Splurge away!
Australian beef is relatively inexpensive compared with prices in the UK. I've lived on cattle farms, dairy and beef -- because land is not such a rare commodity here, our farms are quite a bit bigger than British farms, for example. There are a few feed lots, which I thought were illegal here but turns out they're not, it's just that the meat is usually for the export market (they're foreign owned, of course, but I consider that no excuse for our allowing such practices on our soil). I continue to support lobby groups who are trying to have these legislated against -- fuck their wagyu beef, I'd rather a good free range Angus sirloin any day.
I'm also highly opposed to city people who buy meat from supermarkets in neat packaging and don't mind scoffing hot dogs, but then turn up their noses at haggis or black pudding or anything that is still in the shape that it was when it was inside the animal. I believe that if you're going to eat meat, you have an obligation to eat as much of the animal as you possibly can and you must be able to make the connection between meat on your plate and on the hoof. I handle my steak with (perhaps too much!) reverence and only buy it from a butcher who opposes unethical farming practices. Fortunately there are several of those in my local area. It's not too much more expensive, especially if you buy the cheaper cuts and learn how to cook with them (though last night, since the kids weren't home, we had some rather expensive Porterhouse steaks and they were bloody wonderful!).
I guess the point of all that is, meat eating is not directly related to violence or cruelty to animals, nor is it necessarily harmful to the environment. There are cattle stations here in Queensland that have cleared virtually no land -- many of them are larger than entire European countries
As a parent, trust me: if your kid is standing over a toaster with a knife in his hand, a stern word will not cut it. You smack the little bugger so that he remembers not to do it again. It's an aversion tactic and as such, if it's overused it's useless, but it's a valid parenting techique and it pisses me off no end to hear non-parents going on about how they'd never touch their child. Every child responds to different things and every parent uses different skills -- to make a sweeping statement that smacking kids is bad parenting, well, that's just a bit ignorant. It's never wise to generalise. Beating kids, now, that's a whole other story. I don't believe anyone has the right to deliberately injure a child.
Australian beef is relatively inexpensive compared with prices in the UK. I've lived on cattle farms, dairy and beef -- because land is not such a rare commodity here, our farms are quite a bit bigger than British farms, for example. There are a few feed lots, which I thought were illegal here but turns out they're not, it's just that the meat is usually for the export market (they're foreign owned, of course, but I consider that no excuse for our allowing such practices on our soil). I continue to support lobby groups who are trying to have these legislated against -- fuck their wagyu beef, I'd rather a good free range Angus sirloin any day.
I'm also highly opposed to city people who buy meat from supermarkets in neat packaging and don't mind scoffing hot dogs, but then turn up their noses at haggis or black pudding or anything that is still in the shape that it was when it was inside the animal. I believe that if you're going to eat meat, you have an obligation to eat as much of the animal as you possibly can and you must be able to make the connection between meat on your plate and on the hoof. I handle my steak with (perhaps too much!) reverence and only buy it from a butcher who opposes unethical farming practices. Fortunately there are several of those in my local area. It's not too much more expensive, especially if you buy the cheaper cuts and learn how to cook with them (though last night, since the kids weren't home, we had some rather expensive Porterhouse steaks and they were bloody wonderful!).
I guess the point of all that is, meat eating is not directly related to violence or cruelty to animals, nor is it necessarily harmful to the environment. There are cattle stations here in Queensland that have cleared virtually no land -- many of them are larger than entire European countries
As a parent, trust me: if your kid is standing over a toaster with a knife in his hand, a stern word will not cut it. You smack the little bugger so that he remembers not to do it again. It's an aversion tactic and as such, if it's overused it's useless, but it's a valid parenting techique and it pisses me off no end to hear non-parents going on about how they'd never touch their child. Every child responds to different things and every parent uses different skills -- to make a sweeping statement that smacking kids is bad parenting, well, that's just a bit ignorant. It's never wise to generalise. Beating kids, now, that's a whole other story. I don't believe anyone has the right to deliberately injure a child.
It could be worse