Vegetarians - would you still be a vegetarian if there were no factory farms?

Question

And if the animals were raised well, killed humanely etc?

Answer 1

Maybe, maybe not. One of the main reasons I became a vegetarian was because of the way the animals were treated. But the only way you can humanely kill something is to let it die of old age, and I don't want to eat old meat.

Answer 2

I'll be honest as this is a really great question and one I have talked to non-vegetarians about.

I became veg in 1990 the week I turned 26. I had seen one too many PETA videos and I had just said enough. Also, I looked at my cats one day and had this philisophcal discussion about why humans eat certain animals and not others.

With that being said, my mother's family was and still is in the farming business. When my grandparents were young during the Depression, they had family farms where the animals roamed free. They did their own killing. They did not hunt for sport - only took what they raised as food.

Now they have a factory hog farm, and I refuse to go there. I told them this is why I became a veggie. They still don't understand it,  but I said I would have had a lot less problems eating meat if I knew it had been running free it's whole life and was not killed inhumanely.

And with THAT being said - I could never kill an animal myself for food. I thank God I was born when and where I was, b/c I could not do it. Ever. If my life depended on it. But I think I would have not going vegeterian had factory farming not come in to the picture. So I have to be honest - but now it's been so long and the thought of eating animal flesh still makes my stomach turn. I would say due to the length of time, no, I would not turn back; but, had factory farming, say, been outlawed like within a couple years after I became a veg, I would probably have gone back. Not sure, but probably.

Great question!

Answer 3

I'd still be a vegetarian, but I wouldn't have a problem with other people eating meat anymore. Nice idea :)

Answer 4

i would still be a vegetarian because i'm a vegetarian partially for religious reasons, and whether the animal was treated well or not does not negate my religious convictions.  ethics do play a role in why i'm a vegetarian, but it is a secondary role.

i would guess that the "divide" between vegetarians on this issue would depend on their reason(s) for going veg in the first place.  if someone is a vegetarian for religious reasons or for their health they are most likely not going to be influenced one way or the other by the presence of factory farms.

Answer 5

I would still be a vegetarian, when did killing become human?

No, I won't eat anything that has had blood flowing in their veins and a brain in their head.

Answer 6

my main issue is the production of meat, so if all meat were raised humanely and fairly and it were not overproduced i MIGHT eat it in small doses.  i've already told my bf that i'd feel better if the meat he bought and ate came from local humane farms.  i don't really want to go back to eating it at this point anyway, but it's much better to me.

Answer 7

maybe i wud eat eggs if i knew the chickens were treated well and i wouldnt feel guity about having milk BUT by being a vegitarian for jst about a year i dont feel the need to kill such beautiful lives to live.lol saying that i do get cravings but no, imagining an animal dying 'humanely" just for a meal jst isnt worth it.

Answer 8

Yes, I would still be a vegetarian.

If the animals are "raised well" and "killed humanely" it makes no difference to me. Every animal has it's own uniqueness and a life that is not mine to take.

Answer 9

It would be better if there were no factory farms but I wouldnt eat meat because its disgusting and not as good for you as plant based foods are.

Answer 10

Yes

Answer 11

yes of course because its just the ethical matter of NOT EATING ANIMALS ! It still has to be killed for proplr to eat so slaughter is slaughter wheter in a factory farm or not

Answer 12

Yes off curse, I would make mine by myself. period

Answer 13

You can't "Humanely" kill something.

Killing is killing.

(I am not a vegetarian, my wife is)

I asked her if she would eat meat when we are able to just create it out of proteins.  She said yes, of course.

Answer 14

i guess if you could find a cow that wanted to be eaten then it would be ok but other then that no

Answer 15

Well I'm my mine you can't humanly kill an animal. What if someone got killed but the police said to there family "Don't worry, he was humanly killed." And yes even if they do what you call "humanly killing" animals, I will stick to being vegan!

Answer 16

Yes. I am a vegetarian because

1. I don't like meat

2. Even if I liked meat, I can't digest it properly.

Answer 17

No, I still would not eat meat.

I don't believe humans were meant to eat it. It causes a LOT of health problems....it's just not for me.

Answer 18

yes,I do not believe in eating animals...period. How can you kill  someone or something humanely?

Answer 19

you people can be so crazy.  You don't wanna kill an animal even if your life depended on it?  After a couple weeks in the woods alone and stranded you'd eat anything you could find regardless of what it is.  You can easily say that you wouldn't now with the luxury of stores and restuarants, but start to starve and see what your brain tells you then.