The dairy industry is bad news

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Vegan extremist!

 

Aye, in many respects the dairy industry seems worse than the meat industry. Buying organic dairy products is a good way to promote higher standards of animal welfare....

 

where do we draw the line on animal cruelty and murder?

 

Good question and I'm not sure for once I have the answers!

 

*faints*

 

very bad news...
sainsbury's dairy products, other than organic goods there, are from cows fed GM food.
i think the most important thing is to buy organic wherever possible, or just for your own health cut down on the dairy products in your diet.
there is a marked increase in children being born with allergies to dairy products - this is partially due to the sheer amount of dairy there is - it is just such an over dose. It is also due to the hormones and such that are injested by the cows.
The excesses of oestrogen in milk has also led to earlier puberty in both males and females, and there's a string of other problems alongside all of that.
Hmm... some dairy alternatives are:
soya milk
oatly
rice dream
almond milk
sheeps milk (not a dairy alternative, much much healthier)
goats milk (see above)
Hmm... I can't think of much else at the present!

Mainly trying to have organic is best i reckon.
Blegh, rambling away...
Love,
Sunny
xxxx

 

it's still animal slavery though...even if its organic

 

That's true, it's still an abuse of animals to use them for our own ends. You can but go totally vegan. I know I'm not going to, it would be silly for me to even try, but for a committed person it certainly seems worthwhile....

 

I see a dilemma here, the majority or socialists/anarchists/leftists are not vegetarian ... many are and some are vegan.

Many supporters of the green movement are also not vegetarian (EG the greenpeace ships do not cook purely veggie food)

So could the animal rights issue be the biggest division in any attempt to create a better world, and if so how do we close that divide?

 

if you are happy drinking cow pus then i am happy for you

go vegan

 

I don't see it as a political issue in any way though? I see it as a moral issue. We can share the same political beliefs and convictions about the fair treatment of people ... but not sharing the same diet or even the same beliefs about the treatment of other species doesn't need to be a divisive issue. Vegetarianism I see as more a cultural / ethical dilemma than a political one.

 

Its very very very true....

 

hence why i drink organic goats milk-goats cannot be farmed in the same way as cows can and are treated with the respect they deserve-well at least the company i buy my goats milk from does......

namaste
x x x
oh and a word of warning-soya milk isn't that good for you, specially males! you'd be better off with rice milk, which is much tastier anyway!

 

It's quite simple. Vegetarianism and veganism aren't moral absolutes. They're simply arbitrary names that we give to particular points on the road towards a cruelty-free lifestyle. Some individuals will choose to go further down that road than others. Some individuals will choose not to care at all.

 

It is well known that if the whole world was to adopt a vegetarian diet it would pretty much eradicate famine. That has nothing to do with animal compassion and everything to do with capitalism and exploitative farming.

 

It's all to do with the amount of land needed to feed animals and the amount of land needed to farm crops. I'll look up some references for you later but I'm busy at the moment.

 

It isn't just the suitability of land that is used for crops that is the issue because most livestock are no longer fed their natural diet. No matter what you might think, they don't just hang out in fields grazing away to their heart's content.

http://www.viva.org.uk/goingveggie/whygoveggie/environment1.htm

http://www.viva.org.uk/guides/planetonaplate.htm

 

I only ever buy organic dairy products, and actually don't drink milk that often, have quite taken to black tea. I'm not going to try to justify the ethics of that, as quite obviously vegan ethics hold the moral highground. I care about animal rights issues, but at the same time it's not the top of my priorities. Moreover, I think that the way society is structured in general, with mass marketing and over production, is very wasteful and hightens the cruelty dealt out to animals. Why do we have to produce so much milk, when much of it is simply kept off the market and wasted simply to regulate milk prices in the west; whilst the developing world starves. At the end of the day, I agree with your ethics, but don't have the same committment that you do to turn them into a complete lifestyle change. That's a weakness in me....

 

Many other changes could achieve the same end ... If we spent a fraction of what we spend on "defence" research and arms development and precurement, we could feed the entire world. I just don't see why this needs to be made a divisive issue for the liberal left... as Dok says, I believe that vegetarianism and veganism is all to do with moving towards a cruelty-free lifestyle and causing least harm to other species, as such it's purely an ethical issue and has little to do with global politics.