I don't believe that it is inherent in the idea of consumption that onemust be inhumane in the raising and treatement of the animals, either. If I made that unclear, I apologize.
I may be putting my money into corporations that choose to treat their livestock in this fashion, but I am not choosing to support that area of their business, which does hit the bottom line, and will cause shifts in business practices. Unfortunately in this instance, it may cause them to just stop raising livestock, rather than raising them properly.
I generally try to stay on top of who the corporate entity is that is making my food (and other products), so I have a clue of what they are involved in. (I know, it's a bit psycho, but hey, I like to know about where I'm getting my food from, and who's getting my money.)
Being in the natural foods industry, I get a lot of the information handed to me about parent companies, etc. So it doesn't require a lot of research on my part. I just have to read the information made available to me.
There definitely isn't one solution. I'm trying to find a way to try to help the situation without going against what I feel is reasonable for me.
I want to say that I try not to judge others for their beliefs on this (or any) subject (within reason, of course). I know a number of people who feel that my stance is silly, but they respect me for making a moral choice for myself, and I respect their right to have a different opinion and live a different way.
Have you seen this though? It's an interesting idea for consumers to use commerce to affect the marketplace.
Well, you're definitely in a position to know the source of your food much better than most of us.
I think in the end the real issue isn't that one individual's true impact on the lives of animals is small. (Let's be honest, McDonalds has a weeklong promotion of 99 cent BigMacs and that impact dwarfs what any one individual can hope to accomplish.) What really scares me more, is how it all combines.
Eating animals requires a lot more plant matter. To create plants, we expend a lot of fuel. Most notably in the huge amount of fertilizers. The fertilizer off-gasses and leads to global warming. The animals "off-gas" which produces methane that leads to global warming.
Now consider this: India and China are slowly shifting from primarily vegetarian diets, closer to the typical American diet. That impact on the planet will undoubtably be far more lasting than SUVs ever would.
It's all drops into the bucket. Or not. In the end, we'll all have to make changes. If not all of us the same choices.
I may be putting my money into corporations that choose to treat their livestock in this fashion, but I am not choosing to support that area of their business, which does hit the bottom line, and will cause shifts in business practices. Unfortunately in this instance, it may cause them to just stop raising livestock, rather than raising them properly.
I generally try to stay on top of who the corporate entity is that is making my food (and other products), so I have a clue of what they are involved in. (I know, it's a bit psycho, but hey, I like to know about where I'm getting my food from, and who's getting my money.)
Being in the natural foods industry, I get a lot of the information handed to me about parent companies, etc. So it doesn't require a lot of research on my part. I just have to read the information made available to me.
There definitely isn't one solution. I'm trying to find a way to try to help the situation without going against what I feel is reasonable for me.
I want to say that I try not to judge others for their beliefs on this (or any) subject (within reason, of course). I know a number of people who feel that my stance is silly, but they respect me for making a moral choice for myself, and I respect their right to have a different opinion and live a different way.
Have you seen this though? It's an interesting idea for consumers to use commerce to affect the marketplace.
http://www.carrotmob.org/make-it-rain.html
:-)
I was mostly spouting off, because I hate being told that I'm hated.
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I think in the end the real issue isn't that one individual's true impact on the lives of animals is small. (Let's be honest, McDonalds has a weeklong promotion of 99 cent BigMacs and that impact dwarfs what any one individual can hope to accomplish.) What really scares me more, is how it all combines.
Eating animals requires a lot more plant matter. To create plants, we expend a lot of fuel. Most notably in the huge amount of fertilizers. The fertilizer off-gasses and leads to global warming. The animals "off-gas" which produces methane that leads to global warming.
Now consider this: India and China are slowly shifting from primarily vegetarian diets, closer to the typical American diet. That impact on the planet will undoubtably be far more lasting than SUVs ever would.
It's all drops into the bucket. Or not. In the end, we'll all have to make changes. If not all of us the same choices.
Reply
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