Category Archives: meat

Bigger Birds

Posted on November 22, 2012 by

Innovation isn’t always good for everyone. See this blog entry about how artificial insemination has allowed the turkey industry to triple the average size of a turkey over the last 50 years: Give Thanks? Science Supersized Your Turkey Dinner. (The … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, animal welfare, breeding, factory farms, meat, science

Ethics of Eating Meat

Posted on May 5, 2012 by

A recent Toronto Star piece on the ethics of eating meat quotes me, briefly, on the topic of lab-grown meat (something I’ve blogged about before). The main point of the article, however, is to make an attempt to marshall a … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, animal rights, animal welfare, choice, health, kids, meat, nutrition | 3 Comments

No Ethical Obligation to Label Pink Slime

Posted on April 7, 2012 by

So, unfortunately, we now all know what “pink slime” is. It’s the ‘lean finely textured beef‘ (LFTB) that is produced by mashing and sterilizing scraps of beef. It looks disgusting, and the production process is unappealing. But then the same … Continue reading →

Posted in animal welfare, choice, industrial, labeling, meat

Who Wants Test-Tube Meat?

Posted on March 10, 2012 by

Sonja Puzic, for CTVNews.ca, asks: Would you eat meat grown in a test tube? When a Dutch scientist declared last month that he could have the world’s first lab-grown hamburger on the grill by October, the Internet was abuzz with … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, animal welfare, biotechnology, genetic modification, GMO, industrial, meat, science, synthetic meat, values

The Complex Politics of Food Ethics

Posted on February 11, 2012 by

Here’s a useful short piece by James McWilliams, writing for The Atlantic: Meat: What Big Agriculture and the Ethical Butcher Have in Common I’ve repeatedly argued that supporting alternatives to the industrial production of animal products serves the ultimate interest … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, animal rights, animal welfare, ethics, meat, values

Things that Matter: Drug Residue in Chinese Pork

Posted on March 28, 2011 by

You could tell a lot about your average foodie or food-safety advocate by asking them to list food-related issues by level of importance. Some people tend to focus on the latest feel-good trend (e.g., at least some versions of localism) … Continue reading →

Posted in activism, agriculture, animal welfare, ethics, factory farms, health, international, meat, safety | 4 Comments

Would You Like Your Synthetic Meat GM or Non-GM?

Posted on January 30, 2011 by

This news story is not exactly news. We already know that synthetic meat is under development in various labs around the world. But it does raise a fresh issue or two. By Harriet McLeo, for Reuters: South Carolina scientist works … Continue reading →

Posted in animal welfare, biotechnology, ethics, genes, GMO, industrial, meat, natural, science, synthetic meat, values | 9 Comments

Fast Food Beef: What Matters?

Posted on January 25, 2011 by

According to emoneydaily.com, McDonald’s is raising prices to reflect increases in the cost of beef: McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen said, “As commodity and other cost pressures become more pronounced as we move throughout the year, we will … Continue reading →

Posted in ethics, fast food, labeling, meat, prices, values | 4 Comments

Horse Meat (again)

Posted on January 6, 2011 by

Two days ago I blogged about Horse Meat Ethics. I discussed the fact that eating horse is considered taboo (in many places), and that slaughtering horses is illegal in the U.S., despite the fact that a) horse is widely eaten … Continue reading →

Posted in activism, agriculture, animal rights, animal welfare, ethics, meat, values | 1 Comment

Horse Meat Ethics

Posted on January 4, 2011 by

In case you didn’t know, slaughtering horses for human consumption is legal in Canada (where I live), but illegal in the U.S. That’s not to say that eating horses is common in Canada. Far from it. But it is apparently … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, animal rights, animal welfare, ethics, law, meat | 9 Comments