Memes

Pigs can have a sense of numbers, like any herd animal. I get your point. But there are breeds and breeds.

To my very limited personal knowledge, landrace breeds tend to be more like that, especially breeds selected to be grazed and kept outside, which made sense as it would be desirable to have a closely knit group, where individuals would look out for each other. And this gave rise to breeds that can be extremely dangerous to other animals, including humans.

Talking with a few pig herders that live around the area I live, Inwas told more "modern" pig breeds tend to be less group and motherly care driven, to the point of sows mauling piglets out of food drive.

Good morning. I'm in Europe as well.

Let's start by not comparing EU to the US in therms of animal wellfare. It is a well established fact how the meat industry operates there: growth hormones, terrible living conditions, lack of sanitation, overcrowding, etc. Plus, on that part of the world, processed foods are more affordable than fresh produce of any kind.

We're not exempt of poor examples but we are way above the line of what the average american will consider good animal welfare conditions. This is not to make a statement that I defend animal rearing as it exist in the current industrial model, which I do not. A lot more can be done and to a degree I feel it is underway.

You are right when you mention economic factors but by some mysterious way, with the crazy inflationary period we're still living I've seen meat prices level, where regular products are as expensive or more than "biological"/animal welfare attested sourced ones, while at the same time people are cutting back on meat consumption to the point retailers and even traditional butcher shops are purchasing less stock.

Paired to this, over the last few decades, hundreds of pig farms and aviaries have gone out of business while more traditional techniques have been brought back, including to cut costs.

Likewise, what I am not going to do is try to make people feel guilty by their dietary options and, by extension, of being alive. Restaurants, hotels and similar places consume and waste obscene amounts of food, in particular meat.

Vegetable production is not exempt of environmental impact and scale is not an argument for me. I've seen how greenhouses leave the land when the activities are shutdown, plus the huge water consumptiom, fertilizers and energy. No part is scathe free.

As it is, we already produce more than we require to sustain the entire human population yet waste what should not be wasted. Measures to counter this are lacking, on all fronts.

So, it is quite painful for me when we take it lightly - like a meme - shaming and blaming people for wanting to live.

Please, enjoy and be happy with your dietary option, strike up dialogue and raise awareness but avoid proselitizing.