231–240 of 327 posts
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The assumption I pose is that (given the very generous notion) if plant life is equivalent to animal life, and destroying life is undesirable, then eating animals is worse (in this regard) than eating plants because it destroys _more_ life.
Its pretty complex. For instance, growing plants means essentially sterilizing the ground under them, killing tens of thousands of small rodents. Millions of insects. Billions of soil microorganisms.
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That is just... sad. Don't know if she's American, but Americans have a HUGE problem with food. The US was never a country with any unified culinary history. The culinary traditions that came with immigrants and slaves largely stayed in those communities and didn't leech out into the culture at large in their original and tasty forms. We've ended up with a culture of bastardized and homogenized factory foods.
You can find good food in most medium-sized and larger cities but you have to seek it out. And the local treasure may surprise you. Food trucks have been great for finding tasty fare the last decade or so. That said, I do think there are two standout foods that are ubiquitous in America although they vary by region. 1) bbq; 2) the sandwich. Behold the great American sandwich in all its varied forms: https://www.nytim…
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...
The preference for white meat is almost pathological. Constantly I hear (I cook and teach people to cook) people complain that they can't get chicken right, that it's dry or rubbery. And then they REFUSE to cook or try thighs instead, which are forgiving and tasty.
Basically, cook the chicken upside down for basically half the time, and then finish it breast side up.
Juicy breast meat every time.
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From my viewpoint, the practitioners have all but secluded themselves for the time being, away from all public scrutiny. Very seldom do I hear of them mentioned, and of those very few are intelligent. And I believe this is what could hold you back, atleast in public acceptance (if you're even aiming for this -- and not just discovery among the "initiated"). I'm sorry I can't offer you anymore words, getting a taste o…
> From my viewpoint, the practitioners have all but secluded themselves for the time being, away from all public scrutiny. Very seldom do I hear of them mentioned, and of those very few are intelligent. They still are out there, but most have gone the anti-technology, anti-science.. almost hippie like. To most of them, it's all flowers and happy auras, and vibes. That sort of stuff. In my opinion, they are a dead end…
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> it was forcefully bred by a corporation that treated it like trash to increase their financial gains The same could be said for plants.
That is a completely disingenuous argument unless you truly believe that plants are as sentient as animals.
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The preference for chicken breast in the US is because of the "low fat" focus of the past several decades. Chicken breasts have been promoted as a high protein/low fat cornerstone of a meat-eater's diet. I also wonder if chicken breast consumption has been promoted by the poultry industry because it's easier to increase the size of breasts through breeding and injecting solution than it is other parts of the bird. Th…
I think it's both the 80s/90s low-fat push, yes, but also an aversion to eating anything that reminds us it came from an animal. Chicken breast, preferably breaded to make it look even less like something that was ever alive ("nuggets", even better!), pre-sliced turkey breast, cured meats, fish reduced to scale-free filet or stick form, all acceptable. Boneless steak cuts if we want to feel exotic and wild (cooked to…
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> 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.
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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.
Unless one is producing their own vegetables, industrial production of them is no different than meat. There's an enormous difference between eating grains directly and using them to grow animals which eventually become meat. Industrial meat production has a greater negative environmental impact than agriculture.
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The preference for white meat is almost pathological. Constantly I hear (I cook and teach people to cook) people complain that they can't get chicken right, that it's dry or rubbery. And then they REFUSE to cook or try thighs instead, which are forgiving and tasty.
Well, you can make breast meat juicy and awesome, but it's just much more difficult, especially with the ridiculous size pieces you get nowadays.
Despite this fact, I still ate chicken and eggs, because it can be rather healthy.
A couple of years ago I had an organic free range egg for the first time and it was incredible. It didn't smell anything like normal eggs, and it tasted like actual food. It's hard to describe, but normal eggs almost smell/taste like a hospital to me.
A little while after that I was picking up some chicken breasts, and the organic ones at the supermarket were on sale. Given my experience with the eggs, I thought I'd give it a shot.
The difference between the organic chicken breast and a normal chicken breast was incredible. For one thing, there was fat, and it actually looked like fat. And the breast was pretty small, but it was super tasty.
Altogether, that experience totally sold me on organic food.
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I'd really like to understand these statements - You seem to care about the well-being of the animal while it is alive, but then decide to kill it (or let it be killed) for its meat. What's the point? You understand that this animal is happy and thus does not want to be killed, but you value it being happy. Don't these two sentiments exclude each other?
It does not want to suffer. Not wanting to die has more to do with avoiding suffering/pain than it does with the dying itself. Ideally I could eat animals that are happy and content then instantly dead without ever knowing what's happening. If we could breed them with little switches in their brain stems that can be turned to Off via a wireless signal ... I'd want that. That would be great. Press button, chicken drop…