Say a little thanks.

[Slothy]

It's hardly required for a health lifestyle

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

and can easily go over into being unhealthy.

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

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

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.

[Calliope]

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.

[Del Murder]

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

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

[Jinx]

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

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

But it tastes goddamn delicious.

[nik0tine]

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?

[Slothy]

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.

[Pike]

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

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

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

[Denmark]

poor crab :(

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.

[nik0tine]

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

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

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

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?

[Jinx]

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

[Denmark]

you know who else kills and eats animals

animals

[Mirage]

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

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

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

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?

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.

[nik0tine]

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

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

[Slothy]

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

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

This answer avoids the whole point of the question.

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.

[Jinx]

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

Deal with it.