earthlings doccumentary

[shoe]

nationearth.com

www.earthlings.com

as swim said in the chat even if swims not going vegan, i really wish they'd do their job and make sure those cows are OUT cold.

the most important point has to be that if we extend our compassion to the suffering of animals that we may gain something that we do not get much of right now. its all connected - everything counts, and compassion always marks someone or something as highly developed - by definiton: therefor as a species we must attempt to become more deeply compassionate toward ALL life, eachother and our planet.

 

[deadlight]

vegan power!

 

[TimePantry]

I feel fortunate that I have access to halal meat markets. I am unlikely to stop eating meat, but there are pretty strict rules for halal meat having to do with the raising and killing of the creatures, and the difference in taste and quality is obvious. I'm just sayin'.

 

[proto-pax]

yea meat is a silly thing to eat what with the current production method and all, but it's a socially accepted addiction just like alcohol and tobacco.


protip the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids found in grain fed beef is a ratio that is implicated in tumor formation. this is also true for grass fed beef (in the us) since grass fed beef is weaned onto grain for the last few days (again only in the us) and the ratio of omega 3/6 changes within 4 days

 

[Shaolin]

yea meat is a silly thing to eat what with the current production method and all, but it's a socially accepted addiction just like alcohol and tobacco.

How is "meat addiction" of meat comparable to tobacco and alcohol addiction ? Am I a music addict if I listen to music every day ?

the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids found in grain fed beef is a ratio that is implicated in tumor formation.

Source ?

this is also true for grass fed beef (in the us) since grass fed beef is weaned onto grain for the last few days (again only in the us) and the ratio of omega 3/6 changes within 4 days

Source ?

 

[3rdI]

I feel fortunate that I have access to halal meat markets. I am unlikely to stop eating meat, but there are pretty strict rules for halal meat having to do with the raising and killing of the creatures, and the difference in taste and quality is obvious. I'm just sayin'.

i wouldnt be to sure on this, i used to have an abatoir vet live in my house and he said he saw Halal meat killed in equally horrible ways to all other animals.

i have no personal experience with this other than the info from my flat mate, but he was a trust worthy guy and would have no reason to lie to me.

 

[proto-pax]

yea meat is a silly thing to eat what with the current production method and all, but it's a socially accepted addiction just like alcohol and tobacco.

How is "meat addiction" of meat comparable to tobacco and alcohol addiction ? Am I a music addict if I listen to music every day ?

I've just heard many of my peers and associates say they crave meat, speaking of not being able to go without it etc. Also, I never said it was comparable. I said it was socially accepted. Don't put words in my mouth.

the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids found in grain fed beef is a ratio that is implicated in tumor formation.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/k765650j8j467k14/

Google Scholar

scholar.google.com

I cherry picked one you can dig through the rest.

this is also true for grass fed beef (in the us) since grass fed beef is weaned onto grain for the last few days (again only in the us) and the ratio of omega 3/6 changes within 4 days

I'll admit I can't find anything right now, it was something my professor stated in passing.

 

[Shaolin]

I find saying that you made the addiction claim based on anecdotal evidence and that a professor told you that omega 3/6 ratio changes within 4 days** (which might be true but amount is key. 1%, 5%, 10%, etc) much less problematic (non at all actually) than the factual delivery which I sensed from your first post.

the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids found in grain fed beef is a ratio that is implicated in tumor formation.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/k765650j8j467k14/

I can't seem to find anything about ratio and tumor. Give me a hand ?

Or did you mean to say that studies on animals have shown that CLA has anticarcinogenic and anti-atherogenic activities and implied that CLA is more abundant in grass fed meat ? This is a question, not putting words in your mouth.

For comparing grain and grass fed meat I really like the paper "A review of fatty acid profiles and antioxidant content in grass-fed and grain-fed beef". Besides the total comparison (even of CLA content) it's also free.

**This is for lean beef but still interesting.

 

[shoe]

I feel fortunate that I have access to halal meat markets. I am unlikely to stop eating meat, but there are pretty strict rules for halal meat having to do with the raising and killing of the creatures, and the difference in taste and quality is obvious. I'm just sayin'.

i wouldnt be to sure on this, i used to have an abatoir vet live in my house and he said he saw Halal meat killed in equally horrible ways to all other animals.

i have no personal experience with this other than the info from my flat mate, but he was a trust worthy guy and would have no reason to lie to me.

yes this was indeed featured in the documentary, and sadly they are often killed just as badly. the cociar meat, the word means "smooth" though IDK what it was. the horrifying issue for me was the utter failure to actually put the animal to death.

 

[3rdI]

my house mate said the thing that really got to him was that he would observe the killing of the animals and that if they did not die in a satisfactory way(even though they killed the animals themselves in there religious manner) they would simply throw them away and move onto the next poor animal.

 

[Purges]

Wow. Only half way through and part of me feels sick and the other wants to cry This has to be one of the most horrendous films I have seen by a long way. I have been considering turning mostly vegetarian for some time now and I think this was the push that was needed. So thank you, I guess.

 

[3rdI]

hello Purges,
something like that happened to me recently. i have seen these horrible factory farm/under cover animal abuse vids before and was always disgusted and appauled that people could do that to animals, but i continued to eat the meat from these places.

Last week i watched a video on the PETA site that i found when i was researching grass vs corn fed beef, for the first time ever i watched the video and thought "thats my fault, those animals are being treated in the most horrible way imagionable and i am to blame".

i havent eaten meat since then. Its strange how you change.

 

[Purges]

I don't really know what to say tbh. I knew a lot of this was going on, but to have it all piled into one grim compilation has completely rocked me. I find it very hard to cry in most circumstances (unless under the influence of Spice)but this had me welling up from near the start. Definitely some hard lessons I need to assimilate into my life... I seriously doubt my diet will ever be the same again...

 

[Lichen]

This is another good video on ethical choices relating to diet:

I sobbed all the way through Earthlings when I watched it last year. I was wracked with massive amounts of guilt, I just felt so terrible.


I'd always thought about making more ethical choices in regards to my diet, it seemed reasonable, I make ethical choices as much as possible in other areas of my life, why do I ignore the food I eat? Watching these films certainly were a powerful catalyst for change.

It made me realise what a hypocrite I was walking around thinking I was such a conscientious, caring, thoughtful person and suddenly I was slapped in the face with the sharp hand of reality - what am I doing eating animals and using animal products?

 

[SHroomtroll]

i wish could afford to always eat good grade meat, i eat at least a pound per day in meat/chicken/fish and at least a pound or two of beef per week.

for the weekends i usually get a nice big cut of organic grass fed stuff but my wallet does not afford that luxury everyday.

 

[3rdI]

can you not just avoid buying/eating cheap meat in the week and stick to the more ethical(expensive) stuff at the weekends?

 

[shoe]

my house mate said the thing that really got to him was that he would observe the killing of the animals and that if they did not die in a satisfactory way(even though they killed the animals themselves in there religious manner) they would simply throw them away and move onto the next poor animal.

that's what enrages me most, its a failure within a failure.
SWIM cooked soy-chunks curry yesterday for the first time, it was delicious. not long now then...

The most important point raised in the doccumentary has to be that we should stop thinking of ourselves as human VS animal, but rather, as earthlings with a common heriatage. we must each of us humble ourselves down to the level of the littlest among us, and fill ourselves with compassion, and be brave, and be strong, and hold the vision of a better tomorrow BIG in our minds, and admit no alternative, and accept nothing less, for money or anything else, and persue it unceasingly and unendingly. amen.

 

[3rdI]

i whole heartedly agree with you shoe, this....

The most important point raised in the doccumentary has to be that we should stop thinking of ourselves as human VS animal, but rather, as earthlings with a common heriatage.

is very true.

I talk to many people and they seem to think that we, as the top/most successfull animal on the planet, have a certain superiority over the dumb animals and that we have more right to here than anything else and that all things are simply a resource for us to consume.

I try to point out to these people that we have no more right to be here than the fish or the birds, and the fact that we are clever should put more emphasis on the fact that we should be the species to step up and try to protect what it is we have, we should not be the ones to destroy it.

 

[Infinite I]

Been meaning to say weird coincidence, day I read this thread I knew I would feel the same as purges and it would put me off meat, two days after reading the thread my mum brought home some tofu, she didnt know what it was as it, wasnt clear, but said she thought I would eat it, dunno what that says about what my mother thinks of me lol anyways got the idea of making a curry so had tofu curry, I make the best tofu curry this side of Scotland shoe

Anyhoo didnt eat meat and purges words were playing on my mind, ive always been verging on vegetarian but never quite doing it, last 6 months every time I was eating bacon I would say to myself this animal is more intelligent than a dolphin, every time anyhoo a week later I watched the preview of it and Ive not ate meat since and I dont think I ever will again, same thing happened to my father he seen a programme in 1989 and thats what forced the issue with him. Most people dont want to see documentarys like this as it shows the reality of it and would rather live in ignorance, I can understand that as I cant even bring myself to watch the whole thing but people really should see the truth in how animals are treated, turns my stomach

 

[jamie]

if anyone here is so outraged by this sort of thing, the solution is simple. Stop eating factory farmed meat. Go hunting. If you dont have the balls to pull the trigger, than how do you justify eating it?

I am not saying noone should eat meat..I am just saying that it sounds nice to say that you hate this sort of thing and you feel bad but that you eat soo much meat every day and cant afford freerange meat etc..well, no offence but you dont have to eat any meat that day then. You are going to be perfectly fine if you only eat meat once a week..or no days a week. If you cant be bothered than you cant really care THAT much about your role in what these animals go through.

It is nice to wish and dream, but thoughts put into action speak ALOT louder. The cost of ethical meat is a weak excuse IMO..you can just as easily do without the meat the days you cant afford ethical meat.