"Meet Your Meat" - Reaction

[Mystican]

I just watched PETA's "Meet Your Meat" video at http://www.petatv.com ... I'd never seen it before. It was mostly my reading about factory farms and such online, and seeing still images, that made me go vegan back in the beginning of 2002, but I'd always meant to see the video as well. ...

All I can say is, I'm so close to breaking out in tears; I'm trying very hard not to. Part of what's keeping the tears back is the accompanying anger at how anyone can treat another living creature like that. ::fumes:: :mad:

Has anyone else seen this video? The still images you see sometimes are horrible, but seeing the video footage... I had chills throughout most of it. Be warned if you haven't seen it and decide you want to: It is very graphic, and possibly not the best thing to view if you're already in a "low mood."

I remember someone once mentioning that when faced with the enormous cruelty our species inflicts on the planet and on other species (and on our own), it's sometimes hard not to hate... hard not to hold a grudge, so to speak, against humanity and against existence itself... but I'm doing my best to look at this with love instead, and to allow it to strengthen my resolve to live as a vegan and to do what I can to make others aware of the truth (without trying to force it upon them, difficult as it may often be to avoid that).

-Erik

[iris]

This Video turned my meat loving Husband Vegan over night:eek:

[Kelly]

That is the most terrible thing I have ever seen.

[annie7]

I went to that site specifically for the video last week, and only got sound. My computer is supposed to run at 56, but the only ones I've been able to view were at 24. I'd like to show it to some people, but I can only hear it. Any suggestions?

[Mystican]

When you go to the "Meet Your Meat" video page (at http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=mym2002 ) which player do you select from the Preferences? That might have something to do with it... I often find that QuickTime works much better than Windows Media or even Real Player when streaming video on the Internet, especially at lower connection speeds.

If you continue to have problems, and you really want to show your friends, PETA sells "Meet Your Meat" in the PETA Mall for $5.00 on either DVD or VHS. ( http://petacatalog.com/peta/product.asp?dept%5Fid=12&pf%5Fid=VP523&mscssid= )

Hope that helps.

-Erik

[Dancer]

I am horrified beyond belief, beyond belief.......you all know that I volunteer at an animal sactuary where every animal has a name, his or her own cozy bed, and the freedom to "play" on acres of pristine forest along a river. I am slowly learning each of the (over 200) animals' (and birds, and fowl's) personality. Seeing the film is like watching my friends tortured and murdered.

I really fall apart when I see something like this.

PETA also has (somewhere) the stats on how many animal lives are saved in a human's lifetime if that human goes veg/vegan. The number was more substantial than I imagined and when I think of the scores of us vegans globally doing something very tangible, living life in this very deliberate way, it offers me some solace.

I really weep for those animals.

Dancer

[annie7]

Nothing in the form of video will play at all for me. I have Dial-up that is sooo slowww. I think I got the jist of it from the audio, but I have the website written down, so maybe I can visit the site from somewhere else. thanks anyway for the suggestion.

[Erin Pavlina]

I have to know who can watch that video and still eat animals and animal products afterward. What does a person have to do to their heart, their conscience, their logic, to eat an animal after seeing how those animals are treated?

When I think of apples... growing on a tree. You pick em, put em in a crate, and ship them to market... and then I think of how an animal goes from being a sentient being to a plateful of hamburger... how can people not see the difference?

[Mystican]

Dancer, I did a little searching, and at http://www.peta.org/feat/grrr900/food.html towards the bottom of the page, there are some numbers given. "2,400: number of animals a vegetarian saves in a lifetime." That the one you're talking about? ... Actually, at VeganEssentials.com there's a T-shirt that says "Give blood this year and save a life. ... Then go veg and save 83 more." ( https://secure5.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/product_detail.asp?CS=vegane&RowID=210&All= ) 83 per year becomes much more than 2,400 if you multiply it by the average human lifespan, so I'm not sure of the accuracy of these figures. Maybe 2,400 doesn't take into account aquatic animals? Regardless, the numbers are certainly huge, and I agree that it provides comfort to know that we are saving a tremendous number of animals just by taking ourselves individually out of the chain of "supply and demand" for flesh and flesh-derived foods.

annie, sorry to hear that you couldn't get it to work. :( If you can get to an animal rights/vegan lifestyle tabling event, they'll sometimes have copies of "Meet Your Meat" available there for less than the cost at the PETA Mall, or even for free (although they'd probably gladly accept a donation). That's been my experience, anyway.

Erin, I ***definitely*** agree, and I think I would have to seriously question my reasons for a relationship with someone (friend or otherwise) if they could watch that video and still eat animals. I mean, at the very least you'd think there would be ***some*** kind of change, some soul-searching. But alas, human psychology being what it is... sometimes it's harder to move a person's heart and mind than it is to move a mountain. ... Oh, and yeah, how one couldn't see the difference between a factory farm and an apple orchard... It really does boggle the mind. I know that plant agriculture in today's society isn't perfect, but that's why I try to buy organic whenever possible. :D (Now if only "veganic" agriculture would start showing its results in our supermarket produce stands...)

-Erik

Unrelated note: Erin, how are you and your family doing in L.A. right now, what with the fires? I've looked at a couple of newspapers, and it seems to be getting very bad. :( Hope you're all okay.

[Erin Pavlina]

Thanks for asking. Last night the Simi Valley / Chatsworth fire got within 5 miles of us but it seems to have passed us by now, thank God! The smoke is incredible and our car was covered with ash this morning. Even in the house you can smell smoke. I hope the firefighters can get these fires out soon!

[Dancer]

You know the one. It's at the supermarket or at the front of the restaurant. This thead made me think of how lobster is one of the few foods people (non-vegans) are comfortable killing themselves, even in their own kitchens, just minutes before eating. Erin's comment about "sentient beings" reminded me as to how Buddhists have a yearly ritual of buying lobsters from fishermen, grocers, etc, to perform a spiritual rescue and return the creatures back to ocean, unharmed. Often times the lobster dealers are just incredulous that this group is buying the expensive lobster only to put back into the ocean......sometimes they are very curious and ask a lot of questions. There has been some literature surrounding the entire process.

Erin, here is to hoping that this finds you, your family and friends safe from harm's way. Keep us posted.....

Erik, I think that you hit the right site on PETA.....and even if some of the data is varied, it is safe to presume we are individually and collectively working toward resolution.

Peace,

Dancer

[VOW]

We are in like an island of calm while the insanity rages around us. We are not in any danger, but we know family and friends who have been evacuated, and some have lost their homes. I've lived in SCal all my life, and I've NEVER seen it this bad. And it looks like it will go on, forever.

Viewing the sun through the smoke looks almost apocalyptic. My work office building is sucking in smoke through the air conditioning system, and we can smell it constantly. Ash floats around us like snow.

And the fires just burn on and on...



~VOW

[Dancer]

If you can smell the smoke inside, and you can see the ash outside, I hope you are taking measures to filter this in some way....at least a paper mask outdoors and an air purifier indoors. Your bronchial tubes are taking a beating, even if it doesn't feel this way.....

....I am a mother---I had to post this!:(

[VOW]

We don't DO much outside. It affects your nose and eyes almost immediately. The cough drop aisle at Target was packed the other day!

The AC is on constantly here at work. We just started using it again at home. In the beginning, the authorities said to shut the AC OFF, because it was sucking MORE smoke into the homes!

Masks are sold out, people are using bandanas now, in the worst areas. Folks are encouraged to breathe through their noses, let nature filter out the crud rather than inhaling it directly into the lungs.

But mostly, we just cry.



~VOW

[alexis]

A plant spray to dampen down any ashes and tiny particles would be real useful....keeping the windows shut tight and putting up damp curtains at the windows and doors to filter out most of the smoke is good...and it's a really good idea to get an air purifier....not sure if it's useful for you guys...but that's what my mom did when the haze was really bad....anyway, stay safe...hopefully this fire will eventually stop...

[Jenica]

I've been avoiding seeing Meet Your Meat for a while now since most PETA content is too graphic for my weak stomach. But I have had a few tempting moments with cheese lately so I figured it might be prudent to see something intense enough to remind me why I went vegan in the first place.

This video got me thinking about an aunt of mine who worked in a slaughterhouse (probably several decades ago though I'm not sure how long she worked there). Every time we eat with her she loads up her plate with meat. How is this possible? It's just beyond me...anyway, I'm going to go snuggle my kitties and have a good cry.

[alexis]

Maybe it's because she's seen so much cruelty and violence towards the animals that she's become desensitisised? to it... Anyway i just grossed my boyfriend out of ever eating chicken nuggets ever....i told him chicken nuggets are made of dead male chicks and described the way the chicks are killed...is that true? I thought i read it somewhere but it was a long time ago... Now don't i wish they have really gross and stomach churning pictures of how shark's fin is obtained to show my parents and relatives to shed light on why i won't be serving shark's fin soup should i ever have a wedding dinner...apparently it will be 'devastatingly embarrassing' to them if i don't follow that tradition....people! :rolleyes:

[Dancer]

...it is interesting if not astounding as to how families can wrap their lives around food traditions, often very closely related to ethnic/religious beliefs. My own family has finally come around to realizing that I am not going to change, but not after truly outrageous and absurd behavior towards me. (my "denial/insanity" postings).

What makes it astounding is that the food traditions are footed in pious beliefs which use animal cruelty and atrocity to bring the event forward. The obvious is missed, isn't it. And one can find oneself feeling as though one is arguing the world round against insistence that it is flat.

Alexis, I would wager that even if you were to find footage of sharks being hunted and killed, your family has already rationalized its position, just as mine had rationalized its traditions.

I try very hard not to have contempt for those that sit in front of heaping plates of dead carcasses their entire lives. It is slovenly and lazy to walk through life by means of death. My own family COULDN'T CARE LESS about animal cruelty or how their food is obtained.

The best we can do is to continue to stay faithful to our own values, contribute to the earth, and work towards the halting of animal agriculture.

Dancer

[alexis]

i don't think footage would help either...but it sure as heck would explain my stand.....i mean, the death rate is awful...nine courses of murdered animals.... shark's fin, pigeons, suckling pigs, shrimp, fish, shell fish...the list goes on...and besides, it's absolutely absurd to splash twelve thousand dollars on a dinner and have no say in whom to invite...our parents will just invite their closest friends and their worst enemies just to 'wow' them with the food and stuff...:rolleyes: And half the time, most of these people won't even know we existed in the first place...:rolleyes: I have a few better uses for twelve thousand bucks of my savings... donations to a animal rescue farm being the first and foremost....:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[xmysticprincessx]

I dont know a lot about downloading mpegs/movie files and then watching them, so if this info is not completely accurate, I;m sorry.

For those of you who have a hard time watching the Meet Your Meat video from the peta site, I heard that Peta 2 (its the cool version of Peta to appeal to the younger generation) was encouraging their members to put the video onto Kazaa and other file sharing websites. Maybe if you have the video saved on your hard drive, you could have an easier time watching it through Windows Player or Real Player.

Good luck!
And I hope those CA fires end soon! Good luck to you too!

[VeganEternity]

Here is a direct link, right click and save as. This will download the meet your meat video from PETA. If it plays funny at first just close and play it again. You need real player to play it.



Meet your Meat (http://meetyourmeat.com/mym2002_low.rm) low quality 15mb




Meet your Meat (http://meetyourmeat.com/mym2002_med.rm) High quality 73mb

[sarahrose]

Yes I saw it, and yes I cried. We all did, Didn't we? What caring person wouldent? I did not sleep all that night, and I had nothing to be guilty about. Imagine how it would feel to be a meat eater and watch it?