How do I explain to an anti-meat person???

[3mina]

Did you remember to give your dad a coin? There's an old tradition where if you don't the knife will cut the relationship.

 

[Miss M]

Oh also, a new development since the original question...we had a late gift exchange for the family...and my dad went overboard this year with gifting, lol. He said he couldn't choose which thing I'd like/need more so he got both.

The others looked confused when I unwrapped the prettiest, finest pair of skinning/field dressing knives, complete with a very nice gut-hook. One's nice and big for deer, the other is wee, for rabbits. My aunt asked "why the heck would you want knives?"

Before I could answer, my dad cheerily explained that my knives SUCK and won't hold an edge, and how I have to keep borrowing his...and then he explained how to use them and how the gut-hook works. :twisted: I just sat there in pure delight with my shiny new knives as my dad extolled the virtues of a good knife and why perforating the guts is a bad idea and so forth and such-like.

Everyone left this afternoon. GEE, WONDER WHY!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

BWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

Give your dad a hug from me. That was sheer awesomeness. :twisted:

 

[JohnMc]

Especially for the older generation, growing your own food, whether animal or vegetable, is a social stigma. It is a mark of social and economic standing if you can afford to buy your food at the store and let the peasants do the dirty work for you. This also goes for sewing your own clothes, repairing your car, mowing your lawn, fixing plumbing, electrical, etc. etc. etc.

Dang I must have just crossed the border and am penniless! Because I do most all these things for myself. Oil Change? Natch. Mow the lawn. Yep. House repairs. Of Course. Garden? Yes. Being self sufficient to me is a mark of pride.

Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.
-- Benjamin Franklin

 

[Zab]

Now I envy you! I want knives too!... well I'm the kind of person who just sticks to the one in her hand anyway because it's easier to use the same dull knife for everything than reach out and grab another, sharper and more suitable one.. :lol:

I do love some questions even I get. Or rather the expression of peoples faces. "Do you kill them yourself or do you send them away?" (this is sweden.. we don't have more than a handful butcherers in the whole country that even do rabbits - I never remember if it's 1 or 4 of them.., and no way I'll raise them here and then send them away to some commercial butchewr place to get them back again..) So I answer "There's not many places to send them to." .. "So you KILL them, yourself!?" :O ... "Yeh well dad refuse to do it for me and it's my rabbits and my idea.. who else would do it?" Then they keep staring. :lol: You could almost see how the thought of raising healthy, happy meat and they know how well my rabbits are cared for.. but then the train of thought derails when it comes to picturing me killing anything, whereon they ask "How do you do it?" I answer truthfully that I hit them and debleed them. I usually try to phrace it delicatly, but well. There isn't much delicacy about it.
Now they picture me with a heavy iron bar in one hand, blood all over me and slicing the throat of a rabbit with the other hand. The facial expressions are priceless. I believe that sometimes in their imagination I must be lauginh like a maniac too, concidering the glimpse of horror I detect in their eyes.

It's quite entertaining, albeit a bit boring after a while. But I think every person I've spoken with completely understand the point in breeding happy meat v.s. meat industry meat, although the whole ''bunny serial killer'' thing is hard to wrap their heads around.
What amazes me is that they're still supportive when I come crying about a sick kit I had to put down, even though I kill the lot later in their lives..

 

[michaels4gardens]

I was amazed that my Daughter [24] asked to come see how I butchered rabbits, I asked why she wanted to watch, she answered, -- I may need to know how some day-- so - she came and watched me dislocate the neck, hang them up, cut off the head, skin, and gut, for about 3 or 4 rabbits, -- I asked her what she thought-- she said -- well I know its necasary, I know we eat rabbits, -- but-- F-n grose. and walked back in the house.

_

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Did you remember to give your dad a coin? There's an old tradition where if you don't the knife will cut the relationship.

Never heard of that!!! :x Do chocolate coins count? We bought each other a lot of candy, too, and I got him a stack of chocolate coins, LOL!!!

Oh also, a new development since the original question...we had a late gift exchange for the family...and my dad went overboard this year with gifting, lol. He said he couldn't choose which thing I'd like/need more so he got both.

The others looked confused when I unwrapped the prettiest, finest pair of skinning/field dressing knives, complete with a very nice gut-hook. One's nice and big for deer, the other is wee, for rabbits. My aunt asked "why the heck would you want knives?"

Before I could answer, my dad cheerily explained that my knives SUCK and won't hold an edge, and how I have to keep borrowing his...and then he explained how to use them and how the gut-hook works. :twisted: I just sat there in pure delight with my shiny new knives as my dad extolled the virtues of a good knife and why perforating the guts is a bad idea and so forth and such-like.

Everyone left this afternoon. GEE, WONDER WHY!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

BWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

Give your dad a hug from me. That was sheer awesomeness. :twisted:

He got LOTS of hugs and thanks, believe me I'm so grateful!!! And he's happy to not have me digging out his near-antique knives any more, LOL!!!!!

Sadly he was apparently also intending on getting a box of ammo for me too, but couldn't find any .22 ammo for sale locally. What the heck?!

Especially for the older generation, growing your own food, whether animal or vegetable, is a social stigma. It is a mark of social and economic standing if you can afford to buy your food at the store and let the peasants do the dirty work for you. This also goes for sewing your own clothes, repairing your car, mowing your lawn, fixing plumbing, electrical, etc. etc. etc.

Dang I must have just crossed the border and am penniless! Because I do most all these things for myself. Oil Change? Natch. Mow the lawn. Yep. House repairs. Of Course. Garden? Yes. Being self sufficient to me is a mark of pride.

Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.
-- Benjamin Franklin

I'll freely admit I pay someone else to do my oil changes, but that's because A) nobody has taught me how, and B) my dad expressely forbid it on his land, due to an "accident" that ate up a bunch of pavement years ago, LOL.

Good quote there, I will remember that.

Who doesn't mow their own lawn though?! :shock: I paid to have it done exactly once...when my mower blew out (dang thing was older than me and held together by spit and bubble gum, I swear) and I couldn't resurrect the darn thing. It was pay someone to do it, or get fined by the city.

After the one emergency-paid-mowing, I borrowed mowers until I got a replacement to do it myself. :roll: Would swing by a friend's, load up their mower, MOW, fill the tank up nice and full (s'only polite!!!!) and put it back in their shed, LOL!!!

I'm so lucky, have been helping my dad on-and-off with home renovations for years now (on two different places) and now I'm so comfortable doing little jobs I'm eager to get a fixer-upper house of my own. Needs new floors, replaced moldings or other basic cosmetic stuff? I can do that!!!! Whatever house I end up in, has gotta have hardwood and tile floors, NO carpet...but I'll gladly get a place with carpet and rip it right out!!!!!! :twisted: New floors are fun. Plus, if you do it yourself, you can make it exactly how YOU want it!!!!! I'm daydreaming about making some kind of lovely mossaic in tile in the future bathroom, LOL!!!

Now I envy you! I want knives too!... well I'm the kind of person who just sticks to the one in her hand anyway because it's easier to use the same dull knife for everything than reach out and grab another, sharper and more suitable one..

LOL! Just remember though, dull knives cut people! (fun irony!)

I hear you though, so many people can't wrap their minds around it. But they're cuuuuute! LOL yes and tasty. :mrgreen: Home raised meat is HAPPY meat!!! More healthy and wholesome. Less carbon footprint too!!!!

My favorite is when they ask what OTHER animals I'd eat. "You eat little bunnies?! Well, would you eat a DOG????" Then the horror as I say honestly...maybe. If the dog is raised properly, treated well and slaughtered humanely, I'd try it!!! I won't eat cats because I do have an emotional issue with it, but I sure won't frown on others because I'm squeamish on it...and I'd refuse horsemeat on the grounds that any horse given Bute that is consumed can increase risks of certain cancers....but I wouldn't turn down horsemeat if I knew it was safe and humanely raised/slaughtered!!!

Had an ARA wig out on me on another site...I'd posted pictures of my bunnies and they figured out why some "went away"...when I posted a sad thing about my dog Bingerton dying, they went off the deep end, insisting I should eat him so as not to "waste" the meat, and asked what I would do with his hide.

I chose not to argue and instead simply pointed out that he died of CANCER, had a LOT of chemicals in his body, the meat isn't safe, and his hide was covered in warts and lesions as is common in elderly, cancer-ridden Cocker Spaniels.

Oh my lawd the field day they had with that!!! Pretty sure they got themselves banned because next thing I knew, they couldn't post any more LOL!!!!!!!!!

(FWIW, I miss Bing in the worst way, especially at the holidays...just a GREAT dog. )

I was amazed that my Daughter [24] asked to come see how I butchered rabbits, I asked why she wanted to watch, she answered, -- I may need to know how some day-- so - she came and watched me dislocate the neck, hang them up, cut off the head, skin, and gut, for about 3 or 4 rabbits, -- I asked her what she thought-- she said -- well I know its necasary, I know we eat rabbits, -- but-- F-n grose. and walked back in the house.

_

LOL yeah...my dad and his girlfriend were going out somewhere one day, so I figured with the house to myself, I'd do a few rabbits. YEAH WELL, I lost track of time and they got home before I was done...I think I may have scared her. :/ Oops.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

LOL Kyle, we went an entire summer w/o mowing the lawn. Lawn mower broke, dad (the person who fixes everything) wasn't here (deployed) & we couldn't afford to hire someone. We tried to get the geese to eat it down, though towards the end of the summer we got goats who helped a little. But in a month everything had died.

I don't really want to mow the lawn this year - I'm thinking of getting some of the free guinea pigs off craigslist, let them multiply on their own, mow the lawn, and then end of year, butcher them all. All I'd have to do is make sure the dogs and chickens don't eat them.. Lol. But no one in the house is willing to eat GP. I have a neighbor whose willing though but that's it.

And SO sorry to hear about your dog! I love cocker spaniels. **hugs** he died a happy dog

... Uhh, what's ARA? :hiding:

 

[DogCatMom]

...
... Uhh, what's ARA? :hiding:

ARA = Animal Rights Activist(s). Usually of the Militant Vegan persuasion.

 

[skysthelimit]

I have a hand push mower just for those emergencies.
But having three male intact dogs pretty much killed whatever grass was here. Now it's just some low growing ground cover weeds.

And you are fortunate, I wish someone would buy me knives, or even a decent pair of kitchen shears.

 

[Ramjet]

I got a knife for Christmas too , A limited edition Buck , Boone & Crocket.

 

[Zass]

I got a cute little Case skinning knife from my husband this year. It's always nice to unwrap a new blade

 

[the reluctant farmer]

I was raised on a farm and took for granted the fresh food and meat when I was there. As I moved to "civilization" and big cities, I became "schooled" real quick and felt bad for how little I appreciated it. Finding farmer's markets or places that.sold real food in urban areas was difficult or so expensive you coukdn't afford it, back in the day. Eventually I quit eating meat entirely because of how disgusting the store stuff was and how bad it tasted to me. Didn't even want to imagine how the animals were raised or slaughtered (and since that time, we now know.) Was a vegetarian for about 14 years or so I guess until I realized I could raise my own meat, even in a suburban neighborhood. Even when I was not eating meat I was able to recognize that all things we eat are/were living, and justifying one as being more worthy of life because of cuteness is rather insulting. Whether we humans want to abmit it or not, we are food to some other living organism, too. I have no doubt that if my dog and I were trapped without food, she'd start to see visions of kibble as she looked at me and might see me as a good food source. Actually, bad example--she's a fairly passive dog who sees me as the Big Dog so she'd probably choose to starve with me--but the cats! They're pretty sneaky, they'd probably eat both me and the passive dog, being hungry enough & given half the chance. But I digress. Plants give off signals to each other when they are under attack or being picked, and can turn bitter or not taste good as a defense to discourage the predator (including us) from eating them. People do not like it if you point out that plants may have "feelings" about being consumed but that's because leaf lettuces aren't cute, fuzzy, and huggable (at least to the.average person--actually, if your leaf lettuce is ever fuzzy, just tbrow it out. Don't eat it, don't hug it, just--compost pile.). Anyway, if folks won't listen to you, at least give 'em a show. Pick up a baby carrot from a relish tray and scream, "Freddie? Is that you?!? No!!! Why--WHY did they kill you? You were so young!" Then turn, grief-striken and shriek at your friends, "you filthy animals! How COULD you? He was just a baby! Murderous herbivores!!!". Actually, I'd probably pay to see someone do that at a banquet.

To ramjet: process them, cut them in parts, and stick them in a grocery bag labeled "chicken" and see if that makes everyone feel better? Sorry you're getting grief (thanks, mother-in-law.). I'm sorry, but you're bringing in healthy food, fresh fish, and saving money too? Well, I'm impressed.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

LOL Kyle, we went an entire summer w/o mowing the lawn. Lawn mower broke, dad (the person who fixes everything) wasn't here (deployed) & we couldn't afford to hire someone. We tried to get the geese to eat it down, though towards the end of the summer we got goats who helped a little. But in a month everything had died.

I don't really want to mow the lawn this year - I'm thinking of getting some of the free guinea pigs off craigslist, let them multiply on their own, mow the lawn, and then end of year, butcher them all. All I'd have to do is make sure the dogs and chickens don't eat them.. Lol. But no one in the house is willing to eat GP. I have a neighbor whose willing though but that's it.

And SO sorry to hear about your dog! I love cocker spaniels. **hugs** he died a happy dog

... Uhh, what's ARA? :hiding:

I'd eat guinea pigs. So long as I don't have'ta feed 'em over winter...I bet it'd be fun to have a little wee herd in the yard for a few months, nomming the grass, and then eat them before they cost anything in feed. Hmmmmm...can Guinea pigs live on grasses and weeds alone? Plus the occasional "kitchen waste" like carrot peels or whatnot?

...
... Uhh, what's ARA? :hiding:

ARA = Animal Rights Activist(s). Usually of the Militant Vegan persuasion.

Militant Vegan. I like that phrase.

Sadly accurate.

There's a few pictures floating around on Facebook about how if it's too cold outside for a human, it's too cold for a dog. Granted, our dogs have very little hair and aren't used to being outside, but I've seen some dogs THRIVE outside in winter...namely an acquaintance's huskies. Just TRY making those two sleep indoors, I dare you! They'd hate it!!! But the FB pictures imply that dogs are people. :shock: Some of these Militant Vegans feel that all animals are people.

I have a hand push mower just for those emergencies.
But having three male intact dogs pretty much killed whatever grass was here. Now it's just some low growing ground cover weeds.

And you are fortunate, I wish someone would buy me knives, or even a decent pair of kitchen shears.

Our "lawn" as it were was prettymuch weeds and sand anyways, but...the darn weeds do get tall!!!

I got a knife for Christmas too , A limited edition Buck , Boone & Crocket.

Nice!!!!

I got a cute little Case skinning knife from my husband this year. It's always nice to unwrap a new blade

It really, really is.

Bet he loved it!!!!

I was raised on a farm and took for granted the fresh food and meat when I was there. As I moved to "civilization" and big cities, I became "schooled" real quick and felt bad for how little I appreciated it. Finding farmer's markets or places that.sold real food in urban areas was difficult or so expensive you coukdn't afford it, back in the day. Eventually I quit eating meat entirely because of how disgusting the store stuff was and how bad it tasted to me. Didn't even want to imagine how the animals were raised or slaughtered (and since that time, we now know.) Was a vegetarian for about 14 years or so I guess until I realized I could raise my own meat, even in a suburban neighborhood. Even when I was not eating meat I was able to recognize that all things we eat are/were living, and justifying one as being more worthy of life because of cuteness is rather insulting. Whether we humans want to abmit it or not, we are food to some other living organism, too. I have no doubt that if my dog and I were trapped without food, she'd start to see visions of kibble as she looked at me and might see me as a good food source. Actually, bad example--she's a fairly passive dog who sees me as the Big Dog so she'd probably choose to starve with me--but the cats! They're pretty sneaky, they'd probably eat both me and the passive dog, being hungry enough & given half the chance. But I digress. Plants give off signals to each other when they are under attack or being picked, and can turn bitter or not taste good as a defense to discourage the predator (including us) from eating them. People do not like it if you point out that plants may have "feelings" about being consumed but that's because leaf lettuces aren't cute, fuzzy, and huggable (at least to the.average person--actually, if your leaf lettuce is ever fuzzy, just tbrow it out. Don't eat it, don't hug it, just--compost pile.). Anyway, if folks won't listen to you, at least give 'em a show. Pick up a baby carrot from a relish tray and scream, "Freddie? Is that you?!? No!!! Why--WHY did they kill you? You were so young!" Then turn, grief-striken and shriek at your friends, "you filthy animals! How COULD you? He was just a baby! Murderous herbivores!!!". Actually, I'd probably pay to see someone do that at a banquet.

To ramjet: process them, cut them in parts, and stick them in a grocery bag labeled "chicken" and see if that makes everyone feel better? Sorry you're getting grief (thanks, mother-in-law.). I'm sorry, but you're bringing in healthy food, fresh fish, and saving money too? Well, I'm impressed.

LOL, my tiny dog would starve with me...as would my Persian. My Munchkin on the other hand...she'd eat us all, lol! I jokingly tell people that when she's kneading them with her paws, she's just tenderizing us.

Every time I get told that eating meat hurts an animal's feelings (which...nope) I remind people that when you snack on raw veggies, you are EATING THEM ALIVE. Carrots are the smartest of the root vegetables (which are the smartest classification of veggie) with an average measurable IQ between 3 and 7! They are AWARE when yanked out of the ground!

I LOVE EATING CARROTS, btw!!!! Growing up I felt cheated because I love carrots, so I eat 'em all the time, but I still ended up with coke-bottle-thickness glasses. :roll: Carrots are tasty!!!! Probably because, veggie-wise, they're pretty smart!!!

If you want to laugh til it hurts, check out this...it's a song called Carrot Juice Constitutes Murder, by the Canadian band Arrogant Worms. WELL WORTH LISTENING TO. Very funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov5Jgw_Nwx4

I just love the Arrogant Worms. "Eat a cow instead!!!!" LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ramjet]

The cries of the carrots ....

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUOx40xMErc[/youtube]

 

[skysthelimit]

LOL.

I don't think my dogs would starve with me, I think they'd hunt for me, and bring me fresh meat. In that case, I'd eat that possum.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

My tiny dog hovers like a vulture when I'm cutting up meat, she loves raw scraps. But she'd never seen a whole deer til this year...my dad got a buck off the car and laid it on the driveway, and hollered for me to come help hang it in the garage. I let Cricket come out with me 'cause she'll never go anywhere...she just stays close. Well she came trotting around the side of the car and froze, shocked and terrified, of the deer. She kept trying to inch closer to smell it, then running back away from it in fear. I admit, it was so funny...when she got up the courage to sniff it's face, dad nudged the body so it moved a little...NEVER seen a dog run away that fast before!!! She wouldn't go near it again until it was skinned and quartered...then she was totally vulturing for scraps, LOL!!!

I cheerfully maintain that my little dog is utterly useless except as a pet.

 

[Galadriel]

LOL, KYLE!!! That is something I would have loved to see!!

I was raised on a farm and took for granted the fresh food and meat when I was there. As I moved to "civilization" and big cities, I became "schooled" real quick and felt bad for how little I appreciated it. Finding farmer's markets or places that.sold real food in urban areas was difficult or so expensive you coukdn't afford it, back in the day. Eventually I quit eating meat entirely because of how disgusting the store stuff was and how bad it tasted to me. Didn't even want to imagine how the animals were raised or slaughtered (and since that time, we now know.)

:twisted: :rotfl: :twisted:

Dad could taste the chemical stuff in the store-bought eggs after a long time of nothing but fresh eggs. He said they were awful!

People do not like it if you point out that plants may have "feelings" about being consumed but that's because leaf lettuces aren't cute, fuzzy, and huggable (at least to the.average person--actually, if your leaf lettuce is ever fuzzy, just tbrow it out. Don't eat it, don't hug it, just--compost pile.)

Bleh. You said it.

Anyway, if folks won't listen to you, at least give 'em a show. Pick up a baby carrot from a relish tray and scream, "Freddie? Is that you?!? No!!! Why--WHY did they kill you? You were so young!" Then turn, grief-striken and shriek at your friends, "you filthy animals! How COULD you? He was just a baby! Murderous herbivores!!!". Actually, I'd probably pay to see someone do that at a banquet.

BWAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: AWESOME!!!


On another note, this little family all pitches in with butchering day. Bunny-Wan Kenobi (my brother) dispatches them, Miss M (my mother) and I skin them, Shaygetz (my dad) cleans them, and my grandmother packages and stores them! Dad gets a lot of "How can you kill those cute, fuzzy bunnies?!", and he just says "Well, they aren't cute and fuzzy anymore at that age."

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

I think they can. I think most people do - the only issue I'd see is they can have a tendency of lacking Vit C. Even just sprinkling Vit c on their table scraps could probably solve that, and it'd be pretty cheap.

And you live in Michigan! How does you liking GPs help me?
Our dog might eat it.. She liked the rabbit organs, and she liked the back strip I gave her. Our other dog REFUSES raw food, but she's a brat to begin with and doesn't deserve it,lol.

And I'd look forward to baby piglets! I could always show them.. Wonder if they have a meat section for gps... :hmm:

 

[skysthelimit]

Poor dogs doesn't know what she's missing

I can clearly imagine my dogs on the hunt with me, tracking down prey in a crouched position, breaking into a run, me being with the weapon, each of them grabbing a leg for the take down or circling the small prey, going for the kill, and if I'm too slow, leaving nothing but blood on the ground (Boomer would save me something).

I love meat and I love meat eaters.

Now I'm feeling carnivorous.

 

[3mina]

I have one too old to hunt anything but she'd kill herself trying, one that would probably mouse given the chance and a princess that would turn her nose up if her meat is frozen if I allowed it.

Kyle, I think these days chocolate coins will work fine.