Say a little thanks.

So at my work we often get fresh seafood, while I understand oysters are still alive when you shuck them I do not feel too bad about it. What really gets me is killing lobsters and crabs. Lobster is not so bad since I am just throwing them into a pot of boiling water. Crabs? Aside from the fact that to cook evenly you should cook the legs and bodies separate (often separated while they are alive...), I always feel guilty. Luckily at my work, we rarely get hard-shelled crabs, and when we do we usually do them whole as well and it is usually not me. What really gets me is the soft-shelled crabs. To get them ready, you cut off their face (while it is still living), then the "tail". You then proceed to remove the lungs and squish out the guts (some people say to keep them in cuz they are tasty, normally I am told to squish them out). Did I mention they twitch after you cut the face off? Yeah...

I feel horrid when I do this since it seems rather cruel. Ironically, I do not really eat shellfish, so I am not even killing something I would eat. Though I usually offer a little thanks to the creatures for what they are sacrificing, since I am literally ending their lives. I try to make sure my knife is sharp and I do it quick. I honestly feel bad when I do it. The feeling lingers the rest of the day.

What about you guys? Do you offer thanks/ are mindful (religiously or not) of sacrifice of the animal in question? Have you ever had to kill an animal before you ate it? Are you thankful? Do you feel remorse?

(Before anyone asks or suggests it, I am by no means a vegetarian or vegan. I love me my meat.)

My mom came home with live lobsters one time to cook for dinner. She'd only bought 2 and they were actually small - I think they were probably -barely- the legal weight minimum. Then again, this was back in 2004/2005 so I don't know what the fishing laws for lobsters were back then as far as weight goes. I -do- know that our local Wal Mart was one of the few left that even had a live lobster tank and actually had a flippin' -15- lb lobster in there. My mom was willing to pay whatever the store manager wanted for it, but they weren't going 'cuz it was a Valentine's Day drawing prize.

Anyway, she brought these lobsters home and within 5 minutes, I had the rubber bands off their claws and had them on the floor, playing with them. Totally inhumane, I realize now, considering they weren't in anything close to their natural habitat, but I remember my dad looking at me and he said, "You're not gonna eat these now, are you?"... I was 19 and nearly broke down in tears when they went into the pot.

I do appreciate our animal-related food resources, though. I think it's sad the way much of it is cultivated - cows being massed produced and fed corn & other things that aren't part of their natural diet to fatten them up, calves being kept in crates to keep their muscles soft so that we can have veal (which I don't eat), chickens kept in their own small cages for mass egg production and being de-beaked in order to keep the risks of pecking at themselves or each other to a minimum in spite of it being a natural instinct when they're under a lot of stress.

But sadly, all of those things are what keep costs down when it comes to the mass production of meat & poultry foods.

I would feel better if the whole animal were being put to good use in some way, but I think that that's just not the case in many processing factories.

I'm thankful, but I just try not to think about it in general.

Cooking live lobsters is a smurfing traumatic experience. ;_;

I'll never do it again!

I used to work at Red Lobster.

Pretty ironic considering how I feel about it. I actually learned how to "burp" them and put them in the tank when we got new shipments in and it kind of became my extra side work since I was one of the only servers that worked lunch shift almost everyday and was willing to do it so that the managers could go on with their day.

However, when it was super slow, my co-workers and I would place bets on them. Since they're all male, they'd fight a lot. Smacking each other in the heads with the flats of their rubber-banded claws. It was a pretty fun pastime when lunch was slow. >.>;;;

Out of sight. Out of mind.

"Little lobster, I appreciate and respect your existence, but now you are going to be boiled alive."

*Proceeds to eat*

All I know is that lobster and crab tastes goddamn delicious.

I've never done it myself, but my dogs often get fresh pheasant when my uncle has been on a hunt, something I don't like but.. my dog gets food so.

Well one time, I threw a pheasant for my bitch and her pups, and it wasn't dead? Like I thought it was, and when it hit the ground it woke up O_O my bitch grabbed it and killed it though then left it down for her pups. It was really fascinating watching my bitch's eating habits when she had her pups. Normally she was very guardy of her own food, but she was always sharing with her pups. Now when ever she sees a pup she loves it! she goes straight into mommy mode! :jess:

I eat meat nearly every day, but try as I might, I cannot come up with a single justification for it.

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Originally Posted by Tifa's Boobs

All I know is that lobster and crab tastes goddamn delicious.

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Yep. Cruelty is apparently amazingly tasty.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

I eat meat nearly every day, but try as I might, I cannot come up with a single justification for it.

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Same boat here. I can't justify doing it but I still do it. :(

Do you need one? If it helps, it's healthy. There ya go. :monster:

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Originally Posted by Vivi22

Do you need one? If it helps, it's healthy. There ya go. :monster:

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And it's goddamn delicious.

That's always been enough for me, but I guess some people need more.

It's hardly required for a health lifestyle and can easily go over into being unhealthy. And being delicious isn't a justification, it's just saying you don't care :p

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Originally Posted by Mister Adequate

It's hardly required for a health lifestyle and can easily go over into being unhealthy. And being delicious isn't a justification, it's just saying you don't care :p

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Actually you are wrong.

I have it on good authority that there is a rare vitamin crucial to life found in meat. It is called 'Meatious deliciouseseses'.

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Originally Posted by Mister Adequate

It's hardly required for a health lifestyle

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I know some former vegetarian athletes with increased performance and fewer injuries who might disagree.

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and can easily go over into being unhealthy.

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Not that easily. Unless you're cooking everything in Canola oil, but then you just get what you deserve for cooking with vegetable oil.

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And being delicious isn't a justification, it's just saying you don't care :p

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Why should I care? I'm asking honestly. Because the best argument I've ever heard anyone come up with is that some places raise and slaughter animals in atrocious conditions. But I fail to see why I can't be against that and still enjoy eating meat.

I would care because an animal was alive, and suddenly, for the sake of my convenience and simply enjoying the taste of its flesh, it wasn't anymore.

I try to take the time to consider where all of my food comes from. I do not eat meat, but that doesn't mean the ingredients for my meals were created in a magical space vacuum, either. People go to work every day, tilling fields, harvesting crops, working in canneries, driving to and from warehouses; enduring pollution, erosion of habitat and biodiversity. When I eat, I benefit from the cumulative farming practices of generations, countless scientific discoveries, attempted recipes, days of people working in all sorts of conditions, for all sorts of pay and recognition. I am lucky.

And beyond all of that, there is the simple reason to be thankful because not everyone gets to eat anything, let alone be in a position of privilege where they get to be choosy and attempt to make ethical, healthy, expressive or economical choices about the food they put into their body.

Personally, I was really excited when this forum was unveiled, but now I'm just as tired of it as all the negativity in eoeo. It was nice to find common ground about the kinds of foods that people enjoy and to explore what different people eat in different locations and stages of life, but it really has eroded into a buffet of judgement and arguing. I'm tired of going on the internet and encountering fatshaming, foodshaming and the constant need for people to argue that their way of eating and cooking is superior to everyone else's.

You eat meat? That's nice. You forgo gluten and dairy? Good for you. You eat macaroni and cheese out of a box and down two litres of Fanta everyday? Enjoy the time and money you saved on cooking. I can disagree fiercely, but as long as you're not judging my food choices while I'm trying to eat, or forcing me to eat a steak, then that's fine.

Everyone has different tastes, ethics, habits, income brackets, priorities and beliefs. Nobody has to justify what or how they choose to eat to anyone.

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Originally Posted by Calliope

Everyone has different tastes, ethics, habits, income brackets, priorities and beliefs. Nobody has to justify what or how they choose to eat to anyone.

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I didn't see the last 'to' in that sentence, so I thought Nicky was trying to defend cannibalism.

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

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Originally Posted by Calliope

Everyone has different tastes, ethics, habits, income brackets, priorities and beliefs. Nobody has to justify what or how they choose to eat to anyone.

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I didn't see the last 'to' in that sentence, so I thought Nicky was trying to defend cannibalism.

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But it tastes goddamn delicious.

If somewhere in the universe there existed an alien species that was demonstrably more intelligent and advance than us, would they have the right to treat us however they wanted?

There's a bit more difference between animals and humans than their is another intelligent race with better technology.

But to answer your question, they'd certainly have the right to try.

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Originally Posted by Mister Adequate

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

I eat meat nearly every day, but try as I might, I cannot come up with a single justification for it.

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Same boat here. I can't justify doing it but I still do it. :(

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Yep, same here. Fortunately faux meat can be pretty delicious these days so I make a lot of substitutions.

poor crab :(http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...3/killcrab.jpg

I used to be against the eating of veal/lamb/[insert other baby animal here] because it was baby animals. I don't care so much about it anymore, though I most likely won't go out of my way to eat said meats.

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There's a bit more difference between animals and humans than their is another intelligent race with better technology.

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That's why I didn't single out technology as the only benchmark for human superiority.

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But to answer your question, they'd certainly have the right to try.

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This answer avoids the whole point of the question. Assuming they could easily succeed in dismembering and boiling you alive to make you a little tastier, or force you to haul a haul freight like an ox, or make you perform circus tricks, would there be any reason for them to consider your feelings? Can they be judged at all for treating you like livestock?

We get it, nik. You're a vegetarian.

you know who else kills and eats animals

animals

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

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There's a bit more difference between animals and humans than their is another intelligent race with better technology.

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That's why I didn't single out technology as the only benchmark for human superiority.

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But to answer your question, they'd certainly have the right to try.

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This answer avoids the whole point of the question. Assuming they could easily succeed in dismembering and boiling you alive to make you a little tastier, or force you to haul a haul freight like an ox, or make you perform circus tricks, would there be any reason for them to consider your feelings? Can they be judged at all for treating you like livestock?

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Probably not.

Although, there won't be a discernable difference in taste if you kill lobsters and crabs and trout just a few seconds before putting them into the boiling water.

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Originally Posted by Tifa's Boobs

We get it, nik. You're a vegetarian.

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You didn't actually read my posts, did you? :p

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

That's why I didn't single out technology as the only benchmark for human superiority.

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Well this just demonstrates that blanket statements like "more advanced" are pretty meaningless.

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This answer avoids the whole point of the question.

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That's probably because I don't actually care about your silly hypothetical and I was trolling you.

I eat meat because I like it, because it's healthy, and it's something I, as a human being, have evolved to eat. I don't need any more reason than that. I respect the lives of the animals I eat, am grateful for the sacrifice they make so I can eat, and prefer them to be raised and killed as humanely as possible. Beyond that though, I really don't care, and you can get yourself bent into all kinds of mental gymnastics trying to apply human morality to animals, it's not going to change my mind on the subject.

We had breakfast for dinner, and I ate like 7 sausage links and nothing else.

Deal with it.

Holy trout guys you do realize nobody in this thread you're even talking to is vegetarian, right? I swear I can't think of a single subject that invites such a determined effort to try and catch people out in a supposed hypocrisy "You eat meat but PLANTS SUFFER TOO!" or "Meat is tasty" or "I just ate some meat, deal with it :smug:".

Like, seriously, is the existence of vegetarians arouses people's ire like nothing else. Going to become one now just because people seem to take such massive umbrage.

Who's actually getting upset here? Calm your nerds man!

It's not like someone needs to be upset to troll nik. That's just good clean fun.

No, but there is still quite a bit of shaming going on in this thread!

Also, Calliope is most definitely vegan.

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Originally Posted by Mister Adequate

Holy trout guys you do realize nobody in this thread you're even talking to is vegetarian, right? I swear I can't think of a single subject that invites such a determined effort to try and catch people out in a supposed hypocrisy "You eat meat but PLANTS SUFFER TOO!" or "Meat is tasty" or "I just ate some meat, deal with it :smug:".

Like, seriously, is the existence of vegetarians arouses people's ire like nothing else. Going to become one now just because people seem to take such massive umbrage.

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I, too, enjoyed the 5th Harry Potter book.

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Originally Posted by Tifa's Boobs

No, but there is still quite a bit of shaming going on in this thread!

Also, Calliope is most definitely vegan.

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Yes I am, but I try to be so quietly and respectfully, because nothing pisses me off more than when I'm eating and people ask me stupid questions like "if you were stranded on a deserted island, would you eat animals then?" :roll2

Yesterday a former colleague went off on a "all vegetarians are stupid and judgemental and they eat bread and nothing else because they can't cook" rant, and it made me mad.

Still, I stand by my previous post; people should be able to eat whatever, without being policed for their choices. Just because veganism works for me doesn't mean that you will enjoy it or that it will work for you - so you certainly don't need me being superior and militant about it. If I had a dollar for every veg*an who gave up after a few months for whatever reason, I would have quite a few bucks squirrelled away - and that's fine. People's tastes, attitudes, health and circumstances change.

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Originally Posted by Vivi22

It's not like someone needs to be upset to troll nik. That's just good clean fun.

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You guys should know better than to troll just to troll. :p

I aint judging no vegetarians! I actually love veggie food and in all honesty I rarely eat meat at all! This is more to do with how expensive it is though.

I don't like judgy veggies who will scorn me for eating meat when I get the chance, but I also don't like people who are rude to vegetarians so I try not to be one of those peoples! I eat a lot more fish so I've been looking into one of those.. meat free diets with just fish... pescatarian?

I don't like assholes, either. People can consume what they want to consume unless they want to consume something endangered. Because smurf you, your taste or desire isn't more important than a species or ecosystem, trouthead. And I am being judgmental as hell right there, because a lot of cultures prize certain types of animal materials to the point that they've completely destroyed said species and there's something really wrong about making a bunch of animals dead to have fake cures for something as ludicrous and asinine as erectile dysfunction. There's no scientific basis that reindeer velvet, rhino horns and tiger penes do anything to the human body, but people will drive an entire species to the brink of non-existence to try and resolve superficial problems. Call it bastardized ethnocentrism, but some parts of all cultures are better off going away, especially parts of my own.

Personally, I don't believe I have more right or privilege to live than the animals I eat. I'm just lucky to be human.

If someone wants to know why I choose to eat what I choose to eat they can ask me and we can have a conversation about it. I ask vegan and vegetarian people crazy-ass questions all the time because I just want to know how they get along in a world that is designed without them in mind.