First off, thank you for at least taking the time to think about these things. I have hinted at writing a new blog to supplement Greentime called Germinate, and my inaugural essay is under the working title of "We Won't Make It On Our Own". The point is that personal change is good, but it won't change the problems alone. The point of personal change is to cause others to stop, consider the options, and try choosing other.
In your case, that's working. It's a topic of concern for you, and one day, when businesses cater to that value, you'll be like a lot of people (myself included)-- ready to jump. That's a sign the early struggles have not been in vain.
If I look for the label free-range chicken, can I assume they lived a reasonably good life?
Perhaps someone else will jump in and help me out here (maybe the recent Local Food convert one_woman_army), but it's my understanding that most roaster chickens are kept in conditions most people would call "free range", in that they're allowed to walk around and stretch and squawk at the other roaster chickens. Battery cages are more for the egg-layers. That said, the differences in free range labels are important. Some consider a chicken "free range" if it can walk around. OThers require that they be outside and under the open sky. For me and mine, a chicken that just gets to walk is in a good condition, though.
Even if the labels are a sham, though, you should keep on trying and keeping your commitment. If you can't afford a lot of meat, try eating less. All of my grandparents spent their early years living on roughly one chicken a week plus a little bacon and bologna, and they're "The Greatest Generation", so it can be done.
Yeah, there seems to be degrees of free-range - there's evil cages (the one extreme), the 'free range' where they can walk around a bit, and then the traditional farm model, where they get to walk around in wider varieties of terrain (i.e. grass). I had a chance to see Michael Pollan speak at Stanford the other day - the venue they picked was so packed, there were people standing outside the auditorium looking thorugh the windows even if they couldn't hear anything. Pretty amazing to watch. He was a fantastic speaker, and his words of encouragement to the slow food movement stuff was great to hear. He also did a lot of discussion on the linkage between health and food and railed passionately for the single payer health care system (which I thanked him for later).
forgot to add, yes, the link between emotion and ethics is not often brought up - but shapes so many discussions we have especially around sensitive personal issues (like those that deal with life or death issues like abortion). It would be good to explore the links between them - I think it influences us on a much more deep level than people realize.
I don't know the correct name for the experiment, but my friends who are more formally trained philosophers called it the "boo/yaay experiment". It's a series of situations that are carefully crafted as to be defensible under most people's rationalized ethics but which will shock people into moral abhorrence.
For example, there's a situation describing incest. The incest is consensual, never causes a pregnancy or disease, and both people involved feel it is a positive thing. An amazing number of people responded that it's wrong and deserves punishment from greater society. It's a very fascinating thing to see.
You can actually find a version of it dolled up for the web over at the philosophy games page.
Some months later and it's slowly working... Meat is now coming from Whole Foods. It might still travel a long way to reach me but at least the animals are living somewhat better lives. I signed up with a local meat CSA for their waiting list but that probably won't kick in until mid/late summer. And yes...it means buying less meat. Tonight is vegetarian entree for me. There's enough meat leftover from a restaurant meal for my boyfriend's portion (he's not as keen on cutting back. He eats less meat at a time but will still want meat at each meal.) And so far, we're not feeling deprived. :)
In your case, that's working. It's a topic of concern for you, and one day, when businesses cater to that value, you'll be like a lot of people (myself included)-- ready to jump. That's a sign the early struggles have not been in vain.
If I look for the label free-range chicken, can I assume they lived a reasonably good life?
Perhaps someone else will jump in and help me out here (maybe the recent Local Food convert one_woman_army), but it's my understanding that most roaster chickens are kept in conditions most people would call "free range", in that they're allowed to walk around and stretch and squawk at the other roaster chickens. Battery cages are more for the egg-layers. That said, the differences in free range labels are important. Some consider a chicken "free range" if it can walk around. OThers require that they be outside and under the open sky. For me and mine, a chicken that just gets to walk is in a good condition, though.
Even if the labels are a sham, though, you should keep on trying and keeping your commitment. If you can't afford a lot of meat, try eating less. All of my grandparents spent their early years living on roughly one chicken a week plus a little bacon and bologna, and they're "The Greatest Generation", so it can be done.
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For example, there's a situation describing incest. The incest is consensual, never causes a pregnancy or disease, and both people involved feel it is a positive thing. An amazing number of people responded that it's wrong and deserves punishment from greater society. It's a very fascinating thing to see.
You can actually find a version of it dolled up for the web over at the philosophy games page.
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