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What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

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Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it was forcefully bred by a corporation that treated it like trash to increase their financial gains The same could be said for plants.

Plants don't feel pain.

https://www.ted.com/talks/stefano_mancuso_the_roots_of_plant...

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#112
post #71

This is not a problem caused by antibiotics. Is a problem of genetic nature that happens because broilers are inbreed for growing big and fast. The same birds in true range with plenty of food would face exactly the same problem, with or without antibiotics. They are too heavy and often tend to have cardiac diseases, but they live short lives and are delicious so they are the most sucessful bird in the planet. On the…

"the most successful bird on the planet" is an interesting line considering that they are all killed and eaten. I guess the obvious line of reasoning is to talk about how GDP is less than perfect for measuring economic success, etc. Sometimes large numbers are not a sign of success.

""the most successful bird on the planet" is an interesting line considering that they are all killed and eaten."

Moral questions aside, from the perspective of evolution theory breeding and passing of genes is pretty much equal to "success". So yes, in that regard, chickens are indeed successful.

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#113
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless one is producing their own vegetables, industrial production of them is no different than meat. I know of local farms where getting above average cabbages, from little seed to the nice looking one on the market stands, takes little more than one month, thanks to the chemicals they get. It is nothing more than "I feel good" kind of thing.

How is that in anyway comparable to the suffering of an actual animal?

You'd be surprised at the consequences of vegetable farming on an ecosystem.

Granted, the fauna in question aren't living on the farm, but that's a distinction without a difference.

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#114
post #59
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of us here on hacker news can afford to buy real food such as grass feed beef/lamb, forage egg/chicken, etc Seems like a more natural evolutionary correct way to get our food rather than some kind of franken-meat grown i lab. Every autumn I buy a lamb from the farmer living next to my father, I kind of like it when I can watch my food being happy before I eat it.

> I kind of like it when I can watch my food being happy before I eat it. There's an inkling of empathy there, I suppose. It's a start.

Yes, surprising though it may be to the vegan crowd, we meat-eaters are not heartless bastards.

We just disagree with you on the question of whether veganism is the answer to a very real problem.

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#115
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the move to free-range farming has helped a lot to improve the situation. The majority of shops near me stock primarily free-range eggs and chicken due to consumer demand.

Be aware that 'free range' and ('organic', FWIW) are close to meaningless in terms of animal welfare. Both give a set of definitions for what meets the label, which is then achieved by farmers by the most cost-effective means possible. E.g. 1 - 'free range' chickens have almost no extra space per chicken compared to battery-farmed chickens, and many die after being trampled by the others. They are at least a breed wh…

I know this is obvious, but just want to point out that all of the above depends on the legal environment of the country the animals are raised in

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#116
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in how animals are treated. Industrial meat production practically runs its margins on increasing the suffering of animals in a manner that narrowly avoids this kind of visible anomalies in the product. As many others have noted in the past, slave labor and concentration camps operated on a similar industrial calculus of forcibly squeezing out value from living beings before puttin…

What is the biologic incentive for a homo sapien to give up 100% of all animal based foods based upon the pain and suffering of some animals used for food?

Avoiding guilt (if one feels it for being non-vegetarian) feels like it should count towards biological incentive; assuming the guilt felt is significant enough to cause stress, etc.

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#117
People just eat way too much chicken. The numbers of chicken consumed every year in most western nations is astounding. And those poor birds, the way they are packed to the point of not even being able to walk while they are raised, it's really a lot more disgusting than the final product shown in this article.

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#118
Animal welfare aside, I find people in North America really in favour of chicken breast, much more than other parts, say chicken thigh. Yet I myself think chicken thigh tastes much better, especially with the skin (yet again it is usually skinless in supermarkets here, unfortunately). Is it because of nutrition (percentage of fat/protein etc.)? On top of that, chicken feet are considered unacceptable by many...

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#119
post #27
post #15

Fake meat cannot come soon enough - poor bird was encouraged to grow in an unhealthy manner resulting in dead tissue inside it while it was still alive. I wonder if it was painful for the bird having this tough dead tissue at the core of its breasts.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in how animals are treated. Industrial meat production practically runs its margins on increasing the suffering of animals in a manner that narrowly avoids this kind of visible anomalies in the product. As many others have noted in the past, slave labor and concentration camps operated on a similar industrial calculus of forcibly squeezing out value from living beings before puttin…

Except as far as I understand it, there seems to be a significant utility to fake meat (and it is more of a distinct possibility than zombies):

For many, there are few ways of consuming a balanced diet without meat. Take low-FODMAP diets [1] for example, which are becoming very popular with people with IBS, a condition some ~15% of the U.S. population suffers from [2]. For many, coming up with enough sources of protein while satisfying their dietary restrictions is not easy without meat.

On an individual level, picking the "harder" way for its ethical advantages is definitely the right thing to do.

For the scientist working on fake meat, their work is probably essential here.

    [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP
    [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irritable_bowel_syndrome#Epidemiology

Re: What is this colored fiber in my chicken?

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> poor bird was encouraged to grow in an unhealthy manner The bird was not "encouraged to grow", it was forcefully bred by a corporation that treated it like trash to increase their financial gains... >> I wonder if it was painful for the bird I seems very safe to assume that it didn't have a remotely pleasant or normal life...

> it was forcefully bred by a corporation that treated it like trash to increase their financial gains The same could be said for plants.

No. That's why it is very much legal for me to chop up a tree that I find on my property but not a dog.
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