Things I'd rather not know

[JackofDiamonds]

was waiting for someone to post that

It's mandatory at this point.

[cardsfansince82]

I want to know what I'm eating but I'd rather not be confronted with the reality of it every time I buy something. If they started selling meat with the head still attached I would be a lot less likely to purchase it.

[Jocephus]

Bart: Hey, Apu, this bag of ice has a head in it!
Apu: Ooh, a head bag. Those are chock full of... heady goodness.

[jim]

Having a connection to your food is important. If more people knew about their food maybe there would be more humane and ethical treatment of the animal.

Also when I serve fish I caught and grilled myself you will get the head left on.

[IMADreamer]

I don't get the big deal, but maybe having grown up around animals that became our food I'm desensitized to it. Cows, pigs, chickens, etc do not have any other purpose but for us to eat.

I read a story the other day about a hog confinement fire that killed some pigs. Some of the comments were comical. Things like "oh those poor pigs they didn't get to live their full life" or "I just can't imagine the horror of them screaming not knowing they will never get to run in the pasture again." Uh, it's a hog confinment, they weren't out frolicking and playing, and they were going to be bacon soon anyway. I feel sorry for the farmer.

I guess if the thought that your steak was cow 43 days earlier bothers you maybe try and think that it was a happy cow or something. I don't know.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Yeah, it doesn't bug me. We used to do a hog roast once a year at my buddy's farm. We'd go get the pig, usually one that wasn't getting along with the other ones, from his neighbors hog farm and clean it. Hunting kind of desensitizes you to it as well. Cleaning a deer or duck or whatever just makes it seem normal. Then getting deer sausage back, any morsel of guilt you had is washed away.

Also, I've never caught fish that were good enough to cook with the head still on. The fish I've cooked were either crappie or catfish. So...head off, filleted and fried. We used to go trout fishing once a year, actually still do, but someone else cleans those and while the heads are still on and they've just been gutted, they're gross. Give me crappie any day of the week over trout.

[TimeForGuinness]

[Jocephus]

i've basically become pescatarian since last june partially because i didn't/don't care for the treatment of "food" animals. i also wasn't sure how well my body processed it after all these years (felt bloated a lot, stomach pain, etc). i try not to eat fish either since it seems we are running out but i do like fish.

when i rationalize all this to myself i can see some hypocrisy but at the same time, there are many options (even in kansas) for a vegetarian/pescatarian so it really hasn't been a huge problem. as far as beef/chicken and all those options i haven't "missed" it at all.

the only other concern i have is that a lot of the vegetarian food that is supposed to be substitutes (boca burgers, etc)...you look at the label and it's all these chemical names so i don't know if thats even worse.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

i've basically become pescatarian since last june partially because i didn't/don't care for the treatment of "food" animals. i also wasn't sure how well my body processed it after all these years (felt bloated a lot, stomach pain, etc). i try not to eat fish either since it seems we are running out but i do like fish.

when i rationalize all this to myself i can see some hypocrisy but at the same time, there are many options (even in kansas) for a vegetarian/pescatarian so it really hasn't been a huge problem. as far as beef/chicken and all those options i haven't "missed" it at all.

the only other concern i have is that a lot of the vegetarian food that is supposed to be substitutes (boca burgers, etc)...you look at the label and it's all these chemical names so i don't know if thats even worse.

I've cut a lot of meat out of my diet, not for the reasons you did, but rather for preventative health measures (for lack of a better description). A couple days a week I'll try to go vegetarian. (What is pescatarian?) those days are basically limited to any conglomeration of the following foods: peanut butter, eggs and Amy's Soup. Oddly enough, I really don't miss meat all that much and it's extremely easy. I guess it helps that it's only a day or two at a time though.

I think there is something to the idea that vegetarians/vegans/whatever in general eat better than mainstream america. Of course, mainstream America is content wolfing down 3 McDoubles, a small fry and coke for $5 at McDonals for lunch....so....yeah.

[Jocephus]

pescatarian is someone who will only eat fish as a meat source. i started off as vegetarian (don't think i could do vegan) but then about sept. or so i decided i would eat fish from time to time. which is ironic because the image in my head that made me want to not eat meat was when i was in the grocery store walking past the meat/fish section and i saw someone buy a lobster and the guy pointing out which one he wanted and the attendant grabbing and pulling him out. i don't know why but that image on that day at that time had an affect on me.

and i do feel better overall i'd say. i do remember a few days having some pains and my understanding is that was my body "aching" for some meat. i think i've finally purged my body of the red meat.

i basically eat a lot of pasta and salad heh.