There is very much a problem with a lot of people simply refusing to accept what butchering actually entails.
There was a public experiment done by a reputable German science magazine where they asked a farmer to set up a stand for freshly butchered geese at a nearby city’s outdoor market. The catch was that the geese were still alive and they’d be killed and butchered at the location. So many people reacted with outrage, and in the end only one goose got slaughtered, because the buyers themselves were more than aware of the butchering process. The rest of the geese were rescued by an animal rights advocate who bought them all to be kept at a rescue farm.
And yet almost everyone I’ve ever shown slaughterhouse footage to did not change at all.
I think that has more to do with being seen to do a thing or not. Nobody is actually stupid enough to just forget what is involved from one moment to the next.
I think a big difference is how seeing it happen in real life is much more impactful than on a video.
I grew up around butchering animals, and even got to visit a nearby family-owned slaughterhouse on occasion, for me slaughtering and butchering animals is something that I’m much more aware of due to these experiences, I’ve even been taught how to slaughter animals, and though I would never advocate to have everyone who wishes to eat meat slaughter an animal themselves, I think it’s absolutely important to see the process in person and not just on video.
Something that happens a lot in my experience is that specific animal parts are considered “gross”, entrails and such are usually the most common parts considered as such. That’s probably the easiest way to figure out if someone is aware of what butchering means or not, no, considering them gross is not directly a problem, but going all “eek” and stuff is a great way of telling me that the other person is ignorant of the meat industry.
There is very much a problem with a lot of people simply refusing to accept what butchering actually entails.
There was a public experiment done by a reputable German science magazine where they asked a farmer to set up a stand for freshly butchered geese at a nearby city’s outdoor market. The catch was that the geese were still alive and they’d be killed and butchered at the location. So many people reacted with outrage, and in the end only one goose got slaughtered, because the buyers themselves were more than aware of the butchering process. The rest of the geese were rescued by an animal rights advocate who bought them all to be kept at a rescue farm.
Here’s the video, obviously fully in German, but you can see pedestrian reactions: https://youtu.be/9AXt-6mAVEo
And yet almost everyone I’ve ever shown slaughterhouse footage to did not change at all.
I think that has more to do with being seen to do a thing or not. Nobody is actually stupid enough to just forget what is involved from one moment to the next.
I think a big difference is how seeing it happen in real life is much more impactful than on a video.
I grew up around butchering animals, and even got to visit a nearby family-owned slaughterhouse on occasion, for me slaughtering and butchering animals is something that I’m much more aware of due to these experiences, I’ve even been taught how to slaughter animals, and though I would never advocate to have everyone who wishes to eat meat slaughter an animal themselves, I think it’s absolutely important to see the process in person and not just on video.
Something that happens a lot in my experience is that specific animal parts are considered “gross”, entrails and such are usually the most common parts considered as such. That’s probably the easiest way to figure out if someone is aware of what butchering means or not, no, considering them gross is not directly a problem, but going all “eek” and stuff is a great way of telling me that the other person is ignorant of the meat industry.