Pork Crisis and Vegitarianism

--amadeus--

Yet another health scare and scandal around meat and meat products is breaking out, the latest in a line stretching back to BSE (and beyond).

As it currently stands there are carcinogenic toxins in pork and pork products and hundreds of jobs are at risk. The government is "in talks" and tehre is pressure for a handout to save these jobs, a handout that could run to hundreds of millions of euro.

Now as a veggie I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand every health scare that highlights the risks of contamination in modern intensive farming methods is a good thing. I would guess that there are hundreds (possibly thousands) of people who will be questioning their diet as this scandal continues to unfold. Even a fraction of them becoming veggies is a good thing, IMO. And I have really strong objections to taxpayers money giving these people a dig out. I have an ethical objection to my tax money saving an abattoir from closure, in particular when my children's school is talking of having to reduce staff numbers. Like it or not this is a capitalist society - if I cut corners and take chances in my business then I know I'll go bust and there won't be a handout to save me, why should this shower get away with it?

On the other hand the farmers themselves did little - if anything - wrong and they shouldn't be penalised for teh greed / stupidity of teh feed producers. And teh economic impact of hundreds / thousands of jobs being lost will be a lot higher then the bailout.

What are all of your opinions?

Gone Drinking

Are you raising your children to be vegetarians?

--amadeus--

Yes, why?

hamsterboy

Nice post Amadeus.
Couldn't agree more, as a veggie I have a real problem with my tax money being used to prop up such a cruel industry as the pork (or any other meat) industry.
Gone Drinking, why do you want to know if the little amadeus's are being raised veggie, bit off topic innit

HB

kmick

At the end of the day they are propping up jobs of people like yourself with kids like yourself. Food processing is pretty tightly regulated these days and I would guess something similar would happen if there was a crisis in say the mushroom produce sector. Would you save the mushroom pickers jobs/industry if pcps had got into them?

--amadeus--

kmick wrote: »

At the end of the day they are propping up jobs of people like yourself with kids like yourself. Food processing is pretty tightly regulated these days and I would guess something similar would happen if there was a crisis in say the mushroom produce sector. Would you save the mushroom pickers jobs/industry if pcps had got into them?

that's kind of my point - on the one hand you feel sorry for innocent working men & women who are going to lose thier jobs at Xmas and through no fault of thier own.

And would I support a massive bailout of mushroom pickers? That's a question for teh politics forum I think that it's save one save all. If we are bailing out the banks then it's hard to deny a bailout for the meat processors on economic grounds (whatever about teh animal rights ethics). But if you bail them outthen who won't you bailout? In 2002 when IT hit the skids there wasn't a mass publicly funded handout, why should farmers or food processors get rescued (and I know the answer is lobby groups). Personally I am an old fashioned socialist - anyone who needs a handout to be saved should have thier industry nationalised. In the real world though, and under teh current ideologies I don't agree with any handouts.

hamsterboy

kmick wrote: »

Food processing is pretty tightly regulated these days

Recent findings would point to that not being entirely true.
They are not propping up jobs for people like myself, I don't work in the meat industry.
As for mushrooms, theres never been a mushroom crisis, there have been endless meat crisises (sp). If there were a crisis in another food industry, I wouldn't agree to propping it up as amadeus said this is a capitalist society. Why should ANY food industry get handouts for being inefficient and actually potentially dangerous at thier job?

HB

Gone Drinking

I'm just curious, i've never visited this forum and its something i've alwas wondered about vegetarians with children.

Its off topic and probably covered somewhere else on the forum anyway

Peanut

I suggested on these forums before that the Government should develop more of a responsiblity to encourage healthier eating, and I think it's fair to say that this would involve more availability of good veggie food.

Some people suggest that it's inappropriate to interfere with the free market, however, we can see that markets are often anything but free.

Ireland has a huge stake in the meat industry, and bailouts and subsidies create a situation where the market is tipped in favour of meat consumption. This is all good for our exports and economy in general, but puts the squeeze on manufacturers, retailers and caterers who try to market veg alternatives.

I'm not happy that people may be (at least temporarily) out of a job due to the current problem, but I think the relevant goverment bodies should try to have a little more imagination and encourage a bit more diversity in the entire food sector.

veggimum

Ok I am veggie but i come at this from another stand point. I went to school in 80's Dublin where we were taught economics by a very formidable woman who knew her stuff. Back then the buy Irish campaign was in full swing and we had been told to aim our focus abroad when we left school as the work was not going to be here! Anyway my point is that she (the great Mrs Ryan) used Ireland as an agricultural model at every available chance. By so doing she showed us that there was no other way for Ireland to be a successful agri country, than to diversify, diversify, diversify. It was a well known fact even back then that the meat industry here was doomed.
This current scandal is just another nail in its coffin, the EU has held back this economic catastrophe with funding for so many years. But it was due! IMHO
I am sorry for people who have no work now but I do not agree that the gov should bail the companies out.

Censorsh!t

I agree completely.
Why should we have to support an industry which goes against our beliefs and is potentially very dangerous to humans too.

I'm just thankful that I don't have to worry about eating any of this stuff and having to worry about all these animal diseases which may be contracted through eating meat.