Read the following introduction to "Carving the Roast Beast", a sixteen page essay and dialogue by Stephen Law.
Every year in the UK, more than 25 million turkeys are killed for our Christmas dinner. Is this mass slaughter justifiable merely to satisfy our preference for a certain kind of meat? Shouldn't we be carving nut cutlets instead?The Wilson family are sat around the Christmas dinner table. Dad is carving the turkey when he glances a little apprehensively at his eldest daughter, Gemma.Mr. Wilson: Some turkey, Gemma?Gemma: Of course not. You know I'm a vegetarian.Mrs Wilson: Only since last week. And it's Christmas. Can't you join in just this once?Gemma: No. It's morally wrong to eat meat. I'm not going to do something morally wrong just to make you happy.Much the same conversation will be familiar to parents around the world. Teenagers are increasingly becoming vegetarians, often on moral grounds. It can be irksome for the parents: special meals have to be cooked and time and effort put into making sure that their offspring get a balanced diet.Still, while Gemma's views might be inconvenient, that doesn't make them mistaken. And in fact Gemma does have some rather good arguments up her sleeve. (Law, 2003, pp. 124 - 5)
Now, in a comment below, write your response to the topic and main idea of Law's sixteen page essay. Although I've asked you to respond to Law's topic and main idea, this is a response writing, so we can be pretty flexible. The important thing is to respond to the reading in sentences that clearly state your ideas.
I suggest you write for five to ten minutes without stopping, and then publish your comment.
You can also respond to a classmate's comments if you thought it was interesting. You might think it was interesting because you agree or because you disagree with your classmate, or for any other reason.
You can leave as many comments as you like.
You do not have the next fifteen pages of Law's essay: that is not a problem. Don't worry: I'll give you the full essay tomorrow, after everyone has written their response to the introduction above.
__________
References
Law, S. (2003). Carving the roast beast. In The Xmas Files: The Philosophy of Christmas (pp. 124 - 140). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Main idea is that there are many turkeys killed for Christmas day.
ReplyDeleteTopic sentence is that whether or not people may change meals which do not use animal's meat instead of killed turkey.
I don't understand the problem exactly. However, I have a question that 'Can the turkeys be produced like other kind of livestock?' I mean, if it can, why do we have to concern about just these creatures. In contrast, if we concern about killing millions of turkey, what about the other kind of livestock.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the story about Wilson family, there are many people in this world are become vegetarians because they want to stop killing other life. In my opinion, I think it is great for teenager to do that but they should concern about how much adequate nutrition, which they gain from those kind of food.
I agree with Gemma: that is morally wrong to eat meat. Due to, I believe in Buddha. I had ever been an vegetarian for 3 months. But nowadays, I still have to eat them because it is inconvenience for me to be vegetarian all the time. As a result of there is barely have vegetarian restaurant and I'm too lazy to cook by my self. So, I don't strict my self too much. However, I think it is the good idea to eat only vegetable sometime: it good for health.
ReplyDeleteI like Golf's two new questions (Koffie, 2:11 PM). I think they show that he has understood Law's main idea pretty well.
ReplyDeleteSome people might believe that killing the animal for food is immoral because people should not kill other creature to extend their lifes. On the other hand, other people might believe that this activity is not wrong because these animals such as pigs, chicken, fish and including turkeys are the food of human. So, it's ok to slaughter them. I also agree with the latter opinion.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, it's reasonable if you kill the animals for food, not for your enjoyment. Even though sometimes there are a lot of animals killed during the festival around the world. For example in Thailand, during the Chinese Festival there are lots of poultry killed to be the offering for our ancestors. However, after that we bring them to be our meal. So, I think it's not wrong because you normally eat them for survival.
And I think eating meat doesn't mean you are immoral or bad person. Meat can provide you many kinds of nutrition that your body need. Although you eat some kinds of nuts instead of meat to get the necessary protein, I think it's not enough.
Anyway, I'm not sure about this information, because I am not a nutritionist. If anyone has any ideas about this, please let me know. thank you and see you all tomorrow ^.^
For this topic I think that some people are vegetarians but some persons don't understand them. They believe that vegetarians should eat like them. However, most people who are vegetarians believe in a sin if they eat meat it is morally wrong and get a sin. Moreover, other people need to be good healh that don't eat animals.
ReplyDeleteIn the argument of the story is a diferent thinking and don't understand about vegetarians.
I'm also eat meat too so i think people who eat meat are not morally wrong because meat is a food for human and it has a lot of energy as mentioned people eat them for survival. I think if people eat only a vegetable or another kind of protein like tofu or nuts, i think it's not enough for their life.
ReplyDeleteFirst I think "It's morally wrong to eat meat."is true,because I think if the ancestors didn't eat meat we couldn't kill a lot of animal.And I think animal have their own life too,we shouldn't eat them.Second is in our body there are a high leavels of fat and cholesterol.It's bad for health,so I think we should stop it.
ReplyDeleteI'm agree with Golf and Kate's idea. I think we can kill them as our food and we do it because we want to survive. Although some people thought we can live without eating meat, I think we should eat meat in childhood to grow and we can become a vegetarian when we are older and don't need protein as much as child. Finally, I think eating meat isn't morally wrong.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion,I found that the animal proteins include meat, poultry, fish, dairy products
ReplyDeleteand eggs. They contain all nine essential amino acids that
cannot be synthesized in the body.However,Plant protein such as legumes, nuts, seeds and grains do
not always offer all nine essential amino acids from a
single given source. For example, legumes lack methionine
and most grains are missing lysine.In conclusion,I disagree with Gemma's idea.
Note: all of my information came from this page.
http://www.hawthorne.k12.ca.us/ourpages/auto/2009/7/28/58830968/HSD%20-%20HOTM%20EN%20Meat%20Beans.pdf
Euy has done some research (7:27 PM) to answer the uncertainty that Kate mentioned at the end of her comment(3:42 PM), and he has correctly cited the source for the information he used.
ReplyDeleteAs I just looked over the comments so far, several people think that human nutritional needs are important, but there is also disagreement as to whether or not human beings really do need to eat meat. Alina actually says that the meat we normally eat is unhealthy for us (6:49 PM), which appears to contradict a few other people's ideas.
Perhaps this question is important enough to do a bit more research? Do human beings need to eat meat for health reasons?
I had a look at the source that Euy cites, and it seems a fairly good place to start. Just to repeat it, Euy's source is:
Steps to a healthier you: Meat & Beans Food Group. (2009, July 28). Hawthorne School District. Retrieved September 22, 2009 from http://www.hawthorne.k12.ca.us/ourpages/auto/2009/7/28/58830968/HSD%20-%20HOTM%20EN%20Meat%20Beans.pdf
There are several arguements against eating livestocks for food. On one hand some people might believe that eating livestocks is sinful because we destroyed other's live.On the other hand,people might think that we have right to kill them for food because we are the creater of these lives.
ReplyDeletePersonally,I believe that killing livestocks for food is acceptable because we are a carnivour. Our body need amino acids for animal's meat. Moreover,the livestocks,itself, may not live in the natural environment. Without our feeding,vaccination and habitat,these may not survive. However,we can make merit for the livestocks that we killed for food with respect to the live that they contributed for us.
I also have same idea with Koffie, in case of turkeys why only turkeys concerning in Chrismas and Why in many cerebration always use animals not only turkeys in Christmas but also other animals such as many cows in Hindu ceremony.for me i think it is believe and may be in this situation not concern about nutrition.
ReplyDeleteFrom the story about Wilson family,It seem some concern about balance diet but other have such a strong idea about no need to kill anymore.
personally, i dont understand the problem exactly. It may be they do not understand each other,but they can enjoy together.
There are many turkeys killed for Christmas day. In case of Ethics,I think that all animals have a chance to still alive in this world especially in the ceremony days. Whether or not people may change meals which do not use animal's meats. On the other hand,there have confused in moral issue as The Wilson family that people should continue this custom or some change it by avoiding to eat Turkeys.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, it depends on each person to select. Moreover, it is the natural rule of chain food that small animals will be killed by big ones for going on their life.
According to euy's comment I agree with the information because the human is both carnivorous and herbivorous.We need nutient from meat, vegetable, and other source of it. However, I don't know that how much the human should eat meat. In my opinion, we should eat not too much of meat. We have to eat cover all of nutrient in the moderate meal.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the site, it shows we must eat meat for building, maintaining and repairing muscle and tissue in our body. Besides, it suggests that we should eat fish 2 serving per week to get Omega3 acid and it answers Kriss's question. We should eat protein about (your weight/2)-10 grams. In some food packages, they shows number of protein that you will gain when you eat. However, you should also eat vegetable for balancing diet.
ReplyDeleteAccording to article "food pyramid of the mouth",it mentioned about the sources of the protein which are animal protein and plant protein.Each source of protien has it own benifit. Animal protien nine essential amino acids that cannot be synthesized in the body.Therefore,eating animal protein is crucial for us. Apart form animal protein, plant protein
ReplyDeletehave fiber and low saturated fat.This can help us to control our weight. In summarized,we should find a balancing between 2 sources of protein for the better nutrition's intake.
I support with Euy's comment about no more efficient advatages to eat meat. In case of, most turkeys which are killed in the Christmas day should be prepared for good selling. Therefore, meat farmers will inject implants containing hormonal chemicals to fatten up cattle. These include RALGRO, SYNOVEX, HEIFERMAX, and other implants. These contain progesterone, which is a girl's pregnancy hormone. Melangestrol. Estradiol. and others. The more meat you eat, the more you Effeminized a man can become.(cited in http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=279396585&blogId=506900654). So if you are a male, and you eat meat, you are actually sissifying yourself.
ReplyDeleteAor,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that wonderful comment. I had to laugh when I read it. I hadn't thought of it before.
There seems to be a clear disagreement between people who think that meat is necessary for nutrition and those who think we would be healthier not eating meat.
And Aor, thanks for citing your source so that we could check it out. Citing sources is always a good idea, and it saves you from the risk of plagiarism.
In case of nutrients for vegetarian teenagers, they have nutritional needs same as other teenagers. If they are between 13 and 19, they need nutrition for rapid growth and change. The most nutritional needs are protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin B12.During adolescence, they need calcium from good sources- cow's milk and dairy products do contain calcium- to build bones. However, in vegetarian food, there are also other good sources of calcium such as green leafy vegetables, calcium-fortified soy milk, or orange juice. In addition, Iron and vitamin B12 requirement are relatively high. There are many high sources of iron such as broccoli, raisins, watermelon, spinach, and black-eyed peas. In case of vitamin B12, they can find from some cereals and fortified soy milks have vitamin B12. So I think for vegetarian teenagers they have no problems about health if they are more concern about what they eat and know about sources of essential nutrient.
ReplyDeleteAll of my information come from this page: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/teennutrition.htm
After I read 'Food Pyramid of the month.' Although it say that meat have protein.But I still insist on my viewpoint.I think we can live without meat.Because our ancestor didn't eat meat first time. But after some time they couldn't find the food.So they began to eat meat.I think eat meat just like a habbit.We can eat other things to instead of that.I think fish is very good for people's health.If we just eat fish,vegetable,fruit,rice and legume is also can keep health too.
ReplyDeleteAlina, and everyone else, when you read Euy's cited source, "Food Pyramid of the Month", which side does it actually support: that we need meat or that we do not need meat to be healthy?
ReplyDeleteAnd Alina,
I'm glad you took the trouble to read the source. I hope others also checked it. After I read it, I agreed with you. (Actually, I already thought that, but "Food Pyramid of teh Month" supported my opinion.)
And where did the people who wrote the source (Who wrote it?) that Euy found and cited get their information? What were their sources? (Why does this matter?)
Your discussion of this question is going very well. Lots of thoughtful and clearly stated ideas are being presented in response to what others are saying.
For your convenience, Euy's source is:
ReplyDeleteSteps to a healthier you: Meat & Beans Food Group. (2009, July 28). Hawthorne School District. Retrieved September 22, 2009 from http://www.hawthorne.k12.ca.us/ourpages/auto/2009/7/28/58830968/HSD%20-%20HOTM%20EN%20Meat%20Beans.pdf
(I've made it a link to the page. You can click the link to open the source.)
First of all I'd like to thank euy for useful information that you did the research for us. It can help me clarify the question that I wonder about "do we need to consume meat?" and "Is it enough to get the proteins from the nuts or other vegetables instead?".
ReplyDeleteAccoording to the Euy's source, it can makes me confirm my answer easily that eating meat is not wrong, because animal proteins are essential for us. However, when you get older, you can reduce the amount of meat that you consume in each day and turn to eat more vegetable and nuts if you want to reduce the number of animals killed for food as Ann's 1st comment.
For Alina's comment, I think if you eat fish, it means you still kill other lifes for food. So, it's still not pretty good, right? ^^
ps. I'd like to thank Keng and Aor for the good information about a good nutrition for our better meals.