One of the voices missing from the issue of the commercial relationship between farmers and meat factory owners is that of the cattle.
Not as facetious as you might think. Cattle represent the live input into industrial meat production. For them they have no say in their involvement in an industry that relies on their death to exist.
Manchester’s finest son, Morrissey, opined that ‘meat is murder’. The profound lyric “death for no reason is murder” cuts to the quick of meat production.
The existence of myriad vegan diets, sound in nutrition and health affirming benefits, shows that humane food consumption is possible.
A diet based on meat and animal by-products is being flayed as unhealthy, environmentally destructive, and leaking into the violent culture so prevalent in society today.
Eerily replicating the Wannsee Conference of 1942, farmers and meat industry organisations are holding talks to achieve a final solution to execute a species at an economical price.
Those attending these meetings are lost in figures, cattle grades and meat markets. The money fog blinds them to the fact that the food market is on an upwards plant-based curve, while meat consumption is trending downwards.
The Irish meat industry finds itself embedded on an animal blood-soaked iceberg that is seeping into watery oblivion.
Cattle are sentient creatures. They deserve more than to be seen as space filler on a plate and the source of a meat factory cheque.
John Tierney
Chairperson, Waterford Animal Concern
Larchville, Waterford
Boris’s misguided decision has ripped democracy apart
Britain is a shining beacon of parliamentary democracy. It prides itself throughout history as the mother of all democracies.
Each party has put their spirited and passionate argument before the people and the British people have voted to leave the European Union in a free and transparent referendum. Their will must therefore be respected.
However, Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament in the midst of the Brexit furore is a misguided decision. It rips democracy apart and threatens the political and social fabric of our society.
A general election remains the only way out of the present impasse.
Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
London, UK
Dubs’ blue heralds change in seasons as autumn arrives
Kimmage is awash with Dublin flags, a last fluttering blue sky on a September Sunday before autumn paints it copper and brown.
The chequered marine bunting stretching from pebble-dash houses is like semaphore signalling the slow shift in season. In the changing rooms of the calendar, the days slip on, new crisper jerseys, as we enter the quarter-final of the year.
Billy O Hanluain
Kimmage, Dublin 12
We must learn from crash just how bad Brexit could be
In the months leading up to the financial crash of 2007/8, all the talk was about hard and soft landings, I even sensed a bit of smugness from some that were, as they put it, ‘well prepared for what might come’.
Well, boy did we all get a shock back then, nobody really was or could have been prepared for what happened. Hardship and misery came from all directions.
So now, as we face the real possibility of a hard Brexit, should we not have learned how bad this could be. We are hearing the same phrases as back then, ‘hard’ or ‘soft’.
History should tell us we should be ready for a catastrophic Brexit. While it is unlikely anyone will starve, you might find that a washer to repair a leaking tap that would normally come in overnight from the UK will take a week; very inconvenient. Maybe not the end of the world, but when urgent parts for hospital equipment and essential supplies to keep factories working get delayed, inconvenience becomes critical.
The latest rumblings are that a blind eye may be turned to patrolling the Border.
When the Government appoints an agency to do a job, such as border control, it cannot dictate the way it is done. Small business and the public are being told by Government agencies we are not well enough prepared. At the same time they are telling us they have contingencies in place for all eventualities, we heard that before. Still, we are all ears for any practical advice they may have.
Brexit, if it comes unregulated, will have an immediate effect. Like the night-time air raids of World War II, there is only limited advance precautions you can take and no way of predicting where it will hurt most.
Sean Murtagh
Dooradoyle Road, Co Limerick
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Letters to the Editor: 'Meat industry here should look to words of Morrissey'
Letters to the Editor: 'Meat industry here should look to words of Morrissey'
One of the voices missing from the issue of the commercial relationship between farmers and meat factory owners is that of the cattle.
Not as facetious as you might think. Cattle represent the live input into industrial meat production. For them they have no say in their involvement in an industry that relies on their death to exist.
Manchester’s finest son, Morrissey, opined that ‘meat is murder’. The profound lyric “death for no reason is murder” cuts to the quick of meat production.
The existence of myriad vegan diets, sound in nutrition and health affirming benefits, shows that humane food consumption is possible.
A diet based on meat and animal by-products is being flayed as unhealthy, environmentally destructive, and leaking into the violent culture so prevalent in society today.
Eerily replicating the Wannsee Conference of 1942, farmers and meat industry organisations are holding talks to achieve a final solution to execute a species at an economical price.
Those attending these meetings are lost in figures, cattle grades and meat markets. The money fog blinds them to the fact that the food market is on an upwards plant-based curve, while meat consumption is trending downwards.
The Irish meat industry finds itself embedded on an animal blood-soaked iceberg that is seeping into watery oblivion.
Cattle are sentient creatures. They deserve more than to be seen as space filler on a plate and the source of a meat factory cheque.
John Tierney
Chairperson, Waterford Animal Concern
Larchville, Waterford
Boris’s misguided decision has ripped democracy apart
Britain is a shining beacon of parliamentary democracy. It prides itself throughout history as the mother of all democracies.
Each party has put their spirited and passionate argument before the people and the British people have voted to leave the European Union in a free and transparent referendum. Their will must therefore be respected.
However, Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament in the midst of the Brexit furore is a misguided decision. It rips democracy apart and threatens the political and social fabric of our society.
A general election remains the only way out of the present impasse.
Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
London, UK
Dubs’ blue heralds change in seasons as autumn arrives
Kimmage is awash with Dublin flags, a last fluttering blue sky on a September Sunday before autumn paints it copper and brown.
The chequered marine bunting stretching from pebble-dash houses is like semaphore signalling the slow shift in season. In the changing rooms of the calendar, the days slip on, new crisper jerseys, as we enter the quarter-final of the year.
Billy O Hanluain
Kimmage, Dublin 12
We must learn from crash just how bad Brexit could be
In the months leading up to the financial crash of 2007/8, all the talk was about hard and soft landings, I even sensed a bit of smugness from some that were, as they put it, ‘well prepared for what might come’.
Well, boy did we all get a shock back then, nobody really was or could have been prepared for what happened. Hardship and misery came from all directions.
So now, as we face the real possibility of a hard Brexit, should we not have learned how bad this could be. We are hearing the same phrases as back then, ‘hard’ or ‘soft’.
History should tell us we should be ready for a catastrophic Brexit. While it is unlikely anyone will starve, you might find that a washer to repair a leaking tap that would normally come in overnight from the UK will take a week; very inconvenient. Maybe not the end of the world, but when urgent parts for hospital equipment and essential supplies to keep factories working get delayed, inconvenience becomes critical.
The latest rumblings are that a blind eye may be turned to patrolling the Border.
When the Government appoints an agency to do a job, such as border control, it cannot dictate the way it is done. Small business and the public are being told by Government agencies we are not well enough prepared. At the same time they are telling us they have contingencies in place for all eventualities, we heard that before. Still, we are all ears for any practical advice they may have.
Brexit, if it comes unregulated, will have an immediate effect. Like the night-time air raids of World War II, there is only limited advance precautions you can take and no way of predicting where it will hurt most.
Sean Murtagh
Dooradoyle Road, Co Limerick
Source: Read Full Article