What will they think of next?

[Mo]

New Scientist reports that they may be able to genetically manipulate animals so that they do not suffer from pain when kept in factory farm conditions.
Well that's an advance.......of sorts.

[yorkielass]

I think this world is getting sicker and sicker Don't abolish the intensive farming, lets modify the animals so they ain't bothered!!

What worries me is, all the animals that are going to suffer pain to test this idea and just what sort of a future is in store for the animals that will eventually be kept under these conditions. Pain or no pain, I think it's disgusting!

People forget that we too are animals....are we next?

Rant over

[Mo]

This world is already sick, thinking up the idea of factory farming in the first place.

[saint-spoon]

The world is over populated and we in the west have an insatiable appetite for meat. Already we have exhausted the soil over large areas of Australia, India and the USA (to name but a few). Whilst I can afford to shop for free range animals produce and have the awareness to care about how far my food has travelled there are those who are unable or unwilling to do so. The factory farm is here to stay for the time being, if we ban it in the UK the government will not ban the import of factory produce from those nations without the ban; after all banning the UK production is a vote winner, the ready meal industry is tax revenue.
Anyway back on topic, isn’t making pain free animals a bit like a vegetarian eating sausages because it doesn’t look like meat? IMO if we made people wake up and look at where there their meat produce came from then we might see a dramatic reduction in the consumption. We might also see less waste and less squeamishness about offal and the less savoury cuts such as ox cheek and tongue.
Glad to see that there is another new scientist reader amongst us. xx

[bluebell]

Totally agree with S-S.

[foghornleghorn2]

The whole industry is driven by greed. More profit, cheaper produce, higher market share. That is all the bigger stores are interested in.

We, as consumers are to blame.

The larger national supermarkets don't care about you and I and even less about the welfare of animals that they buy. All they want is our cash.

[Richard]

I agree completely, also there's an element of public demand and wanting cheap food not caring where it came from.

They'll be producing microwave ready cows soon I reckon.

Progress !

[wendy]

Believe that and you will believe anything.
How can anyone say dockingb a tiny puppies tail doesn't hurt ? have they been a tiny docked puppy ?
No, it doesn't matter if they could it is morally and ethically wrong and nothing they could do would convince me any different.
Wendy

[secret squirrel]

I think you are right Richard, people want something for nothing. I have met so many who wont eat meat if they can recognise what it came from.
They buy the cheapest they possible can. In our local market they have big vans they kinda auction from so the stuff is `silly cheap`but probably made from all the bits left over that they dont know what to do with.

I would rather pay a bit more and not waste any of what there is. For example, at the butchers where I go, the only one about ten mins drive away, I can get 2 free range chickens with the farm label on them for £6.
As there are only 3 of us at home now I can get 7 servings from each bird, two meals each and the carcass for stock and still have teenie weenie bits left for the cats, so to me THATS cheap. As they are free range and the butcher is reputable I at least hope that the birds had had a half decent existance before ending up as my dinner. I also know that they are not pumped full of water to increase their weight, and they taste better.

I really dislike packets which say `meat derivatives` and wont buy them. You never know what you are eating. If you buy thoughtfully and cook sensibly good products dont have to be expensive.
Lorna

[teddymouse]

ss,i,m like you if it says "meat derivatives" or the other one that says"mechanically seprated"means its got all the bits in,eyes,hair,grissel,ect,ect. i give them a wide berth,will not feed them to the children.

[foghornleghorn2]

I avoid "chopped and reshaped" stuff

[secret squirrel]

We havnt eaten beef burgers for that reason, for the last 20 years. I refused to feed them to my kids as it wasnt clear what was in them. Yuk
We only buy them now having studied the packet carefully and usually make our own, which are much tastier.
Dont like processed food very much but prefer to cook my own from the bottom up.
There are certain fast food chains which I loathe. My daughters ended up inb A&E with ecoli after esating in one. We only have their stuff as a last resort on a very occasional basis.
lorna

[p.penn]

That is unreal and shouldn't be allowed.

[secret squirrel]

A schoolfriend of my daughter worked in well know burger bar and they had to go in the mornings, very early. All the burgers were cooked and either kept warm until they were sold or reheated at point of sale.
I was apalled. No wonder people get food poisoning.

You would have thought that knowing this my two `silly` girls wouldnt eat there, but they did and they were very ill afterwards. It took them 2 to 3 weeks to toally recover. The trouble is that the hospital would not give a definite diagnosis and as a result you have no recourse to do anything about these places., As it happens my girls are healthy and have good immune systems because they have been fed properly all their lives. If they had been small children at the time or very `sickly`, if you know what I mean, they would have been ill for a lot longer.
lorna