Please help me understand meat eaters not wanting to process a chicken!

[jimbob86]

I agree that specialization and the ability to engage in more efficient agriculture have led to unbelievable advances in society, many of which are to the great good. But I do worry we are crossing a line in which we are too divorced from basic understanding -- and appreciation -- of where our food comes from. I read somewhere that 40% of the food purchased in the US is ultimately thrown away. Not to mention the rising problem of obesity. In general, I think if more people had to participate, even for a short while, in the raising of their own food, they would be more moderate and less wasteful with their eating.

This lack of appreciation is further exacerbated by the fact that in the United States, more than 50% of housholds are are dependent upon some form of direct Government payment for their current standard of living ...... granted, roughly 5% actually work for the Federal Government in one way or another...... but even if it was 3 times that: More than 1/3 the households in this country are buying some or all of their groceries with OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY. They are eating calories, cheap or not, that cost them bupkus........ they just whip out the EBT card and get what they want...... and throw away nearly 1/2 of it ......easy come, easy go.

 

[cassie]

This lack of appreciation is further exacerbated by the fact that in the United States, more than 50% of housholds are are dependent upon some form of direct Government payment for their current standard of living ...... granted, roughly 5% actually work for the Federal Government in one way or another...... but even if it was 3 times that: More than 1/3 the households in this country are buying some or all of their groceries with OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY. They are eating calories, cheap or not, that cost them bupkus........ they just whip out the EBT card and get what they want...... and throw away nearly 1/2 of it ......easy come, easy go.

When you say government assistance are you including Social Security and Medicare? I think you must be in order to come up with those figures. BTW, the people that I personally know who are getting food stamps desperately need them. They are frugal and not at all wasteful people. Not a few people in this area who get food stamps are working full time and are not able to earn enough to make it. Some that come to mind are people who work at WalMart and another who works as a home health aide and has a very ill husband. I walked into a local mini mart the other day and there was a Help Wanted sign in the window. The wages offered were $7.50 an hour. Who can make it on $7.50 an hour?

 

[Beekissed]

I agree. There are many, many, many abusing these programs and that is a fact. But, there are also many who are working, have worked all their lives and paid into these programs and then have need of them and that was their intended purpose, which is just fine with me. I've been one of those people....and I've worked and paid into those programs since I was in my teens, was still working~as a nurse and raising 3 boys by myself~when I used both the EBT card and a Medicaid insurance for the kids because my pay in this state is so low that these things were needed to give the boys any healthcare. I didn't stay on the program because it's not designed for that...it's for helping when you need help and that's all. I've worked since I was 14 yrs old, so am not a lazy and worthless person....I've spent most of my life wiping the butts and doing the jobs that no one else can stomach doing.

My parents are both in their 80s and they are both on Medicare, SS and Dad even is on Medicaid as he is living in a nursing home. There is no way they could afford the bill of $7000 per month on his SS benefit of $1200, while Mom tries to live in her home on those same funds. They both paid into that system all their lives and they should be able to enjoy the benefits of them before they are gone. MOST people living in nursing homes have Medicaid as their primary insurance...as a nurse who has worked mostly in nursing homes, I have first hand experience and knowledge of this.

Blanket assumptions about those programs are like a dog that just won't hunt....totally worthless to me.

 

[napdognewfie]

DH gets SS and still works part time. I have health problems and can't work. We get $16 a month in food stamps. We used to get enough to eat but as more and more people are added the amount goes down. I have a garden and I can and we just make it. I keep wondering who is going to pay for all of this. Those who have worked.

Don't spread my money spread my work ethic!

 

[jimbob86]

Yes, SSI/Medicare/etc are included in that figure, as they are a form of welfare: direct payments form the federal government ........ but you can't tell me that 100 to `140 MILLION Americans should be on welfare beacause they are too old, too sick, or too young to provide for themselves.

Part of the problem is that 'welfare" is now the defaualt solution, and the government actively markets (including radio, TV, internet, and billboard ads) to get more people on the programs, as opposed to encouraging people off them, as was done in the 1990's (which, incedentally was the last time the Federal Government was running in th black) ..... and the "EBT card" is part of the problem: using it is so much less obvious than the old paper food stamps- users swipe their card like anybody using their own debit card ..... while buying things that folks limited to their own cash can not afford....... the local Walmartz have "EBT specials" that they only stock in the late hours of the 14th and 30th/31st ....... lobster, crab legs, expensive cuts of meat, convenience foods in case lots ......

No wonder the poorest quarter of the population is also the fattest quarter of the population.

 

[evitachu]

Well, I too am an omnivore. I eat chicken and meat but the thought of killing chickens that I hand raise, cuddle, and have names is killing me. I am not a hypocrite by any means, I just can't stand seeing blood and screams, well, blood especially. I fainted multiple times at the sight of blood (twice were my own blood, accidentally cut my finger and blood gushed out). Even when I see rats or skunk or possum got run over on the street, I could feel my head dizzy. Some people can process the meat themselves and can stand the sight of blood. I cannot. I am squeamish. Does that make me a hypocrite? No....! I will buy something that HAS BEEN processed and cleaned....I don't need to do it myself. But, certainly, I can't kill my pet...my chickens have dual purpose: egg and pet. If I need meat, I'll just go to the market, because I want to go home to my pets.

 

[TXchickenchick]

The biggest problem here is NOT people who criticize someone for processing their own meat. I posted some time ago because I had tried...I processed one chicken. It was absolutely traumatizing for me. Not the blood and gore part...that doesn't bother me at all. It was the taking a life part. I like meat. I eat meat. I would LOVE to process my own but I just can't. A lot of people were kind to me when I posted with this issue. However, there were the select few who were not. I was directed to read a thread that basically told me I wasn't worthy of eating. Seems to me, some of the ones who CAN do it themselves have a far too lofty opinion of themselves. I think we all need to learn to be much kinder and learn to respect each other and our limitations. If you think you are somehow better because you can't kill an animal then you are the one with the problem. By the same token, if you think you are somehow better because you can kill an animal you are the one with the problem!

 

[Morrigan]

The biggest problem here is NOT people who criticize someone for processing their own meat. I posted some time ago because I had tried...I processed one chicken. It was absolutely traumatizing for me. Not the blood and gore part...that doesn't bother me at all. It was the taking a life part. I like meat. I eat meat. I would LOVE to process my own but I just can't. A lot of people were kind to me when I posted with this issue. However, there were the select few who were not. I was directed to read a thread that basically told me I wasn't worthy of eating. Seems to me, some of the ones who CAN do it themselves have a far too lofty opinion of themselves. I think we all need to learn to be much kinder and learn to respect each other and our limitations. If you think you are somehow better because you can't kill an animal then you are the one with the problem. By the same token, if you think you are somehow better because you can kill an animal you are the one with the problem!

I do emphasize with you, but would like to add my perspective. I dread butchering day and I mean I truly, truly dread it. Killing an animal is not fun -- it's not even matter of fact -- it's awful for me. I spent a lot of time soul searching as a result and very strongly considered going vegan. I ultimately decided that I would go vegan if I couldn't bring myself to do this. But, because I really wanted to continue eating meat, as well as providing meat for my family, I found the will to carry on.

I read a lot of really excellent advice in these forums which helped me cope with the butchering day trauma. Ultimately I realized that, as hard as it was on me, it was kinder towards the animals if I raised them with care and attention and then calmly and swiftly dispatched them. Sure, it's easier on me to pick up a packet of meat at the market, but I know that chicken probably had a wretched life. To paraphrase I post I read from somewhere else on this forum, I was essentially transferring the difficulty from myself to the chicken. I'm far from perfect and don't feel I have a lofty opinion of myself, but I do feel proud of my choices in this particular situation.

Now, all that being said, everyone makes different choices, and I agree that we need to be kind to one another. If you find killing chickens too traumatic, I understand that and I give you A LOT of credit that you at least tried. It sounds to me that you are at least appreciative of the effort that goes into processing and I respect that.

 

[Morrigan]

one of the best posts I have read especially the last paragraph.

A lot of people must fell some underlying guilt with slaughtering animals that they are trying to gain acceptance for there deeds. My neighbors, friends, family look at me like a 2 headed monster when I tell them about killing, bleeding and carving up the corpse of a animal. Firstly how the hell do you get in to that kind of conversation in the first place unless you are looking for a pat on the back or some kind of acceptance. If you need acceptance then its time to rethink what you are doing as it seems to be having a affect on you.

Ive worked in slaughter houses and ive worked close to the killing line. The people who work there are not soulless and they are not racked with guilt. They take pride in doing there job quickly and clean. Never will you hear them outside of work discussing what they do and going in to graphic detail then demand that everyone worships them.

I don't know whether it's underlying guilt or not, gpop1, but I do know that that butchering day is difficult. I find it helpful to discuss that with, and get support from, people on the forums who are experiencing the same thing. I grew up in the city and had no experience with butchering at all until I retired. It was as difficult transition. Am I seeking validation? Perhaps. But then again, most of us tend to do that on some level. I do not volunteer to people that I raise animals for food, much less describe the gory details. But when people visit, they see the animals and they ask what the animals "are for." Maybe I shouldn't care if they look at me like I am hard-hearted, evil or weird. But I do and I don't like it.

 

[Beekissed]

one of the best posts I have read especially the last paragraph.

A lot of people must fell some underlying guilt with slaughtering animals that they are trying to gain acceptance for there deeds. My neighbors, friends, family look at me like a 2 headed monster when I tell them about killing, bleeding and carving up the corpse of a animal. Firstly how the hell do you get in to that kind of conversation in the first place unless you are looking for a pat on the back or some kind of acceptance. If you need acceptance then its time to rethink what you are doing as it seems to be having a affect on you.

Ive worked in slaughter houses and ive worked close to the killing line. The people who work there are not soulless and they are not racked with guilt. They take pride in doing there job quickly and clean. Never will you hear them outside of work discussing what they do and going in to graphic detail then demand that everyone worships them.

Nope again. No one is out there telling about butchering day or wanting a pat on the back to provoke negative responses from the public and family and friends. Small town, small neighborhoods, small family or social groups so everyone knows what everyone else is up to and most of the bleeding heart people will come right out and ASK you if you eat them when they find out you raise your own chickens/sheep/cattle/etc, just so they can get their spiel in that they could never do that because they are too compassionate and you must not be. It's THOSE people who bring up the topic, much like they will start a thread called "Do you eat your pets" or they will troll the meat section of this forum, interjecting their dismay and horror that we are eating our own animals. I've even had people drive by my home and see us out processing and attack me about it when I get to work...the whole, "How COULD you raise them from a baby and then kill them????" whine. Yes, where I live folks are just that nosy.

I've never once initiated a conversation to anyone in these parts~ other than my close family who also kill animals for food~about my butchering efforts. When asked or confronted, I'm not going to lie nor will I evade the question, as I don't think it's anything of which to be ashamed. It's just normal behavior to procure your own meat and then eat it...been that way since the beginning of time and it's only recently that this has become such a debate or so-called moral dilemma. There shouldn't even be a dilemma....if you eat it, you should accept that it has to die first. If not by your own hand, then by the hand of another but just shut up about it all if you can't be the one that actually does the killing. Either way an animal dies, whether you do it or not, so eating meat and then whining about the folks who kill their own is not acceptable to me and I'll take a stand against that level of irrational thinking every single time. It's ludicrous.

I don't bring it up, but nor will I back down from it when they do. It's the principle of the thing. No one is demanding worship at all...they just want folks to leave them alone about it all. Don't say a word. Nada. Don't make a snurly face or voice an opinion of how you feel about people who kill their own meat...it's a nonissue if you too eat meat. One of us just kills it first, the other has someone else do it, but we both eat the end product. No one is more saintly than the other in that case. Those who bring it up and want to appear saintly are those who are not killing their own...each and every single time, IME.

Nor do most of us feel any guilt. I don't feel guilt at all for killing an animal for food...it's the natural course of things if one eats meat and I eat meat. It has to get dead somehow and I don't see anyone else stepping up for the job around my place and I'm not willing to wait until it dies of old age and illness before I cook that thing.