Gimme a big ass knife and an animal and I'm going to eat. I may not necessarily remember how to do it as it's been several years since I've helped butcher anything, but I'd do it messily and enjoy the meat when I was done.
Would you be willing to slaughter an animal?
- Thread starter Necronic
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I think you have to go back more than one generation to hear a lot less stories about people being involved with the meat they are eating. Processed meats have been around since WWII at least. My parents on both sides were not involved in farming and neither were my grandparents, although they might have been as kids on my moms side. My point is that this generation isn't terribly special when it comes to not killing their food. It wasn't a sudden drop off but a gradual shift in getting here.
I used to spend my summers on a friend's farm. I've slaughtered chickens for dinner. Made a bad mess of it. I really suck at plucking feathers.
I also took part in killing two stray dogs that broke into the chicken coop and killed their prize rooster. After carrying the bodies about half a mile away and burying them, then walking back to the coop, we went to bury the rooster. Just as we entered the coop the roster hopped up and shook the dust off himself. :angry:
I also took part in killing two stray dogs that broke into the chicken coop and killed their prize rooster. After carrying the bodies about half a mile away and burying them, then walking back to the coop, we went to bury the rooster. Just as we entered the coop the roster hopped up and shook the dust off himself. :angry:
C
Chibibar
If I was told that I have to kill my own animal to eat it. I sure would.
Animal killed by my hand (not on a daily basis but done it before) and eat it
Snakes - Check
Chicken - Check (kill about 5 of these on the farm via snapping its neck. I never approve of "twirling" method.)
Cow - Check (it is MESSY and smell..... only kill 1)
Various fish (catfish, tuna, bass
Turtles - check (again.. kinda icky)
Lobster - check
snails - check (they are good with the right sauce)
clams - check
shrimp - check
Rabbit - check (once.... but it was messy cause I didn't know how to do it right)
Animal killed by my hand (not on a daily basis but done it before) and eat it
Snakes - Check
Chicken - Check (kill about 5 of these on the farm via snapping its neck. I never approve of "twirling" method.)
Cow - Check (it is MESSY and smell..... only kill 1)
Various fish (catfish, tuna, bass
Turtles - check (again.. kinda icky)
Lobster - check
snails - check (they are good with the right sauce)
clams - check
shrimp - check
Rabbit - check (once.... but it was messy cause I didn't know how to do it right)
figmentPez
Staff member
Actually, I'd bet that if someone used to a natural environment, who had never so much as been in an office building, were suddenly confronted with a clean room, with all it's pure white surfaces, harsh artificial lighting, oppressive white noise from fans, awkward clothing and other factors, they might just freak out.Necronic said:
That speculation aside, how many vegetarians would get grossed out at the thought of eating organic veggies if they actually had to spread the manure on the field to fertilize it? Not all of them, I'm sure, but some, and manure is just smelly, it's not common to fear thinking about your own poop, as it is to fear thinking about your own death.
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Lally
I am with those who say they could do the killing but not the gutting/prep. I didn't grow up in a farm lifestyle, but my dad is a pretty active hunter and I don't have reservations about killing animals for food. But I do hate the feeling of touching raw meat... I barely have the patience to put up with cooking with meat, let alone gutting/cleaning/dressing an animal.
Semi-related story: my boyfriend's family in India (I believe it was his grandfather) figured out that raising a goat and slaughtering it would be cheaper than buying the same amount of goat meat (and they use a lot of it for cooking). So they bought the goat, and raised the goat, and then when it came time to slaughter the goat, they couldn't do it because they became attached to it and treated it like a pet. So they ended up selling it to someone else (how they had the ability to sell it to someone that would kill it and didn't have the ability to kill it themselves I don't quite understand, but that's okay), and buying goat meat from the store.
Semi-related story: my boyfriend's family in India (I believe it was his grandfather) figured out that raising a goat and slaughtering it would be cheaper than buying the same amount of goat meat (and they use a lot of it for cooking). So they bought the goat, and raised the goat, and then when it came time to slaughter the goat, they couldn't do it because they became attached to it and treated it like a pet. So they ended up selling it to someone else (how they had the ability to sell it to someone that would kill it and didn't have the ability to kill it themselves I don't quite understand, but that's okay), and buying goat meat from the store.
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Chibibar
I think it is the gruesome factor and attachment. It is not pretty. I mean you get blood and guts everywhere (well.... mostly blood, but even if you do it right, when you start cleaning out the inside, a wrong cut get stuff squirt all over the place.Lally said:
B
Batdan
Potatoes never have a good day. :waah:Denbrought said:
My aunt raises a small herd of cattle, but she ends up growing attached to them also. So, she has an agreement with a guy on another farm. When it comes time to slaughter the cattle, she trades cattle with him, so they're not slaughtering their own animals.Lally said:
I thought it was kind of weird, too.
We did chickens and rabbits when I was younger. Messy, generally not worth the time when one can make McDonald's wages and chicken is cheap (although cheap chicken exists on the back of factory farms, so there's an ethical tradeoff). Plucking chickens is hard, hard work, nevermind the rest of the work needed before one can use the meat. Gut it wrong and you can foul the meat too.Lally said:
My mom still keeps chickens - getting nice laying hens, but sometimes the factory sexes the chicks wrong, so a rooster or two comes in a batch. Let the rooster grow up, and when he becomes a problem send him and a few of the chickens off to the butcher, and they come back just as one would get them from the store.
If I had to, I probably would, but I don't need to, and it's not worth my time. Even if society collapses and everyone has to go back to making their own food, smaller groups would form and eventually someone would emerge as the butcher and specialize to provide that service for the group. Spend your time raising and feeding the animals, and simply take several chickens in, and come back with fewer, leaving some for payment.
I'll be the one making sure everyone's bicycle and solar powered computers still work, in exchange for a few chickens a year...
-Adam
-- Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:29 pm --
Hehehe.Tinwhistler said:
When we had rabbits my parents didn't discourage us from growing close, but they reminded us whenever we were playing with them or calling them names that they were food animals later.
We grew up choosing some pretty macabre names for those creatures, but it wasn't traumatic when it occurred. Thinking back on it now, I think it's much more humane to provide an awesome (though short) life with a great deal of attention rather than a caged life, practically ignored before slaughter.
I have to admit when we were eating them, I was disappointed by how little meat there was (I'm pretty sure my parents were too - we didn't do it for more than a year or two). "But Mr. GetInMahBelly was so big and fluffy! Was he just all fluff?"
-Adam
S
Selgeron
I've worked at a farm before and slaughtered animals... however the way that your mother did it is absolutely horrific and I wouldn't doubt that your family is making it up just to bother you...
Cajungal
Staff member
This reminds me of a story from culinary school.
One thing that all of my professors had in common is that they hate when food is wasted... ESPECIALLY my Meat Fab. teacher.
At his old restaurant, some of his cooks allowed several pounds of rabbit meat to go bad. So the next time he placed an order for rabbit, he bought them live and instructed them on how to slaughter the animals. Apparently they scream horribly. They never did that again.
One thing that all of my professors had in common is that they hate when food is wasted... ESPECIALLY my Meat Fab. teacher.
At his old restaurant, some of his cooks allowed several pounds of rabbit meat to go bad. So the next time he placed an order for rabbit, he bought them live and instructed them on how to slaughter the animals. Apparently they scream horribly. They never did that again.
*Pictures Shego serving a customer some rabbit while in an apron covered in smeared blood*Shegokigo said:See, when I join the culinary world, I pray for days like that to happen. I'd serve and cook covered in the blood with a gleeful smile.Cajungal said:
Shego: "I think you'll really enjoy THIS one. She was a hell of a screamer!
"
I would slaughter and clean an animal if I had a chance and supervision, just for the experience. I don't subscribe to the 'if you can't kill it, don't eat it' mentality, though. A lot of people who 'couldn't' slaughter a pig, i would imagine it has more to do with squeamishness or pity than any deeply founded moral issue.
Similarly, if I ever get to Korea I full well plan on eating some dog if I get a chance. I love my pet dog, and I would never be able to kill and eat him, but I count it as a separate issue. If I grew up with a pig in the house, I probably would have an issue killing it, but I eat pork all the time.
Also, since I live in the province of Canada where most of it is done, I've been a bit curious as to what one has to do to go out sealing when the season comes around. If an opportunity like that ever came my way, I would snap it up in an instant. Not for any malice, or blood lust. Just for the experience.
Similarly, if I ever get to Korea I full well plan on eating some dog if I get a chance. I love my pet dog, and I would never be able to kill and eat him, but I count it as a separate issue. If I grew up with a pig in the house, I probably would have an issue killing it, but I eat pork all the time.
Also, since I live in the province of Canada where most of it is done, I've been a bit curious as to what one has to do to go out sealing when the season comes around. If an opportunity like that ever came my way, I would snap it up in an instant. Not for any malice, or blood lust. Just for the experience.
http://www.cumberlandbooks.com/index.ph ... ucts_id=26stienman said:
use that book and make one of these (warning for the squeamish, video shows turkey being plucked..only takes about a minute)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNZfRcd7DD8:2rkj7ozk][/youtube:2rkj7ozk]
Softish rubber fingers that catch and pull out the feathers as the bird spins around.Rob King said:
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Chibibar
that is pretty cool. beats pulling it by hand (of course you HAVE to make sure the bird is dead before putting into that or the meat will be tainted)Tinwhistler said:
Necronic
Staff member
Its not the work that would bother me. I've done hard work, and I've done messy work. That's not a problem. Its just the pity factor. Some animals it doesn't bother me. I've cleaned fish, I've killed turtles (though I didn't clean it) cause they were eating the fish. I wouldn't have a problem with killing a chicken. But a cow, as completely stupid as they are, has a face like a damned puppy's. Most of the red blooded animals have a face I really connect with.
I think that the work and the mess is irrelevant for the sake of my mom's point. Not that isn't really really hard nasty work. But fuck if you can't handle that work you might as well take your ass back to madison avenue and get a manicure. Really the point is that you should have no moral qualms with killing the animal yourself.
There is a great interview with John Waters where he talks about the fallout he got over the chicken/sex scene in Pink Flamingos. He said (something to the effect of):
"That chicken was already going to die, and end up the plate of one of the people criticizing us now. Thanks to us it got to die in a way no other chicken ever has before, and it went out famous. Plus we ate it after the scene."
For some reason this conversation reminds me of that.
I think that the work and the mess is irrelevant for the sake of my mom's point. Not that isn't really really hard nasty work. But fuck if you can't handle that work you might as well take your ass back to madison avenue and get a manicure. Really the point is that you should have no moral qualms with killing the animal yourself.
There is a great interview with John Waters where he talks about the fallout he got over the chicken/sex scene in Pink Flamingos. He said (something to the effect of):
"That chicken was already going to die, and end up the plate of one of the people criticizing us now. Thanks to us it got to die in a way no other chicken ever has before, and it went out famous. Plus we ate it after the scene."
For some reason this conversation reminds me of that.
L
Lally
Cajungal said:
http://thefucksociety.com/animation/pw_donuts.swfCajungal said:
SFW, even if the link appears otherwise.
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