I get your intentions but things are a bit more complicated.
In some places, mid to big animals are a pest, they destroy cultures (even the ones for direct human consumption), public places and wild environments, threatening the biodiversity.
So humans need to take action.
We can kill those animals and dump them in hole/burn them, or we can provide (almost) free food to people with difficulties to buy food.
There isn't the environmental downside of cattle (quite the opposite, actually...) and regarding the ethical part... that's complicated. Overpopulation and environment destruction means bad life condition for those pests and for the other species, so the number reduction aims to find a nicer balance for all the species. But being tracked and killed is definitely not fun.
This is a good way to put it. Because we humans tend to eliminate the large predators that we need to control some populations, we have a bunch of potential protein that would otherwise go to waste, why not mix it in?
There's room for tofu and meat in a diet, and if you're hurting financially things like this program, married with other cheap protein sources, is not only a great way to go but what a morale booster.
When I was a kid and we were broke a friend of ours gave my mom some rabbit. Alone it's not fatty enough to keep you alive but she mixed it up well with other stuff and we felt like we were having a feast.
Regarding the environmental downside of cattle, I couldn't agree more. We know several plains farmers who don't keep cattle but, after harvest let deer come onto their land to eat the leftover stuff in the ground and poop it back out as fertilizer. Once that's cleared out they shoot the deer and sell the meat. Yeah it isn't as profitable as a CAFO, but it's a hell of a lot less work, actually helps the land, and it tastes pretty good too.
And yeah I'd hate to be tracked and killed as you say. But then I picture being born in a prison and growing up to mid-childhood with the express purpose of being killed, and I know which one I'd pick.
I eat a fair bit of tofu, as a vegetarian for decades. It might be considered a meat substitute from a nutritional POV but it is not a good substitute from a culinary POV. You need to adjust how you plan your meals and how you build flavor, and many people just aren’t ready to do that.
I had a vegan phase so I'm familiar with stuff like tofu, tempeh, boca burgers, etc. I don't understand the excitement around Impossible burgers. I eat meat now but I also eat a lot of things I learned to eat as a vegetarian. I wouldn't say tofu is better or worse than chicken.
wiether|1 year ago
In some places, mid to big animals are a pest, they destroy cultures (even the ones for direct human consumption), public places and wild environments, threatening the biodiversity.
So humans need to take action.
We can kill those animals and dump them in hole/burn them, or we can provide (almost) free food to people with difficulties to buy food.
There isn't the environmental downside of cattle (quite the opposite, actually...) and regarding the ethical part... that's complicated. Overpopulation and environment destruction means bad life condition for those pests and for the other species, so the number reduction aims to find a nicer balance for all the species. But being tracked and killed is definitely not fun.
troyvit|1 year ago
There's room for tofu and meat in a diet, and if you're hurting financially things like this program, married with other cheap protein sources, is not only a great way to go but what a morale booster.
When I was a kid and we were broke a friend of ours gave my mom some rabbit. Alone it's not fatty enough to keep you alive but she mixed it up well with other stuff and we felt like we were having a feast.
Regarding the environmental downside of cattle, I couldn't agree more. We know several plains farmers who don't keep cattle but, after harvest let deer come onto their land to eat the leftover stuff in the ground and poop it back out as fertilizer. Once that's cleared out they shoot the deer and sell the meat. Yeah it isn't as profitable as a CAFO, but it's a hell of a lot less work, actually helps the land, and it tastes pretty good too.
And yeah I'd hate to be tracked and killed as you say. But then I picture being born in a prison and growing up to mid-childhood with the express purpose of being killed, and I know which one I'd pick.
shermantanktop|1 year ago
PaulHoule|1 year ago
slackfan|1 year ago