Food is not one size fits all. Just because you're a fan of one kind of food, it doesn't mean you'll like anything under that category.
I adore vegetables, but I shudder just thinking about eggplant.
Meat is the same way. Just because you eat meat doesn't mean there aren't certain kinds of meat you refuse to consume. Redditors shared what kinds of meat they don't eat, but their reasons are not based on taste preference -- it's about the ethics of eating a certain kind of meat.
Curious about what those types of meat may be, Redditor Candid_Reading_7267 asked:
"Meat eaters: what type of meat, if any, is off your menu for ethical reasons?"
Too Sweet To Eat
"I used to raise calves and I’ve learned that if you socialize a cow they are the sweetest things. I once had a cow lay down next to me in the grass and put her head on my lap. I don’t eat beef now."
– TheShining02
He's A Survivor
"I don't eat pork or any pig meat. I used to work on a farm where I raised pigs. Five adults and something like 40 piglets. I fell in love with them. I used to just go on my off hours and hang out in the piglet pen They would just leap all over me and give me kisses They're massive smart. I can't eat them now anymore or less than I don't eat dogs. They're untouchable."
"There was a runt piglet, I nicknamed him Slayer because he probably shouldn't have survived, but he did. He was hardcore, so I had to give him a hardcore name. He was a runt named Slayer. It perfectly fits him."
– trebuchetfight
It Needs To Be Painless
"Any that comes from an endangered animal (e.g. tiger meat) or any that have abhorrent extraction practices (e.g. shark fin)."
"I know that the other types of meat I consume do not grow on trees, that something had to die for it to be made available, but there is a difference between killing an animal with a quick pressure gun and cutting off their fin and throwing them back into the sea to die slowly and painfully."
– Pink-Camellias
Full Stop
"Anything that is cooked alive"
– Sweetcherry66
The Sea Creatures We Love
"Turtle meat because I like turtles"
– Godmyass
"Agreed. And octopus because they’re just so cool and intelligent. They already live such short lives."
– NahWeGotCreampies
Shocking
"I won't support anything that is obscenely wasteful."
"When I was 14 and went fishing with my Dad I caught a Shovelnose Shark. Absolutely gorgeous creature it was almost as big as I was."
"We took it home and I honestly thought it would feed all 8 of us (it was a holiday so it was my family and my Uncle's family)."
"Anyway, dinner gets served: everyone else had Chicken, and I was served what I could only describe as cooked fish that looked like the size of maybe 2 or 3 big sausages."
"It turns out that only the tail meat is actually edible."
"I was M O R T I F I E D."
"Killed a giant animal only to basically eat 2 hot dogs worth of actual meat."
"Never went fishing with my Dad again because it turned out he knew that when I caught it. If I had have known I would have thrown it back."
– rayjaymor85
What's In A Name?
"Any animal with a name that I know."
"We raise chickens. Thought we'd wind up eating them after they stopped laying eggs, but my kids named the flock and I couldn't bring myself to do it."
– Trail__Junkie
The Big Reveals
"Veal. I remember being a kid and my mom made us breaded veal and said it was chicken and when we finished announced “you just ate baby cow!” I cried so much lol."
– littleleg0s
"My stepdad's grandparents owned a farm. They let him name a cow after himself when he was about six. One night they were having burgers for dinner and his grandpa just said "Guess what? We're eating Johnny for dinner!""
"I never will understand why the hell the idea to feed him the cow sounded like a good idea to him but especially why they decided to tell him they'd slaughtered and prepared it mid-bite."
– psy-ducks
We Are Family
"Apes."
– Mooseboy24
"Especially chimps, they're our closest relatives in the animal kingdom and beautiful, fascinating animals. And now they're an endangered species partly because they're being hunted for bushmeat."
– NotFeziboy
–
Just A Baby
"As a dairy farmer the only meat i will not eat is veal. And I have seen on here a lot of misinformation about the practices of animal farming I would like to clear up a few from the perspective of a dairy farmer. Cows who are 5 plus years old don't usually get slaughtered I personally have 50 plus cows over the age of ten which I am very proud off."
"On my farm or in the uk generally none of my calves get sent to veal production all of the beef calves get slaughtered for meat between 24 and 36 months and each beef bullock has spent all summers out on grass."
"Cows and calves do get separated when they are born this is for the benefit of the cow and us as we get the milk and the cow gets fully milked out and is comfortable. The calves get cows milk for 2 months after they are born and 1 months further on replacer."
"Sorry to ramble there is just a lot of misinformation on the subject."
– Lamies_
–
Don't Want To Be Part Of The Problem
"It would have to be on the endangered species list. I would try anything else at least once to see how it taste."
– Nogardknight
Made To Eat
"Any mammal that was not specifically bred on a farm to be served as meat for humans - off limits. Especially mammals from the ocean and sharks, not cool to eat."
"Pork, beef, mutton, chicken and fish. Why do you want to kill anything else for food?"
– Great-Cantaloupe542
Can't Do It Anymore
"Lamb because of their intelligence and personality level. We bottle fed a lamb and had it in the house. This made me quit red meat also. I don't buy chicken but will eat leftovers if the kids don't. Still eat fish and egg. I've contemplated bow hunting deer once in a while still."
– EmbarrassedLemon33
Not Going To Get Sick
"Bear meat. Heard it contains tons of parasites."
– Xtoxy
Eco-Friendly
"I don't eat cow meat if there's any other alternative. It's not the best thing for the environment. I'm not committed enough to be a vegetarian, but I try to stick to more sustainable options."
– pipersweeney
Completely Awful
"Shrimp, crab, lobster. They get boiled alive. Animal cruelty at its finest."
"(I'm also Jewish which forbids eating these but I don't really follow the religion, I don't eat pork only because it seems disgusting, I don't fear any gods so I guess shrimp crab and lobster count as ethical)"
– TheGoodThingsGL
My Old Pet
"I won’t eat rabbit because I love bunnies and had a pet rabbit at one point. I want another someday."
– Hexactinellida
Man's Best Friend
"Dogs and cats probably any common pet"
– Dudeman1245
"Can't believe it took this long for someone to say dog"
– ikindalold
I'm a big meat eater, but after all that...I may have to reconsider my diet.
Scientists Have Restored A Surprising Amount Of Function In The Brain Of A Pig Hours After It Was Killed In A Slaughterhouse
A research team from Yale University has managed to restore some brain function in the brains of pigs who were killed hours prior.
The team announced their success in a recent paper published in the journal Nature.
Scientists placed the brains of pigs from a nearby slaughterhouse in a solution of chemicals meant to preserve and repair the brain's cells. The solution also contained a medication to prevent the brain from regaining any type of conscious thought.
When scientists tested the brains after 6 hours in the preservation solution, they discovered that they were observably less deteriorated than the brains which were left exposed to air.
Nenad Sestan, of Yale University's School of Medicine, told NPR:
"We found that tissue and cellular structure is preserved and cell death is reduced. In addition, some molecular and cellular functions were restored."
"This is not a living brain, but it is a cellularly active brain."
That emphasis on it not being a living brain is important. Given the ethical concerns such an experiment brings up, the team were extremely careful to make sure that no true consciousness could be restored to the brains.
We have known that some viable cells remain in the brain several hours after it is deprived of oxygen, as scientists have been able to study them this way in the past.
Sesta highlighted the problem with this method of study, though:
"...the problem is, once you do that, you are losing the 3D organization of the brain."
In order to improve how we study the brain, Sesta and colleagues wondered if there wasn't a way to do so while still leaving the cells in a whole, intact brain.
Stephen Latham, a bioethicist that worked closely with the research group, said:
"It was something that the researchers were actively worried about."
Thus, the experiment involved chemicals to ensure that the brain could not regain any sort of consciousness. A medication called lamotrigine, which is used to treat seizures and is known to suppress neuronal activity, was included in the solution that the brains were soaked in.
Latham told NPR that this was also because:
"the researchers thought that brain cells might be better preserved and their function might be better restored if they were not active."
Duke Law School Ethicist Nita Farahany, who focuses on the ethics of emerging technology, said of the experiment:
"It was mind-blowing."
"My initial reaction was pretty shocked. It's a groundbreaking discovery, but it also really fundamentally changes a lot of what the existing beliefs are in neuroscience about the irreversible loss of brain function once there is deprivation of oxygen to the brain."
Khara Ramos, who is the director of neuroethics at the National Institute of Disorders and Stroke, also talked about the importance of continuing to move forward on these experiments in an ethical manner.
"The science is so new that we all need to work together to think proactively about its ethical implications so that we can responsibly shape how this science moves forward."
Farahany and her colleagues Charles Giattino and Henry Greely also published a commentary in Nature alongside their paper. In it, they cite a line from the character Miracle Max in the film The Princess Bride:
"There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive."
It seemed many people had the same reaction to the news on Facebook: zombie pigs.
Bill Hronek/Facebook
Mathhew Dash/Facebook
One neuroscientist also tried to address the concerns of those who jumped to the zombie conclusion.
Neena Haider/Facebook
Over on Twitter, people were also concerned with the possible ethical implications, but noted that the team had done a good job addressing them.
@NPR I’m amazed about the cellular solution that was created to take the place of blood for this experiment. Huge e… https://t.co/ztgldQWsU5— Vanessa (@Vanessa) 1555576979.0
This experiment definitely raises some tangled ethical questions, but the researchers are determined to move forward in an ethical manner.
The scientific ethics community is considering how this can be done, and the implications of the findings on the broader reality of experimentation on dead organs.