I was a veggie for about a day after reading "The Jungle" in high school. A pretty high proportion of my friends are veggies, though not the super-militant self-righteous kind, because I usually can't stand to be around such people. My partner used to be an animal-rights veggie, and now he's outgrown it and is just a veggie because he no longer likes the taste of meat (and it upsets his stomach). He does, however, eat seafood.
I have this very argument a lot with people. I'm a socialist, and a lot of people seem to think that means being veggie (which it doesn't at all). The thing I argue is that, yes, slaughterhouses are horrible, the hormone techniques, etc. are bad, the environmental destruction is awful, it's all true. I also point out that slaughterhouse jobs are the most dangerous in the US (they've even surpassed mining). They have the highest injury and death rates, and not coincidentally, the lowest unionization rates. (Check out Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation".) Not eating meat won't change this; supporting the unionization of slaughterhouse workers will. Sustainable farming and ranching methods will help. And demanding a society in which the majority of working people are not kept poor and working long hours would make a huge difference. After all, a huge proportion of meat consumption, esp. in Western countries, is at fast-food restaurants-- which people go to because they're cheap and fast. If people can afford to buy healthy, fresh food, and have the time to cook it (because they don't have to work crazy hours just to get by), they're more likely to eat better, and I'm willing to bet that meat consumption would decrease. Basically, vegetarians would do better to become socialists! :-D
Mmm. Steak. I always crave red meat when I'm bleeding- must be the iron!
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Date: 2002-01-10 05:18 pm (UTC)I was a veggie for about a day after reading "The Jungle" in high school. A pretty high proportion of my friends are veggies, though not the super-militant self-righteous kind, because I usually can't stand to be around such people. My partner used to be an animal-rights veggie, and now he's outgrown it and is just a veggie because he no longer likes the taste of meat (and it upsets his stomach). He does, however, eat seafood.
I have this very argument a lot with people. I'm a socialist, and a lot of people seem to think that means being veggie (which it doesn't at all). The thing I argue is that, yes, slaughterhouses are horrible, the hormone techniques, etc. are bad, the environmental destruction is awful, it's all true. I also point out that slaughterhouse jobs are the most dangerous in the US (they've even surpassed mining). They have the highest injury and death rates, and not coincidentally, the lowest unionization rates. (Check out Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation".) Not eating meat won't change this; supporting the unionization of slaughterhouse workers will. Sustainable farming and ranching methods will help. And demanding a society in which the majority of working people are not kept poor and working long hours would make a huge difference. After all, a huge proportion of meat consumption, esp. in Western countries, is at fast-food restaurants-- which people go to because they're cheap and fast. If people can afford to buy healthy, fresh food, and have the time to cook it (because they don't have to work crazy hours just to get by), they're more likely to eat better, and I'm willing to bet that meat consumption would decrease. Basically, vegetarians would do better to become socialists! :-D
Mmm. Steak. I always crave red meat when I'm bleeding- must be the iron!
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