tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post8383245492340205038..comments2024-03-14T04:07:39.792-07:00Comments on Earl Pomerantz: Just Thinking...: "Whither, The Cow?"Earl Pomerantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16963705121297866334noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-8798217182239330572009-06-16T17:59:30.100-07:002009-06-16T17:59:30.100-07:001- You just might want to reinterpret The Wealth o...1- You just might want to reinterpret <i>The Wealth of Nations</i> in Pomerantz-ese. That'd sell a trillion copies.<br /><br />2- I eat cows. While I'm not all that thrilled about factory farming, I'm also not that bothered by it. People have tried to flip my squeamish switch with appalling tales of Upton Sinclair-ish horrors and I simply glaze over, catatonic with disinterest.<br /><br />These are the advantages of being shallow.Joehttp://blog.vinapedia.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-45069425804149572232009-06-15T00:54:39.092-07:002009-06-15T00:54:39.092-07:00Go watch Food Inc. See how far we've come from...Go watch Food Inc. See how far we've come from the mythologized ideal world of meat and farming. See how we all feel about those damned fart machines then.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-56988465381758467272009-06-12T20:57:51.153-07:002009-06-12T20:57:51.153-07:00As a rancher once put it to me, cattle are pretty ...As a rancher once put it to me, cattle are pretty much man’s way of turning grass into something he can eat. Otherwise it’s pretty much just lawns and golf.<br /><br />We’re a family of four – two vegans, and two…well…guys. Must admit the vegans have gotten me sufficiently squeamish with accounts of all this factory farming. Only one thing pretty much keeping me from going over, tofu. My son, has an interesting counterargument. He says if taking a lower form of life is no different morally than taking any other life, vegetarians are the most bloodthirsty of all. “Far more insects are killed growing fruit and vegetable to feed us than cattle or chickens. We are now entering the organic phase of that discussion.A. Buck Shorthttp://roger-burke.dailykos.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-46499302549549910672009-06-12T13:41:38.355-07:002009-06-12T13:41:38.355-07:00Interesting question.
I recall reading in a book,...Interesting question.<br /><br />I recall reading in a book, I think it was a LeCarre novel, but if someone were to say I was wrong, I wouldn't spend a second disagreeing, that the cows in India are considered sacred, therefore left alone.<br /><br />As a result, they are often in bad shape, Undernourished, susceptible to disease and the like.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-89428488139940591882009-06-12T10:22:48.565-07:002009-06-12T10:22:48.565-07:00I love your blog and I eat beef, but I have to tak...I love your blog and I eat beef, but I have to take exception to the statement, "Under the system currently in place, people – farmers and ranchers – take care of cows."<br /><br />They don't actually. They cross breed their cattle to the point that the cows often cannot give birth naturally because the calves are so big. Ranchers also use artificial insemination to the point where cows are giving birth far more often than nature meant them to.<br /><br />This is why beef is no longer uniformly as good as it was decades ago and why Kobe beef is so expensive. Not that cows necessarily need to be massaged or serenaded by classical music, but it is more expensive to "take care of them" than it is to wring every last penny you can from their hide.<br /><br />And it isn't only cows. Pigs, chickens, mink and other animals raised for food or their skins are abused daily all over America. It is an issue that is just now starting to be spotlighted and, hopefully, it won't be too much longer before there is new regulation.<br /><br />It will take a fight, though, because the ranchers are a powerful lobby. In fact, they filed suit against one of their own who wanted to innoculate ALL of his cattle against some disease, because he'd have been allowed to advertise the fact and it would have put pressure on all the rest of them to do the same...which would have been expensive. And the court agreed. Of course, that's a decision begging to be overturned, but it still shows the current state of affairs.<br /><br />So, while I believe in the food chain, I wish I had the will power to be a vegetarian. Because although I don't mind eating meat, I'd prefer it come from animals who had not been tortured first.<br /><br />Oh, wait. Aren't you from Canada? I bet they DO take care of their animals there. Maybe I should just move.Rebeccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07395686312754791503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-11388947580313960062009-06-12T07:36:24.517-07:002009-06-12T07:36:24.517-07:00I agree, and insulting them whenever we get the ch...I agree, and insulting them whenever we get the chance keeps cows humble. Cows don't mind.<br /><br />Someday soon Obama will realize the worth of cow leadership and will be able to entrust cows everywhere to lead America forward into greener green times, which cows naturally love.growingupartistshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12399714569663568902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-43615492680865114362009-06-12T04:46:19.224-07:002009-06-12T04:46:19.224-07:00If cows weren't domesticated, they'd be bu...If cows weren't domesticated, they'd be buffalo. And hence almost extinct.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com