[bayouborne]

Star Trek's McCoy delivers a grim description in "The City on the Edge of Forever", about how primitive 20th century medicine once relied on crude and bloody procedures. I think once lab-grown proteins are common in markets across the world, ethicists and historians will be more free to point to these last 50 years as the most horrific, in terms of inhumane treatment of animals on an amazing scale (I just looked this cheery tidbit up, 166,000 pigs are slaughtered per hour, year round, worldwide.) I'm 100% complicit in this. I eat meat, but for some reason as I get older it's harder for me to keep a comfortable distance from this issue.

[hypercube33]

I feel the same way, but I grew up on a small farm. I've got a thing where I can make peace with it if the animals are treated well or as my friend calls it "one bad day policy". I drive by huge mega farms where the animals never go outside and they smell horrid (I love the smell of a small farm, but yes, they all have a smell) and can't really feel good about buying meat or dairy from these places.

[euroderf]

I'm with you on this. For me it was reading Peter Singer's "Animal Rights" that made the difference.

[metta2uall]

Thankfully it's never been easier to find high-quality info about vegan nutrition and recipe ideas.

[JumpCrisscross]

> it's never been easier to find high-quality info about vegan nutrition and recipe ideas

Veganism is probably too far for the broad population. Ovo-lacto vegetarianism, where you're purchasing eggs and dairy from a specific farm (or reputable brand), is more accessible and close in terms of ethical and environmental impact.

[Suppafly]

> (I just looked this cheery tidbit up, 166,000 pigs are slaughtered per hour, year round, worldwide.)

Man that hardly seems believable.

[nom]

in relative terms , that's one pig per human every ~5.5 years