Vegetarian Homesteaders - care to share? :)

texican · #**101** 12/16/10, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HermitJohn

So are people going to donate their bodies to starving chickens when they die? We sometimes forget chickens need kindness too....

If they die around chickens, and have no one to bury them, the chickens will take care of the problem.

rambler · #**102** 12/17/10, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerngen

Sometimes humans are declared to be vegetables by doctors......... funny I've never heard of a doctor declaring a human to be meat tho.

We are, in places with large carnivores. Africa, etc.

Generally not good to recycle food into the same species, so we don't do that sort of thing - while it seems taboo, it's really based on health issues from way way back.....

--->Paul

SilverFlame819 · #**103** 12/17/10, 06:53 AM

*lol* This thread has taken an amusing turn. Thanks for all the laughs, everyone!

And thanks for your comments, Hyenas. It's always good to hear about how someone else makes it work for them.

ChristyACB · #**104** 12/17/10, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ode

I can certainly understand your problem, because I am an animal lover too, though not a vegetarian. I suppose when we are finally living on our property that my husband and I will have to deal with some of the same issues that you are struggling with now. My husband is one of those who as long as he doesn't have to kill it, he is ok with eating it. But he can't actually kill an animal for food, he says it would make him feel like a murderer. I have no problem with killing an animal for food or other humane reasons (ok, I feel guilt, and some sorrow for the animal giving its life to feed me but those feelings do not stop me from doing what needs to be done). But I also believe that just because an animal is being used for a purpose (food, skin, milk, fiber, etc)does not mean that animal should be suffering or unhappy during its lifetime. I think that treating them with kindness and love, and even developing an attachment bond is the least we can do for a creature that is ultimately going to be sacrificed so that I may live. If I have to deal with some pain at the loss of that creature, it is the penalty I pay. But they deserve a scratch and pat on the head, and gentle words, and good care while alive.

I understand why farmers say not to make a pet out of your food, it just makes it that much harder to do what needs to be done eventually. But not making a pet out of your food makes it easier for small cruelties to build into bigger ones, because after all, they are 'just food.' Don't get me wrong here, I am not speaking of sadistic treatment, such as some videos have exposed recently in the slaughter industry.

When it comes time to end their lives, I think it should be done with a few treats and gentle words thanking them for their lives and a quick bullet that they never even see. Not an electric prod goading them along, with a bunch of other terrified and highly stressed animals. It may not be the way for every farmer, and I can't pass judgements on a person doing what they need to do to provide for their family. But it can be the way for a small homesteader, who just wants to feel a little bit better about the choice to eat meat, and being responsible for the quality of life of the creatures raised as food. Animals feel pain, and love, and joy too.

That is wonderfully put!

It takes a bit more internal fortitude to do it the way you do and living with a certain level of dread for the animal's future. Many people can't put it into perspective.

I'm not a fan of young meat because of this. I'll stick with a tough cut of meat if it means that the useful life of the animal is extended so that they get something out of the deal.

And yes, the mammalian brain houses emotion and having the mammalian brain means they have a full range of feelings too.

Tracy Rimmer · #**105** 12/17/10, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverFlame819

That's like calling yourself a vegetarian because you only eat grass-fed beef. Seriously.

It was said as a joke. You know, vegetarian-IAN??

SilverFlame819 · #**106** 12/18/10, 05:05 AM

OMG, Tracy. Forgive me and slap me around. I totally didn't even read that right!

Haha! Nice. I was totally doubting your sanity for a minute there!

Sorry, sorry. I need sleep!

Pontifex · #**107** 12/19/10, 12:59 AM

Nice thread. Some constructive posts here.

Well, I have been through many diets and having hard time to actually define my eating habits, but it is probably along the lines what Masanobu Fukuoka defined as "natural diet".

I haven't had a beef or pork for 14 years. I ate chicken about 4 years ago. I would have a piece of fish maybe once a month. On the other side, over the summer I almost completely go vegan; I enjoy the fresh seasonal plants offered by Mother Nature. I tapped into raw veganism for short periods of time too. All diets have their pros and cons.

My ethical approach is that I want to take from Nature only as much as it is needed for my survival. As long as I can do it without killings animals, I will make the effort to keep to mainly vegetarian/vegan diets. If the circumstances would force me to eat meat, I wouldn't hesitate.

I don't have any animals currently, but I always looked at them as partners; even my pets would have a status being in partnership. They provide more than just their flesh and body. Animals comfort us, help us through the roughest times, makes us laugh and cry. Even those who will eat their pets eventually, feel love and compassion towards them.

I often think about the difference in two cultures; about 1 billion people treat cows as sacred animals in India, while in North America they are the lowest commodity (essentially living hamburgers).

My vegetarianism has political motives as well; I'm not so much against meat eating as much as against factory farmed corporate scale meat production. If you are a homesteader or farmer, you can make a difference, but city dwellers are pretty much forced to buy their meat from mostly factory farmed sources. As of now, 80% of the world's population lives in cities so that makes this issue pretty straight forward.

One way or the other, the stuff they sell in commercial production and distribute in supermarkets-often even if organic- is not food. It is coming from the most deprived soils (if they see any and not produced hydroponically), produced by industrial standards and missing everything what a quality food should contain.

My 2 cents on this topic. :happy0035: