A Bid for Freedom

The fishmonger at the farmers market only had fresh (i.e. live) prawns (or, given we're all ponces at Blipfoto, 'langoustines') this morning. They're for a barbecue tomorrow, but rather than leave them languishing in the fridge overnight they were despatched, post-hour or so in the freezer, this afternoon. I expect there will be those who believe this to be barbaric, in which case I hope they're the people who never eat meat or seafood. In that case you have a moral high ground from which to make your point.

Otherwise, that which we perceive to be food is not born shrink-wrapped for our convenience. By sourcing most of our meat from places like the farmers market I can at least hope (and in some cases check) that the animal didn't suffer in the process. If you don't like the thought of the suffering animals can go through, and yet still buy your meat form the 'value' range of your friendly local conglomeramarket, you need to take a long hard look at yourself.

I eat meat. I enjoy it (though tonight, ironically, is a veggie curry, the naan dough quietly rising as we 'speak'). My one attempt to salve my conscience is by hoping that the animal doesn't suffer unduly in order to satisfy me (hence the langoustines spending time in the freezer before going in the pot - though in truth it was Mel who did the hard work). Hell, it's one of the reasons we have our own chickens in the back garden - I hate the idea of what battery hens are put through to satisfy our need for eggs.

Strangely there's a venison farm up in Fife, they sell their wares at the farmers market, which has been targeted many-a-time by animal rights activists. Why? Well because they're farming deer. Not that they're farming them intensively or mistreating them or slaughtering them in the most painful way possible. Simply because they're deer. But hey, Bambi was always cuter than a cow... And yet, the massive, and I mean MASSIVE, battery farm near Peebles is left unscathed. Hundreds of thousands of birds suffering horrifically versus a few hundred deer being afforded some respect in the way they live and die.

All that I can ask is, if you eat meat, give it some thought when you buy it...