Comment by cryodesign | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cryodesign | Hacker News Reader

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Science has shown that:

- Animals are mostly likely sentient and feel pain and can suffer like we do [1]

- Pigs are as smart or smarter than small children [2]

- We don't need to enslave and kill animals anymore to survive [3]

- Large scale animal farming is harmful to the environment [4]

- Working in a slaughterhouse can cause PTSD and has other emotional toll on workers [5]

The main reason why we still eat meat is because it's cultural and because we like the taste of it.

So considering the above, it's highly illogical to continue this myth of needing animal protein.

The future of food is plant-based and we don't have to give up the taste and texture that meat products currently provide. There are alternative products like http://beyondmeat.com that are superior to meat.

If you can opt out of the perverted and insane system that the meat industry is, why wouldn't you?

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[1] http://www.livescience.com/39481-time-to-declare-animal-sent...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mza1EQ6aLdg

[3]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562864 It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.

[4] http://www.ciwf.org.uk/factory-farming/environmental-damage/...

[5] http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2013/03/creatin...

edit: formatting

How about because I don't see humans eating meat as any worse than any other animal eating meat?

I'm sure the mouse one of my previous cats ate was in excruciating pain when it died. But that's life, it's called predation.

See no reason humans should try and be 'different' to the rest of nature. The whole artificial 'divide' between humanity and nature is just strange to me.

I enjoy eating meat, I see it as perfectly natural, and frankly, I don't give a damn how the cow feels as its being slaughtered.

You are not a cat and carnivores kill and hunt their prey without using tools or factory farms and eat raw meat. Can you can kill a cow with your bare hands and teeth and eat it raw while the flesh is still bloody and warm? Maybe you can, but would you enjoy it?

In the past we used to hunt and raise our own animals, because of scarce resources, we needed it to survive. Now most of us don't need it anymore, because we have access to better and more ethical alternatives- it's called progress.

And what about compassion towards non-human animals who have to suffer just to please your taste buds. How does watching the below make you feel?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF7Ega_TpZE (can you face the reality of factory farming - ~6min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCLDK7zjzF8 (Little girl finding out what meat is - ~2min)

Do you agree with the practices that are carried out in factory farms and slaughter houses, where pigs are being skinned or boiled alive for example?

Are you ok with the ecological damage that is caused by the large scale meat industry?

And I encourage you to watch the documentary Earthlings - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s50iRI85Z3U and let me know your thoughts after watching it.

If you raise, kill and slaughter your own animals, then ignore the above.

edit: formatting

So I can't eat meat because I don't possess the sharp canines and claws of a feline? Should I go around the forest telling tool using animals that they can't eat termites and ants unless they have the natural adaptations of an anteater?

CM30 was comparing him/herself to carnivores, so I was asking whether s/he can act like one.

And those forest animals of yours need meat to survive. We don't anymore.

We have progressed to a stage where we can perfectly survive on a 100% plant based diet, but yet we chose to support an oppressive system that enslaves and kills sentient beings and along the way is destructive on so many other levels (see my original post) - nothing 'natural' about that.

CM30 was basically saying that s/he enjoys meat, i.e. it tastes good and doesn't give a sh*t about the well-being of other sentient beings, a very selfish attitude if you ask me.

Please watch those videos I posted and tell me you're ok with what is shown.

The beyond meat products seem ludicrously expensive compared to the products they seek to replace/displace (like 3-6x the cost).

Quality meat (grass-fed) is also expensive. Don't compare it with factory farmed (subsidized) meat.

The price will come down.

True, but it's still 2x the grass fed beef we buy. Maybe the premium is due to the Whole Paycheck effect, but if they can't get the price competitive with moderately premium priced animal protein, they'll have a tough time replacing/displacing it.

And I'm not especially food price sensitive. Other people are absolutely (and rightly) going to compare it to corn/grain-fed beef.

I gave beyondmeat[1] as an example that we possess the technology already to provide meat-like products that are 100% plant-based. It's backed by people like Bill Gates, Biz Stone...

I'm just hoping that people will start educating themselves and stop ignoring the facts about factory farming and reject the idea as it's destructive on so many levels.

I'm not so much arguing against farms that give the animal a decent life and try to reduce suffering as much as possible, although I hope this will also become a thing of the past when products like beyondmeat will become cheaper than the cheapest meat available.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TpQl9V9yoA - interview with the CEO (4min)

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