What do you think about the 80,000+ protestors who gathered in Seoul to speak out against US beef imports?

Question

Personally I think this is a great development that shows how problematic the industrial practice of raising animals for food really is.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080610/ap_on_bi_ge/skorea_us_beef

"SEOUL, South Korea - About 80,000 protesters gathered in the South Korean capital Tuesday in the largest demonstration yet against the planned resumption of U.S. beef imports, as the entire Cabinet offered to resign in the uproar over the policy."

You should take a look at the pictures of how many riot police there were and how they surrounded the protestors on all sides and detained (another word for arrested) many protestors for simply speaking out against meat.

The meat industry is much more powerful than many people realize. Why does S. Korea even need to import beef from the US. Talk about unsustainable let alone the other ethical issues.

Answer 1

it means more for me...........keep our beef here

Answer 2

We shouldn't have any "beef" with the protesters!

Answer 3

I think that it's amazing how much people really do care.

Answer 4

I think they don't want american beef.  It has nothing to do with encouraging vegetarian practices.  They all want beef, they just don't want american beef.

Answer 5

We should take a lesson from them and start protesting all this Made in China c**p that all the stores are selling these days!!

How often do you find a product that states Made in USA?

Answer 6

hate to tell you riot police dont just pick on veggies they do this with every protest....and with 80,000 what do you expect

and you seem to be complaining about importing beef.....how many fruit and veg do you eat that are imported??? heres and example most srping onions come from israel...well tescos does

Answer 7

I wouldn't want beef from the US either!  Lol, I don't know how they raise the cows in Korea but they must be doing something better than the US since they are worried about getting sick from it.

I don't understand why meat has to be imported either, just like here in Ohio there is a reg. trucker that stays at the motel I work at that drives from Kansas to here hauling cows in those big semis.  We have cows here!  And obviously they have cows in Korea.

Answer 8

Actually, they are protesting for 2 reasons: a protectionist policy since beef consumption in Korea is very high and they want to keep Korean beef ranchers safe from cheaper US beef and second to protect themselves from the possibility of contaminated US beef. The US exported large quantities of beef to Korea but it was suspended in 2002 (or 2003) because of the mad cow scare. The new president of Korea wanted to lift the suspension after talks with US suppliers and government agencies.

They are not speaking out against meat. They just want locally sourced meat. You have misundestood the point of the protest entirely. Bulgogi (marinated beef) and kalbi (barbecued beef) are still the most popular and sought after foods in Korea after kimchi.

Too much wishful thinking and not enough understanding on your part. Read more carefully next time

Answer 9

N.P.R. pointed out that the Korean protesters don't want to eat 30+ month old beef because they don't consider it safe.

I thought that was interesting considering the fact that Americans eat beef that old without a second thought. Perhaps this will heighten awareness about how unsafe it is to eat that stuff.  Maybe it will raise some questions over here.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...

Answer 10

I think that they are smart and that it makes good sense not to eat US Beef for a host of reasons. The people demonstrating are omnivores -- who are justifiably concerned about the risks involved. If this political deal helps turn more of that population towards becoming vegetarian  or vegan then it is not a bad thing. I only wish that there were even more vegetarian and vegan people in Korea. There are some and Seoul, by the way,  has some wonderful vegetarian restaurants.

Answer 11

I am not afraid of mad cow disease in the US. But this report was a HUGE eye opener.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/3...

Also, many people are realizing that the large amounts of hormones and antibiotics used for our meat supply is unhealty. This is not trying to deter milk drinking, itself. I saw a sticker that claimed hormones in milk are not harmful for health. Or it was something like that. But I have read document after document (from credable sources like Times Magazines) stating that the amount of artificial hormones American consumes are causing development problems in children. The average age for a chinese women to get her period: 17. The average age for an American girl to get her period: 12.  There is a link with estrogen and many cancers.

It's really shameful that they lie to make a profit. Another study I read questioned the reason for the large amounts of anti-biotics. Meat industries say that they use it to "fatten" the chickens and make more of a profit. But studies show that the amount of money they get from "fatter chickens" doesn't come close to the amount they are spending on anti-biotics. We all know why they are doing it. Their chickens are so penned up and unhealthy that they need it to prevent disease.

The American meat industry is very unethical. Even if one over looks the act of killing the animal, many companies are still unethical.

Answer 12

Here is the implication of that:  to appease the fears of the asian markets, the fed government is going to mandate the NAIS to "track and end the spread of disease like madcow".

The NAIS is law where every single livestock animal will have to have  permanent ID (such as microchip).   Every farm will be registered with the feds.  Every single time an animal leaves a farm, you have to tell the Feds or you risk huge fines. Imagine filing a Federal form every time you take an animal to a 4-h show or a vet visit?   It's got loopholes that make it cheaper for the big producers to do this but the little family farmers can be literally pushed out of business.

You will have NO choice.   They can impound your animals, even if it's a pet pot-bellied pig you keep indoors.   They can kill every animal on the propety (google "Depopulate") under the excuse of "keeping things safe" if anyone says you might have a sick animal.

This is the idea of the big beef producers and agribusiness -- anything to keep exports high and squeeze out the little guys.