Coronavirus/meat production and eating

[flowerseverywhere]

I am seeing very little connection between modern ways of animal production and pandemics in media and society. Swine flu. AIDS making the jump from primates to people. Covid-19 connections from wet markets and bats. Smallpox and bubonic plague from rats. The outbreaks at our modern meat processing plants.

wouldn't a lot of our current problems be avoided if processing and eating animal products was eliminated or changed? With all the debate about shutdowns and mask wearing, I have seen almost no mention or discussions of this simple fact. Do you think you will change your eating habits at all?

[Yppej]

I am already a vegetarian. I do see a connection, except with bubonic plague I don't know that people were eating rats.

[Gardnr]

I am seeing very little connection between modern ways of animal production and pandemics in media and society. Swine flu. AIDS making the jump from primates to people. Covid-19 connections from wet markets and bats. Smallpox and bubonic plague from rats. The outbreaks at our modern meat processing plants.

wouldn't a lot of our current problems be avoided if processing and eating animal products was eliminated or changed? With all the debate about shutdowns and mask wearing, I have seen almost no mention or discussions of this simple fact. Do you think you will change your eating habits at all?

I buy local grassfed as much as possible. I would estimate 20% or less corporate "meat" enters our kitchen.

[catherine]

Nobody's going to let anyone mess with meat. If not being able to go to bars and churches isn't hard enough for Americans to accept, tell them that they can't or shouldn't eat meat and a civil war will break out. I was vegetarian for 10 years and had a lot of conversations with meat-eaters and non-meat-eaters and I did a lot of reading and learned in the process that people's opinions are often more grounded in emotion than facts.

[JaneV2.0]

I've thought about getting a subscription to grass fed and finished meats. But that would probably require buying a new freezer.
I've done my penance as a vegetarian already. Bite me.
Left to my own devices, I often go days without eating meat, but that's only because I'm a lazy cook.

[Teacher Terry]

I eat meat most days and don’t like many veggies.

[bae]

I get almost all of my meat from small-scale local sources.

I think the vegan/vegetarian community is being a bit precious trying to meat-shame and advance their agenda on the back of Covid-19.

[flowerseverywhere]

I haven’t seen anyone trying to advance the agenda of shaming and decreasing meat eating. I see a lot of China blaming, but no calls for the American meat industry to protect workers and the public. How does Covid get into the packing plants?

[catherine]

I haven’t seen anyone trying to advance the agenda of shaming and decreasing meat eating. I see a lot of China blaming, but no calls for the American meat industry to protect workers and the public. How does Covid get into the packing plants?

I haven't seen a lot of it, either, but I did see a NYT op ed by Jonathan Foer.

[SteveinMN]

How does Covid get into the packing plants?

Same way it gets everywhere else: asymptomatic spread. Could have come from some kid returning home from college and picking up fast food at the Subway. Or from the driver bringing the cattle. Or from the driver picking up the cut meat. Or the corporate bigwig out on a photo op. Or....

Add a bunch of people (typically with work-or-you-don't-get-paid kinds of jobs and/or minimal health benefits) working in close quarters and there it is.