hmm

First of all I want to say that I respect anyones beliefs, but I have to put you all straight on this front (pigs)!

When I was young we kept pigs to sell for meat. I can categorically assure you they do not eat their own excrement! They used to pile it all up one end of the shed and feed at the other end of the shed.

They are an extrememly intellegent animal very close in physiology to humans - ever heard of pigs organ transplants ie, kidneys?

Getting back to the pig farm, one of the pigs was ill with meningitus (not like humans) and it could not be sent for slaughter, and me being an animal lover I looked after it. I called it Piggy and it followed me everywhere, just like a dog.

Anyway, the pig got better and it had to go for slaughter, so I never ate pork for about 15 years after, just in case it was my pig!

You must know that I want to have the last word ! I agree with you actually!!! If my survival depended on me finding my own food, I would hunt and eat a wild animal.

I certainly do not think of animals in humanistic terms. I am not sentimental. What I cannot bear is hyprocrisy. People will humanise cats and dogs but happily eat meat without giving any thought to how it was raised or killed. As far as I am concerned, if you eat meat you should ask yourself the following question:-
(1) Am I prepared to kill an animal myself. If yes, eat meat.
(2) If I am happy to eat baby animals (such as lambs or calf) then I should also be happy to eat kittens and puppies

Please dont accuse me of sentimentality. I support a group of animals (farm animals) which do not have the fluffy appeal of pets. I am an active member of 'Compassion in World Farming' and am proud to say that this internationally respected organisation have already made huge changes in the conditions, slaughter and transport of farm animals - but they have a long way to go before I can happily eat meat again.

Can I have the last word?

This animation provides an eye opening account of factory farming of animals for food consumption. There is also a "meatrix II"
http://www.freerangegraphics.com/flash/fl_meatrix.html

I do eat meat and have to say my favorite is pork, but i except everyones point of view. All i can say is If i were inviting a muslim to dinner of course i would not serve them pork out of respect.
It all comes down to people's traditions and cultures.If we have been brought up to eating cats and dogs. Then we would not think anything of eating them, but in our culture cats and dogs are domestic amimals and therefore not eaten.In france they eat horse.I could not do this, but again i respect that they do.( can i feel another topic coming on? )

I think it is turning into a traditional TC deviation........... I agree, it all boils down to culture and traditions of the country.

For instance in China they any thing that moves! Nearly literally. I have been to many restaurants where there are tanks of fish and you choose the one you want, tanks of snakes, turtles, trushed up frogs, live chickens in the cages outside, various shellfish, still live of course. Then there are the restaurants with nice pictures of cats and dogs - yes they are on the menu. I must say they do eat some rather gruesome things (to our taste anyway). I have eaten shreaded jellyfish, braised seaslug but I stear clear of the chickens feet (and believe it or not lots of them make their way from Bernard Matthews in Norfolk to China!) Has that given you an appetite?

And all because piglet is banned in Turkey, or should it be Turkia (to avoid confusion!)

Ahhh libralady you forgot guineapig is also on the menu in china too (I must say they really do eat nearly everything!)

Anyway I do eat meat (on an everyday bases nearly) but to be honest if I had to I would be able to live without it.

Some of my best friends are vegetarian which is great because they tend to love my cooking and always complementing m. so I have experience in cooking vegetarian dishes as well as meat dishes. The best part about my dishes is that they're from all different countries because I don't like to stick to one particular country's culture....I like to experiment and try new things myself Afterall the most common eaten meal in England is actually curry!

Quick quesion for vegetarians: How comes you use the term "If your willing to kill an animal then go ahead and eat it"? afterall we don't actually kill them. There already dead so wouldn't it be a waste for them to be slaughtered and not be eaten in the end?
Just a questiion that was on my mind I don'tmean it to sound offensive or anything....to be honest I think your answer will be..."If we all didn't eat meat then there will be no reason for them to be slaughtered in the first place"
So I kind of answered my own question but if it's a different answer then what is it?

(Winnie the Pooh to Food - who would have thought it shouldn't this now go into the food topic?