Opinion: "The End of Meat Is Here" - NY Times

[PaoloSanchez]

Two new restaurants have opened up a few minutes walk from my home. Both are vegan. One does 'plant-based' versions of night-time economy staples like burgers and fried chicken, the other features things made of tofu on its menu plus coffee and muffins etc. Many of the customers will be students doing vocational courses in healthcare etc. This would have been unimaginable 20-30 years ago.

Although I'm not really one for eating out, I am happy that there is so much more choice and options available now than there was 30 years ago. It has never been easier to get vegan options than it is now, and long may it continue to improve.

 

[PaoloSanchez]

...and at times the meat/dairy industry begins to sound a bit desperate when they try to ban the use of words like burger, sausage and milk.

...and butter, lol. In that case maybe a ban would be in order for "peanut butter".

It really does have an air of petty desperation to it, which in a way is good because it means that there must have been a significant increase in market share for the "alternatives", enough to cause some discomfort in the meat, eggs and dairy industries.

France Blasted Over Plans To Ban 'Meaty' Names For Vegan Food

'The image of the gullible consumer...is paternalistic at best and an insult at worse'

www.plantbasednews.org

Some of the items have had name changes just in case these laws come to pass, so you'll see things like "oat drink" has already replaced "oat milk". Shoppers will no longer be confused., because we all know that they can't really tell the difference, right?

In the US there's the protectionist "food disparagement laws" which is the law used to sue Oprah and the "Mad Cowboy" Howard Lyman back in the 90's.

How Oprah Got Sued for Dissing a Burger | Britannica

A brief history of food-libel laws.

www.britannica.com

I guess it's desperate measures for desperate times.

 

[magneze]

New advert for "less farty cows".

 

[Jeff Robinson]

New advert for "less farty cows".

the chutzpah is off the charts.

 

[fishfinger]

New advert for "less farty cows".

It's cow belches, not farts, that produce most methane.

Which is a bigger methane source: cow belching or cow flatulence? – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

It's cow belches, not farts, that produce most methane.

Which is a bigger methane source: cow belching or cow flatulence? – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

I'm not sure it matters. The ad above is just pure greenwashing and feel-good nonsense.

 

[fishfinger]

I'm not sure it matters. The ad above is just pure greenwashing and feel-good nonsense.

Oh, absolutely. It just annoys me when they blame it on the farts

 

[editor]

Yet more disgusting cruelty involved in the UK meat trade

Animals were subjected to a string of brutal attacks at a farm that sells goats’ milk to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and other supermarkets, footage from hidden cameras has revealed.

Goats were seen on video being punched, kicked, hit with a pole and slammed onto their backs at a plant that supplies St Helen’s Farm, in east Yorkshire.

The animals were also filmed crying in pain as they were held by their necks, had their ears tagged or their tails twisted.

People filming using secret cameras told Surge that at one supply farm, they saw goats being:

• Kicked and punched
• Hit with a pole
• Held by the throat
• Having their tails twisted
• Shoved and roughly handled
• Left lame and struggling to stand or walk after the rough handling

Goats were also slammed onto their backs on a conveyor belt before their hooves were roughly trimmed, the video showed.

One was seen being dragged by one leg along the ground while struggling.

Animal suffering was also prolonged when injuries went untreated, the witnesses said after reviewing the footage.

Goats punched, hit and ‘left lame’ at farm supplying milk to major supermarkets

Exclusive: Tesco and Waitrose suspend brand after footage shows animals crying out in pain

www.independent.co.uk

 

[ska invita]

Spent the weekend camping next to a field of upset calves, mooing (groaning) endlessly, taken away from their parents and herd within 24 hours of birth, with all males due for imminent slaughter as male cows are considered waste but for eating, aka veal. Horrible business.

 

[editor]

And so the cruelty and mistreatment goes on

Fast food giant KFC has laid bare the realities of chicken production after admitting to poor welfare conditions among its suppliers.

More than a third of the birds on its supplier farms in the UK and Ireland suffer from a painful inflammation known as footpad dermatitis that in severe cases can prevent birds from walking normally.

Footpad dermatitis is characterised by lesions on the feet, usually because of poor ventilation and litter management. KFC said the number of birds affected had fallen from more than half to 35% in just four years, and that its top suppliers were achieving levels of 15% or below.


Nearly all the chickens reared for KFC are fast-growing breeds that take just 30 days to reach slaughter weight. The push for high growth rates and maximum amounts of breast meat has exacerbated health and welfare problems for birds, including inability to move and liver and heart failure.

One in 10 KFC chickens also suffer hock burn caused by ammonia from the waste of other birds, which can burn through the skin of the leg – a condition typically associated with inactive birds.

KFC admits a third of its chickens suffer painful inflammation

Fast food giant praised for owning up to extent of footpad dermatitis, which can prevent birds from walking

www.theguardian.com

 

[PaoloSanchez]

Bloomberg joining in the fray...

The World Is Finally Losing Its Taste for Meat

Production is projected to dip for the second year in a row, and there’s reason to believe we’re already falling out of love with beef.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[CNT36]

I wasn't sure where to put this so it has ended up here as some similar stories of animals suffering due to dodgy processes in the the animal/meat trade have been posted.

Around 3,000 sheep sent back from Saudi Arabia by ship to Sudan have died of hunger and thirst according to a Sudanese government minister. Some drowned on the voyage.

Saudi Arabia returned 58,000 sheep to Sudan after finding out that quarantine procedures in Sudan had been compromised, leaving some animals without vaccination against diseases including Rift Valley fever.


Sheep are brought over from western Sudan to the Port of Sudan in the east of the country and held in quarantine before being exported to Saudi Arabia. While there they are vaccinated against three diseases; HS (Hemorrhagic septicemia), PPR (Peste des petits ruminants) and Rift Valley fever.

Sudan’s minister of animal resources, Dr Adil Farah said the quarantines had been broken, with some animals replaced.

“We have problems in our quarantines in some of the states, especially in eastern Sudan in Kassala and Gadarif states,” he said. “The animal quarantines are open so some of the exporters are cheats and might have got inside the quarantines after we vaccinated the animals and replaced some of them – that’s the problem.”

While the sheep were still on board, waiting to be returned to Sudan, thousands of the animals died after drinking saltwater from the Red Sea.

“The losers in this process at the end are the small producers in the western parts of Sudan where most of the cattle come from,” said Farah.

And also more bad news for Sudan.

The news comes as Sudan announced it had lost 40% of its revenues due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

[WouldBe]

I don't see why Saudi couldn't have quarantined them on arrival.

 

[editor]

Disgusting, like most of the meat trade

US hens have half the living space of UK birds and are dipped in chlorinated water after slaughter to kill bacteria growing on them as a result of the birds “literally sitting in each other’s waste”, according to a new video being launched today by the RSPCA.

Aiming to highlight the welfare differences between US and UK farm animals as trade talks resume between the two countries in September, the UK’s largest animal welfare charity is taking the unusual step of releasing a video that “exposes the realities of animal welfare” and warns consumers against US dairy, egg and meat imports.

Examples of US-UK welfare differences identified by the RSPCA include the absence of US federal laws protecting chicken or turkey welfare, US egg hens having only about half the living space of UK hens, and only 5% of US laying hens being free range compared to 52% in the UK.

US chickens 'literally sitting in each other's waste' says RSPCA

Chlorination of hens and use of pig sow stalls among US-UK disparities highlighted by charity ahead of post-Brexit trade talks

www.theguardian.com

 

[Athos]

I don't see why Saudi couldn't have quarantined them on arrival.

Where they gonna stick 58,000 sheep?!

 

[WouldBe]

Where they gonna stick 58,000 sheep?!

Where were they going to put them anyway?

I can't see the point in vaccinating them and quarantining them in Somalia if they were going straight to slaughter. Chances of them passing any disease on to other livestock (apart from other animals waiting slaughter) must be negligible.

 

[Athos]

Where were they going to put them anyway?

I can't see the point in vaccinating them and quarantining them in Somalia if they were going straight to slaughter. Chances of them passing any disease on to other livestock (apart from other animals waiting slaughter) must be negligible.

Presumably, they'd have been transported accross SA (and maybe beyond), whilst still live, possibly for fattening before slaughter. That'd risk introducing the diseases in respect fo which the vaccinations were missing.

 

[isvicthere?]

I've been a vegetarian in the past: once for four years, once for eight. I recently started again, because l don't like the idea of eating the product of the slaughter of creatures with a similar nervous system to myself.

 

[Marty1]

If Richmond sausages were the only meat in the world to eat I would be joining you in the Nutroast queue Ed.

Richmond sausages taste nice imo.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Ignorant and backward barbarians.

 

[Spymaster]

Richmond sausages taste nice imo.

There’s something about the cheap and cheerful nature of a Richmond. If you can get over the fact that they go half hollow when cooked and the casings are weird, the actual taste isn’t too bad. I’m very fussy about sausages too. I find the vast majority to be too lean and dry and often under-seasoned.

 

[editor]

Well said, Mr Attenborough.

Sir David Attenborough is urging people to go vegetarian or cut back on meat-eating to save species from dying out and to produce more food.

In a new Netflix documentary, A Life On Our Planet, the veteran naturalist says: “We must change our diet. The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters.

“If we had a mostly plant-based diet we could increase the yield of the land,” the Mirror reported him as saying.

“The wilder and more diverse, the more effective. We must grow palm and soya on deforested lands. Nature is our biggest ally.”

Experts say that using swathes of land to grow feed solely for livestock is wasteful because animals are inefficient converters of calories, and that growing human-edible crops on the land would provide more total food.

Go vegetarian to save wildlife and the planet, Sir David Attenborough urges

‘We must change our diet. The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters,’ says legendary naturalist

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Marty1]

I've been a vegetarian in the past: once for four years, once for eight. I recently started again, because l don't like the idea of eating the product of the slaughter of creatures with a similar nervous system to myself.

Did you feel healthier for it compared to eating meat and did you loose any weight?

I do a very active job but seem to be stuck at a certain weight I’m not happy with so need to start looking at my diet more closely.

 

[isvicthere?]

Did you feel healthier for it compared to eating meat and did you loose any weight?

I do a very active job but seem to be stuck at a certain weight I’m not happy with so need to start looking at my diet more closely.

I haven't really done it for weight loss. Also, going veggie again has coincided with the long two month summer holiday here in Spain, where it's so hot that you tend to stay indoors all day and drink a lot of beer.

When l lived in London, l lost quite a bit of weight by mixing gym (weights, spinning and yoga) with the 5/2 diet. From next month l intend to go on the 5/2 again.

 

[Funky_monks]

A fifth of global carbon emissions stem from multinationals' supply chains

Well well.....
Seems buying local might be the way forward after all.

 

[butcher]

A fifth of global carbon emissions stem from multinationals' supply chains

Well well.....
Seems buying local might be the way forward after all.

Yup, support your local Butcher and ask them about the provenance of their goods.

My beef is grass fed from farms 30 miles away, pork is free range form about the same distance, herb fed organic lamb ditto, free range chickens come a bit further but that's because they have the highest welfare I can find...............and as quality has a price you will naturally cut down on your meat consumption but enjoy it more.

The money stays in the local economy, the food miles are low, the abattoir is family run and allows visits.

 

[editor]

Even if the horrendous cruelty is ignored, it really is time to cut back on meat production.

Cows, pigs and other farm livestock in Europe are producing more greenhouse gases every year than all of the bloc’s cars and vans put together, when the impact of their feed is taken into account, according to a new analysis by Greenpeace.

The increase in meat and dairy production in Europe over the past decade has made farming a much greater source of emissions, but while governments have targeted renewable energy and transport in their climate policies, initiatives to reduce the impact of food and farming on the climate have lagged behind.


In 2018, the latest year for which accurate data is available from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock on EU farms (including the UK) were responsible for the equivalent of about 502m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, mostly through the methane they release. That compares with 656m of carbon dioxide from Europe’s cars and vans in the same year.

But when the indirect greenhouse gas emissions are calculated, using established methods to estimate the deforestation and land use changes associated with growing animal feed, then the total annual emissions are equivalent to 704m tonnes of carbon dioxide. The calculations are set out in a new Greenpeace report entitled Farming for Failure, published on Tuesday

EU's farm animals 'produce more emissions than cars and vans combined'

Greenpeace says bloc must get a grip on reducing greenhouse gases from livestock or risk missing Paris agreement targets

www.theguardian.com

 

[editor]

Yet another reason to close down these slaughter factories

Covid cases at UK food factories could be over 30 times higher than reported

Investigation warns employers have too much influence over official data amid claims of fake safety audits

www.theguardian.com

 

[Spymaster]

Yup, support your local Butcher and ask them about the provenance of their goods.

My beef is grass fed from farms 30 miles away, pork is free range form about the same distance, herb fed organic lamb ditto, free range chickens come a bit further but that's because they have the highest welfare I can find...............and as quality has a price you will naturally cut down on your meat consumption but enjoy it more.

The money stays in the local economy, the food miles are low, the abattoir is family run and allows visits.

When you see "herb fed" does that mean that all the lambs eat are herbs or that they are fed to them as part of a broader diet? And what herbs?

 

[butcher]

When you see "herb fed" does that mean that all the lambs eat are herbs or that they are fed to them as part of a broader diet? And what herbs?

Untended pasture with wild herbs, lots of clover etc

These are from where I get mine