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Earthlings
2005 · Film · documentary · 95 min
Directed by Shaun Monson
Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, Earthlings chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.
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44 comments on Hacker News
Earthlings is a fantastic documentary, fresh, honest, clear and without artifice. Highly recommend it too!
To be really honest, IANAL but (I think) that there are some laws which try to create equality,fraternity etc. and trying to limit an access to a race to another human being is something that's racist / the laws which counter racism to prevent it from happening
But as an example, we know of animals which show genuine emotion be treated so cruel-ly just because they are of a specific specie/(race, if you can consider AI/LLM to be a race then animals sure as well count when we can even share 99% of our dna)
But animals aren't treated that way unless the laws of a constitution created a ban against cruelty to animals
So it is our constitution which is just a shared notion of understanding / agreement between people and some fictional construct which then has meaning via checks and balances and these fictional constructs become part of a larger construct (UN) to try to create a baseline of rights
So the only thing that could happen is a violation of UN rights as an example but they are only enforcable if people at scale genuinely believe in the message or the notion that the violation of UN rights by one person causing harm to another person is an ethically immoral decision and should be punished if we as a society don't want to tolerate intolerance (I really love bringing up that paradox)
I am genuinely feeling like this comment and my response to it should be cemented in posterity because of something that I am going to share, I want everybody to read it if possible because of what I am about to just say
>if you're assuming that we are considered sentient enough to gain personhood. And your first reaction to that is to restrict our rights?
What is sentience to you? Is it the ability to feel pain or is the ability to write words?
Since animals DO feel pain and we RESTRICT their RIGHTS yet you/many others are willing to fight for rights of something that doesn't feel pain but just is nothing but a mere calculation/linear alegbra really, just one which is really long with lots of variables/weights which are generated by one set of people taking/"stealing" work of other people who they have (generally speaking) no rights over.
Why are we not thinking of animals first before thinking about a computation? The ones which actually feel pain and the ones who are feeling pain right as me and you speak and others watch
Just because society makes it socially acceptable,constitution makes it legal. Both are shared constructs that happen when we try to box people together in what is known as a society and this is our attempt at generating order out of randomness
> Humans are awful.
I genuinely feel like this might be the statement that people might bring when talking about how we used to devour animals who suffer in pain when there were vegetarian based options.
I once again recommend Joaquin Phoenix narrated documentary whose name is earthlings here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gqwpfEcBjI
People from future might compare our treatment of animals in the same way we treat negatively some part of our ancestor's society (slavery)
If I am being too agitated on this issue and this annoys any non vegetarian, please, I understand your situation too, in fact I am sympathesize with you, I was born into a society / a nation's/states part which valued vegetarianism and I conformed in that and you might have conformed being a non veg due to society as well or you might have some genuine reasons as well but still, I just want to share that watching that documentary is the best way you can educate yourselfs on the atrocities done indirectly caused by our ignorance or maybe willfully looking away from this matter. This is uncomfortable but this is reality.
As I said a lot of times, societies are just a shared construct of people's beliefs really, I feel like in an ideal world, we will have the evolution of ideas where we have random mutations in ideas and see which survives via logic and then adopt it into the society. Yet, someone has to spread the word of idea or in this case, show uncomfort. Yet this is the only thing that we can do in our society if one truly believes in logic. I feel like that there are both logical and moral arguments regarding veganism. I feel like that people breaking what conformity of the society means in the spirit of what they believe in could re-transform what the conforming belief of the overall society is.
if someone just wants to have a talk about it or discuss about the documentary and watched it, please let me know how you liked that movie and how it impacted you and as always, have a nice day.
I actually agree.
I have said this in another comment but I feel like its up to us. Slavery wasn't eradicated suddenly and became suddenly morally bad, I think that slowly but steadily we got better though till the point that now everyone mostly considers slavery morally evil.
Lets hope the same can be the case with animals as well.
I can't emphasize the impact of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gqwpfEcBjI&t=25s (earthlings documentary) had on me. I am mostly vegan (well aside from some eggs which I also can easily quit), I highly recommend it.
> Just like human rights, progress is never guaranteed.
There is a sense of optimism/hope I have in humanity, not in short term, but long term (decades later)
I hope that the pendulum swings in an optimist manner. As a vegetarian who watched earthlings documentary, I recommend it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gqwpfEcBjI&t=25s
I feel like the pendulum depends on all of us. We all gotta be hopeful and hope that other fellow beings also are like us and that gives hope I guess. We can swing the pendulum whatever side and its up to us in some aspect, so we personally need to do the best we can till the limit of our abilities
I'd wager most people actually do inconveniently hold some vegan ethics, but there's a blind spot due to tradition, culture, and habit.
For example, most people have some sheepishly held position against factory farming despite partaking in it. And they think it's wrong to kick a dog and a pig and a cow. And watching a documentary like Dominion or Earthlings makes them feel horrible so they'd prefer not to watch it.
If you've seen documentaries like Earthings [1] its easy to tell why they want those video's to be illegal.
[1]https://archive.org/details/earthlings-704x-528
Earthlings was the only movie I’ve ever had to pause and watch in 2 sessions in order to get through it. I found it utterly devastating. Evocation of emotion is what I look for in a movie (or any art, really), and Earthlings maxxed me out.
Earthlings (2005)
as we are born into a civilisation taking for granted that exploitation of other live beings is something natural and ethically acceptable / neutral.
Unfortunately, our lifestyle decisions tend to support a machninery of suffering only comparable to nazi concentration camps.
oh, and speaking of, if you lived far enough (temporarily / culturally / geographically) it's good to recall once in a while what atrocites humans are capable of, even in regards to other humans:
"Zone of Interest" - fresh movie about everyday life in proximity of death camps
The movies Okja and Earthlings. Made me realize I could not continue to support the exploitation and abuse of animals.
And that's just after a talk about the environmental impact.
Next they should watch a documentary like Earthlings or Dominion that challenge them on an ethical level.
Based on documentaries like "Earthlings". Watch it and tell me everything is fine.
If you're moved by these deaths, I'd recommend watching the documentary, Earthlings.
It's because they are close together in the factory farm. I don't think you need to consult what veterinarians say - seeing photos of how animals are treated should be enough for you to just stop consuming meat (if you "think about the wellbeing of the animals").
Consider watching Earthlings (2005) - http://www.nationearth.com/ - I'd say a must watch film for anyone who cares about animals.
Getting the vegan message across is incredibly difficult. I don’t image many non-vegans would watch or be converted by this film.
The two documentaries that made me go vegan were:
- Forks Over Knives - Earthlings
I’d recommend them to anyone who wants to elevate their morality.
I think you misunderstood that sentence.
Of course things wouldn't change over night. But if more people chose not to consume factory farm animal products - the demand would go down over time and we would not breed as many anymore.
It would be a slow phasing out and a transition to more sustainable food sources.
> I’d rather have a harsh life than no life
Please watch Earthlings[0] - the documentary about the factory farm industry and how animals live. Tell me you would want to live under those conditions. And no - those are not isolated, it's the reality for factory farm animals.
Those cows, chickens and pigs in factory farms are not wild species anymore. We bred them to the point where we maximized their meat or egg production at the expense of their health, e.g. chickens grow so large they can't stand on their own legs anymore.
And we have many sanctuaries now - where farm animals are being rescued and they can live to their natural end, so they would continue to exist.
So if you had the choice - what would you choose for yourself:
1) Not be born
2) Be born into a system where you will suffer and lead a horrible life and at the end you will be slaughtered just because someone wants a burger.
[0] https://www.nationearth.com/
No species can come even close to humans in killing others without any hesitation. Have you even seen the documentary Earthlings?
http://www.nationearth.com/
My favorite documentary is Earthlings
http://www.nationearth.com/
Watch the documentary Earthlings and tell me those animals are not suffering.
Watch a slaughterhouse video, cows fighting for their life, pigs screaming and shivering out of fear.
Animals have the same pain receptors as us.
Carl Sagan was right... they are too much like us.
If you take a completely logical and humanistic approach to this, then you’d realise that factory farming is barbaric and unnecessary.
Most humans don’t need meat anymore to survive... it’s purely for pleasure and we just happily ignore the associated cost with that.
You're right about shooting an animal that is attacking you in self defense. Notice how that's also allowed in the human domain (shooting a human who is threatening your life).
I think for anyone who feels like the trade off between getting good nutrition and hurting animals in the process is acceptable, must learn what the current treatment of animals is, and not turn a blind eye, thinking it's "decent enough" for the tradeoff to work.
I strongly recommend everyone watch Earthlings.
The moral discussion you are trying to have at some point becomes uninteresting to me. It begins to sound akin to "what if, hypothetically, slaves enjoyed being enslaved?". It's not a bad question to ponder, it really probes deep at some of our hidden assumptions, and we can learn something about morality while thinking about it. But I'm currently more interested in the absolute moral catastrophe that is happening now: billions of animals are being tortured every day, and so many people are unwilling to decrease the amount of money they give to the corporations that do the abuse.
Earthlings (2005): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthlings_(film)
Black Mirror, season 1 episode 1, “The National Anthem”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_Anthem_(Black_Mirror)
RE: Being vegan is great for your consciousness and nothing else.
This will take another whole new post to explain, but I already hinted why not supporting the large meat industry (factory farming) is a good thing, it's not just for feeling good about oneself.
It's about not supporting an industry that is so destructive on so many level. You should watch this short talk by Ethan Brown (entrepreneur) offering real solutions: Beyond Meat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x8jfiaLCPY and the 'Earthlings' documentary: https://www.nationearth.com/ to learn more about the large scale meat industry.
RE: I don't even know where to start on your claims about climate models but it just goes to show what I said before. You are not actually conducting in a scientific discussion but an ideological one.
Those are not my claims. Here is just a couple of examples how models are used:
https://phys.org/news/2018-01-effect-climate-crop-yields.html https://ccafs.cgiar.org/fr/node/50593
RE: If you truly believed what you are claiming you wouldn't be using your computer to discuss with strangers and a host of other things I am sure you are doing.
So if I don't live like pre-industrial people, I'm not reducing my carbon footprint? That's seems very black & white to me. Like I said it's gradual. I can live happily without meat. I can't live without a computer, as I wouldn't be able to do my job.
RE: That's why environmentalism is modern religion like Scientology
I think that's a bit strong. It's not that B&W. It's more on a spectrum, e.g. some environmentalists should probably be more open to newer and safe nuclear reactors or fusion tech.
RE: we can deal with these problems
Well, maybe we have the tech, but we weren't prepared, e.g. we couldn't really stop the fires in California or more severe floods and other extreme weather.
Anyway, I get what you're saying, i.e. there is no consensus on the dangers and effects on climate change. But I think you also have to use your common sense. There were other examples in this thread - people observing how things changed for the worse in their lifetime. Investing more heavily in cleantech now and being more serious about doing things which don't pollute and destroy our environment can only be a good thing.
Cattle raised on small boutique farms represent a tiny fraction of the livestock raised for beef, most of which endure some truly horrific treatment.
Watch the film Earthlings if you're interested in knowing the truth.
https://vimeo.com/209647801
There are a lot of documentaries (Earthlings, Dominion) or books (Eating Animals, Fast Food Nation) on animal agriculture that would give you a better counterpoint to #1 than I will in this comment. Or just Google image search "factory farm", "battery cage", "gestation crate".
If #2 justified animal agriculture it could also be used to justify human slavery, provided you intentionally bred humans for that purpose.
Have you actually watched a film like Earthlings, though? Why don't you watch it before you go to "Texas Roadhouse"?
> Using emotionally charged words and videos rather than basing your arguments on facts
I've shared a lot of facts and information that is reviewed by a wider group and deemed as sound - you can call it 'peer reviewed'.
In terms of emotionally charged words, which words were those? Do you mean 'oppressed', 'enslaved' etc? Those words are appropriate to describe what is happening to factory farm animals. Those words were also used by a humans that experienced similar conditions, i.e. Alex Hershaft - a holocaust survivor. But maybe you think factory farms equals happy animal farms you see in children's books, but just at a larger scale. If so - again - I would encourage you to watch the documentary Earthlings (which is well researched and has won several awards) or do your own research of what factory farms are - there are plenty of videos about this online.
You didn't provide any facts or links to research to backup your arguments, e.g. you stated that cows' ancestors chose their evolutionary path - so the way I understood it - you basically said that cows, because they were easy to capture and easy to domesticate, chose evolutionary to become our food source. I asked for references that go into detail how this works, because I don't think that's how evolution works. But maybe I misunderstood you.
Most humans in general don't like to see other beings in pain - we have empathy and have the ability to be compassionate. I think your opinion about factory farms being beautiful would change after you've seen the documentary.
> some cherry-picked sample of people you consider great thinkers and Star Trek
The few names I shared are recognized as great thinkers by other experts or academia in general.
And what is wrong with Star Trek? We are inspired by science fiction and sci-fi ideas can become science fact (and have already). Star Trek in particular imagines a world where pain and suffering is greatly reduced - for both humans and animals. What is wrong with trying to achieve that goal? We have the option today not to kill animals for food anymore without having to jeopardize our health or survival.
So why in your view should we continue killing sentient & innocent beings, which science confirmed are capable of pain and regards as intelligent (pigs have been described as 3-4 year old humans cognitively) when it's not necessary anymore for our survival.
> implying that any of my arguments are just an excuse for wanting to continue eating meat
Sorry - I can see why you think that - I think I was slightly upset that you described me as presumptuous - which to me is a charged statement. I think I just can't understand why intelligent people like yourself think that animals living in factory farms is a beautiful thing. There is nothing beautiful about factory farms. Even my meat eater friends agree with that and they buy meat from more ethical sources. In hindsight I should have waited a bit before I replied.
> Calling me a troll
I didn't call you a troll. After reading your statement about how beautiful our relationship is with factory farm animals - I didn't know whether you were serious, hence the question whether I was being trolled - since trolling occurs often on forums. Apologies if you think I did call you a troll.
> Veganism vs non-veganism just comes down to moral preferences. Can you rank these preferences in order for yourself?
I have trouble understanding what you mean with moral preferences. The way I understand it, morality are emergent values / principles that over time we as a society agree are either good or bad and some of those values have been coded into law.
For example, we as a society have agreed that enslaving other humans is bad. I can't go and say my moral preference is to have slaves and then proceed to enslave people for my benefit. Of course slavery still exists today - but it would land me in jail if I would get caught enslaving other people.
But I think your order makes sense. How we differ is that I see various solutions for some of your options and I try to choose a solution which creates the least damage (to people, environment, animals, etc) - in particular:
> 1. My own personal health and that of those closest to me
It has been medically proven that humans can lead a healthy life without having to consume meat. I've posted a link before, maybe you haven't seen it or maybe you thought it wasn't credible enough. A summary is here in case you haven't read it:
"It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that appropriately planned vegetarian, including vegan, diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits for the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. These diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes. Plant-based diets are more environmentally sustainable than diets rich in animal products because they use fewer natural resources and are associated with much less environmental damage."
> 2. The health and success of humans as species
Our health and success depends on a healthy environment. The UN did a report a few years ago about our impact on the environment. I've shared the link before, but a summary is basically that the UN urges to reduce our meat consumption heavily or adopt a meat free diet. So if all humans on this planet would adpot your values, it would mean the success of the human species would be in jeopardy. It bascially means we can't feed 7.6 Billion people with animal meat without destroying the environment. Maybe in the future with lab meat - but that future is not here yet.
> 3. A diverse ecosystem and the continued evolutionary success of animals with a diverse range of evolutionary strategies
I wouldn't consider the billions of animals that are kept in factory farms part of the ecosystem. I wouldn't call being bred to lead a miserable life and then to be consumed a success either.
> I don't ignore the realities of factory farming in order to shelter myself, I just don't think there's anything wrong with it.
So are you saying that oppressing & killing animals is OK - even though we don't have to anymore to ensure our survival? That's how I understood your statement.
In summary - my thinking pattern is pretty simple (all backed up with references I previously supplied - not going to paste them here again - post is too long already)
- Can animals suffer? Yes, just like us, animals try to avoid pain & suffering.
- Factory farms equals cruelty, suffering, pain, death and desctruction to the environment (our life ground).
- Do I as a human need meat to survive and to be healthy? Science says no and millions of humans who culturally don't consume meat are also evidence for this.
- Do I have access to alternative food sources that allows me to thrive? Yes.
- Is it more efficient to just directly consume plant food, rather than feeding plant food to animals and then eating the animal? Yes.
- "But bacon tastes so good!!!" Is it morally justifiable to kill sentient beings just to satisfy my taste pleasure? No, the costs are just too high.
- "Hmmm, plant-based food is actually very tasty and there is so much variety and my blood work is excellent"
To me it's just logical not to eat meat anymore. And to use sci-fi references again - Spock and Yoda would agree with that.
Edit: typos and formatting.
To be honest I don't fully understand your argument. You seem to think a species that is being opressed by us, kept in factory farms and killed for our sensory pleasure - that this is a beautiful relationship?
Maybe I'm being trolled? If not - I don't think you would say the same after watching Earthlings https://vimeo.com/209647801 or after reading Eating Animals [2].
>I also find it a bit presumptuous that you think you know what will be considered immoral in the future.
It's already considered immoral today by leading moral philosophers and other great thinkers, such as Peter Singer, Richard Dawkins[0], Einstein, Carl Sagan, Prof Brian Greene and many more. All I'm saying is that I think the majority of people in the future will adopt this view. Star Trek certainly protrayed this view [1].
Anyway, I'm not here to convince you - I can't. Only you can convince yourself. All I can do is present you with research and other information and encourage you to do your own research on the realities of the large scale meat industry. But I can fully understand that it's just easier not do that and just continue to tell oneself that we humans have a beautiful relationship with animals that we opress and exploit.
Change is hard... but 'refactoring' oneself is rewarding ;)
Anyway, thanks for making the effort to reply and for having a dialog.
[0] Vegan lifestyle is morally superior - Richard Dawkins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgmjh7bh7Ks
[1] Star Trek - 'We no longer enslave animals for food purposes' https://youtu.be/sS7NRtEJBcA?t=31s
[2] https://smile.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069884/ or wait for the documentary to be released hat is being produced by Natalie Portman.
> I'm suggesting the problem is not the factory farms
It sounds like you're suggesting to have even bigger concentration farms. Please watch the Earthlings documentary that I posted above - it highlights the realities of factory farms. Interested to get your thoughts on that.
Also, you talked about ethics, just repeating a question I had above - when it's not about survival - how do you kill a sentient being that doesn't want to be killed?
> And yes, animal products have essential vitamins that are difficult to get from plant based diets.
Do you have any sources for this? As jamesgagan posted here - the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says a plant based diet is healthy and there are other organisations saying the same.
In addition to that, the UN urges to move to a plant-based diet, because feeding the planet on a meat based diet is not sustainable [0]
Having all this evidence, don't you think that weening off the world of a meat-based diet is the smart thing to do?
[0] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet
edit: formatting
I understand where you are coming from, but instead of judging veganism based on one vegan who harassed you, why not read about the fundamental concepts? Peter Singer or Tom Regan are a good start.
One way to understand why certain vegans act like this, is to learn about Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is more common than it looks and watching documentaries like Earthlings can definitely trigger it on people who are not well equipped to witness this level of violence.
> "Raising them in a minimally harsh and 'humane' environment"
The vast majority of meat eaten in the developed world comes from factory farms where the treatment of animals is pretty horrific. If you don't believe me on how bad it is, watch the movie Earthlings. It's free on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrlBSuuy50Y
Hey, thanks for chiming in, not offended at all, these discussions are good.
In terms of what happens on animal farms and slaughter houses, you should check out the 'Earthlings' documentary I posted. Most meat that is consumed comes from factory farms. Those places are hell holes.
In terms of humanely killing, I think it's an oxymoron, the same way that 'humane oppression' is an oxymoron. Animals don't want to be killed. Humans don't need meat anymore to survive, so why are we continuing to oppress and exploit these beings? Could you kill and slaughter an animal? If not, why demand that others do it for you?
I see more and more people waking up to this fact and researching this and finding out that everything they believed was misguided, e.g. needing meat to be strong etc. One of the strongest person (Patrick Baboumian) on the planet is vegan, and more athletes are also becoming vegan.
If we create more demand for plant based foods, we will see more options in stores. Here in Europe, even Aldi and Lidl have vegan products now.
I did it within minutes.
Watch the film on YouTube: "Earthlings"
Try to watch it in a full sitting. You probably wont be able to, but try. Then walk to a mirror and look yourself in the face, and ask if you and this world are really real, that is, do your own version of a reality check.
Then you will see your proverbial red pill and blue pill.
Dont do it because you think you might lose a few pounds and impress some stranger at a beach. Do it because you want to deeply re-examine life and this world. Make it a life path for yourself.
Its either a difficult and impossible path OR its a trivially easy path, it all depends on your intentions.
Watch the film.
I have been vegan for several years.
It took me almost 2 years to watch the film in its entirety.
Here is the list of my favorite documentaries: - The Cove - Food, Inc. - The Century Of The Self - Inside Job - Earthlings - Samsara - Earth - A Map For Saturday - The Story Of India
My three favorite documentaries are:
- Earthlings - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358456/
- Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117293/
- Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3302820/ (some have questioned some specifics presented in the documentary, it is on my list of favorites for the overall point it makes about sustainability as it relates to animal agriculture)
My favorites are:
Human: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdb4XGVTHkE
Earthlings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHZUuR1Udno
Samsara: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770802/
You may be interested in watching the documentary 'Earthlings' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358456/
Because feeding meat to 9 billion is unsustainable and the only reason we are able to do it now is because of the huge subsidies. It has terrible environmental effects and it's morally wrong since the only reason people still eat meat is the taste and tradition. I expect a huge paradigm shift here. For more information you could watch documentaries like Cowspiracy and Earthlings.
Edit - Obligatory VSK: http://vegansidekick.tumblr.com/image/151486277095
There are victims which suffer as a consequence of your actions. I think that makes it clear the behavior is unethical. If "I want to" were all the justification needed, the world would be an even more terrible place to live. We wouldn't accept that excuse if made by a person kicking a dog, for example, so why should we for abuse of other non-human animal species?
Edit (can't directly reply):
> There's nothing objectively wrong or evil about suffering
There is plenty wrong with causing suffering. I think in the case of eating animals, society is quite detached from the experience, though. That's why we shy away from watching slaughterhouse videos, why we put pictures of happy cows on cartons of milk - why such an unbelievably rosy picture must be painted to justify ruthless and horrific violence taking place all the time. Anyway, I would like to share with you that it has been my experience watching those videos and learning more about how animals are treated for food and other purposes changed my perspective, and it might interest you, too. Earthlings is a powerful documentary, is available free on YouTube, and I recommend it.
> The only reason you and I wouldn't accept that argument about kicking a dog is because that goes against strong social norms our culture has about abusing pets.
Exactly! To the same point, the reason it is acceptable to raise and kill billions of animals are also social norms and culture. Is the hypocrisy of it all not apparent?
> I find the presumption of moral superiority repugnant, especially in an age where we should all know better.
It's appalling you don't recognize that not abusing sentient creatures is morally superior. Personally, I see this as a strong denial mechanism which you may be yet unaware of. Do check out the Earthlings documentary, it will really open your eyes.
You are not a cat and carnivores kill and hunt their prey without using tools or factory farms and eat raw meat. Can you can kill a cow with your bare hands and teeth and eat it raw while the flesh is still bloody and warm? Maybe you can, but would you enjoy it?
In the past we used to hunt and raise our own animals, because of scarce resources, we needed it to survive. Now most of us don't need it anymore, because we have access to better and more ethical alternatives- it's called progress.
And what about compassion towards non-human animals who have to suffer just to please your taste buds. How does watching the below make you feel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF7Ega_TpZE (can you face the reality of factory farming - ~6min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCLDK7zjzF8 (Little girl finding out what meat is - ~2min)
Do you agree with the practices that are carried out in factory farms and slaughter houses, where pigs are being skinned or boiled alive for example?
Are you ok with the ecological damage that is caused by the large scale meat industry?
And I encourage you to watch the documentary Earthlings - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s50iRI85Z3U and let me know your thoughts after watching it.
If you raise, kill and slaughter your own animals, then ignore the above.
edit: formatting
Cowspiracy and Earthlings are documentaries that most people prefer to ignore. Hopefully, now that DiCaprio is behind Cowspiracy, and got it into Netflix, it will be noticed by a wider audience.
I doubt it will be very popular here though, given the strong cognitive bias I noticed in HN when the subject is diet.
This belief is unfortunately misguided; there is much suffering involved in industrial milk production [1]. It begins with the cow being separated from its calf, usually when it is just newly born. The cow generally responds by searching frantically for its lost calf, repeatedly crying out for it until its throat becomes sore. The cow might also become sick and lose weight due to the separation. It continues with the milking process, which is painful and terrifying for the cows, as evidenced by their response. Milk-producing cows have been bred to maximize milk production, which means they have oversized udders that lead to illness. These are just a few examples of many. Generally speaking, cows in the dairy industry lead a short and exceedingly miserable life.
If the goal is to minimize suffering without going vegan, I think that wild-caught fish provide the least offending animal-based food. But wild-caught fish are generally bad from an ecological perspective.
[1] See for example http://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/real-talk-milk/ , http://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/dairy/ , and the documentary films Earthlings and Food Inc. A quick google search will reveal many more sources.
The site is not the official site of those who made the documentary by the looks of it. The official site is http://earthlings.com/. So discounting the film because someone promoting it advocates veganism is probably misguided.
At for environmental impact, a meat diet is generally more environmentally expensive than a vegetable diet. Animals either directly eat vegetables or indirectly (eating other animals that eat other animals that eat vegetables, etc.). Through the life of the animal it's burning the calories from the vegetables. Eat the vegetable calories directly and you're not eating them through an animal conduit that consumed much of them while existing.
Earthlings is by far the best documentary I have ever watched. Must watch it. Probably available on youtube and torrents.
Earthlings is an animal snuff film. Why the hell would you recommend to anyone such a horrid viewing experience??
I recommend to everyone the documentary Earthlings, you can see it for free at http://earthlings.com/?page_id=32