We DO NOT NEED to eat MEAT

I don't really know much about venison, hare and rabbit and was talking more about farmed animals. However the fact that we need to cull them to prevent over breeding is pretty depressing, and probably humanity's fault anyway for removing all the natural predators from the area. Oh dear..

I personally believe that it would be better for the animals to not exist in the first place, than to be dragged into existence for the sole purpose of being raised for slaughter (and having to undergo a lot of pain and fear in the process) but that's just my personal opinion on that one

I think it's a matter of exploitation as well. Animals are sentient, they're not objects.. When a fox or a lion kills an animal, it's in the wild - it's a free animal that has had it's own free life up until that point. The way that humans do it is different - we take ownership over them that isn't rightfully ours and take it upon ourselves to create and destroy living beings for totally selfish reasons :/

But yeah I mean.. I do get what you're saying. My Dad is not vegan, but he is very conscious about where the meat he buys comes from and... yeah it's cool I guess but it's just not for me

Right so, I watched the whole video, all 1;09;24 ( Ethereal, I had to use ; instead of : because of TSR's emoji thingy, so don't sue me ) of it. And I wouldn't say it's the most important speech I will ever hear in my life. Though I will say it has changed my perspective on things.

I will say, however, the disgust tactic he was using had no effect on me. I don't care if an egg is really a chicken's period. Honey is a bee's vomit or that a glass of milk contains about one eye drop of cow pus. It's safe for consumption and it tastes good.

The first graphic video did make me feel uneasy, that I won't lie about, the male baby chicks going into the grinder particularly.

The thing that drew me most to what he was saying were the health benefits. Although he did say he's not saying to become a vegan for selfish reasons... the health bit of his speech was the only part that actually drew to me. Now obviously I'll have to go and check all those facts and figures myself, I don't expect his whole speech to be unbiased and maybe he wiggled a bit on his facts.

He did convince me on the weird thing though. Like before the speech, i was like, lol wtf is this Quorn **** and all these vegan substitutes like soya and whatever the heck the have. Some weird stuff lol. But then he was like, how is that weird compared to when people like me get happy over a chicken breast on my plate, considering the amount of stuff that happened to that breast before it came to my plate.

Overall I would like to give this whole vegan diet thing a go when I get to university. Why not now? Well the reason I simply don't have the time right now to be looking at what I want to eat, the alternatives etc. There's 10 and 1/2 weeks until my A2 exams start and to be honest I'm behind, which is my own fault. Also I think the only lifestyle change I can handle right now is more revising and less games. After my exams I'll definitely be doing some research on this topic.

I definitely do not plan to go full vegan with no leather and stuff... Just diet wise. So sorry if that disappoints you.

When I get to uni, I'll be living by myself and I'll be able to manage what I eat and stuff, so it'll be way easier. Right now I would have to kick up a big fuss and make everything more complicated at home than it already is. And it's complicated at home, trust me on that bit. It's the reason why I'm going to stay in university accommodation even though the uni i plan to go to is like a 40 minute train journey from my house.

So overall, I'm not going to blink twice when I pour my milk into my coco pops nor will I particularly care when I bite into my meat sandwich that I'm probably having tomorrow either. What I'm saying is that this whole vegetarian/vegan thing seems appealing and when I get to university, I'll give it a go. If I don't like it, I'm back to being an omnivore. But if I do like it, then I don't see why I can't keep doing that.

Thanks for linking the video RickmanAlways. I did keep an open mind while watching the video. It's gonna stay in my head for a few days now

It got your attention didn't it?
You prefer taste over killing animals (dont forget your an animal too) who may not be able to do complicated mathematical sums but are smart enough to know that they are gonna be slaughtered and they try to run but they cant they call for help but there is none, baby cows are torn away from their mothers so we can drink the milk instead. Imagine if the roles were reversed! The whole world would be screaming THIS IS WRONG! because simply it is.

Yes! I know that there are many cultures around the world who actually NEED meat because they don't have all the other options like we do - cultures who actually hunt the animals in the wild (like legit hunting for FOOD that they NEED - NOT hunting and poaching for sport or clothes or whatever).

The issue I have with animal farming is the farming part - mass producing living creatures...? And the abuse that the animals undergo behind closed doors is just devastating to me. It's exploitation and it's so, so cruel

Yes! I know that there are many cultures around the world who actually NEED meat because they don't have all the other options like we do - cultures who actually hunt the animals in the wild (like legit hunting for FOOD that they NEED - NOT hunting and poaching for sport or clothes or whatever).

The issue I have with animal farming is the farming part - mass producing living creatures...? And the abuse that the animals undergo behind closed doors is just devastating to me. It's exploitation and it's so, so cruel

i completely agree with you that there is a great deal of cruelty and exploitation in the farming industry and it really is depressing to think about but it is not the only way that animals can be farmed and reared, look at it this way if 30% of the population were vegetarian and didnt buy meat and 30% of the population would only eat ethically sourced meat the farming industry would still favor production of unethical meat because that 40% just dont care,

however if 20% of the population who weree vegetarian decided only to eat ethical meat then the 40% who dont care would be forced to eat ethically sourced meat because with 50% of the population demanding ethically sourced meat its more viable than unethical meat

those are numbers im just pulling out of my arse however the point is that there is going to be a significant portion of the population are never going to care how their food is made and as long as those who do care keep becoming vegetarians then it simply makes the remainder who dont a larger majority of the meat eaters and thus reinforces unethical farming practices.

so ultimately by becoming a vegetarian as opposed to a conscientious meat eater your strengthening the unethical meat industry

i completely agree with you that there is a great deal of cruelty and exploitation in the farming industry and it really is depressing to think about but it is not the only way that animals can be farmed and reared, look at it this way if 30% of the population were vegetarian and didnt buy meat and 30% of the population would only eat ethically sourced meat the farming industry would still favor production of unethical meat because that 40% just dont care,

however if 20% of the population who weree vegetarian decided only to eat ethical meat then the 40% who dont care would be forced to eat ethically sourced meat because with 50% of the population demanding ethically sourced meat its more viable than unethical meat

those are numbers im just pulling out of my arse however the point is that there is going to be a significant portion of the population are never going to care how their food is made and as long as those who do care keep becoming vegetarians then it simply makes the remainder who dont a larger majority of the meat eaters and thus reinforces unethical farming practices.

so ultimately by becoming a vegetarian as opposed to a conscientious meat eater your strengthening the unethical meat industry

i completely agree with you that there is a great deal of cruelty and exploitation in the farming industry and it really is depressing to think about but it is not the only way that animals can be farmed and reared, look at it this way if 30% of the population were vegetarian and didnt buy meat and 30% of the population would only eat ethically sourced meat the farming industry would still favor production of unethical meat because that 40% just dont care,

however if 20% of the population who weree vegetarian decided only to eat ethical meat then the 40% who dont care would be forced to eat ethically sourced meat because with 50% of the population demanding ethically sourced meat its more viable than unethical meat

those are numbers im just pulling out of my arse however the point is that there is going to be a significant portion of the population are never going to care how their food is made and as long as those who do care keep becoming vegetarians then it simply makes the remainder who dont a larger majority of the meat eaters and thus reinforces unethical farming practices.

so ultimately by becoming a vegetarian as opposed to a conscientious meat eater your strengthening the unethical meat industry

To everyone thinking that animal's lives are somehow equally important to those of humans- think again. Humans are made in the image of God while all the chickens, cows and other animals are not. The Bible even states that we should 'kill and eat'. Jesus Christ himself- who never committed a sin- was not a vegetarian and ate fish, confirming that it is nothing wrong with eating meat. Of course, we don't need to eat meat, but we don't need to eat potatoes or lettuce or tomatoes either. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't.