Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Probably preaching to the choir here, but here's an article I wrote a few days ago about the European horse meat scandal:
http://www.motivecompany.com/motive/a-vegans-take-on-the-horse-slaughter-issue/

FYI: There are some pretty graphic images of horse slaughter.

PSA: this article is great but has really graphic images of horse slaughter.

Whoops! Thanks quark, I should have mentioned that! Edited my post!

What amazes me about this is that a lot of people speaking out about their disgust at horse meat being mixed in with cow meat is the fact that a lot of these people are concerned because this meat was served at Burger King. If you were THAT CONCERNED with what you were eating, you wouldn't be eating at Burger King to begin with.

that was my thought as well, Moon.

it just makes me sad on a bunch of different levels.

Someone who doesn't want to eat horse meat shouldn't go to a restaurant where beef burgers are served? Uh, okay.

LOL, yeah that came out wrong. Thanks for making me feel like a huge dick, though!

I think most people accept that the claims of those burgers being "100% pure beef" are dubious at best. I also think that most people who eat at Burger King don't give a whole lot of thought as to what is in their whoppers. I know I didn't think much about it when I ate at McDonalds in the past. Those burgers seem so far removed from actual meat when you eat them, I probably would not have been surprised if I had found this out after eating one.

I never really though about what was in my food before I was vegan. And I think if I had, I wouldn't have eaten fast food ever.

I really want to read your article but I'm too freaked about the pics, esp since they're scattered throughout the text. Is there a way to read it without seeing all the sad images?

If anyone wants to read the article but wants to avoid the pics, PM me your email address and I can send a text file!

me too! PMing email.

Sent & sent :)

Very clearly said and well put. I have been thinking much along the same lines since reading about this "scandal" but had been too lazy to put it into words.

Thanks!

honest, truthful and graphic - well done!

Obviously not all meat eaters are the same but I'd personally say when I ate meat, I didn't elevate other animals above others. I had a fairly defined belief that some animals were raised were specifically for food, so they were ok to eat while others aren't raised specifically for food. I struggled with this somewhat when I learned that in some other countries, this may include animals like dogs. I also remember not being able to eat meat that I didn't grow up thinking was specifically for eating but being able to eat things, even if I never ate them before, that were.

It was somewhat hard culturally to give up because I also had defined beliefs based on how I grew up which included seeing animals killed for food, animals served whole and people not being shy that one day something is in their yard, the next day it is on their plate. So I believed eating meat was just a natural part of life and even necessary, it wasn't until I was able to realize differently that I was able to give it up.

I think though that people in general are trying to be more aware of food in their food supply. I remember not that long ago, people were upset about soy being added to ground beef in certain restaurants (taco bell). Is it because the idea of eating soy is offensive to them? Well maybe some people but for more people no but then again, if you are eating at most fast food restaurants, I'm not surprised by 'surprises' whether they are horse meat, soy or other things.

Its funny, but it was oats and corn, so even more mainstream than soy!


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... facts.html

An omni friend on FB recently posted that between the horse-meat scandal she bet that every vegan she knows was doing a smug happy dance inside. I thought of saying something like "No. Not smug. Just wondering why people are horrified at the thought of eating one animal but not the other." This friend is actually quite thoughtful, so I don't think she'd have minded a comment like that, but I don't know her friends and didn't want to get into it with them. I'm fairly certain I'm not her only vegan friend, but not one vegan commented on her post.

Thanks!

Those pictures just got me. I cant open that site again, will you send me the text also? Am pm-ing you my email address.

Also, I thought I'd seen it all. Boy was I wrong.

I know!

I'm not proud to admit this, but I think the pictures *did* hit me extra hard because they're horses. Not because cruelty toward a horse is really any worse than cruelty toward a cow, but because I am so culturally used to seeing horses as pets, friends, etc., and I don't think I've ever seen a slaughtered horse before....

thanks for sending your text. Well written and my take of the story really. Yes, food should be labelled correctly, but how is eating horse worse than eating cow?

I still think it mostly deals with the people's acceptance of what they view as animals raised for food vs those that aren't. I think for the most part meat eaters accept that cows are raised as food and 'meant' to be eaten while other animals may not be. This doesn't include hunting because that is also the same thing, living off the land, etc, etc. Horses have been raised for centuries to be used as work animals and transportation, so generally not viewed as food. And although I was wrong about soy, there was outrage at the taco bell meat not being 100% meat, it didn't seem all that different than this horse meat scandal.

I just can't think of anything that could be mixed in that wouldn't cause outrage:
horse? outrage
soy? outrage
oatmeal? outrage
bugs? outrage

Last night I was at a comedy show and there was a joke about the horse meat thing and then some girl behind me (who was already having some pretty dumb asparagus conversations) said to her friend "actually, i've tried horsemeat and it's DELICIOUS! like, omg, so good!"

I feel weird about the horse meat thing because in Saskatchewan, horse meat is relatively common, but people still freak out about it. We even used to have a horse slaughter plant.

I just wonder what people think happens to the horses off the racetrack.

I have a hard time buying the "I'm just mad about it because of horse antibiotics" argument. Granted, I don't know anything about the kinds of antibiotics that horses are given, and they very well could be awful and dangerous for humans to consume.... but are these same people not equally freaked about high doses of antibiotics that are given to more traditional "meat animals", or GMOs?