try-them-said-Sam-I-am foods. From the list, those are living animals (fresh plants remain endangered on my plate) and fetal meats (though young, born food, like veal, is also fair game). The others off the list:
1) Endangered animals. I'll try non-human primates if they're common, but don't give me mountain gorilla. I'm not that jaded.
2) Human. I'm not a cannibal (sp). I've heard some folks like to eat human placentas and they're welcome to my portion.
3) Butt products. You can have your civet cat coffee and its delicious aroma of civet cat digestive juices.
Other than endangered species, I don't have great ethical reasons behind those rules. It's mostly just squeamishness and lingering cultural mores.
Thank you CNN for bringing awareness to the inhumane, dark industry that is "horse slaughter".
People here in the CNN poll, spoke loudly they do not want to consume horses and voiced strong opposition to horse slaughter being reintroduced to the US.
Horse slaughter was shut down because it is inhumane and unnecessary, that truth has not changed...nor the truth that our wild horses and domestic horses are loved, held sacred and deserve to live in peace and safety here.
It's interesting that this poll includes a photo of horses at the top of the web page, indicating that the poll probably came into being as a result of recent discussion about legalizing horse slaughter in the United States. The pro-horse-slaughter folks often use the argument that, since horses are eaten in other parts of the world, why not kill them here and ship the meat to them? A list of things that people do eat in other parts of the world should enhance our understanding that food taboos are practical, cultural and ethical. I personally feel that keeping horse meat OFF the menu is a practical, cultural and ethical choice. Practical: most domestic horses are given drugs forbidden for human consumption; cultural: were it not for horses, Europeans wouldn't have been able to conquer this continent (for better or worse); ethical: we raise horses primarily as companions and partners, not as food livestock. So, the list of foods that other cultures eat? Camels' eyes (Bedouin), bull penis and monkey brains (China), rats (West Africa), curried goat fetus (Anglo-Indian community in Southern India), rotted shark (Iceland), poisonous fugu fish (Japan), fried cockroach (Thailand), roasted dog heads (Viet Nam), maggoty cheese (Sardinia), pig blood soup (Philipines), dog meat stew (Batak, Indonesia), human flesh (Korowai, New Guinea; Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone). Sue Wallis, Wyoming State Representative, who works tirelessly to make horse slaughter legal in this country, might also want to look into the maggot cheese and roasted dog head market, unless she's too busy defending herself from ethics charges arising from developing horse slaughterhouse plants concurrently with pro-slaughter legislative activities.
If CNN wanted to do more than just gloss over the surface of the horse slaughter issue with lunchtime polls, it could investigate the people and organizations who seek to profit from it. It's a tangled web but there are some easy starting points, including Sue Wallis of Wyoming, who lobbies non-Wyoming state legislatures and Indian tribes to agree to slaughter plants, while, as Executive Director of Unified Equine LLC, she plans to develop slaughter plants in Wyoming and other states (http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1486). Investigators might also look at tax incentives offered to breeders enrolled with the American Quarter Horse Association and other horse "associations" that commend horse slaughter. "Follow the money" and you'll find the real reasons behind the horse slaughter proposals – as opposed to the propaganda tirelessly espoused by Wallis and her cohorts.
I do not eat much in the way of meat at all but i enjoy it when i do have it, however i do not think it is OK to eat meat and i do feel guilty eating it because some poor creature has had to die in order to put a chop or a stake on my plate. I could not eat anything which still looks like the animal it came from and i could not kill anything. I would definitely become vegetarian if i had to do that. I would never eat anything which could be considered a pet such as a dog or cat or horse or hamster etc. but then where does hat list end as people keep all sorts of animals as pets. Maybe this is where the guilt comes into my meat eating? I also wonder how frightened the poor animal was before i was put to death, what was going through its mind at the time? I think i am convincing myself to become a vegetarian full stop!
Have you seen the Earthlings documentary? You can view it for free on the film's website (earthlings dot com). In case you want a little (er, a lot) more convincing!
What amazes me is that someone could think of eating an animal that could have been someones pet or companion. I would not trust anyone that could do that.
I say it's high time we just start to eat humans. What's the big deal? Meat is meat. A juicy burger is a juicy burger. A steak is a steak. A roast is a roast. A hot dog is a hot dog. A sausage is a sausage. Everyone dies, so why are we wasting resources cremating people or burying them in boxes when they would make a delicious roast. Once it's cut up and in a plastic wrapped package at the grocery store what's the difference? Once it's on the barbecue what's the difference? Once it's fried what's the difference? Once you melt cheese on it, wrap it in bacon and stick it on bread what's the difference? Once you make it into meatballs for your spaghetti what's the difference. If you eat animal meat and then balk at human meat then you're psychologically brainwashed. Fools.
As a pro-life activist, I would not eat any unborn meat. Balut reminds me of abortion. Anything live is fair game to me. I do not like cats and dogs and have no problem with some cultures eating them. Horse meat is the same as cows etc., and the Japanese have every right to hunt Whale and Dolphin. I have seen the action on Whale Wars and it is funny to watch people on the Left side of the political spectrum waste their lives to ruin busiess and force their diets on people who have eaten Whale/Dolphin for years.
Interesting. I am vegetarian for much the same reason as I am pro life. A voice for the suffering and slaughtered voiceless. The Japanese are notorious for their cetacean massacres to make a few bucks, acting like juvenile delinquents when it comes to complying with whaling laws. They'll hold up hand-painted signs saying "research" whenever aircraft fly over their vessels as they carve up half-dead whales and dolphins to be canned and sent off to meat markets. "Research".....right. Anyway, regardless of one's stance on what is morally acceptable to eat, a primary reason for the moratorium on whaling is for conservation. Whales are in far more danger of going extinct than other animals people may consume. The Japanese (perhaps not in general, but many including authorities) do not care. If it makes them money, it's fair game.
Additionally, I'm sure most people, meat-eaters included, would agree that animals should be killed humanely. This is very difficult with whales. You can't pop them off with a bolt gun to the head, an electric shock in the anus (or several other standard butchery methods that are more gruesome but still more humane than in whaling). They are harpooned and left to struggle and bleed to death for possibly hours, perhaps even while being "processed". Hell, they even use grenade-tipped harpoons at times, blowing out chunks of the living whale or perhaps giving it a concussion if it explodes in the water nearby. All in all it's a fairly barbaric practice. I won't even get into the dolphin massacres – and the attitude of the fishermen involved – made public by The Cove documentary.
You are so wrong yes they do kill a lot of whales but its there culture. Who are we to judge that? Fact is buddy nature gave us those four sharp teeth for a reason...the body needs meat. And currently living in Japan I have tried whale, horse the whole 9 yards. I wish vegans would get off the "Im saving a living creature even though nature says I should be eating it" high horse. Plus I guess its ok for vegan groups like PETA to fund domestic terrosits to try and scare ppl into thinking theyre right. Fact is buddy, plants are living creatures too. Science has proven they react to music, positively or negatively depending on the kind of music. So remember when youre eating your salad your eating a bowel of slaughter. I wont be a hypocrite and Ill continue with what I was designed for
"You are so wrong yes they do kill a lot of whales but its there culture. Who are we to judge that?"
Thinking individuals and nations who are concerned about both suffering and conservation on global scales, that's who. I will never subscribe to the cultural relativism argument. Would you have sat back in the late 30's as Hitler began oppressing and rounding up Jews, saying "oh that's just their culture, who are we to judge?" Do you support the freedom of certain cultures today that restrict basic human rights from women? After all, who are we to judge, right? It's just their culture. Hm.
"Fact is buddy nature gave us those four sharp teeth for a reason"
Do a side by side comparison of human physiology with an average carnivore's and an average herbivore's and get back to me. At any rate, one could argue that we have a vestigial tailbone for swinging through trees. Having the ability to use our bodies in certain ways has no logical bearing on whether we should or not. *That* question should be left up to ethics, pragmatism, etc.
"the body needs meat."
This is a common misconception. It does not *need* meat. Meat just makes the diet simpler, since it contains many required nutrients that the consumed animal already took up and processed from plant material (or other animals) during their lifetime. We can cut out the middle man (er, animal) and get the nutrients directly. How else would so many vegans/vegetarians live perfectly healthy lives? (you may say some don't, which is true. But of course, a great many meat-eaters aren't healthy either).
"I wish vegans would get off the "Im saving a living creature even though nature says I should be eating it" high horse."
It's not a "high horse". It's an ethical belief. Though for many it goes far beyond pure ethics to economics, health, and environmentalism as well. There is much to be gained by reducing meat consumption, and I have seen scientific studies that agree (pertaining to pollution and health, in particular).
"Plus I guess its ok for vegan groups like PETA to fund domestic terrosits to try and scare ppl into thinking theyre right."
It's pretty hard to debate with a meat eater about vegetarianism without them bringing up PETA... However, PETA is simply an organization with its own agenda. Whatever it does or doesn't do has no logical bearing on the merits of some or all of their stated ideals (veganism, etc). Please remember that.
"Fact is buddy, plants are living creatures too. Science has proven they react to music, positively or negatively depending on the kind of music. So remember when youre eating your salad your eating a bowel of slaughter."
Cute – and I hear this one from meat eaters a lot – but the ethical standpoint deals with suffering. Pain and psychological/emotional distress require nervous systems, characteristic in (most) animals, not plants. You know full well there's a difference, and you are trying to lump plants in with animals in a vain attempt at undermining the ethics component of the vegetarian/vegan philosophy.
"I wont be a hypocrite and Ill continue with what I was designed for"
That is not a reasonable argument. You are basically resigning to your primal instincts and ignoring an intellectual argument that goes beyond the primitive. Besides, you weren't "designed" to eat meat anyway. If you believe in evolution, organisms simply "survive" based on natural selection to pass on their genes. The fact that you are capable of processing meat metabolically doesn't necessarily say anything about what you were evolutionarily "designed" for or what you are "supposed" to eat, because nature doesn't prescribe such things. We simply make our own inferences based on what we see in our physiology/anatomy. But still, it is naive to hold ourselves to behaving only in a manner that matches what we perceive to be our "designed purpose".
If you are a Creationist (Christian, for the sake of argument), I still argue that we were not designed specifically to eat meat. Genesis states that vegetation was provided as food for humans and other animals alike. No mention is made likewise of animals as food. The only vaguely related reference is that humans have dominion over the animals, but that hardly means we can do what we want with them. A king has dominion over his kingdom...does that mean he can freely eat his citizens?
Brett, I actually had not heard of balut before, so I just looked it up. I am utterly disgusted. Also, why am I not surprised it is an Asian dish... Asia has arguably the most unnecessarily cruel cuilinary practices in the world (typically involving cooking and consumption or partial consumption of live animals and, apparently, intentionally partially growing fetuses and then cooking them; truly barbaric).
I have eaten a lot of liver in my life and now currently in Korea I have had slug, cows blood, chicken feet, pig intestines. Soon I will eat dog, my girlfriend said it is good but most do not like the smell. Whoever says they can't eat cute and fuzzy, it won't be fuzzy on your plate. My girlfriend can eat anything, her father told her when young that, "If it doesn't kill you, you can eat it."
Seriously, we ride horses still? FIRE UP THE GRILL!!!
Isn't that a rather primitive approach to diet? I find it unfortunate that many people's reasons for eating meat amount to "because we can" or "we historically did" or "we're at the top of the food chain and are more intelligent". These aren't the stone ages anymore, and we are not brutish, dim-witted neanderthals. Let's put our minds to good use. Rather than "can we eat it?", let's start asking "should we eat it?", "do we really need to eat it?", and "are there better alternatives ethically, economically, environmentally, and health-wise?". I for one am not interested in my digestive tract becoming a corpse conveyor belt for any animal I can find to shove in my mouth...
its all fair games you ppl would die in the wild. I have a problem eating animal heads raw,cooked or how ever you prepare them.i still wouldnt have a problem eatn monkeys cep chimps gorillas and oragatangs(i like them)so mayb i would try them at least once.
i hear in some places them trap little monkeys in the table by there head and smack open there skulls with a hammer walla dinner. btw i heard its possible to go thru life eating only meat but if you try the same with veggies the outcome isnt so well(its that y vegans are so pale and thin)
"Vegans are so pale and thin"? I don't know how many you have actually encountered, but in case you haven't noticed the average American on the SAD diet is overtly obese with a myraid of diseases. Perhaps some of the vegans have not been educated on the natural health laws, nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperance, air, rest,and trust in God. In case you haven't noticed, most of the biggest and strongest animals in the world are herbivores, elephants, giraffes, moose, cow, deer, rhino, and what the world deems as "our cousins", the primates. The animals that people tend to eat are herbivores. Why go through the middleman when you can go direct?
"btw i heard its possible to go thru life eating only meat but if you try the same with veggies the outcome isnt so well(its that y vegans are so pale and thin)"
Cue the old saying "don't believe everything you hear". Based on my own research, a pure meat diet would be far less healthy than a pure vegetable diet. In fact one compilation of studies indicated that those who eat a relatively high amount of meat are more prone to certain cancers and heart disease. Pure meat would certainly cut your lifespan. A vegan diet can be fine if you know what you're doing. Cases of unhealthy vegans are mostly those who simply don't pay attention to eating properly and getting the right nutrients. But of course that's a good rule of thumb for someone on any diet.
I'll eat anything that tastes good. I've eaten both cat and dog, alpaca, jelly fish, guinea pig, rat, etc.I even ate placenta after my daughter was born. With so many people in the world going hungry I only see a problem with WASTING food.
Most of you are missing a point in the reasoning against horse slaughter in the US: the fact that it is mostly the mass production "foal mill" breeders and the owners and trainers who start horses in hard training as yearlings and 2-year-olds in order for them to compete for the high $$$ purses at 3, and then use the kill sales and slaughter as a means to dispose of the horses they don't want (and many of these breeders produce hundreds of foals individually so they can select that small handful of "shining stars" and dispose of the unwanteds at the kill sale) and so they don't have to pay to dispose of the carcasses. If horse slaughter is allowed to continue in the form of exporting horses to Mexico and/or Canada, and if the slaughterhouses that process horses reopen in the US, this is like a reward for those irresponsible, unethical, greedy a**holes to keep over-producing horses since they don't ever pay to dispose of the ones they don't want, have crippled up by 3 or 4 years old, who aren't well bred enough for the breeding shed, etc. I don't know about other taxpayers, but I don't want my money going to support these jerks and their crap of over-production and ruining horses.
The issue with wild horses is a different scenario, but still goes back once again to greed and bad behavior mainly on the part of the western states welfare ranchers who want to completely take over the Open Range at the expense once again of we taxpayers who pay for them to be in business to the tune of close to 700 million dollars a year. There are now only approx. 26,000 on BLM/public land, and there are over 3 MILLION head of cattle on that same land. Hmm, doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the numbers and realize that 26,000 wild horses can't impact the range all but a fraction of what over 3 million cattle does. The reason the cattle producers want this land is because they only have to pay $1.35 per head of cattle, per month (AUM) to run their cattle on the open range, compared to what ranchers in other parts of the country have to pay to lease private land and pay upwards of $14.00 per head, per month. Incidentally, the western states cattle ranchers only produce about 3% of the total of beef produced in the US, so they could disappear tomorrow and not only wouldn't we notice that their beef isn't at the supermarkets anymore, but the taxpayers would be saving at leat 500 million dollars because we wouldn't have to be paying their way anymore. As it is now, they go out every fall before they turn their cattle out in November and "sanatize" the range by killing every living thing that either competes with their cattle for food and water, or are predators to their cattle. However, since the wild horses and burros on BLM land are still protected under the 1971 FREE ROAMING Wild Horse and Burro Act, as the name of the Act states, the horses and burros must be allowed to roam free, without fences everywhere, so the ranchers basically use the BLM and the Dept of Ag to eradicate the horses and burros that they would just go out and kill like all the other wildlife if it was legal to do so, and thus, they can then fence off our public land so no one will be able to use it (i.e. hikers, bikers, ATV's, camping, fishing, etc). I live in Northern Nevada, surrounded by BLM land and I already for many years have experienced fences that go without a gate or cattle guard for miles and miles, so we can't gain access to our public land, and have also had ranchers attempt to intimidate me off the range.
And besides the obvious that we as a culture typically do not eat horsemeat, so why the hell would we want to have our taxpayer dollars go to supporting that industry, horses are not raised the same at all as most livestock such as cattle, pigs, sheep, etc. I happen to have a 15 year old, 1500# pet steer named Karma, however, he is definetely not the "norm" when it comes to how cattle are kept and how they are treated. Most all cattle either have to be put into chutes, or roped and thrown in order to brand, doctor and vaccinate them. Most horses OTOH are raised around humans from birth, are trained to accept riders on their backs, they learn to trust humans, etc, and then as a final insult from these production breeders, they get shipped for slaughter is the ultimate betrayal. With the wild horses, even though not raised around humans typically (although, I had a band of 6 at my place the other night at 1:30 AM and was hand-feeding the stallion and 2 mares, and scratching the baby, just long enough to feed my horses more food and then I shooed the wild ones away), they are literally the only thing standing between we taxpayers and our ability to recreate on BLM/public land, and the western states welfare ranchers who are intent on taking over the range entirely so none of us can use it. Horses are also a species native to North America, unlike cattle, so I know I'd much rather see bands of wild horses and burros rather than what I'm seeing now when I drive down the highway, and thats thousands of cattle in just a very small area that I see as I'm driving, so we know there are thousands/millions more out-of-sight cattle grazing here, and in other states besides Nevada, that we are all forced to pay for with our taxpayer dollars.
Ultimately, it's not only about whether we eat horsemeat in the US or not, it's about control of our Federal/public land (the cattle ranchers), and responsible horse breeding and not allowing "foal mill" operations to operate unchecked and dispose of thousands of horses every year at the kill sales because they don't want to pay for euthansia and disposal of the body, with once again, we taxpayers being stuck always paying, paying and paying some more for things that do not benefit us in the least, and always end up costing us money. Even if you're a person who couldn't care less whether horses are slaughtered or not, any person with any intelligence at all should care about the rest of us being used in regard to these groups greedy and irresponsible behavior, and them using us to pay their bills and also using slaughter to avoid doing the responsible thing and NOT over-breed horses. http://www.starwoodfarm.com http://www.animalwaystation.org
I refuse to eat every, single one of them – even as a child I knew this was right, but my parents wouldn't permit me to be vegetarian. Now I have been one for almost 25 years.
It is interesting to see all the posts about eating anything under the sun, for the most part. If you eat any animal with the blood, andrenaline, and uric acid in it, that is what is making it taste good. If it was killed according to biblical principles without blood and without fear(adrenaline), then trust me most of you will no longer be meat eaters because that flesh will no longer have the taste that all love no matter how much you season it! I myself do not eat any flesh of animals and consider myself a health reformer, not a vegan. I don't eat animals based on health reasons laid out throughout the whole bible. I also believe that most major diseases are caused by the consumption of meat and dairy in which most doctors will tell you anyway. It was never intended for man to consume meat as we do now. Our bodies do not have the short intestines of carinivores like cats, dogs, etc. in which the waste will be expelled out of the system quickly. When we don't digest food completely it stays in the intestines putrifying like garbage in a trash can. And lo...cancer. If you don't believe it, search and ye shall find.
Adrenaline and uric acid give it flavor? What-ever. You don't even eat or like meat, so how would you know what makes it taste good? That's the kookiest claim I've heard all day. And as far as humans not being equipped to eat meat? Where do you get your information. The very reason the human brain developed as it did was because we had a more omnivorous diet. So eat all the veggies you want, and watch your brain shrivel. And lo, I shall sit majestically at the top of the food chain.
You obviously do not have a clue about human anatomy, neither do you have the mental compacity to comprehend the information I wrote due to the fact that maybe the flesh has fogged your judgement? Perhaps if you do a little researching of what I said online and not be biased, maybe you will just be enlightened. Have a great day!
By the way I USED to eat meat so I know exactly what it tastes like. I thought I would help you out with some information if you would dare to research it. Note another link at the end of my post.
From http://www.celestialhealing.net/physicalveg3.htm
When you look at the comparison between herbivores and humans, we compare much more closely to herbivores than meat eating animals. Humans are clearly not designed to digest and ingest meat.
Meat-eaters: have claws
Herbivores: no claws
Humans: no claws
Meat-eaters: have no skin pores and perspire through the tongue
Herbivores: perspire through skin pores
Humans: perspire through skin pores
Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing, with no flat molar teeth for grinding
Herbivores: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Humans: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Meat-eaters: have intestinal tract that is only 3 times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly
Herbivores: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Humans: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat
Herbivores: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Humans: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Meat-eaters: salivary glands in mouth not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.
Herbivores: well-developed salivary glands which are necessary to pre-digest grains and fruits
Humans: well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits
Meat-eaters: have acid saliva with no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Herbivores: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Humans: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Based on a chart by A.D. Andrews, Fit Food for Men, (Chicago: American Hygiene Society, 1970)
If you're going to eat meat, why not just eat humans? What's the taboo against that?
If you're going to kill and chop up other animals and eat their dead flesh, the taboo against humans
is the silliest of all. It's all the same once you've got in in your mouth and you're chomping on a chopped
up dead body. You people are silly.
That's an excellent point considering the same molecules are recycled over and over. Meat of any kind was once matter of a different kind and soon is transformed again.
If you fed human meat to a pig, then ate the pig, it's the same as visa versa chemically.
Having multiple degrees in anthropology, I've given a lot of thought to this topic and read a lot on the subject.
Human food taboos are generally tied into the animal being too similar to or too dissimilar from human beings in terms of morphology or attributed personalities- they become ingrained in our culture, religious tenets, and psyche from a very young age. For instance, rats and insects are too different, whereas primates and dogs and cats are too similar. This changes based on the availability of food. In areas of the world with fewer potential food choices, more dissimilar foods are considered acceptable. Those humans who were able to protect areas with greater food availability were able to "look down" on those with lesser availability. Us versus them.
Things have changed dramatically in the global economy. In a world where the availability of potential foods is nearly limitless for those of us with access to the internet, it becomes difficult to come up with universal taboos on what is food and what isn't. I generally fall back on generally-accepted European food practices, but we're all at a stage where we're able to redefine these from our selves.
I will say, though, that I also don't eat shell fish. Not only are they slimy, but can be full of unhealthful bacteria. The same with pigs. They are so full of fat I can hardly stand to eat them. The last time I cooked a ham I had to throw it out because there was more fat than meat. So no more. I like my mean lean, so basically I stick to lean beef.
I have made a deal: I won't eat sharks or alligators, in exchange that they won't eat me. So far so good! That isn't working with mosquitoes and no-see-ems. Though I don't eat them, they sure like the taste of me.....
During the height of Global Warming ( al-gore-a-phoia ) we are going to have to eat our children .
Thus we have the new Child Nutrition Act signed y the President and his lovely wife .
In my case, I can't stand 'meat replacement products' I'm more than fine with eating veggie dishes but there is something inherently disgusting to me about products like tofurkey. Actually outside of certain asian dishes I'm grossed out by tofu in general.
I'll just cut to the chase. I won't eat anything I've anthropomorphized or attributed greater sentience to than most animals. It's not so much an ethical choice as a visceral one. So whales, dolphins, primates and pets are all out. Past that, I'm game for most anything. Though the idea of eating something still struggling for life just makes me queasy. I like my food compliant, thank you very much.
Ben said "The difference is humans have a social contract with horses, much the same way we do with cats and dogs. Horses serve a purpose in our lives: they are companions and provide transportation. Implicit in that social contract is to not eat them. In other words: we do not eat our friends. It breaks down the bond that exists between human and pet. We rely on these animals for work and companionship. How can we ask so much of them and then slaughter them for food?"
The same is the case with cows. Cows nourish us with their milk, just the same way a mother nourishes an infant with her milk. Hence, we need to respect the cow as a mother who is offering her milk to the entire humanity. Killing a cow is the highest sin, more sin than killing any other type of animal. Killing a cow is equivalent to killing your own mother. This is the concept in Hinduism and the reason why they worship the cow (just as they worship their mother).
@No-To-Hunger, re: whale slaughter by Europe and America – that is SO true! Howeverrr...Japan doesn't WANT to stick to a reasonable quota when it comes to whale hunting – they try to get around it by claiming 'scientific research'.
This has been very interesting to read. I do eat some meats, beef, chicken, pork, fish. I was raised on a farm and watched as some were killed and preped, which bothered me a lot, some because of the cruelty, not that any one was being cruel, but the taking of a life bothered me. When I think about the whole matter I think I would rather not eat any meats at all, though I do in the end. I tend to be very compasionet about animals, and stll I will eat some meats I suppose because I was raised to believe we must eat some. *** some of you have been fun to read, some I understand your heart.
Never shall I eat anything trendy (ie. Sushi, Kangaroo), genitals, liver, gizzards & entrails. That about covers it. Oh yeah, and above all, NO CANNIBALISM!!!!
From the article: "cultural bias aside I'd like to hear a valid argument against eating horse meat (or cat/dog for that matter)"
exactly. I know of no way to rationally distinguish between eating cows, pigs, etc. and eating dogs, cats, and horses. It's not based on intelligence, because for one thing pigs are really smart, and also for any benchmark you set, there will be some humans (young children, the mentally disabled, etc) who fall below it.
As such, my benchmark for what is ok to eat is not level of intelligence per se, but capacity to suffer.
I only eat foods that come from non-conscious life forms (plants essentially), all conscious beings are out.
I have a problem with eating cow. It more than likely has to do with the fact that I was raised on a farm and our cows were more like family than livestock. I was fine with beef until I was in about 7th grade and my cow gretchen was slaughtered in front of me. I still remember her head in the bucket with her beautiful eyes open. All of our cows were very intelligent. Most of them knew their names. Now I can only tolerate beef when I am pregnant.
Well, then, logic suggests that unless you are also willing to plant, tend, harvest and prepare your own fruits, grains and vegetables, you shouldn't eat that either. And that goes for hops and barley, too, all you beer lovers!
No, logic does not suggest that, because the processes are different. Planting, harvesting, etc as you mention are simply work. Everyone works in their own way for the food they buy. But killing involves an ethical choice, one which people like to be (and generally are) removed from with grocery stores as the middle man. The point is that people should not support ethical choices they are uncomfortable with by hiding behind someone else who they pay to do it.
My very favorite parts of the deer after a kill are the heart, liver and kidneysl. I usually saute strips in olive oil with a healthy serving of sauted onions with the resultant gravy on corn bread. Though they are difficult to find these days without traditional butcher shops, I also like beef kidney if properly prepared and cooked into a rich brown stew. Removal of the fatty tissue between the meaty lobes is essential as well as thorough cleaning.
This is America. We all came here to live a new life of kindness and compassion. The horse ans burro settled thiis land with the first explorers. Vringing a culture of "locust" is unbecoming any American. We preserve and cherish, not use and throw away.
Sorry – the poll this article refers to was so ridiculously skewed in favor of horsemeat that it was laughable. How about just a yes or no answer? Would you or wouldn't you? All your silly scenarios were a transparent effort to get more people to say maybe.
I only feel comfortable eating something I would kill myself (for me that's smaller fish, shrimp, lobster) but i would never be able to kill a cow, a chicken, a horse, etc. to eat it. I think that if people had to kill the animals they eat themselves instead of buying it at a grocery store people would feel much different about the whole topic.
I eat fish, fowl, beef, and pork. I do not eat lamb or older sheep. However if I were starving a whole lot of the things I don't eat now I would learn to love. Have a bug.....sure thing, if I was starving.
I avoid baby animals (lamb, veal) and try to eat either wild food (fish, venison) or if a farmed animal, that which was treated humanely during its life (free range, ideally). I'm fine with animals as food but we have a moral responsibility to treat them humanely and respectfully.
Early Mongolians depended on horses, even as food. I learned that as part of a museum exhibit. That said, I may eat meat, but hate the cruelty. Killing wild horses is just an excuse to kill off an entire species-just like it's not right to wipe out whales just 'cuz it's a tradition in Japan to eat whale meat.
whales are threatened species not because in Japan they eat whales. Europe and America in late 19 Century hunted them to almost extinction for its oil to be used in perfumes, and other stuff. Europe and America are to be blamed.
I wonder those people that don't eat this or that know real hunger! Food is very convinient for us. But if you have no food, eat once a week, like people in Africa, I wonder what would you eat!
To the writers of the original poll .. not only were the choices slanted in favor of situations that might allow for the eating of horse meat, the poll did ask what our personal choices might be, but what other Americans might do.
Even I might say that, given no other food source available, an event that is NOT likely, Americans might turn to horse meat during some catastrophe or another. That in no way reflects my personal opinion on whether or not I would eat horse meat.
There were probably occurrences in pioneer days when horses were eaten .. but since horses were one of few methods of transportation, it probably was one of the LAST things done and only when there was no other option. It is probable that those who did eat horses in such situation had no other way to stay alive and many probably didn't.
As for the rest of those on this site, I would bet people who are visit here are probably the more adventurous regarding their food choices and the poll might not be such an accurate reflection of the population as a whole.
I don't eat fish because I scuba dive and I have had a lot of great moments viewing fish. The oceans are being raped and I don't want any part of that.
Per our FDA horses are companion animals that receive illegal for human consumption drugs and that the USDA has been breaking laws on killing horses for foreign human consumption for over forty years, you don't think the ranchers ie AQHA, and their sons the USDA inspectors want this gravy train to end do you? Its time to end the welfare rancher sucking off our taxes, horses aren't in demand do to the economy and the next generation who don't want the burden of caring for a horse.
In dire circumstances I'd go Donner Party on those around me and I wouldn't have any life crisis about it at all. There would be no mental difficulty for me at all about it.
I hear that over 30,000 Mexicans have been killed by The Drug Cartels. Instead of killing horses,they should be eating them! Gives a whole new meaning to "Authentic Mexican Food"!
I watched Andrew Zimmermn eat a non cooked blood clot from a goat when he was in some African country. After seeing that wonderful bit of TV, nothing shocks me. Oh, and it was a blood clot kabob. Yes, it was on a stick. "faints*
I will only eat chicken and some fish. Once in a blue moon Ill have red meat, but its usually because im craving it (maybe anemia or something), and that doesn't happen too often.
I can't say that I wouldn't eat whatever I could find, including insects, if I was put into survival mode. We each have the instinct to survive and I don't think we really know just how far we'd go until we are put into that situatiion. I hunt and fish and have raised my children to do the same- with respect to the animals- killing only what you will eat. We are not trophy hunters, but kill for food, for survival. We process our own meats, and grow most of our own meats and vegetables. I have had most meats, with the exception of insects, rats, dog and cat...but it wouldn't bother me to eat them if I was starving and had nothing else...
I won't eat Yellow Fin Tuna or Shark species as well as those I voted for in the poll. Both are overfished or fished for improperly in ways that exploit the species to threatened levels.
This is really not a fair question. Many of the people who say they would eat horse meat have not been watching the whole story of why so many are fighting to stop horse slaughter. First off horse slaughter is inhumane and cruel. Just watch some of the horse slaughter videos before making up your mind. Next, American horses are not raised as food animals. Our horses, including wild ones, get drugs that are labeled NOT FOR FOOD ANIMALS. Despite what the people for slaughtering horses want the public to believe, horse meat is not cheap, up to $20 per lb in the European market and it is not going to feed the "hungry." Only around 50% of the horse is used in the meat process where other animals it is almost 100% used. The only reason we are even talking about it is because horse breeders can not get rid of their horses because of the slow economy and they will not slow down their breeding. It is a money thing! And really most American's will take a beef burger over a horse meat burger anytime. And don't look to stop the so called wild horse problem with sending wild horses to slaughter. There are less then 20,000 left on the ranges, with 40,000 in long term holding. More then 100,000 American horses still go to slaughter in Canada and Mexico, so the wild hroses could not even fill the bill for a years worth of meat. Opening horse slaughter plants will be costly, they leave pollution and damage a community in many other ways. And the cost of raising horses is only going to go up as feed and land become more costly. This is not the type of business that will bring great wealth to a community especially if a whole culture must have their mineset changed to accept this type of meat. The results of any poll must be scrutinized as most are slanted one way or another.
I've already eaten just about everything short of human flesh.
I'm not too hot on the idea of eating creatures like a dog or horse, since they've been companions to man (A creature that's by our side during our hunts and wars deserves more respect), but... Ultimately, there's a food chain. And, if I'm served something, I'm far more concerned with being a good guest and honoring the host than my personal food dislikes.
Everything that lives does so at the expense of another. Even herbivores indirectly kill by competing for the same food supply. So, it's silly to make an ethical argument. After all, if one's so concerned about the well being of other life, the only logical solution is to take yourself out of the equation.
"Everything that lives does so at the expense of another. Even herbivores indirectly kill by competing for the same food supply. So, it's silly to make an ethical argument. After all, if one's so concerned about the well being of other life, the only logical solution is to take yourself out of the equation."
It's completely ridiculous to say that, since every organism somehow impacts others, making an ethical argument is pointless/silly. Killing one's self is hardly the answer either. You are taking things to the extreme and ignoring the finer implications and significance of the ethical argument. Does it not occur to you that one can strive to live their life but in such a way that REDUCES harm to other living things? Hell, that's how civilized society works anyway (only in that case it is strictly about human-human interaction). So by your logic we should have a grand free for all and revert to the stone ages. Might is right, every man for himself, etc.
We've evolved with advanced brains capable of logic and reasoning. Please make use of this gift.
But not mammals. There is something that mammals have that other types of animals do not have, and because of that I don't think we should eat them.
Worse than eating them though is how we treat the animals before slaughter. Chaining baby cows so that they can't stand to develop muscles so that our veal is tender, for example. Even chickens, something I will eat, even their treatment bothers me. I only buy free range eggs and chickens.
if you eat one you eat all. if i didnt believe eating everything was ok i would be a vegetarian. whats the difference between beef and a horse? emotional attachment? when it comes down to it sustenance is sustenance. swine, cattle, lamb, shrimp, cat, dog, dolphin, whale, monkey, or lobster. top of the food chain means everything is fair. the only reason I wouldn't eat somethings flesh is because i have the luxury of choosing my food based on flavor. If you can;t eat it all, eat none
*** Propaganda BLM statement that the Wild Mustangs destroy the land..... In actuality cattle are destroying the land.....
Wild Mustangs will eat the tops of the grasses and it will grow back..... Cattle rip the whole plant out by the roots.....
Wild Mustangs live free on the western ranges, in naturally managed numbers; have since the country was "founded"....
Once Wild Mustangs are corralled via the BLM, millions and millions of tax-dollars become involved in the equation.....
"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals... We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far beneath ourselves. And therein we err, we greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complex than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."
-Henry Beston
I prefer tuna safe dolphin. I've eaten dog before in South Korea. The yellow dog (dingo type) are especially good. Watched some Koreans burning the fur off a dead dog under a bridge one day. It actually came out pretty good with a little ketchup.
It all depends on how hungry I get, i suppose. Snakes and possums are okay, rabbits around here are somewhat iffy due to rabbit fever, rodents carry plague so rats, squirrels and prarie dogs are to be avoided. Armadillos carry leprosy so I'd avoid them too. Then again I ate tree frogs back in survival school so it all comes to how hungry are you.
I draw the line at primates... simply too close to human, and I cannot bring myself to eat Snakehead fish. Even dead they look like they're going to eat me.
"I draw the line at primates... simply too close to human"
Hmm, think about your reasoning there. Organisms are only deserving of life free from slaughter for consumption if they look sufficiently similar to us?...
it's just a cultural. I believe in India it is totally taboo to eat cows/beef. To them eating cows is like our issue with eating horses, dogs or cats. In the middle east, pork is considered gross. Geez, no BACON? No baby-back ribs? You folks don't know what you're missing, but I digress...
it's all what you were brought up to think and what you're used to. If you're hungry enough, you'll eat whatever's in front of you...
What's the difference between a cow and a pet dog? Your dog is descended from carnivores. So is your cat. Health problems arise from carnivores/omnivores consuming other carnivores/omnivores, and from herbivores consuming any part of any other animal. Some of the worst and scariest diseases today (Mad Cow, HIV/AIDS) came from creatures consuming other creatures that nature has not equipped them to eat. THAT'S why we eat Old Bessie and not Mr. Mistoffelees.
As for horses... well, they've never been bred as food animals, they've been bred as work animals. I can't imagine they'd taste very good. I'd rather have range-raised bison, personally.
I have a bizarre red meat allergy so I tend to avoid beef, pork, and lamb. For some reason I can eat beef that has been cooked a long time, like pot roast, but a rare steak makes my hands itch and turn red, and once I broke out in hives. Oddly enough I can eat ham or sausage but not pork barbecue. I do not eat lamb often, but had a reaction to it once as well. Since I can never predict which dishes will affect me I just don't eat red meats unless I know they have been prepared in a way that won't bring on an allergic reaction. I would avoid horse meat, or any mammal meat, for the same reason (birds don't seem to be a problem). I wish I knew why I have this problem, which did not start until I was in my mid-30s. Anyone else have this problem or know someone who does?
Maybe your allergy is to something common in the feed of these particular animals. For example, people with corn allergies often have to avoid pork and poultry (and whatever else eats a lot of corn).
I've spent a few years in the Philippines and tried many exotic foods. Honestly, many of them taste excellent. Dog, cat, horse, balut, lizards, snake, and all were tasty. For me it comes down to the meat being prepared properly. And by that I mean parasites. There is a reason we cook meat to certain temperatures. Pig can be dangerous as well as chicken if not prepared properly. As long as the meat is parasite free, bring it on. I might have a problem with endangered animals though. Don't feed me tiger, or panda bear until their numbers recover.
I am a huge fan of lamb (my dad raises sheep) but I am morally opposed to eating veal. Here's the difference in my eyes: veal calves are killed while they are very small and young, before they have time to even develop muscles. We take a life for only a fraction of the meat that the calf is capable of producing. I find that nearly as vulgar and disrespectful as killing a deer solely for its antlers. Lamb meat, on the other hand, isn't harvested until the animal is almost fully grown – usually after about a year. That is when the heights of quality and quantity combine. (They only call it lamb to differentiate from older sheep, or mutton, which is much tougher and far less tasty)
I'm not opposed to vegetarianism but I think when an animal and its life are treated with respect there is nothing morally wrong with taking advantage of the food resources we have available.
As for the horse question, personally I couldn't do it because of the helper/companion factor. Still, it'd be far more humane than letting them starve. And that, unfortunately, is what's happening. There are too many horses (with all the displaced mustangs) and not enough feed.
I will try anything twice...except for cats, dogs, and spiders. I don't condemn thosevin other cultures for their use of cats and dogs in their cuisine/diet, but I would certainly never consume them.
I cannot eat veal, simply due to the fact that the poor creatures are force-fed and stuffed into cramped pens. I don't eat any wild game, such as deer, antelope, etc. I do not eat lamb because the taste and smell make me nauseated, and I keep seeing a lamb's cute little face in my mind (same with veal). I am getting more and more away from eating beef and pork, because I see these mammals as creatures who have souls. I do enjoy fish and seafood because they are not mammals, not that that makes a big diff. I'm a milk drinker and eater of eggs, but animals that produce those products are not killed for them. Every year I think I am getting closer and closer to becoming a vegetarian.
I don't eat anything that lives above water, on land or in the air. And I only eat wild caught seafood from clean water. I will eat eggs and dairy, but only that which comes from ethically raised chickens and livestock.
I admit that this is somewhat odd, but I can't eat veal. I can eat a cow, but I think of the little baby calf in a cage somewhere and then I can't eat the veal. Somehow I just can't work up the same feeling about a cow. If I think about it I cannot eat it. I got sick eating chicken once because I thought about the chicken. I guess it's all in how you are brought up and what is available to you. Looking at it as objectively as I can, I don't think it's "bad" if other people eat dogs or other things I wouldn't eat. It's all cultural, I just couldn't do it, unless I were starving.
I won't eat dogs/cats. I don't really have a logical reason, only an emotional one: I see them as pets and not livestock.
Insects I have a hard time getting past the creepy-crawly aspect of them.
And I think eating something still alive is unnecessarily cruel.
Most meats are fair game on my plate though. I've eaten beef, pork, chicken, turkey, duck, lamb, goat, pheasant, quail, deer, elk, bison, rabbit, squirrel, ostrich, alligator, frog, many types of fish and shellfish, and probably others I'm forgetting at the moment.
Growing up, we named our (pet) cows steak, hamburger and roast beef because, even as children, we were aware that they were a food source. Yes, i have 2 dogs that i wouldnt want to eat simply because their new favorite pastime is rolling in garbage. I digress. Food chain...
LOL, we did the same thing! We had cows named the same as yours. We also named lambs things "Lamb Chop" and "Leg-O"; pigs were named "Bacon", "Pork Chop", "Sausage", etc.
Anything can be a food source. Doesn't mean it necessarily should be. The food chain argument is also a tired, primitive one. I don't really care if we got to where we were enslaving and slaughtering entire groups of people (and we did), doesn't mean we should keep doing it. The notion of might is right is a primal one that has no place in modern civilization.
If we're talkingh about species taboos, why are fellow humans off the list? people in terminal pain wanting to die or lifers in prision COULD be food. We could also change the nature of war. Instead of killing the enemy, we capture them or surround the country/area. Then backup the cattle trucks and slaughter as needed.
Honestly, it's more humane than simply bombing them and letting them die slowly and in pain. Not to think of the waste of meat.
I'm a carnivore, but the grossest thing about eating cows, pigs, chickens, etc., is that millions of them are mass produced and processed for no other purpose. A modern meat processing plant has more in common with a concentration camp than it does with the ranches and farms of yore. I don't think I would have much trouble downing horse or dog, but I wouldn't care to see either species added to the industry's list of "raw materials".
During the beef shortage in the early 70s, horse markets sprang up. I had horse roast (not bad). and horse burger..pretty grisley. French have eaten horse for a long time. If we start eating too much horse, dog food prices will rise. Actually horse is probably leaner and better for you than beef. It is weird about the culture stigma. Maybe it is propaganda by Animal Rights Anarchists as a starting point to ban all meat, including horse.
Actually, I think it probably stems from the fact that up to the last few generations, horses have been work animals, at some times vital. And they've been expensive animals. So when people had the option of eating horses, which were expensive and needed for so much more than food, or cows/chickens/pigs which really didn't perform multiple functions (yes, I know, milk and eggs, not what I meant, though), of course they chose to eat non-working animals.
In our day, horses are no longer needed to run a farm or get us long distances in jig time, so we've lost the understanding of why we don't eat horse meat. Instead of reasoning that they are more useful to us alive, we figure that they must be gross to eat, a taboo meat.
Had the animals always been plentiful in the states instead of a valuable commodity, we might be as other countries who eat horse alongside sheep alongside cow and chicken.
They do. If you take out most of the racks, most ovens will...they're not much bigger than a fatted goose.
Most people don't eat swans because back in Ye Olde Englande all swans belonged to the crown so only royalty could eat them. We sort of kept the taboo.
I hear peacock is tasty as well. There are people in this country that raise them for food. The traditional way to serve them is to roast them and then sew them back in their feathered skins. (Not as common in the last 100 yrs or so)
I've heard swan tastes fishy, because of their diet. It's not really particularly good eating. I haven't tried it myself though, go for it and find out!
My boyfriend eats many parts of the cow, pig, & chicken that I just cant – stomach, intestines, tongue, feet (from the chicken), etc.. He actually bought a rabbit for thanksgiving. It rly freaked me out lol.. Horse is 1 animal neither of us would be caught dead eating. He actually has his own ranch in Mexico w his dad & they raise cows for beef & use horses & whatnot.
I bought a rabbit for Easter once that I butchered (someone else killed and skinned it, but I did the rest). I thought it was neat. I had no idea how much hatred I would incur from family for that.
Esp since...why is eating the Easter Bunny any different than eating the Easter Chick (well chicken) or Lamb (which...doesn't that represent the baby Jesus?)
lol my bf just bought one from the latino market. It had already been skinned & cleaned, but b/c he had to cook it in our little convection oven, we had to chop it up into small pieces. He made me help him (it was all one piece) . I'll admit, I've gotten more adventerous (cow tongue tastes like dry roast beef), but most things i just can't do... Lol like pickled pigs' ears or real menudo. Nooooo thanks!!!
Logically, there's no good reason for horse meat (or cat, dog, etc.) to be taboo to meat-eaters, but like most others, I think of a horse as a pet just as I do my beloved dog (who's like my child). I'd personally never eat dog, cat, horse, animal fetus, organs, insects, etc., but then again, I'm a fairly picky eater and not a huge meat eater in general. I do eat chicken, beef, and pork–and have sucked the head of a crawfish and eaten a raw oyster, which some others would find disgusting–but I honestly could do without it (well, not seafood). While I would burst into tears or gag if I saw horse or dog on a plate or in my neighborhood market, I have respect for different cultures who DO eat such things, just as I have respect for Hindus who hold the cow sacred or for vegetarians & vegans. Cultural norms have developed over centuries. It's tough to change something you've known for years, but as somebody else mentioned, if economic or ecological conditions change, maybe our menus will, too.
I could not eat horse meat. I have a couple of them trotting in my backyard. It'd be like eating my kids. As a last resort, if I was starving, may be. I'd eat the neighbour's cat before in any case.
I will try anything once. But...once trying it there are somethings I don't really want to eat again, not because they tasted bad, but just because of what they are.
For example
-whole earthworms (would still probably eat them ground up) or other worms
-grasshoppers
-shrimp heads (it's the eyes that kill me)
Some organ meat also makes me weirded out.
I would be somewhat hesitant about cat. And I did actually click Dolphin just because it would make me sad and I don't support killing them.
But...most anything is fair game for a trial. Particularly if it's specifically raised as meat. Then I sort of view being eaten as it's life purpose.
In a similar vein though...I HATE seeing animals killed and not eaten/used. At least part of them. I can't stand seeing those little shrimps get tossed because there are dozens of lives wasted when you do that. I feel guilty letting meat go bad for the same reason. I don't mind killing animals for food. What I mind is wasting them. That's actually part of the reason I will try anything. You shouldn't force yourself to eat food if you don't like it (but you shouldn't order it again either). However, you dishonor your food if you don't at least give it a chance.
Um, dolphin is a stupid one to put on the list, mainly because there is so much mercury in dolphin meat that it could cause you brain damage. Just saying. Watch 'The Cove."
It all depends on where you were raised. I've eaten cobra in Asia, and my wife never considered sushi until she came here. It is all a matter of cultural context.
And for the record, I would MUCH rather kill and butcher my own food, as this way I know how it was handled, cleaned and stored. Wild game tastes GREAT too!
I agree. Butchering your own meat is the way to go. Its the only way to be sure your beef doen't have e-coli contamination. And there is nothing like a rare burger, just can't eat them if you're not sure of how the animal was butchered. (for those of you who don't know, e-coli is only found in the contents of the animal's digestive system, and contaminates meat only if those contents come into contact with the meat during the slaughter / butchering / meat cutting process)
One of the comments listed in the article mentioned that we are "trained" to think of animals like horses as pets. I think it is much deeper than that – they are pets, and have a special bond with humans, because their minds operate on a different level than a pig or a cow. Not to say pigs or cows aren't smart, or can be pets, but they don't connect with people like horses do. Tie that with the claims (which I believe) that there isn't a humane way to kill horses, because they are so aware of there surroundings, and it all just seems so wrong for a civilized society.
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Anyway, as my quote states I think that primates are the only food taboo I would have. Due to the similar genetic makup of humans and primates, it allows for disseases that are generally relegated to one species to cross to humans. It simply is not safe to eat animals that closely related to us. I also feel the more intelligent primates are too human like in their intelligence, so I personally wouldn't be comfortable eating them, but that doesn't mean I'd be against someone else doing so because of that reason.
Herm...I do see your point about diseases, but I think the question isn't really asking you to consider that. What if it were guaranteed disease free?
I've actually had this conversation with myself as to beings similar to myself even up to the point of cannibalism. Studying some of the beliefs of cannibalistic societies however, I think that given certain circumstances I could actually even go that far. For instance, our society usually condemns it...but many make exceptions it is seen as a matter of survival (that plan crash in the Andes for instance, or the conversation my parents had with me that if it ever came down to it and it was the only way to survive...maybe that's a Montana thing though. We have lots of blizzards and are remote, so people think about weird things). In other societies though, sometimes the belief is one of honoring those they eat rather than dehumanizing them. In some case its even an expected obligation. If it's done in a way that honors (or at least does not offend against) the individual, even that I could do I think. (Although...no worries. Not going to seek it out.)
Are there circumstances were I would be morally okay with eating primates, yes... and as you said there are extreme circumstances where cannibalism would be morally acceptable to me as well. My answer was related to what I find taboo as a food I would eat under "normal" circumstances, as I feel this is the spirit of the question.
Horse is taboo because they are a historical feature in the united states. They were fundamental to expansion and settlement of the the western us. No other animal has helped, or impacted such a large migration into the unknown. Beast of burden and companion.
Andrew, the cute stories told by your teachers left out the part where horses and cattle were both used to expand out to the west. Cattle were the preferred beast of burden for their strength and stamina, horses provided more individual transport, but in the end, both were eaten. The reason we are not seeing horse meat on the menus today is because at some point, the group in power decided that it shouldn't be there, and when the immigrants came over, they were told the same. In today's society we aer forced to accept every other aspect of foreign cultures, but the eating of horse and other "exotic" meats is still frowned upon.
As for the other arguments about farm raised vs. hunted game, having participated in both, I would say that the hunted game has had a much better life experience than the farm raised animal that is forced to obey through its entire life only to be slaughtered with no chance to use its fight or flee instinct. Nutritionally they are also much healthier for you.
Other reasons to avoid eating horse meat: that meat on your plate may have been a pet that got too old or injured a leg, a companion animal that is no longer wanted, a working animal that is judged to be no longer useful, or a racer that didn't get "in the money" often enough. An animal that is trained to trust humans enough to carry them on its back, to pull wagons, to run hard enough to break its own legs, is auctioned off, shoved into a multi-level cattle truck too short to accommodate its height (so it stands for a day or more with its head halfway down, while it is jammed in with other horses similarly stressed). It is trucked to the the border - where the truck will sit for hours in 100-plus-degree temperatures, or in freezing cold - and once across the border it will be either stabbed to death (Mexico) or shot in the head (Canada). The other major source of horse meat is estrogen manufacturing (horse urine). Pregnant mares are confined to narrow stalls and fed salty food so they produce plenty of urine into the collection bags that are attached to their bellies. When they foal, the males are either killed outright or raised for meat. When the mares are too old to be productive, they are slaughtered. Is that something you wan to eat?
Eh, you're talking about horses slaughtered for pet food. Those killed for human food in many countries are treated identical to other food animals (Japan, France, etc) with the same standards.
I personally do not want to eat any animal that has been a companion animal or has learned to trust and bond with humans for their care and companionship. In addition, the horse is classified as a companion animal by the USDA. The drugs horses are give regularly are labeled not for use in animals for human consumption. That is why we don't use horse meat in dog food and haven't for decades.
In addition, you will hear that only old, sick or lame animals go to slaughter. While that is not the case, do you seriously want to eat flesh from an animal that, all its life, has been given drugs that are not to be used in food animals. And do you seriously want to eat a sick horse?
Horses are not slaughtered for dog food in Canada. Dog food companies are afraid of being sued because of the many drugs found in horsemeat. Bute which is as common to horses as aspirin is to people is in the system of nearly every horse especially horses off the track. Horsemeat is sold over seas for the rich Europeans to eat at something like $20.00 a pound. ONe hundred live horses per week are shipped from the Calgary Airport to Japan.
Fiona – what do you think happens to dairy cows or beef heifers when they get old? Perhaps you think they go to a spa-farm in Napa? And yes, they are shot in the head. Were you thinking they use lethal injection?
Dairy cows used to produce well into their teens. Now with factory farming their life span is three lactations. They are fed huge quantities of grain to produce more milk. The excess amount of grain gives them ulcers as they were meant to be grass eaters. They have foot problems from standing on concrete. Drugs help bring relief.
Very few dairy cattle get to breath fresh air and stand in the sun even on smaller farms. It is more cost effective to keep them on concrete and bring to grass to them indoors. As soon as they are no longer profitable, they are shipped thousands of miles to become LEAN HAMBURGER. Sad..
NO WAY!!! I have two rescue horses, one of them an ex-racer. I know exactly what you are saying here! My horses are my best friends in the world and when i think of what their fate could have been, i shudder. I have never had so much love from any other animal or human for that matter than i get from my horses, they are my world and i adore them. I would never eat horse and would not even want to befriend anybody who thinks this is acceptable!
If we were not meant to eat meat, they why did God make them so delicious? As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to beef, just knock it's horns off, wipe it's arse and carve me off a slab!
People who have been trapped together for a long time do what they must to survive and do things we believe are only in movies. All animals are fair game for consumption.
I picked "anything cute and fuzzy" but really, I just won't eat any animal that is considered exotic or a companion animal. I don't eat much meat as it is because sometimes just the smell makes me sick. I don't even prepare raw meat at home. It has to be already cooked or I won't touch it. I guess it's a combination of empathy and just plain finding raw meat disgusting that keeps me from eating much more than chicken and fish.
I actually have the same issue with raw meat. I still prepare it for my family, but it makes me gag....especially raw chicken. In fact when I was pregnant with both my boys I couldn't STAND the sight or smell of raw chicken. It would make me vomit every single time.
I think it's the smell of the meat....raw meat has a very distinct odor. Some people have sensitive noses and they can smell it before it's even opened....I am one of those people.
I am amused and disgusted when meat eaters use the difference in animals' intelligence as an excuse for why a particular species (cow vs. horse vs. dog) is innately edible. If intelligence and sociability matter to you, why would you even consider eating pork? Pigs are more intelligent than dogs. They are miles beyond the mental abilities of a horse. And they are genetically close enough to humans that their parts can be used in our bodies (pig heart valves being one example).
Cows and pigs are raised for slaughter, not plucked from the wild or taken off the street. Dogs and cats are human companions, not so, usually, for pigs and cows. I very much admire vegetarians, but I think it's ok to eat animals that have been raised for slaughter and to use their hides for leather (it would be a waste not to). Animals eat animals, and we're animals, as well.
Its not intelligence that decides what gets eaten, its about what is accepted in society. In Korea they eat dog. In India a cow is sacred, so they avoid it. In present day America a horse is not on the top of the accepted list as it has seen such a history in shaping this nation (as someone else mentioned). I can guarantee that horse was eaten in America at some point in our history. Was it the Fillet Mignon of the times, no, but it met a need. If people choose to eat meat, so be it. If people choose to be vegetarian/vegan, so be it. However, judging or attacking someone's choice is not really cool.
Back in the early 70's there was a trend of eating horsemeat. I remember a butcher shop near my home having some. We never tried it....it seemed too much like dog food!
I for one would not use intelligence as a reason to eat or not to eat any animal. Its all meat and fair game. Cook it up and chow down.. You should give it a shot... only eating bean sprouts, alfalfa & tofu has got to get old after awhile...
I guess humans are fair game too then, huh. And ditto to KLDGBB. Anyone who claims that eating is dull without meat is either an incapable, uncreative or simply lazy cook.
It is not possible to *humanely* slaughter an intelligent animal…that’s why intelligence matters to some of us carnivores. If an animal can sense its imminent killing, then you cannot slaughter him or her without causing fear, stress, discomfort, or what have you. And yes, it is possible to humanely slaughter an animal. Temple Grandin spent years developing slaughterhouses which keep cows calm and blissfully ignorant of their impending fate the entire time – including the moment of their death. Some of the cleverer species, which can sense human intention even with plenty of smoke and mirrors, are harder to fool. So don’t slaughter them, don’t eat them. It’s a simple enough rule to follow.
Interesting point. After All if we only eat animals which are considered "not very bright" then lets look at human beings here...would this mean that any human considered to be "a bit thick" should be done away as well and used for medical science or for food or some other horrific purpose? If so then normal civilisation would come to an abrupt end right now as the majority of us are not all Brian Surgeons or members of MENTA! I really do have to point out that the human being is an ANIMAL too, so although i am no a vegetarian, i do believe that if animals can be used as food, then one day humans will be farmed for such things as well. What goes around, comes around. ( I think maybe i am next for the soup pot after making a comment like this! )
My cousin cooked her placenta into a chilli. It's supposed to be very good for you, but I just can't go there. She said it was really chewy like grisel.
Ewwweee! The idea of eating human placenta turns my stomach bu i know its full of nutrients and good for you. Animals always eat theirs don't they? I have heard of mothers asking for the placenta to be cooked for them after they give birth but personally the though of that makes my blood run cold! It borders on cannibalism! If they could eat that, they could eat anything or anybody!!!
If you shouldn't eat cows, then why are they maid out of meat?
Seriously, the difference between some animals (which are eaten in other parts of the world) is perception; when you drive by a farm, and see pass cattle and horses, your perception is you're passing beef and a ride waitng for a saddle. There's a psychological difference between a rabbit and a bunny; between eating liver and heart or intestines. There's a difference between eating venison (especially that which you yourself hunted) and deer; or as they say, between eating a deer and eating Bambi.
Is it a real difference? Doesn't matter as long as there's perception.
Good point about "Why should we not eat humans since we are made of meat?" It would certainly bring the numbers on Death Row down if we put them to good use if we ate them! There are so many starving people in the world but if humans were considered OK to eat then I'm sure the starving population would drop if they all ae each other! In fact Civilisation as we know it would drop as we would all be savages eating each other as human meat is said to be as addictive as LSD! Would certainly bring a new meaning to having your neighbours round for dinner wouldn't it? Can you imagine how nervous you would feel if somebody as much as smiled at you in a supermarket queue...he/she could be thinking how delicious you would be in a pot of stew!
As far as eating animals is concerned, i would only eat what is considered normal to eat in this country (UK), cow, pig, sheep & chicken. I would never consider eating Dog, Cat, Horse, or anything else which is considered a pet. I would not eat endangered species either such as Panda, Dolphin, Whale, Chimp and so on. If it came to having to kill any animal to eat it, then i would have to become vegetarian because i just could not do that!
@ Alison,
LSD is not addictive. Try again. There must be a nice view from the pedestal.
@Jeff
I second that. Perception, indeed. But because you started off with that "...why are cows made of meet..." question, people are going to ignore your excellent point in the next paragraph and instead attack that first question.
I have had goat, lamb, and CAMEL. I am in the military and was in the Middle East for at least 2 years of my life so far. Its fairly common over there but whenever I come back to the States, I never want to put that stuff in my mouth again. Its just wrong and gross
I don't eat baby animals (i.e. veal or lamb). I just don't think all animals should be considered food. It's a personal thing. I know I love beef, chicken and pork because that is what I was raised to eat. If I had to kill it myself, I would definitely be a vegetarian. I know that is hypocritical, sorry.
I'm the same way! I believe it's ok to eat meat because other animals eat other animals, it's nature. But I believe, that as civilized humans, we should humanely raise and kill our own animals, not hunt them and not treat them badly before slaughter. Also, about the no baby animals rule, I just think it's bad form to eat a baby anything. It's an ethical thing for me...I try to be a conscientious consumer.
@ec: A true hunter does not "not hunt them and not treat them badly before slaughter". Most hunters respect their kills. I am not talking about poachers and hunter that hunt "for the sport" granted if i was to hunt for "sport" I still would not want the animal to suffer and would donate it to the local shelter. If you want to complain about poor treatment before/while slaughtering, take a look at some of the articles and videos of the mass production for beef and chickens. THAT is inhumane. Also if you think hunters let their kills suffer.... take a look at the lions and other predators in the wild, you think they care about if their prey suffer? they will be eating the prey while it is still alive but incapacitated... chew on that for a bit.
"I believe it's ok to eat meat because other animals eat other animals"
I've never understood why people selectively get their moral standards from animals. If I said "I believe it's okay to rape / murder / poop in the woods because animals do it," that would sound kooky. Yet the above is a commonly cited belief. Guess that's the power of rationalization!
I disagree with your comment that you wouldn't eat meat if you had to kill it. As a hunter, I would rather eat something I killed myself. I hunt deer because it is really tasty and I would rather kill a deer with my gun than hit it with my truck and only injure it. It is more environmentally responsible because you don't have huge farms dedicated to raising the animal for food, or other farms using toxic chemicals to raise feed for the animals.
I completely agree. I would never be able (or would have to be more than a little desperate) to kill an animal and eat it. I also have no desire to eat anything that I once knew in it's living form (no living on a farm for me!). The only exception would be certain fish and crustaceans like lobster and shrimp. But I know a lot of that is just how I grew up. My family always bought meat at the grocery store and no one in my immediate family hunted.
I took my family to a restaurant in France last week, and we were shocked to learn that just about everything on the very "sophisticated" menu consisted of baby animals. Veal, calf brains, duckling, suckling pig, you name it. While I can't argue that any of these creatures would have lived full, meaningful lives if allowed to mature, I have a very hard time with the idea of slaughtering baby animals.
Blood and certain body parts are my food taboos. Most everything else is fair game as far as I'm concerned. I'm willing to try most things at least once.
i like to start fights in stupid forums like these. if you are someone who likes to get verbally thrashed, then please post something stupid and I wheel shred you verbally. you will look like a stupid person, which you are. everyone reading will know youare ignorant when i finish with you. boogie man wheel get you
Agreed. Most of my restrictions are certain body parts. The main one being liver; I don't feel that it is healthy to be eating the organ with the primary function of filtering toxins out of the blood. I know there are some health benefits to it, and I understand why some people do eat it, but I'll avoid liver as much as I can.
With regards to Rocky Mountain Oysters (bull testicles), once you get past the idea of what you're eating, it's not that bad.
I hear you on liver. It's poison. I don't know how wild carnivores like lions and tigers can eat it. They must be too dumb to understand the health risks.
Steve, in response to "I don't know how wild carnivores like lions and tigers can eat it.".
I feed my dogs a homemade raw-food diet. To get proper nutritional balance without using supplements, they get 5% of their diet as liver.
The ratios for balance in the diet I feed are 80% meat (includes heart, tongue, gizzards, etc.), 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% other secreting organs (kidney, pancreas, spleen, thymus, etc.).
My very favorite parts of the deer after a kill are the heart, liver and kidneysl. I usually saute strips in olive oil with a healthy serving of sauted onions with the resultant gravy on corn bread. Though they are difficult to find these days without traditional butcher shops, I also like beef kidney if properly prepared and cooked into a rich brown stew. Removal of the fatty tissue between the meaty lobes is essential as well as thorough cleaning.
I just remembered I do have two other food taboos. Anything currently alive. Kill it first, and I'll try almost anything, including insects. I will not eat anything that is still moving around.
Endangered/threatened species. I don't care how exquisite the taste of blue fin tuna is. If it's on the verge of being hunted out of existence, I'm not eating it.
I actually used the blue fin tuna specifically because even though their numbers are rapidly dwindling, they are still legal to eat – mostly because of their huge popularity in Japan and China. I've heard, though, that we could see an end to the species in just a few years if we keep hunting them this way. I know they aren't the only species that are in this predicament.
One night we order take out from our favorite Chinese restaurant and thought it was odd our Peking duck came with 3 legs. A week later that restaurant was closed down because an investigation into missing pet cats led to an inspection and discovery of many cats ready to cook in their refrigerator. Now if what we ate was really cat, I'll eat it again because it tastes just like duck.
I don't eat any animals or animal products (I'm a vegan). But I don't see the difference in people eating the flesh from one animal or another. There's no difference in eating horse flesh over cow, pig, dog, etc. I suggest everyone read the book called "Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows" by Dr. Melanie Joy. It goes over the psychology behind this exact topic! Great book!
ksk, the comment is valid. Vegans don't eat meat because they don't consider one type of animal deserving of being eaten over any other. They choose not to eat any. If you do eat animals, it technically shouldn't matter which one, as long as you like the way it tastes. However, I do understand psychological aversions to certain animals over others. Like another poster said, if you spend time with an animal, you consider it a friend or even family member. Vegans cast the net wider than that.
You've never given any thought to the pain a carrot must feel upon being pulled from the ground? How would you feel if someone grabbed you by the hair and pulled you out of bed? How about being skinned alive, as with an orange? And the juice...it's the blood of the orange! Imagine the horror a bunch of grapes must feel as each one of it's family is plucked and devoured by a self-thought kindly vegan? Imagine the walnut, it's head cracked open and it's brain...it DOES look just like a brain, yes?...pried out with what looks like a dental pick? Me, I just buy a package of meat, never mind the source...but you...you gentle vegan...will eat right from the tree, alive and still kicking. Ick!
No insects; nothing still alive; nothing raw (except sushi); no veal (too cruel how they're treated); and, nothing endangered (whale, blue fin tuna, dolphin, etc.). Everything else I think would be fair game to at least try though I may have initial reservations (dogs, cats, certain body parts, etc.).
You just don't understand how the liver works. It doesn't "filter" toxins. It either breaks them down into smaller molecules or combines them with water-soluble molecules and then these byproducts are excreted from the body by the kidneys, or into the gut by way of bile. The liver is not unsafe to eat.
In fact, the liver is target #1 of large carnivores from what I've seen during various documentaries. It's highest in fat which equates to energy production and the ability to run down it's next meal. The act of eating itself uses energy and the liver appears to deliver the most of it by weight, than any other body part. And you're correct, it does not filter. It's a biochemical factory that metabolizes almost everything we eat, chemically extracting what the body needs and discarding the leftovers as waste.
The liver breaks down what it can into water-soluble molecules that pass via the blood into the kidneys, which then is excreted from the body. This doesn't mean, though, that all harmful chemicals can be removed this way – pesticides, herbicides, and nearly all heavy metals are fat-soluble, rather than water-soluble, and thus the liver can't break them down the same way – what it does instead is sequester them in its own fatty tissue. So you're right in theory, if it weren't for the fact that the liver can't do all that you might want it to. Liver is certainly healthy for you by itself, but often comes with a large dose of metals and organohalide molecules.
Like you I'll try almost anything at least once. There are several animals I would like to try but won't based on conservation of the animal (whales, dolphins, endangered or struggling species). There are few things I would never eat, one being primates (specifically chimps, gorillas and orangutans), but smaller numerous monkeys would ok. The one thing I'll never try is human meat. Couldn't get past the feeling it would leave me with having eaten it. Let alone the questions as to where the hell it came from.
i think its funny that a "pet" cant be eaten in america, but then again we eat cows and cows are pets in some countrys...even considered holy. So because you think its wrong youd rather starve? Im in Japan and Ive eaten horse....its awesome. Definitly something Id love to see when I get back to America.
i like to start fights in stupid forums like these. if you are someone who likes to get verbally thrashed, then please post something stupid and I wheel shred you verbally. you will look like a stupid person, which you are. everyone reading will know youare ignorant when i finish with you.
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I'll pretty much eat any animal, as long as it had a healthy diet, IE: wild, free ranged, no grains.
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I have a personal suspicion that we are not meant to eat other carnivores.
We eat animals that feed on plant matter and it's pretty much safe. But once you eat a bit higher on the food chain, i.e. animals that only eat other animals, then I have a suspicion that a) the nutrients are not as plentiful and therefore the meat is not as nutritious, and b) somehow - I can't explain the science except that I read it somewhere during the Mad Cow scare - the proteins are more prone to harm the animals that eat the animals that eat animals.
By my theory, it would seem to be OK to eat horse, then. I think I can't because of my personal feelings toward them, but I don't think it would be "wrong." Eating lion, on the other hand, just seems really unhealthy.
My theory doesn't explain why we can eat fish, though, so I admit there's not a whole lot to back it up outside of a gut feeling.
I see IDIOT Vapor is back...
NO NO NO NO NO MY PEEPEE!
I NEEDS IT
MooMoo's Friend
Warning! Please read the following!
===============================================================
I've eaten the following:
Baby humans
Baby diapers
Baby Cougar
Baby moon
The sun
Baby wombatt
Laptops
Airplains
Zebra
Money, lots and lots of money!
Chuck Norris's peepee
Moby STICK
Rocks
Glass
Mexicans
Weiners
Books
Speakers
Chair legs
Legs
Your mother
keys from MacBook's
Paper- A lot!
iPhone
iPad
People
Mice
Rats
Rat poisoning
Propane and Propane accessories
Cars
I ove eating stuff that's big and can kil you!
-Jack needs to die he doesen't know how to chop his head off!!!
DoooooooooooD
Warning! Please read the following!
===============================================================
I've eaten the following:
Baby humans
Baby diapers
Baby Cougar
Baby moon
The sun
Baby wombatt
Laptops
Airplains
Zebra
Money, lots and lots of money!
Chuck Norris's peepee
Moby STICK
Rocks
Glass
Mexicans
Weiners
Books
Speakers
Chair legs
Legs
Your mother
keys from MacBook's
Paper- A lot!
iPhone
iPad
People
Mice
Rats
Rat poisoning
Propane and Propane accessories
Cars
I ove eating stuff that's big and can kil you!
-Jack needs to die he doesen't know how to chop his head off!!!
----------------------------------------–
Hey, wanna do it sometime?
Whatz your deal?
I wear a belt to my chest because I'm so fat I want my fat to look like boobs!
sup
Yeah, I've got a basement where I torture my sluts/ sex slaves too
WIT DA PROTECTION IBET DA USED ONES SMELL LIKE CANDY
I'm trying to hang myself at the moment.
That's probably a good idea. You sound like you are mentally ill.
Hey, shut the hell up and kill yourself ok? i'm not mentaly ill I just choose not to be smart, I do not have mental problems biatch I'ma go whack it to your name, sexah
NOT DA PROTECTION!!! I HAS IT I KEEP IT I HANG IT ON MY WALL I SMELL DA USED ONES
...But I do use protection so I don't know what the big deal is! I don't know why he's so mad? I am a fagot..
R!!! IMA PIRATE WIT MY PEEPEE ON DA POOPDECK
...But I do use protection so I don't know what the big deal is!
NO NO NO NO NO!!!!! MY PEEPEE!!! MY BOLOVED PEEPEE!!!!
I NEEED IT!!!!
OR I"LL CRY BLOOD
Sometimes I squeal and I think my roommate thinks I'm doin' his mom... AGAIN!
It's really fun to mess with when I'm lonley and bored in my bed!
It's so small
I NO RIGHT!!!!
I'd LIKE 2 CUT IT OFF AND PUT IT IN A JAR!!!!
I already did ^^
I've eaten the following:
Baby humans
Baby diapers
Baby Cougar
Baby moon
The sun
Baby wombatt
Laptops
Airplains
Zebra
Money, lots and lots of money!
Chuck Norris's peepee
Moby STICK
by
Chuck Norris PEEPEE ME 2!!!!!!
It tasted so good!!
I have ethics based food exceptions. That includes anything produced by Tyson, Smithfield, Monsanto and others of their ilk who have a strangle-hold on our food supply and are power-sick enough to try and foust something like this off on the unsuspecting consumer. This would justify in their minds the slaughter of thousands of wild Mustangs every year. The last wild bison of Yellowstone are right up there with the Mustangs in this government sanctioned slaughter.
i have eaten:
Y-religious-taboo food
Y-meat
Y-animal products
Y-cute and fuzzy animals (guinea pig)
Y-dog (no cat yet)
Y-horses
N-primates (turned down monkey brains)
N-dolphin (will do given the opportunity)
Y-rodent (water rat)
Y-whale (deelish)
Y-fetus (balut = mmmmmm)
Y-insects (probably not again)
ITS ALL FAIR GAME
I believe i have the right to eat all creatures that are incapable of grasping the Pythagorean theorem.
Europeans started eating horse meat because the Nazis would wipe out their livestock as they moved through – but horses would be left dead on battlefields and it was the only recourse. Some europeans still do as a left over cultural element- but it is falling in disfavor.
Humans should not eat animals who are intelligent and conscious enough to:
Play with toys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52UxyjnBQTI&feature=related
figure out how to open complicated door locks
act in a helpful manner
enjoys competing and doing a good job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQU8YVHc3iw&NR=1
There are very few things I won't try at least once. I wouldn't eat primate because genetically they are so close to us that it would poison a human. Cannibalism slowly deteriorates the muscles, much like eating primate would for a human we are just too close. The other thing I would have a problem eating is dolphin, the mercury level in the meat is too high and again becomes poisonous in large amounts, or over a long period of time. Other than that I think I'd try anything once, as long as it didn't wiggle too much ;)
I want a penguin burger
First, I do not appreciate someone on this list of comments calling another an idiot. As for me, I do not eat the flesh of dead animals, based on health. The animals have the uric acids left in them, as well as the fecal matter that hadn't been expelled. The vegans have the longest life span. I am an egg and butter and milk/cream eater. Also cheese. But I do find Leviticus Chapter 11 in God's book very informative when it comes to what is clean and unclean with regards to animal flesh. I figure God created them and Hhhe knows about their make up. He also says he will require the life of the person whoever kills an animal and eats it.(see Gen.9:5). CNN is to be thanked for allowing this privilege to express our thoughts but it would be nice to be able to report abuse, such as calling someone an idiot because they disagree with you.
Respects,
Paul
Good post.
Other: List below. Okay.
I'll pretty much try anything once, and will indulge again if I liked it. I do have a few won't-even-try-them-said-Sam-I-am foods. From the list, those are living animals (fresh plants remain endangered on my plate) and fetal meats (though young, born food, like veal, is also fair game). The others off the list:
1) Endangered animals. I'll try non-human primates if they're common, but don't give me mountain gorilla. I'm not that jaded.
2) Human. I'm not a cannibal (sp). I've heard some folks like to eat human placentas and they're welcome to my portion.
3) Butt products. You can have your civet cat coffee and its delicious aroma of civet cat digestive juices.
Other than endangered species, I don't have great ethical reasons behind those rules. It's mostly just squeamishness and lingering cultural mores.
I could not eat any of the things listed.
I avoid Carnivors or omnivors. The meat is not supposed to be good for you, and those that I have tried were not good
Thank you CNN for bringing awareness to the inhumane, dark industry that is "horse slaughter".
People here in the CNN poll, spoke loudly they do not want to consume horses and voiced strong opposition to horse slaughter being reintroduced to the US.
Horse slaughter was shut down because it is inhumane and unnecessary, that truth has not changed...nor the truth that our wild horses and domestic horses are loved, held sacred and deserve to live in peace and safety here.
It's interesting that this poll includes a photo of horses at the top of the web page, indicating that the poll probably came into being as a result of recent discussion about legalizing horse slaughter in the United States. The pro-horse-slaughter folks often use the argument that, since horses are eaten in other parts of the world, why not kill them here and ship the meat to them? A list of things that people do eat in other parts of the world should enhance our understanding that food taboos are practical, cultural and ethical. I personally feel that keeping horse meat OFF the menu is a practical, cultural and ethical choice. Practical: most domestic horses are given drugs forbidden for human consumption; cultural: were it not for horses, Europeans wouldn't have been able to conquer this continent (for better or worse); ethical: we raise horses primarily as companions and partners, not as food livestock. So, the list of foods that other cultures eat? Camels' eyes (Bedouin), bull penis and monkey brains (China), rats (West Africa), curried goat fetus (Anglo-Indian community in Southern India), rotted shark (Iceland), poisonous fugu fish (Japan), fried cockroach (Thailand), roasted dog heads (Viet Nam), maggoty cheese (Sardinia), pig blood soup (Philipines), dog meat stew (Batak, Indonesia), human flesh (Korowai, New Guinea; Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone). Sue Wallis, Wyoming State Representative, who works tirelessly to make horse slaughter legal in this country, might also want to look into the maggot cheese and roasted dog head market, unless she's too busy defending herself from ethics charges arising from developing horse slaughterhouse plants concurrently with pro-slaughter legislative activities.
If CNN wanted to do more than just gloss over the surface of the horse slaughter issue with lunchtime polls, it could investigate the people and organizations who seek to profit from it. It's a tangled web but there are some easy starting points, including Sue Wallis of Wyoming, who lobbies non-Wyoming state legislatures and Indian tribes to agree to slaughter plants, while, as Executive Director of Unified Equine LLC, she plans to develop slaughter plants in Wyoming and other states (http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1486). Investigators might also look at tax incentives offered to breeders enrolled with the American Quarter Horse Association and other horse "associations" that commend horse slaughter. "Follow the money" and you'll find the real reasons behind the horse slaughter proposals – as opposed to the propaganda tirelessly espoused by Wallis and her cohorts.
I do not eat much in the way of meat at all but i enjoy it when i do have it, however i do not think it is OK to eat meat and i do feel guilty eating it because some poor creature has had to die in order to put a chop or a stake on my plate. I could not eat anything which still looks like the animal it came from and i could not kill anything. I would definitely become vegetarian if i had to do that. I would never eat anything which could be considered a pet such as a dog or cat or horse or hamster etc. but then where does hat list end as people keep all sorts of animals as pets. Maybe this is where the guilt comes into my meat eating? I also wonder how frightened the poor animal was before i was put to death, what was going through its mind at the time? I think i am convincing myself to become a vegetarian full stop!
Have you seen the Earthlings documentary? You can view it for free on the film's website (earthlings dot com). In case you want a little (er, a lot) more convincing!
What amazes me is that someone could think of eating an animal that could have been someones pet or companion. I would not trust anyone that could do that.
Soylent Green
Vegetarian=Indian word for bad hunter
I say it's high time we just start to eat humans. What's the big deal? Meat is meat. A juicy burger is a juicy burger. A steak is a steak. A roast is a roast. A hot dog is a hot dog. A sausage is a sausage. Everyone dies, so why are we wasting resources cremating people or burying them in boxes when they would make a delicious roast. Once it's cut up and in a plastic wrapped package at the grocery store what's the difference? Once it's on the barbecue what's the difference? Once it's fried what's the difference? Once you melt cheese on it, wrap it in bacon and stick it on bread what's the difference? Once you make it into meatballs for your spaghetti what's the difference. If you eat animal meat and then balk at human meat then you're psychologically brainwashed. Fools.
As a pro-life activist, I would not eat any unborn meat. Balut reminds me of abortion. Anything live is fair game to me. I do not like cats and dogs and have no problem with some cultures eating them. Horse meat is the same as cows etc., and the Japanese have every right to hunt Whale and Dolphin. I have seen the action on Whale Wars and it is funny to watch people on the Left side of the political spectrum waste their lives to ruin busiess and force their diets on people who have eaten Whale/Dolphin for years.
Interesting. I am vegetarian for much the same reason as I am pro life. A voice for the suffering and slaughtered voiceless. The Japanese are notorious for their cetacean massacres to make a few bucks, acting like juvenile delinquents when it comes to complying with whaling laws. They'll hold up hand-painted signs saying "research" whenever aircraft fly over their vessels as they carve up half-dead whales and dolphins to be canned and sent off to meat markets. "Research".....right. Anyway, regardless of one's stance on what is morally acceptable to eat, a primary reason for the moratorium on whaling is for conservation. Whales are in far more danger of going extinct than other animals people may consume. The Japanese (perhaps not in general, but many including authorities) do not care. If it makes them money, it's fair game.
Additionally, I'm sure most people, meat-eaters included, would agree that animals should be killed humanely. This is very difficult with whales. You can't pop them off with a bolt gun to the head, an electric shock in the anus (or several other standard butchery methods that are more gruesome but still more humane than in whaling). They are harpooned and left to struggle and bleed to death for possibly hours, perhaps even while being "processed". Hell, they even use grenade-tipped harpoons at times, blowing out chunks of the living whale or perhaps giving it a concussion if it explodes in the water nearby. All in all it's a fairly barbaric practice. I won't even get into the dolphin massacres – and the attitude of the fishermen involved – made public by The Cove documentary.
You are so wrong yes they do kill a lot of whales but its there culture. Who are we to judge that? Fact is buddy nature gave us those four sharp teeth for a reason...the body needs meat. And currently living in Japan I have tried whale, horse the whole 9 yards. I wish vegans would get off the "Im saving a living creature even though nature says I should be eating it" high horse. Plus I guess its ok for vegan groups like PETA to fund domestic terrosits to try and scare ppl into thinking theyre right. Fact is buddy, plants are living creatures too. Science has proven they react to music, positively or negatively depending on the kind of music. So remember when youre eating your salad your eating a bowel of slaughter. I wont be a hypocrite and Ill continue with what I was designed for
"You are so wrong yes they do kill a lot of whales but its there culture. Who are we to judge that?"
Thinking individuals and nations who are concerned about both suffering and conservation on global scales, that's who. I will never subscribe to the cultural relativism argument. Would you have sat back in the late 30's as Hitler began oppressing and rounding up Jews, saying "oh that's just their culture, who are we to judge?" Do you support the freedom of certain cultures today that restrict basic human rights from women? After all, who are we to judge, right? It's just their culture. Hm.
"Fact is buddy nature gave us those four sharp teeth for a reason"
Do a side by side comparison of human physiology with an average carnivore's and an average herbivore's and get back to me. At any rate, one could argue that we have a vestigial tailbone for swinging through trees. Having the ability to use our bodies in certain ways has no logical bearing on whether we should or not. *That* question should be left up to ethics, pragmatism, etc.
"the body needs meat."
This is a common misconception. It does not *need* meat. Meat just makes the diet simpler, since it contains many required nutrients that the consumed animal already took up and processed from plant material (or other animals) during their lifetime. We can cut out the middle man (er, animal) and get the nutrients directly. How else would so many vegans/vegetarians live perfectly healthy lives? (you may say some don't, which is true. But of course, a great many meat-eaters aren't healthy either).
"I wish vegans would get off the "Im saving a living creature even though nature says I should be eating it" high horse."
It's not a "high horse". It's an ethical belief. Though for many it goes far beyond pure ethics to economics, health, and environmentalism as well. There is much to be gained by reducing meat consumption, and I have seen scientific studies that agree (pertaining to pollution and health, in particular).
"Plus I guess its ok for vegan groups like PETA to fund domestic terrosits to try and scare ppl into thinking theyre right."
It's pretty hard to debate with a meat eater about vegetarianism without them bringing up PETA... However, PETA is simply an organization with its own agenda. Whatever it does or doesn't do has no logical bearing on the merits of some or all of their stated ideals (veganism, etc). Please remember that.
"Fact is buddy, plants are living creatures too. Science has proven they react to music, positively or negatively depending on the kind of music. So remember when youre eating your salad your eating a bowel of slaughter."
Cute – and I hear this one from meat eaters a lot – but the ethical standpoint deals with suffering. Pain and psychological/emotional distress require nervous systems, characteristic in (most) animals, not plants. You know full well there's a difference, and you are trying to lump plants in with animals in a vain attempt at undermining the ethics component of the vegetarian/vegan philosophy.
"I wont be a hypocrite and Ill continue with what I was designed for"
That is not a reasonable argument. You are basically resigning to your primal instincts and ignoring an intellectual argument that goes beyond the primitive. Besides, you weren't "designed" to eat meat anyway. If you believe in evolution, organisms simply "survive" based on natural selection to pass on their genes. The fact that you are capable of processing meat metabolically doesn't necessarily say anything about what you were evolutionarily "designed" for or what you are "supposed" to eat, because nature doesn't prescribe such things. We simply make our own inferences based on what we see in our physiology/anatomy. But still, it is naive to hold ourselves to behaving only in a manner that matches what we perceive to be our "designed purpose".
If you are a Creationist (Christian, for the sake of argument), I still argue that we were not designed specifically to eat meat. Genesis states that vegetation was provided as food for humans and other animals alike. No mention is made likewise of animals as food. The only vaguely related reference is that humans have dominion over the animals, but that hardly means we can do what we want with them. A king has dominion over his kingdom...does that mean he can freely eat his citizens?
My 2 cents.
Brett, I actually had not heard of balut before, so I just looked it up. I am utterly disgusted. Also, why am I not surprised it is an Asian dish... Asia has arguably the most unnecessarily cruel cuilinary practices in the world (typically involving cooking and consumption or partial consumption of live animals and, apparently, intentionally partially growing fetuses and then cooking them; truly barbaric).
I have eaten a lot of liver in my life and now currently in Korea I have had slug, cows blood, chicken feet, pig intestines. Soon I will eat dog, my girlfriend said it is good but most do not like the smell. Whoever says they can't eat cute and fuzzy, it won't be fuzzy on your plate. My girlfriend can eat anything, her father told her when young that, "If it doesn't kill you, you can eat it."
Seriously, we ride horses still? FIRE UP THE GRILL!!!
Isn't that a rather primitive approach to diet? I find it unfortunate that many people's reasons for eating meat amount to "because we can" or "we historically did" or "we're at the top of the food chain and are more intelligent". These aren't the stone ages anymore, and we are not brutish, dim-witted neanderthals. Let's put our minds to good use. Rather than "can we eat it?", let's start asking "should we eat it?", "do we really need to eat it?", and "are there better alternatives ethically, economically, environmentally, and health-wise?". I for one am not interested in my digestive tract becoming a corpse conveyor belt for any animal I can find to shove in my mouth...
Don't eat mammals.
its all fair games you ppl would die in the wild. I have a problem eating animal heads raw,cooked or how ever you prepare them.i still wouldnt have a problem eatn monkeys cep chimps gorillas and oragatangs(i like them)so mayb i would try them at least once.
i hear in some places them trap little monkeys in the table by there head and smack open there skulls with a hammer walla dinner. btw i heard its possible to go thru life eating only meat but if you try the same with veggies the outcome isnt so well(its that y vegans are so pale and thin)
"Vegans are so pale and thin"? I don't know how many you have actually encountered, but in case you haven't noticed the average American on the SAD diet is overtly obese with a myraid of diseases. Perhaps some of the vegans have not been educated on the natural health laws, nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperance, air, rest,and trust in God. In case you haven't noticed, most of the biggest and strongest animals in the world are herbivores, elephants, giraffes, moose, cow, deer, rhino, and what the world deems as "our cousins", the primates. The animals that people tend to eat are herbivores. Why go through the middleman when you can go direct?
http://www.celestialhealing.net/physicalveg3.htm
http://healthyhomes.asia/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93%3Aweekly-health-tip-meat&catid=13%3Abusy-weekly-health-tip-archive&Itemid=71&lang=en
@mama hear hear!
"btw i heard its possible to go thru life eating only meat but if you try the same with veggies the outcome isnt so well(its that y vegans are so pale and thin)"
Cue the old saying "don't believe everything you hear". Based on my own research, a pure meat diet would be far less healthy than a pure vegetable diet. In fact one compilation of studies indicated that those who eat a relatively high amount of meat are more prone to certain cancers and heart disease. Pure meat would certainly cut your lifespan. A vegan diet can be fine if you know what you're doing. Cases of unhealthy vegans are mostly those who simply don't pay attention to eating properly and getting the right nutrients. But of course that's a good rule of thumb for someone on any diet.
tell that to the eskimo's
I'll eat anything that tastes good. I've eaten both cat and dog, alpaca, jelly fish, guinea pig, rat, etc.I even ate placenta after my daughter was born. With so many people in the world going hungry I only see a problem with WASTING food.
Most of you are missing a point in the reasoning against horse slaughter in the US: the fact that it is mostly the mass production "foal mill" breeders and the owners and trainers who start horses in hard training as yearlings and 2-year-olds in order for them to compete for the high $$$ purses at 3, and then use the kill sales and slaughter as a means to dispose of the horses they don't want (and many of these breeders produce hundreds of foals individually so they can select that small handful of "shining stars" and dispose of the unwanteds at the kill sale) and so they don't have to pay to dispose of the carcasses. If horse slaughter is allowed to continue in the form of exporting horses to Mexico and/or Canada, and if the slaughterhouses that process horses reopen in the US, this is like a reward for those irresponsible, unethical, greedy a**holes to keep over-producing horses since they don't ever pay to dispose of the ones they don't want, have crippled up by 3 or 4 years old, who aren't well bred enough for the breeding shed, etc. I don't know about other taxpayers, but I don't want my money going to support these jerks and their crap of over-production and ruining horses.
The issue with wild horses is a different scenario, but still goes back once again to greed and bad behavior mainly on the part of the western states welfare ranchers who want to completely take over the Open Range at the expense once again of we taxpayers who pay for them to be in business to the tune of close to 700 million dollars a year. There are now only approx. 26,000 on BLM/public land, and there are over 3 MILLION head of cattle on that same land. Hmm, doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the numbers and realize that 26,000 wild horses can't impact the range all but a fraction of what over 3 million cattle does. The reason the cattle producers want this land is because they only have to pay $1.35 per head of cattle, per month (AUM) to run their cattle on the open range, compared to what ranchers in other parts of the country have to pay to lease private land and pay upwards of $14.00 per head, per month. Incidentally, the western states cattle ranchers only produce about 3% of the total of beef produced in the US, so they could disappear tomorrow and not only wouldn't we notice that their beef isn't at the supermarkets anymore, but the taxpayers would be saving at leat 500 million dollars because we wouldn't have to be paying their way anymore. As it is now, they go out every fall before they turn their cattle out in November and "sanatize" the range by killing every living thing that either competes with their cattle for food and water, or are predators to their cattle. However, since the wild horses and burros on BLM land are still protected under the 1971 FREE ROAMING Wild Horse and Burro Act, as the name of the Act states, the horses and burros must be allowed to roam free, without fences everywhere, so the ranchers basically use the BLM and the Dept of Ag to eradicate the horses and burros that they would just go out and kill like all the other wildlife if it was legal to do so, and thus, they can then fence off our public land so no one will be able to use it (i.e. hikers, bikers, ATV's, camping, fishing, etc). I live in Northern Nevada, surrounded by BLM land and I already for many years have experienced fences that go without a gate or cattle guard for miles and miles, so we can't gain access to our public land, and have also had ranchers attempt to intimidate me off the range.
And besides the obvious that we as a culture typically do not eat horsemeat, so why the hell would we want to have our taxpayer dollars go to supporting that industry, horses are not raised the same at all as most livestock such as cattle, pigs, sheep, etc. I happen to have a 15 year old, 1500# pet steer named Karma, however, he is definetely not the "norm" when it comes to how cattle are kept and how they are treated. Most all cattle either have to be put into chutes, or roped and thrown in order to brand, doctor and vaccinate them. Most horses OTOH are raised around humans from birth, are trained to accept riders on their backs, they learn to trust humans, etc, and then as a final insult from these production breeders, they get shipped for slaughter is the ultimate betrayal. With the wild horses, even though not raised around humans typically (although, I had a band of 6 at my place the other night at 1:30 AM and was hand-feeding the stallion and 2 mares, and scratching the baby, just long enough to feed my horses more food and then I shooed the wild ones away), they are literally the only thing standing between we taxpayers and our ability to recreate on BLM/public land, and the western states welfare ranchers who are intent on taking over the range entirely so none of us can use it. Horses are also a species native to North America, unlike cattle, so I know I'd much rather see bands of wild horses and burros rather than what I'm seeing now when I drive down the highway, and thats thousands of cattle in just a very small area that I see as I'm driving, so we know there are thousands/millions more out-of-sight cattle grazing here, and in other states besides Nevada, that we are all forced to pay for with our taxpayer dollars.
Ultimately, it's not only about whether we eat horsemeat in the US or not, it's about control of our Federal/public land (the cattle ranchers), and responsible horse breeding and not allowing "foal mill" operations to operate unchecked and dispose of thousands of horses every year at the kill sales because they don't want to pay for euthansia and disposal of the body, with once again, we taxpayers being stuck always paying, paying and paying some more for things that do not benefit us in the least, and always end up costing us money. Even if you're a person who couldn't care less whether horses are slaughtered or not, any person with any intelligence at all should care about the rest of us being used in regard to these groups greedy and irresponsible behavior, and them using us to pay their bills and also using slaughter to avoid doing the responsible thing and NOT over-breed horses. http://www.starwoodfarm.com http://www.animalwaystation.org
I refuse to eat every, single one of them – even as a child I knew this was right, but my parents wouldn't permit me to be vegetarian. Now I have been one for almost 25 years.
It is interesting to see all the posts about eating anything under the sun, for the most part. If you eat any animal with the blood, andrenaline, and uric acid in it, that is what is making it taste good. If it was killed according to biblical principles without blood and without fear(adrenaline), then trust me most of you will no longer be meat eaters because that flesh will no longer have the taste that all love no matter how much you season it! I myself do not eat any flesh of animals and consider myself a health reformer, not a vegan. I don't eat animals based on health reasons laid out throughout the whole bible. I also believe that most major diseases are caused by the consumption of meat and dairy in which most doctors will tell you anyway. It was never intended for man to consume meat as we do now. Our bodies do not have the short intestines of carinivores like cats, dogs, etc. in which the waste will be expelled out of the system quickly. When we don't digest food completely it stays in the intestines putrifying like garbage in a trash can. And lo...cancer. If you don't believe it, search and ye shall find.
Adrenaline and uric acid give it flavor? What-ever. You don't even eat or like meat, so how would you know what makes it taste good? That's the kookiest claim I've heard all day. And as far as humans not being equipped to eat meat? Where do you get your information. The very reason the human brain developed as it did was because we had a more omnivorous diet. So eat all the veggies you want, and watch your brain shrivel. And lo, I shall sit majestically at the top of the food chain.
You obviously do not have a clue about human anatomy, neither do you have the mental compacity to comprehend the information I wrote due to the fact that maybe the flesh has fogged your judgement? Perhaps if you do a little researching of what I said online and not be biased, maybe you will just be enlightened. Have a great day!
By the way I USED to eat meat so I know exactly what it tastes like. I thought I would help you out with some information if you would dare to research it. Note another link at the end of my post.
From http://www.celestialhealing.net/physicalveg3.htm
When you look at the comparison between herbivores and humans, we compare much more closely to herbivores than meat eating animals. Humans are clearly not designed to digest and ingest meat.
Meat-eaters: have claws
Herbivores: no claws
Humans: no claws
Meat-eaters: have no skin pores and perspire through the tongue
Herbivores: perspire through skin pores
Humans: perspire through skin pores
Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing, with no flat molar teeth for grinding
Herbivores: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Humans: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Meat-eaters: have intestinal tract that is only 3 times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly
Herbivores: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Humans: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat
Herbivores: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Humans: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Meat-eaters: salivary glands in mouth not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.
Herbivores: well-developed salivary glands which are necessary to pre-digest grains and fruits
Humans: well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits
Meat-eaters: have acid saliva with no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Herbivores: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Humans: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Based on a chart by A.D. Andrews, Fit Food for Men, (Chicago: American Hygiene Society, 1970)
http://healthyhomes.asia/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93%3Aweekly-health-tip-meat&catid=13%3Abusy-weekly-health-tip-archive&Itemid=71&lang=en
If you're going to eat meat, why not just eat humans? What's the taboo against that?
If you're going to kill and chop up other animals and eat their dead flesh, the taboo against humans
is the silliest of all. It's all the same once you've got in in your mouth and you're chomping on a chopped
up dead body. You people are silly.
That's an excellent point considering the same molecules are recycled over and over. Meat of any kind was once matter of a different kind and soon is transformed again.
If you fed human meat to a pig, then ate the pig, it's the same as visa versa chemically.
Having multiple degrees in anthropology, I've given a lot of thought to this topic and read a lot on the subject.
Human food taboos are generally tied into the animal being too similar to or too dissimilar from human beings in terms of morphology or attributed personalities- they become ingrained in our culture, religious tenets, and psyche from a very young age. For instance, rats and insects are too different, whereas primates and dogs and cats are too similar. This changes based on the availability of food. In areas of the world with fewer potential food choices, more dissimilar foods are considered acceptable. Those humans who were able to protect areas with greater food availability were able to "look down" on those with lesser availability. Us versus them.
Things have changed dramatically in the global economy. In a world where the availability of potential foods is nearly limitless for those of us with access to the internet, it becomes difficult to come up with universal taboos on what is food and what isn't. I generally fall back on generally-accepted European food practices, but we're all at a stage where we're able to redefine these from our selves.
Anything to make a turd folks.
I will say, though, that I also don't eat shell fish. Not only are they slimy, but can be full of unhealthful bacteria. The same with pigs. They are so full of fat I can hardly stand to eat them. The last time I cooked a ham I had to throw it out because there was more fat than meat. So no more. I like my mean lean, so basically I stick to lean beef.
I have made a deal: I won't eat sharks or alligators, in exchange that they won't eat me. So far so good! That isn't working with mosquitoes and no-see-ems. Though I don't eat them, they sure like the taste of me.....
I don't eat anything in the same biological class (mammals) as humans.
baby animals, don't eat em (i.e. veal, lamb)
During the height of Global Warming ( al-gore-a-phoia ) we are going to have to eat our children .
Thus we have the new Child Nutrition Act signed y the President and his lovely wife .
In my case, I can't stand 'meat replacement products' I'm more than fine with eating veggie dishes but there is something inherently disgusting to me about products like tofurkey. Actually outside of certain asian dishes I'm grossed out by tofu in general.
Really? Meh, it's just processed beans. Just eat the raw stuff then. Tastes better in many ways anyway.
I'll just cut to the chase. I won't eat anything I've anthropomorphized or attributed greater sentience to than most animals. It's not so much an ethical choice as a visceral one. So whales, dolphins, primates and pets are all out. Past that, I'm game for most anything. Though the idea of eating something still struggling for life just makes me queasy. I like my food compliant, thank you very much.
Sorry, but I am strictly vagi-tarian.
Probably not a good idea. It's not healthy to be so malnourished.
Ben said "The difference is humans have a social contract with horses, much the same way we do with cats and dogs. Horses serve a purpose in our lives: they are companions and provide transportation. Implicit in that social contract is to not eat them. In other words: we do not eat our friends. It breaks down the bond that exists between human and pet. We rely on these animals for work and companionship. How can we ask so much of them and then slaughter them for food?"
The same is the case with cows. Cows nourish us with their milk, just the same way a mother nourishes an infant with her milk. Hence, we need to respect the cow as a mother who is offering her milk to the entire humanity. Killing a cow is the highest sin, more sin than killing any other type of animal. Killing a cow is equivalent to killing your own mother. This is the concept in Hinduism and the reason why they worship the cow (just as they worship their mother).
@No-To-Hunger, re: whale slaughter by Europe and America – that is SO true! Howeverrr...Japan doesn't WANT to stick to a reasonable quota when it comes to whale hunting – they try to get around it by claiming 'scientific research'.
Why isn't CNN censoring some of these responses?
because this isn't korea
This has been very interesting to read. I do eat some meats, beef, chicken, pork, fish. I was raised on a farm and watched as some were killed and preped, which bothered me a lot, some because of the cruelty, not that any one was being cruel, but the taking of a life bothered me. When I think about the whole matter I think I would rather not eat any meats at all, though I do in the end. I tend to be very compasionet about animals, and stll I will eat some meats I suppose because I was raised to believe we must eat some. *** some of you have been fun to read, some I understand your heart.
Never shall I eat anything trendy (ie. Sushi, Kangaroo), genitals, liver, gizzards & entrails. That about covers it. Oh yeah, and above all, NO CANNIBALISM!!!!
Wrap some Bacon around it and you can't tell the difference. Shalom!
From the article: "cultural bias aside I'd like to hear a valid argument against eating horse meat (or cat/dog for that matter)"
exactly. I know of no way to rationally distinguish between eating cows, pigs, etc. and eating dogs, cats, and horses. It's not based on intelligence, because for one thing pigs are really smart, and also for any benchmark you set, there will be some humans (young children, the mentally disabled, etc) who fall below it.
As such, my benchmark for what is ok to eat is not level of intelligence per se, but capacity to suffer.
I only eat foods that come from non-conscious life forms (plants essentially), all conscious beings are out.
I have a problem with eating cow. It more than likely has to do with the fact that I was raised on a farm and our cows were more like family than livestock. I was fine with beef until I was in about 7th grade and my cow gretchen was slaughtered in front of me. I still remember her head in the bucket with her beautiful eyes open. All of our cows were very intelligent. Most of them knew their names. Now I can only tolerate beef when I am pregnant.
There's a pregnancy clause for cows?
For those of us old enough to remember, there was an "All in the Family" episode about eating horse meat.
PS, in my opinion, if a person is not at least WILLING to kill his own meat he should be a vegetarian.
Well, then, logic suggests that unless you are also willing to plant, tend, harvest and prepare your own fruits, grains and vegetables, you shouldn't eat that either. And that goes for hops and barley, too, all you beer lovers!
Totally agree!
No, logic does not suggest that, because the processes are different. Planting, harvesting, etc as you mention are simply work. Everyone works in their own way for the food they buy. But killing involves an ethical choice, one which people like to be (and generally are) removed from with grocery stores as the middle man. The point is that people should not support ethical choices they are uncomfortable with by hiding behind someone else who they pay to do it.
My very favorite parts of the deer after a kill are the heart, liver and kidneysl. I usually saute strips in olive oil with a healthy serving of sauted onions with the resultant gravy on corn bread. Though they are difficult to find these days without traditional butcher shops, I also like beef kidney if properly prepared and cooked into a rich brown stew. Removal of the fatty tissue between the meaty lobes is essential as well as thorough cleaning.
This is America. We all came here to live a new life of kindness and compassion. The horse ans burro settled thiis land with the first explorers. Vringing a culture of "locust" is unbecoming any American. We preserve and cherish, not use and throw away.
Sorry – the poll this article refers to was so ridiculously skewed in favor of horsemeat that it was laughable. How about just a yes or no answer? Would you or wouldn't you? All your silly scenarios were a transparent effort to get more people to say maybe.
I would eat people if it was still acceptable. Heck if i travel somwhere they still eat people I would have to try a slice.
I only feel comfortable eating something I would kill myself (for me that's smaller fish, shrimp, lobster) but i would never be able to kill a cow, a chicken, a horse, etc. to eat it. I think that if people had to kill the animals they eat themselves instead of buying it at a grocery store people would feel much different about the whole topic.
I eat fish, fowl, beef, and pork. I do not eat lamb or older sheep. However if I were starving a whole lot of the things I don't eat now I would learn to love. Have a bug.....sure thing, if I was starving.
I avoid baby animals (lamb, veal) and try to eat either wild food (fish, venison) or if a farmed animal, that which was treated humanely during its life (free range, ideally). I'm fine with animals as food but we have a moral responsibility to treat them humanely and respectfully.
Doves. I can't eat doves. If I was starving, yeah ok. But for an unknown reason they creep me out.
people are animals
Early Mongolians depended on horses, even as food. I learned that as part of a museum exhibit. That said, I may eat meat, but hate the cruelty. Killing wild horses is just an excuse to kill off an entire species-just like it's not right to wipe out whales just 'cuz it's a tradition in Japan to eat whale meat.
whales are threatened species not because in Japan they eat whales. Europe and America in late 19 Century hunted them to almost extinction for its oil to be used in perfumes, and other stuff. Europe and America are to be blamed.
I wonder those people that don't eat this or that know real hunger! Food is very convinient for us. But if you have no food, eat once a week, like people in Africa, I wonder what would you eat!
To the writers of the original poll .. not only were the choices slanted in favor of situations that might allow for the eating of horse meat, the poll did ask what our personal choices might be, but what other Americans might do.
Even I might say that, given no other food source available, an event that is NOT likely, Americans might turn to horse meat during some catastrophe or another. That in no way reflects my personal opinion on whether or not I would eat horse meat.
There were probably occurrences in pioneer days when horses were eaten .. but since horses were one of few methods of transportation, it probably was one of the LAST things done and only when there was no other option. It is probable that those who did eat horses in such situation had no other way to stay alive and many probably didn't.
As for the rest of those on this site, I would bet people who are visit here are probably the more adventurous regarding their food choices and the poll might not be such an accurate reflection of the population as a whole.
I don't eat fish because I scuba dive and I have had a lot of great moments viewing fish. The oceans are being raped and I don't want any part of that.
As a traveling man. I dont miss meals! There eating it I will try it. Some is good. Some bad. But belive a good cook can make near anyting edable.
Ken,
people are dumb. Why did God make them out of meat?
Per our FDA horses are companion animals that receive illegal for human consumption drugs and that the USDA has been breaking laws on killing horses for foreign human consumption for over forty years, you don't think the ranchers ie AQHA, and their sons the USDA inspectors want this gravy train to end do you? Its time to end the welfare rancher sucking off our taxes, horses aren't in demand do to the economy and the next generation who don't want the burden of caring for a horse.
Horses are dumb but tasty. Just like Cows. If G*d didn't mean for us to eat them why did G*d make them out of meat?
So true. . .you're made out of meat, ain't you? What are you doing tomorrow night?
In dire circumstances I'd go Donner Party on those around me and I wouldn't have any life crisis about it at all. There would be no mental difficulty for me at all about it.
god didn't make them out of meat, because god doesnt exist
Good old atheist trolls. Find something better to do, kid.
I hear that over 30,000 Mexicans have been killed by The Drug Cartels. Instead of killing horses,they should be eating them! Gives a whole new meaning to "Authentic Mexican Food"!
I watched Andrew Zimmermn eat a non cooked blood clot from a goat when he was in some African country. After seeing that wonderful bit of TV, nothing shocks me. Oh, and it was a blood clot kabob. Yes, it was on a stick. "faints*
I will only eat chicken and some fish. Once in a blue moon Ill have red meat, but its usually because im craving it (maybe anemia or something), and that doesn't happen too often.
I can't say that I wouldn't eat whatever I could find, including insects, if I was put into survival mode. We each have the instinct to survive and I don't think we really know just how far we'd go until we are put into that situatiion. I hunt and fish and have raised my children to do the same- with respect to the animals- killing only what you will eat. We are not trophy hunters, but kill for food, for survival. We process our own meats, and grow most of our own meats and vegetables. I have had most meats, with the exception of insects, rats, dog and cat...but it wouldn't bother me to eat them if I was starving and had nothing else...
I won't eat Yellow Fin Tuna or Shark species as well as those I voted for in the poll. Both are overfished or fished for improperly in ways that exploit the species to threatened levels.
I never feel guilty eating any kind of meat. (Even horse) =)
This is really not a fair question. Many of the people who say they would eat horse meat have not been watching the whole story of why so many are fighting to stop horse slaughter. First off horse slaughter is inhumane and cruel. Just watch some of the horse slaughter videos before making up your mind. Next, American horses are not raised as food animals. Our horses, including wild ones, get drugs that are labeled NOT FOR FOOD ANIMALS. Despite what the people for slaughtering horses want the public to believe, horse meat is not cheap, up to $20 per lb in the European market and it is not going to feed the "hungry." Only around 50% of the horse is used in the meat process where other animals it is almost 100% used. The only reason we are even talking about it is because horse breeders can not get rid of their horses because of the slow economy and they will not slow down their breeding. It is a money thing! And really most American's will take a beef burger over a horse meat burger anytime. And don't look to stop the so called wild horse problem with sending wild horses to slaughter. There are less then 20,000 left on the ranges, with 40,000 in long term holding. More then 100,000 American horses still go to slaughter in Canada and Mexico, so the wild hroses could not even fill the bill for a years worth of meat. Opening horse slaughter plants will be costly, they leave pollution and damage a community in many other ways. And the cost of raising horses is only going to go up as feed and land become more costly. This is not the type of business that will bring great wealth to a community especially if a whole culture must have their mineset changed to accept this type of meat. The results of any poll must be scrutinized as most are slanted one way or another.
I've already eaten just about everything short of human flesh.
I'm not too hot on the idea of eating creatures like a dog or horse, since they've been companions to man (A creature that's by our side during our hunts and wars deserves more respect), but... Ultimately, there's a food chain. And, if I'm served something, I'm far more concerned with being a good guest and honoring the host than my personal food dislikes.
Everything that lives does so at the expense of another. Even herbivores indirectly kill by competing for the same food supply. So, it's silly to make an ethical argument. After all, if one's so concerned about the well being of other life, the only logical solution is to take yourself out of the equation.
"Everything that lives does so at the expense of another. Even herbivores indirectly kill by competing for the same food supply. So, it's silly to make an ethical argument. After all, if one's so concerned about the well being of other life, the only logical solution is to take yourself out of the equation."
It's completely ridiculous to say that, since every organism somehow impacts others, making an ethical argument is pointless/silly. Killing one's self is hardly the answer either. You are taking things to the extreme and ignoring the finer implications and significance of the ethical argument. Does it not occur to you that one can strive to live their life but in such a way that REDUCES harm to other living things? Hell, that's how civilized society works anyway (only in that case it is strictly about human-human interaction). So by your logic we should have a grand free for all and revert to the stone ages. Might is right, every man for himself, etc.
We've evolved with advanced brains capable of logic and reasoning. Please make use of this gift.
id eat the azz out of a menstruating skunk..
I don't eat mammals.
Fish? Sure.
Birds? Okay.
But not mammals. There is something that mammals have that other types of animals do not have, and because of that I don't think we should eat them.
Worse than eating them though is how we treat the animals before slaughter. Chaining baby cows so that they can't stand to develop muscles so that our veal is tender, for example. Even chickens, something I will eat, even their treatment bothers me. I only buy free range eggs and chickens.
if you eat one you eat all. if i didnt believe eating everything was ok i would be a vegetarian. whats the difference between beef and a horse? emotional attachment? when it comes down to it sustenance is sustenance. swine, cattle, lamb, shrimp, cat, dog, dolphin, whale, monkey, or lobster. top of the food chain means everything is fair. the only reason I wouldn't eat somethings flesh is because i have the luxury of choosing my food based on flavor. If you can;t eat it all, eat none
The Bureau of Land Management's contracted helicopter chasing round-ups has slain America's western plains Wild Mustangs/Foals .....
*** Video below shows a Burro being chased and knocked down via a BLM contracted helicopter .....
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2011/01/03/zarrella.wild.mustangs.cnn.html
*** Another collective item in the helicopter cruelty library of BLM induced horrors on America's Wild Mustangs: ......
Helicopter pushes yearling : Sept. 16, 2010...... Contractor: Cattoor livestock round up.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiGg1cSbghc
*** Propaganda BLM statement that the Wild Mustangs destroy the land..... In actuality cattle are destroying the land.....
Wild Mustangs will eat the tops of the grasses and it will grow back..... Cattle rip the whole plant out by the roots.....
Wild Mustangs live free on the western ranges, in naturally managed numbers; have since the country was "founded"....
Once Wild Mustangs are corralled via the BLM, millions and millions of tax-dollars become involved in the equation.....
Cattle outnumber Wild Mustangs......Ten-fold.....
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2011/01/05/exp.am.zarella.horses.facilities.cnn.html
"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals... We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far beneath ourselves. And therein we err, we greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complex than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."
-Henry Beston
I prefer tuna safe dolphin. I've eaten dog before in South Korea. The yellow dog (dingo type) are especially good. Watched some Koreans burning the fur off a dead dog under a bridge one day. It actually came out pretty good with a little ketchup.
Oh yeah, Korean treatment of animals – dogs in particular – is just swell...
I've seen a bit more than you, apparently.
Tuna safe dolphin.....nice:)
Every time I see a response like yours I think, how did this person live past 5 years...you're an idiot!!!!!!
It all depends on how hungry I get, i suppose. Snakes and possums are okay, rabbits around here are somewhat iffy due to rabbit fever, rodents carry plague so rats, squirrels and prarie dogs are to be avoided. Armadillos carry leprosy so I'd avoid them too. Then again I ate tree frogs back in survival school so it all comes to how hungry are you.
I would not eat a rabbit either. In my younger days I orally serviced some womenfolk. God help me.
I draw the line at primates... simply too close to human, and I cannot bring myself to eat Snakehead fish. Even dead they look like they're going to eat me.
"I draw the line at primates... simply too close to human"
Hmm, think about your reasoning there. Organisms are only deserving of life free from slaughter for consumption if they look sufficiently similar to us?...
Lamb. I just refuse to eat something that cute. Sorry.
I don't eat anything that I don't have the balls to kill myself, that pretty much leaves me with fish.
i feel the same way!
it's just a cultural. I believe in India it is totally taboo to eat cows/beef. To them eating cows is like our issue with eating horses, dogs or cats. In the middle east, pork is considered gross. Geez, no BACON? No baby-back ribs? You folks don't know what you're missing, but I digress...
it's all what you were brought up to think and what you're used to. If you're hungry enough, you'll eat whatever's in front of you...
What's the difference between a cow and a pet dog? Your dog is descended from carnivores. So is your cat. Health problems arise from carnivores/omnivores consuming other carnivores/omnivores, and from herbivores consuming any part of any other animal. Some of the worst and scariest diseases today (Mad Cow, HIV/AIDS) came from creatures consuming other creatures that nature has not equipped them to eat. THAT'S why we eat Old Bessie and not Mr. Mistoffelees.
As for horses... well, they've never been bred as food animals, they've been bred as work animals. I can't imagine they'd taste very good. I'd rather have range-raised bison, personally.
I have a bizarre red meat allergy so I tend to avoid beef, pork, and lamb. For some reason I can eat beef that has been cooked a long time, like pot roast, but a rare steak makes my hands itch and turn red, and once I broke out in hives. Oddly enough I can eat ham or sausage but not pork barbecue. I do not eat lamb often, but had a reaction to it once as well. Since I can never predict which dishes will affect me I just don't eat red meats unless I know they have been prepared in a way that won't bring on an allergic reaction. I would avoid horse meat, or any mammal meat, for the same reason (birds don't seem to be a problem). I wish I knew why I have this problem, which did not start until I was in my mid-30s. Anyone else have this problem or know someone who does?
Maybe your allergy is to something common in the feed of these particular animals. For example, people with corn allergies often have to avoid pork and poultry (and whatever else eats a lot of corn).
I dont know about the other animals but cat meat stinks like cat piss so I can't eat it just like chitlins smell like sh*t so I can't eat that either
Um, Chris........thats a dude.
I will eat anything. I especially want to go down on the girl whos office is next to mine.
I've spent a few years in the Philippines and tried many exotic foods. Honestly, many of them taste excellent. Dog, cat, horse, balut, lizards, snake, and all were tasty. For me it comes down to the meat being prepared properly. And by that I mean parasites. There is a reason we cook meat to certain temperatures. Pig can be dangerous as well as chicken if not prepared properly. As long as the meat is parasite free, bring it on. I might have a problem with endangered animals though. Don't feed me tiger, or panda bear until their numbers recover.
Brains... prions scare me
I am a huge fan of lamb (my dad raises sheep) but I am morally opposed to eating veal. Here's the difference in my eyes: veal calves are killed while they are very small and young, before they have time to even develop muscles. We take a life for only a fraction of the meat that the calf is capable of producing. I find that nearly as vulgar and disrespectful as killing a deer solely for its antlers. Lamb meat, on the other hand, isn't harvested until the animal is almost fully grown – usually after about a year. That is when the heights of quality and quantity combine. (They only call it lamb to differentiate from older sheep, or mutton, which is much tougher and far less tasty)
I'm not opposed to vegetarianism but I think when an animal and its life are treated with respect there is nothing morally wrong with taking advantage of the food resources we have available.
As for the horse question, personally I couldn't do it because of the helper/companion factor. Still, it'd be far more humane than letting them starve. And that, unfortunately, is what's happening. There are too many horses (with all the displaced mustangs) and not enough feed.
So there you have one farm girl's opinion.
I will try anything twice...except for cats, dogs, and spiders. I don't condemn thosevin other cultures for their use of cats and dogs in their cuisine/diet, but I would certainly never consume them.
I cannot eat veal, simply due to the fact that the poor creatures are force-fed and stuffed into cramped pens. I don't eat any wild game, such as deer, antelope, etc. I do not eat lamb because the taste and smell make me nauseated, and I keep seeing a lamb's cute little face in my mind (same with veal). I am getting more and more away from eating beef and pork, because I see these mammals as creatures who have souls. I do enjoy fish and seafood because they are not mammals, not that that makes a big diff. I'm a milk drinker and eater of eggs, but animals that produce those products are not killed for them. Every year I think I am getting closer and closer to becoming a vegetarian.
I don't eat anything that lives above water, on land or in the air. And I only eat wild caught seafood from clean water. I will eat eggs and dairy, but only that which comes from ethically raised chickens and livestock.
So eating your high-horse is out of the question?
How do you eat at restaurants?
Salad, lol
Yes because being in a Pen ... waiting to be eaten isn't going to be any worse ..
I admit that this is somewhat odd, but I can't eat veal. I can eat a cow, but I think of the little baby calf in a cage somewhere and then I can't eat the veal. Somehow I just can't work up the same feeling about a cow. If I think about it I cannot eat it. I got sick eating chicken once because I thought about the chicken. I guess it's all in how you are brought up and what is available to you. Looking at it as objectively as I can, I don't think it's "bad" if other people eat dogs or other things I wouldn't eat. It's all cultural, I just couldn't do it, unless I were starving.
Leviticus Chapter 11 tells us why we don't eat certain meat. That is if you are from a Christian background.
Actually, that is also where Jewish and Muslim dietary laws stem from as well.
I won't eat dogs/cats. I don't really have a logical reason, only an emotional one: I see them as pets and not livestock.
Insects I have a hard time getting past the creepy-crawly aspect of them.
And I think eating something still alive is unnecessarily cruel.
Most meats are fair game on my plate though. I've eaten beef, pork, chicken, turkey, duck, lamb, goat, pheasant, quail, deer, elk, bison, rabbit, squirrel, ostrich, alligator, frog, many types of fish and shellfish, and probably others I'm forgetting at the moment.
Oops, that was supposed to be a new post, not a reply!
In the New Testament, Mark 7: 15-19 removes the food restrictions (also from a Christian viewpoint)
MOOMOO!!!!!! HIIII
Growing up, we named our (pet) cows steak, hamburger and roast beef because, even as children, we were aware that they were a food source. Yes, i have 2 dogs that i wouldnt want to eat simply because their new favorite pastime is rolling in garbage. I digress. Food chain...
LOL, we did the same thing! We had cows named the same as yours. We also named lambs things "Lamb Chop" and "Leg-O"; pigs were named "Bacon", "Pork Chop", "Sausage", etc.
Anything can be a food source. Doesn't mean it necessarily should be. The food chain argument is also a tired, primitive one. I don't really care if we got to where we were enslaving and slaughtering entire groups of people (and we did), doesn't mean we should keep doing it. The notion of might is right is a primal one that has no place in modern civilization.
If we're talkingh about species taboos, why are fellow humans off the list? people in terminal pain wanting to die or lifers in prision COULD be food. We could also change the nature of war. Instead of killing the enemy, we capture them or surround the country/area. Then backup the cattle trucks and slaughter as needed.
Honestly, it's more humane than simply bombing them and letting them die slowly and in pain. Not to think of the waste of meat.
just dont chase me down with a helicopter and we're all good.
It gives you brain disease.
I'm a carnivore, but the grossest thing about eating cows, pigs, chickens, etc., is that millions of them are mass produced and processed for no other purpose. A modern meat processing plant has more in common with a concentration camp than it does with the ranches and farms of yore. I don't think I would have much trouble downing horse or dog, but I wouldn't care to see either species added to the industry's list of "raw materials".
i will bet $50 that you are actually an omnivore
During the beef shortage in the early 70s, horse markets sprang up. I had horse roast (not bad). and horse burger..pretty grisley. French have eaten horse for a long time. If we start eating too much horse, dog food prices will rise. Actually horse is probably leaner and better for you than beef. It is weird about the culture stigma. Maybe it is propaganda by Animal Rights Anarchists as a starting point to ban all meat, including horse.
Actually, I think it probably stems from the fact that up to the last few generations, horses have been work animals, at some times vital. And they've been expensive animals. So when people had the option of eating horses, which were expensive and needed for so much more than food, or cows/chickens/pigs which really didn't perform multiple functions (yes, I know, milk and eggs, not what I meant, though), of course they chose to eat non-working animals.
In our day, horses are no longer needed to run a farm or get us long distances in jig time, so we've lost the understanding of why we don't eat horse meat. Instead of reasoning that they are more useful to us alive, we figure that they must be gross to eat, a taboo meat.
Had the animals always been plentiful in the states instead of a valuable commodity, we might be as other countries who eat horse alongside sheep alongside cow and chicken.
Why don't they make ovens large enough so I can eat a swan ?
or so we can stick your @ss in there.
They do. If you take out most of the racks, most ovens will...they're not much bigger than a fatted goose.
Most people don't eat swans because back in Ye Olde Englande all swans belonged to the crown so only royalty could eat them. We sort of kept the taboo.
I hear peacock is tasty as well. There are people in this country that raise them for food. The traditional way to serve them is to roast them and then sew them back in their feathered skins. (Not as common in the last 100 yrs or so)
I've heard swan tastes fishy, because of their diet. It's not really particularly good eating. I haven't tried it myself though, go for it and find out!
What about Ostrich?
It is illegal to eat Swan Brian! They would lock you up and throw away the key! Swans belong to the Queen and nobody is allowed to kill for food!
My boyfriend eats many parts of the cow, pig, & chicken that I just cant – stomach, intestines, tongue, feet (from the chicken), etc.. He actually bought a rabbit for thanksgiving. It rly freaked me out lol.. Horse is 1 animal neither of us would be caught dead eating. He actually has his own ranch in Mexico w his dad & they raise cows for beef & use horses & whatnot.
I bought a rabbit for Easter once that I butchered (someone else killed and skinned it, but I did the rest). I thought it was neat. I had no idea how much hatred I would incur from family for that.
Esp since...why is eating the Easter Bunny any different than eating the Easter Chick (well chicken) or Lamb (which...doesn't that represent the baby Jesus?)
lol my bf just bought one from the latino market. It had already been skinned & cleaned, but b/c he had to cook it in our little convection oven, we had to chop it up into small pieces. He made me help him (it was all one piece) . I'll admit, I've gotten more adventerous (cow tongue tastes like dry roast beef), but most things i just can't do... Lol like pickled pigs' ears or real menudo. Nooooo thanks!!!
Logically, there's no good reason for horse meat (or cat, dog, etc.) to be taboo to meat-eaters, but like most others, I think of a horse as a pet just as I do my beloved dog (who's like my child). I'd personally never eat dog, cat, horse, animal fetus, organs, insects, etc., but then again, I'm a fairly picky eater and not a huge meat eater in general. I do eat chicken, beef, and pork–and have sucked the head of a crawfish and eaten a raw oyster, which some others would find disgusting–but I honestly could do without it (well, not seafood). While I would burst into tears or gag if I saw horse or dog on a plate or in my neighborhood market, I have respect for different cultures who DO eat such things, just as I have respect for Hindus who hold the cow sacred or for vegetarians & vegans. Cultural norms have developed over centuries. It's tough to change something you've known for years, but as somebody else mentioned, if economic or ecological conditions change, maybe our menus will, too.
You all suck.
NO YOU
Just laughed out loud and woke my husband up..
I could not eat horse meat. I have a couple of them trotting in my backyard. It'd be like eating my kids. As a last resort, if I was starving, may be. I'd eat the neighbour's cat before in any case.
I will only eat animal who's hooves are cloven, it has nothing to do with the animal or the kind of animal, it the hooves are cloven, I'm eating it.
I heat ya but am taking it one step further.. if it breathes, it gets marinated and diced !!!!
It's in the Bible not to eat a solid hoofed animal.
The bible also says that it's ok to kill your children if they're disrespectful to you, I wouldn't recommend using it as a literal guide to morality
Just the Old Testament. Perfectly fine to eat it according to the New Testament.
I will try anything once. But...once trying it there are somethings I don't really want to eat again, not because they tasted bad, but just because of what they are.
For example
-whole earthworms (would still probably eat them ground up) or other worms
-grasshoppers
-shrimp heads (it's the eyes that kill me)
Some organ meat also makes me weirded out.
I would be somewhat hesitant about cat. And I did actually click Dolphin just because it would make me sad and I don't support killing them.
But...most anything is fair game for a trial. Particularly if it's specifically raised as meat. Then I sort of view being eaten as it's life purpose.
In a similar vein though...I HATE seeing animals killed and not eaten/used. At least part of them. I can't stand seeing those little shrimps get tossed because there are dozens of lives wasted when you do that. I feel guilty letting meat go bad for the same reason. I don't mind killing animals for food. What I mind is wasting them. That's actually part of the reason I will try anything. You shouldn't force yourself to eat food if you don't like it (but you shouldn't order it again either). However, you dishonor your food if you don't at least give it a chance.
Um, dolphin is a stupid one to put on the list, mainly because there is so much mercury in dolphin meat that it could cause you brain damage. Just saying. Watch 'The Cove."
It all depends on where you were raised. I've eaten cobra in Asia, and my wife never considered sushi until she came here. It is all a matter of cultural context.
And for the record, I would MUCH rather kill and butcher my own food, as this way I know how it was handled, cleaned and stored. Wild game tastes GREAT too!
I agree. Butchering your own meat is the way to go. Its the only way to be sure your beef doen't have e-coli contamination. And there is nothing like a rare burger, just can't eat them if you're not sure of how the animal was butchered. (for those of you who don't know, e-coli is only found in the contents of the animal's digestive system, and contaminates meat only if those contents come into contact with the meat during the slaughter / butchering / meat cutting process)
One of the comments listed in the article mentioned that we are "trained" to think of animals like horses as pets. I think it is much deeper than that – they are pets, and have a special bond with humans, because their minds operate on a different level than a pig or a cow. Not to say pigs or cows aren't smart, or can be pets, but they don't connect with people like horses do. Tie that with the claims (which I believe) that there isn't a humane way to kill horses, because they are so aware of there surroundings, and it all just seems so wrong for a civilized society.
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Yay! I was quoted in the main article. Woohoo!!!
Anyway, as my quote states I think that primates are the only food taboo I would have. Due to the similar genetic makup of humans and primates, it allows for disseases that are generally relegated to one species to cross to humans. It simply is not safe to eat animals that closely related to us. I also feel the more intelligent primates are too human like in their intelligence, so I personally wouldn't be comfortable eating them, but that doesn't mean I'd be against someone else doing so because of that reason.
Herm...I do see your point about diseases, but I think the question isn't really asking you to consider that. What if it were guaranteed disease free?
I've actually had this conversation with myself as to beings similar to myself even up to the point of cannibalism. Studying some of the beliefs of cannibalistic societies however, I think that given certain circumstances I could actually even go that far. For instance, our society usually condemns it...but many make exceptions it is seen as a matter of survival (that plan crash in the Andes for instance, or the conversation my parents had with me that if it ever came down to it and it was the only way to survive...maybe that's a Montana thing though. We have lots of blizzards and are remote, so people think about weird things). In other societies though, sometimes the belief is one of honoring those they eat rather than dehumanizing them. In some case its even an expected obligation. If it's done in a way that honors (or at least does not offend against) the individual, even that I could do I think. (Although...no worries. Not going to seek it out.)
Interesting analysis.
Are there circumstances were I would be morally okay with eating primates, yes... and as you said there are extreme circumstances where cannibalism would be morally acceptable to me as well. My answer was related to what I find taboo as a food I would eat under "normal" circumstances, as I feel this is the spirit of the question.
Horse is taboo because they are a historical feature in the united states. They were fundamental to expansion and settlement of the the western us. No other animal has helped, or impacted such a large migration into the unknown. Beast of burden and companion.
And so what ??? this is a ridiculous reason to not eat it...
Andrew, the cute stories told by your teachers left out the part where horses and cattle were both used to expand out to the west. Cattle were the preferred beast of burden for their strength and stamina, horses provided more individual transport, but in the end, both were eaten. The reason we are not seeing horse meat on the menus today is because at some point, the group in power decided that it shouldn't be there, and when the immigrants came over, they were told the same. In today's society we aer forced to accept every other aspect of foreign cultures, but the eating of horse and other "exotic" meats is still frowned upon.
As for the other arguments about farm raised vs. hunted game, having participated in both, I would say that the hunted game has had a much better life experience than the farm raised animal that is forced to obey through its entire life only to be slaughtered with no chance to use its fight or flee instinct. Nutritionally they are also much healthier for you.
Other reasons to avoid eating horse meat: that meat on your plate may have been a pet that got too old or injured a leg, a companion animal that is no longer wanted, a working animal that is judged to be no longer useful, or a racer that didn't get "in the money" often enough. An animal that is trained to trust humans enough to carry them on its back, to pull wagons, to run hard enough to break its own legs, is auctioned off, shoved into a multi-level cattle truck too short to accommodate its height (so it stands for a day or more with its head halfway down, while it is jammed in with other horses similarly stressed). It is trucked to the the border - where the truck will sit for hours in 100-plus-degree temperatures, or in freezing cold - and once across the border it will be either stabbed to death (Mexico) or shot in the head (Canada). The other major source of horse meat is estrogen manufacturing (horse urine). Pregnant mares are confined to narrow stalls and fed salty food so they produce plenty of urine into the collection bags that are attached to their bellies. When they foal, the males are either killed outright or raised for meat. When the mares are too old to be productive, they are slaughtered. Is that something you wan to eat?
They pre-salt the meat??? Cool, save me some time!!!!
True, better to send them to the glue factory when they're no longer of any use to us.
Sure.. why not ? Do you think any of these horses would taste differently ? Highly doubtful...
Eh, you're talking about horses slaughtered for pet food. Those killed for human food in many countries are treated identical to other food animals (Japan, France, etc) with the same standards.
I personally do not want to eat any animal that has been a companion animal or has learned to trust and bond with humans for their care and companionship. In addition, the horse is classified as a companion animal by the USDA. The drugs horses are give regularly are labeled not for use in animals for human consumption. That is why we don't use horse meat in dog food and haven't for decades.
In addition, you will hear that only old, sick or lame animals go to slaughter. While that is not the case, do you seriously want to eat flesh from an animal that, all its life, has been given drugs that are not to be used in food animals. And do you seriously want to eat a sick horse?
Horses are not slaughtered for dog food in Canada. Dog food companies are afraid of being sued because of the many drugs found in horsemeat. Bute which is as common to horses as aspirin is to people is in the system of nearly every horse especially horses off the track. Horsemeat is sold over seas for the rich Europeans to eat at something like $20.00 a pound. ONe hundred live horses per week are shipped from the Calgary Airport to Japan.
Fiona – what do you think happens to dairy cows or beef heifers when they get old? Perhaps you think they go to a spa-farm in Napa? And yes, they are shot in the head. Were you thinking they use lethal injection?
Dairy cows used to produce well into their teens. Now with factory farming their life span is three lactations. They are fed huge quantities of grain to produce more milk. The excess amount of grain gives them ulcers as they were meant to be grass eaters. They have foot problems from standing on concrete. Drugs help bring relief.
Very few dairy cattle get to breath fresh air and stand in the sun even on smaller farms. It is more cost effective to keep them on concrete and bring to grass to them indoors. As soon as they are no longer profitable, they are shipped thousands of miles to become LEAN HAMBURGER. Sad..
NO WAY!!! I have two rescue horses, one of them an ex-racer. I know exactly what you are saying here! My horses are my best friends in the world and when i think of what their fate could have been, i shudder. I have never had so much love from any other animal or human for that matter than i get from my horses, they are my world and i adore them. I would never eat horse and would not even want to befriend anybody who thinks this is acceptable!
If it bleeds; it's food.
Way to stir the pot....
love it !!
If we were not meant to eat meat, they why did God make them so delicious? As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to beef, just knock it's horns off, wipe it's arse and carve me off a slab!
Brilliant commentary by neanderthals, as always.
Eating meat is murder. Yummy yummy murder.
You're not married are you?
Every time I see a response like yours I think, how did this person live past 5 years...you're an idiot!!
People who have been trapped together for a long time do what they must to survive and do things we believe are only in movies. All animals are fair game for consumption.
I picked "anything cute and fuzzy" but really, I just won't eat any animal that is considered exotic or a companion animal. I don't eat much meat as it is because sometimes just the smell makes me sick. I don't even prepare raw meat at home. It has to be already cooked or I won't touch it. I guess it's a combination of empathy and just plain finding raw meat disgusting that keeps me from eating much more than chicken and fish.
What difference does it make if it's cooked or not? You're still eating it, that's kind of hypocritical.
I actually have the same issue with raw meat. I still prepare it for my family, but it makes me gag....especially raw chicken. In fact when I was pregnant with both my boys I couldn't STAND the sight or smell of raw chicken. It would make me vomit every single time.
I think it's the smell of the meat....raw meat has a very distinct odor. Some people have sensitive noses and they can smell it before it's even opened....I am one of those people.
I am amused and disgusted when meat eaters use the difference in animals' intelligence as an excuse for why a particular species (cow vs. horse vs. dog) is innately edible. If intelligence and sociability matter to you, why would you even consider eating pork? Pigs are more intelligent than dogs. They are miles beyond the mental abilities of a horse. And they are genetically close enough to humans that their parts can be used in our bodies (pig heart valves being one example).
And, yes, I am a vegetarian.
Cows and pigs are raised for slaughter, not plucked from the wild or taken off the street. Dogs and cats are human companions, not so, usually, for pigs and cows. I very much admire vegetarians, but I think it's ok to eat animals that have been raised for slaughter and to use their hides for leather (it would be a waste not to). Animals eat animals, and we're animals, as well.
Its not intelligence that decides what gets eaten, its about what is accepted in society. In Korea they eat dog. In India a cow is sacred, so they avoid it. In present day America a horse is not on the top of the accepted list as it has seen such a history in shaping this nation (as someone else mentioned). I can guarantee that horse was eaten in America at some point in our history. Was it the Fillet Mignon of the times, no, but it met a need. If people choose to eat meat, so be it. If people choose to be vegetarian/vegan, so be it. However, judging or attacking someone's choice is not really cool.
Back in the early 70's there was a trend of eating horsemeat. I remember a butcher shop near my home having some. We never tried it....it seemed too much like dog food!
I for one would not use intelligence as a reason to eat or not to eat any animal. Its all meat and fair game. Cook it up and chow down.. You should give it a shot... only eating bean sprouts, alfalfa & tofu has got to get old after awhile...
It doesn't get old at all – I never miss eating meat.
I guess humans are fair game too then, huh. And ditto to KLDGBB. Anyone who claims that eating is dull without meat is either an incapable, uncreative or simply lazy cook.
They're not intelligent enough to avoid being eaten.
It is not possible to *humanely* slaughter an intelligent animal…that’s why intelligence matters to some of us carnivores. If an animal can sense its imminent killing, then you cannot slaughter him or her without causing fear, stress, discomfort, or what have you. And yes, it is possible to humanely slaughter an animal. Temple Grandin spent years developing slaughterhouses which keep cows calm and blissfully ignorant of their impending fate the entire time – including the moment of their death. Some of the cleverer species, which can sense human intention even with plenty of smoke and mirrors, are harder to fool. So don’t slaughter them, don’t eat them. It’s a simple enough rule to follow.
Interesting point. After All if we only eat animals which are considered "not very bright" then lets look at human beings here...would this mean that any human considered to be "a bit thick" should be done away as well and used for medical science or for food or some other horrific purpose? If so then normal civilisation would come to an abrupt end right now as the majority of us are not all Brian Surgeons or members of MENTA! I really do have to point out that the human being is an ANIMAL too, so although i am no a vegetarian, i do believe that if animals can be used as food, then one day humans will be farmed for such things as well. What goes around, comes around. ( I think maybe i am next for the soup pot after making a comment like this! )
Top of the list should be human placenta. Yes, you read that correctly. Do a google search, its more common than you think.
My cousin cooked her placenta into a chilli. It's supposed to be very good for you, but I just can't go there. She said it was really chewy like grisel.
yeah...well excuse me while I go throw up
Ewwweee! The idea of eating human placenta turns my stomach bu i know its full of nutrients and good for you. Animals always eat theirs don't they? I have heard of mothers asking for the placenta to be cooked for them after they give birth but personally the though of that makes my blood run cold! It borders on cannibalism! If they could eat that, they could eat anything or anybody!!!
If you shouldn't eat cows, then why are they maid out of meat?
Seriously, the difference between some animals (which are eaten in other parts of the world) is perception; when you drive by a farm, and see pass cattle and horses, your perception is you're passing beef and a ride waitng for a saddle. There's a psychological difference between a rabbit and a bunny; between eating liver and heart or intestines. There's a difference between eating venison (especially that which you yourself hunted) and deer; or as they say, between eating a deer and eating Bambi.
Is it a real difference? Doesn't matter as long as there's perception.
XMinusOne@gmail.com
JEFF: If you shouldn't eat people, then why are we made of meat?
Good point about "Why should we not eat humans since we are made of meat?" It would certainly bring the numbers on Death Row down if we put them to good use if we ate them! There are so many starving people in the world but if humans were considered OK to eat then I'm sure the starving population would drop if they all ae each other! In fact Civilisation as we know it would drop as we would all be savages eating each other as human meat is said to be as addictive as LSD! Would certainly bring a new meaning to having your neighbours round for dinner wouldn't it? Can you imagine how nervous you would feel if somebody as much as smiled at you in a supermarket queue...he/she could be thinking how delicious you would be in a pot of stew!
As far as eating animals is concerned, i would only eat what is considered normal to eat in this country (UK), cow, pig, sheep & chicken. I would never consider eating Dog, Cat, Horse, or anything else which is considered a pet. I would not eat endangered species either such as Panda, Dolphin, Whale, Chimp and so on. If it came to having to kill any animal to eat it, then i would have to become vegetarian because i just could not do that!
@ Alison,
LSD is not addictive. Try again. There must be a nice view from the pedestal.
@Jeff
I second that. Perception, indeed. But because you started off with that "...why are cows made of meet..." question, people are going to ignore your excellent point in the next paragraph and instead attack that first question.
Its not psychological its cultural. People in india do not look at cows and think wow, beef; eating cows is a western tradition.
I have had goat, lamb, and CAMEL. I am in the military and was in the Middle East for at least 2 years of my life so far. Its fairly common over there but whenever I come back to the States, I never want to put that stuff in my mouth again. Its just wrong and gross
I don't eat baby animals (i.e. veal or lamb). I just don't think all animals should be considered food. It's a personal thing. I know I love beef, chicken and pork because that is what I was raised to eat. If I had to kill it myself, I would definitely be a vegetarian. I know that is hypocritical, sorry.
I'm the same way! I believe it's ok to eat meat because other animals eat other animals, it's nature. But I believe, that as civilized humans, we should humanely raise and kill our own animals, not hunt them and not treat them badly before slaughter. Also, about the no baby animals rule, I just think it's bad form to eat a baby anything. It's an ethical thing for me...I try to be a conscientious consumer.
I get sick every time I pass the baby carrots in the supermarket. How can anyone eat something so small and innocent?
@ec: A true hunter does not "not hunt them and not treat them badly before slaughter". Most hunters respect their kills. I am not talking about poachers and hunter that hunt "for the sport" granted if i was to hunt for "sport" I still would not want the animal to suffer and would donate it to the local shelter. If you want to complain about poor treatment before/while slaughtering, take a look at some of the articles and videos of the mass production for beef and chickens. THAT is inhumane. Also if you think hunters let their kills suffer.... take a look at the lions and other predators in the wild, you think they care about if their prey suffer? they will be eating the prey while it is still alive but incapacitated... chew on that for a bit.
"I believe it's ok to eat meat because other animals eat other animals"
I've never understood why people selectively get their moral standards from animals. If I said "I believe it's okay to rape / murder / poop in the woods because animals do it," that would sound kooky. Yet the above is a commonly cited belief. Guess that's the power of rationalization!
Like you, I refuse to eat veal, given how it is grown and abused.
I disagree with your comment that you wouldn't eat meat if you had to kill it. As a hunter, I would rather eat something I killed myself. I hunt deer because it is really tasty and I would rather kill a deer with my gun than hit it with my truck and only injure it. It is more environmentally responsible because you don't have huge farms dedicated to raising the animal for food, or other farms using toxic chemicals to raise feed for the animals.
well said!!
I completely agree. I would never be able (or would have to be more than a little desperate) to kill an animal and eat it. I also have no desire to eat anything that I once knew in it's living form (no living on a farm for me!). The only exception would be certain fish and crustaceans like lobster and shrimp. But I know a lot of that is just how I grew up. My family always bought meat at the grocery store and no one in my immediate family hunted.
I took my family to a restaurant in France last week, and we were shocked to learn that just about everything on the very "sophisticated" menu consisted of baby animals. Veal, calf brains, duckling, suckling pig, you name it. While I can't argue that any of these creatures would have lived full, meaningful lives if allowed to mature, I have a very hard time with the idea of slaughtering baby animals.
Horses edible? Neigh! :)
:-)
I think we need a number system, everything after #3 I'll pass on, too many good things and ways to try them without venturing down that path.
After reading this, I'm going vegetarian.
Blood and certain body parts are my food taboos. Most everything else is fair game as far as I'm concerned. I'm willing to try most things at least once.
Not a fan of rocky mountain oysters?
i like to start fights in stupid forums like these. if you are someone who likes to get verbally thrashed, then please post something stupid and I wheel shred you verbally. you will look like a stupid person, which you are. everyone reading will know youare ignorant when i finish with you. boogie man wheel get you
wheel the horsey kick your stupid face and make youa big disgrace? you wheel dye when the horsey tramples u
i like to smell my wifes feet. they are tasty. she is dominant
I think Vapor just thrashed himself, I've never seen that before.
Agreed. Most of my restrictions are certain body parts. The main one being liver; I don't feel that it is healthy to be eating the organ with the primary function of filtering toxins out of the blood. I know there are some health benefits to it, and I understand why some people do eat it, but I'll avoid liver as much as I can.
With regards to Rocky Mountain Oysters (bull testicles), once you get past the idea of what you're eating, it's not that bad.
I hear you on liver. It's poison. I don't know how wild carnivores like lions and tigers can eat it. They must be too dumb to understand the health risks.
Steve, in response to "I don't know how wild carnivores like lions and tigers can eat it.".
I feed my dogs a homemade raw-food diet. To get proper nutritional balance without using supplements, they get 5% of their diet as liver.
The ratios for balance in the diet I feed are 80% meat (includes heart, tongue, gizzards, etc.), 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% other secreting organs (kidney, pancreas, spleen, thymus, etc.).
My very favorite parts of the deer after a kill are the heart, liver and kidneysl. I usually saute strips in olive oil with a healthy serving of sauted onions with the resultant gravy on corn bread. Though they are difficult to find these days without traditional butcher shops, I also like beef kidney if properly prepared and cooked into a rich brown stew. Removal of the fatty tissue between the meaty lobes is essential as well as thorough cleaning.
liver is very good.
I eat it every chance I get.
I just remembered I do have two other food taboos. Anything currently alive. Kill it first, and I'll try almost anything, including insects. I will not eat anything that is still moving around.
Endangered/threatened species. I don't care how exquisite the taste of blue fin tuna is. If it's on the verge of being hunted out of existence, I'm not eating it.
Again, I agree. I don't think of that as a food taboo as much as it's what is legal according to international law with regards to endangered species.
I actually used the blue fin tuna specifically because even though their numbers are rapidly dwindling, they are still legal to eat – mostly because of their huge popularity in Japan and China. I've heard, though, that we could see an end to the species in just a few years if we keep hunting them this way. I know they aren't the only species that are in this predicament.
99% of all species that ever lived are extinct already. I'll take my blue finned tuna seared, thank you.
I like cat but I can't eat a whole one by myself!!
I do NOT eat animals that have the ability to eat me. Shark, etc
Sharks is good eatin...
That just reaffirms our position at the top of the food chain!
Doesn't any carnivore have the ability to eat a human?
Consider that a rhetorical question. ;)
Every time I see my neighbor's cat, I think of what a great plate of tacos it would make.
One night we order take out from our favorite Chinese restaurant and thought it was odd our Peking duck came with 3 legs. A week later that restaurant was closed down because an investigation into missing pet cats led to an inspection and discovery of many cats ready to cook in their refrigerator. Now if what we ate was really cat, I'll eat it again because it tastes just like duck.
I think the same thing every time I see my neighbor. Mmmm . . . good eats
Every time I see a response like yours I think, how did this person live past 5 years...you're an idiot.
I don't eat any animals or animal products (I'm a vegan). But I don't see the difference in people eating the flesh from one animal or another. There's no difference in eating horse flesh over cow, pig, dog, etc. I suggest everyone read the book called "Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows" by Dr. Melanie Joy. It goes over the psychology behind this exact topic! Great book!
Wait, you dont eat meat, but you THINK there is no difference between eating various meats!!!
ksk, the comment is valid. Vegans don't eat meat because they don't consider one type of animal deserving of being eaten over any other. They choose not to eat any. If you do eat animals, it technically shouldn't matter which one, as long as you like the way it tastes. However, I do understand psychological aversions to certain animals over others. Like another poster said, if you spend time with an animal, you consider it a friend or even family member. Vegans cast the net wider than that.
You've never given any thought to the pain a carrot must feel upon being pulled from the ground? How would you feel if someone grabbed you by the hair and pulled you out of bed? How about being skinned alive, as with an orange? And the juice...it's the blood of the orange! Imagine the horror a bunch of grapes must feel as each one of it's family is plucked and devoured by a self-thought kindly vegan? Imagine the walnut, it's head cracked open and it's brain...it DOES look just like a brain, yes?...pried out with what looks like a dental pick? Me, I just buy a package of meat, never mind the source...but you...you gentle vegan...will eat right from the tree, alive and still kicking. Ick!
ROD VENGER...You are an imbecile! I'm a vegetarian but I'd eat you 'cause you obviously don't have a brain.
No insects; nothing still alive; nothing raw (except sushi); no veal (too cruel how they're treated); and, nothing endangered (whale, blue fin tuna, dolphin, etc.). Everything else I think would be fair game to at least try though I may have initial reservations (dogs, cats, certain body parts, etc.).
You just don't understand how the liver works. It doesn't "filter" toxins. It either breaks them down into smaller molecules or combines them with water-soluble molecules and then these byproducts are excreted from the body by the kidneys, or into the gut by way of bile. The liver is not unsafe to eat.
In fact, the liver is target #1 of large carnivores from what I've seen during various documentaries. It's highest in fat which equates to energy production and the ability to run down it's next meal. The act of eating itself uses energy and the liver appears to deliver the most of it by weight, than any other body part. And you're correct, it does not filter. It's a biochemical factory that metabolizes almost everything we eat, chemically extracting what the body needs and discarding the leftovers as waste.
The liver breaks down what it can into water-soluble molecules that pass via the blood into the kidneys, which then is excreted from the body. This doesn't mean, though, that all harmful chemicals can be removed this way – pesticides, herbicides, and nearly all heavy metals are fat-soluble, rather than water-soluble, and thus the liver can't break them down the same way – what it does instead is sequester them in its own fatty tissue. So you're right in theory, if it weren't for the fact that the liver can't do all that you might want it to. Liver is certainly healthy for you by itself, but often comes with a large dose of metals and organohalide molecules.
Like you I'll try almost anything at least once. There are several animals I would like to try but won't based on conservation of the animal (whales, dolphins, endangered or struggling species). There are few things I would never eat, one being primates (specifically chimps, gorillas and orangutans), but smaller numerous monkeys would ok. The one thing I'll never try is human meat. Couldn't get past the feeling it would leave me with having eaten it. Let alone the questions as to where the hell it came from.
I won't eat anything that has less than two or more than four legs,
i think its funny that a "pet" cant be eaten in america, but then again we eat cows and cows are pets in some countrys...even considered holy. So because you think its wrong youd rather starve? Im in Japan and Ive eaten horse....its awesome. Definitly something Id love to see when I get back to America.
i like to start fights in stupid forums like these. if you are someone who likes to get verbally thrashed, then please post something stupid and I wheel shred you verbally. you will look like a stupid person, which you are. everyone reading will know youare ignorant when i finish with you.
i like to eat my wifes feet. they smell so good and they taste so great. she makes me eat them every night.
she is a dominator
i like to eat and smell my wife's feet. they are a delicacy. they smell like a fine cheese. she is very dominant
Blood....... So you won't eat a French Dip????
When is the open season on hunters? I'd love them to feel what scared animals are feeling.
It puts the lotion in the basket