There’s clearly a seething rage toward meat and dairy industries that’s starting to show its dorsal fin in your posts. I’m interested in the whole beast.
Here’s my mulling points:
1) how to stop the insane cruelty and still get inexpensive protein on plates
2) how to square up humane, small scale husbandry with the very vocal animals rights assertions
I’m not vegetarian. But as non animal “meats” become better and more widely available, I would and will certainly choose them. But we’ve got cultural tradition and practice to deal with as well.
This is something I’d love to write at length about someday. I’m like you in that I still eat meat but - for health reasons - I eat it pretty rarely. My hope is that we get to a future where:
1) People still eat beef, pork, and chicken because they’re delicious;
2) People eat a lot less of it because they’re bad for the environment (especially beef) and the historically excessive amounts of beef we eat seems bad for public health; and
3) Small and family farms are able to thrive.
The last one is really, really important to me, not just because I value that way of life but because I think we’re stronger as a nation if we have small farmers and I think the last two years have been proof that we’ve built an exceptionally fragile system and this would be more robust.
But I don’t see that happening unless non animal meats continue improving and we get actual anti-trust enforcement against Big Ag. Both of which I think are likely, because, ya know, optimism!
I’m very sensitive to the price issue because growing up we couldn’t afford a lot of meat. But I also ate Amish meat due to our proximity to them and, apologies to people who don’t live near them, there’s nothing in the supermarket that touches the quality of what you’ll buy from the Amish.
There’s clearly a seething rage toward meat and dairy industries that’s starting to show its dorsal fin in your posts. I’m interested in the whole beast.
Here’s my mulling points:
1) how to stop the insane cruelty and still get inexpensive protein on plates
2) how to square up humane, small scale husbandry with the very vocal animals rights assertions
I’m not vegetarian. But as non animal “meats” become better and more widely available, I would and will certainly choose them. But we’ve got cultural tradition and practice to deal with as well.
Oh, also, I took your suggestion and bought The Expanse series for my Kindle. Looking forward to digging in!
You beautiful bastard! I hope you enjoy. Report back because now I’m scared I’ve oversold it, even though I KNOW I have not.
This is something I’d love to write at length about someday. I’m like you in that I still eat meat but - for health reasons - I eat it pretty rarely. My hope is that we get to a future where:
1) People still eat beef, pork, and chicken because they’re delicious;
2) People eat a lot less of it because they’re bad for the environment (especially beef) and the historically excessive amounts of beef we eat seems bad for public health; and
3) Small and family farms are able to thrive.
The last one is really, really important to me, not just because I value that way of life but because I think we’re stronger as a nation if we have small farmers and I think the last two years have been proof that we’ve built an exceptionally fragile system and this would be more robust.
But I don’t see that happening unless non animal meats continue improving and we get actual anti-trust enforcement against Big Ag. Both of which I think are likely, because, ya know, optimism!
I’m very sensitive to the price issue because growing up we couldn’t afford a lot of meat. But I also ate Amish meat due to our proximity to them and, apologies to people who don’t live near them, there’s nothing in the supermarket that touches the quality of what you’ll buy from the Amish.
I’m in total agreement with you. I didn’t have Amish meat but I’ve kept chickens for eggs and had small-scale meats and they are far and away better.
Very well said, Dan. Please keep thinking, challenging, and writing. We need to listen to more voices like yours.
Thank Tom! I appreciate the comment, and look forward to you continuing to read here!