General Chat Thread II

Gloomtastic!

Everyday’s a school day. ………

Vegans don’t eat honey 🤯

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200141#Comment_123200141

Of course they don't, if you think about it. Don't wear wool either.

Gloomtastic!

But bees are good, do sheep fart?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200241#Comment_123200241

It's to do with the use of animals at all. It's pretty well known they don't eat eggs or dairy products despite them also not resulting in immediate death of the animal.

There are some plant products where it's a bit iffy as to uses of animals, e.g. almond farms using beehives of bees that are pretty much guaranteed to die quickly afterwards, or figs where pollination kills wasps; and I do know of one vegan who doesn't eat almond products due to that.

magicbastarder

catholics are able to be vegan while also taking communion, because even though they believe they're eating flesh and blood, jesus was willing and completely cogniscant of what he was doing.

Black Sheep

Fair to say veganism is a band of beliefs and there are various different interpretations… At least among people who study the ethics and philosophy of it.

I used to read a lot of Peter Singer, who works on animal rights, among other areas of practical ethics / bioethics… I was briefly a vegetarian.

There is at least some debate about whether what is sometimes called, in a catch-all way, 'strict veganism' is too rigid to best achieve its central objective.

You can advance at least some kind of credible argument that an all-vegetable factory-farmed diet causes greater harm to animals and their habitats than a diet which is more diverse and may contain protein from either humanely-raised animals or… as was suggested by philosopher Peter Singer in the past… Road-killed meat sources.

It's lurid, and I can understand why it's dismissed as provocative nonsense.. But… Just from a philosophy point of view…. On a BBC debate about veganism and climate a number of years ago, Singer was on a panel and said that eating road-kill was ethical, if the circumstances were such that it was less harmful than other practices that cause harm to animals. He reminded other panellists that, while for some of them it was about health practices, for him veganism was an ethical choice first and foremost, and that eating roadkill didn't present the same individual ethical quandary as eating animals raised for food.

Before anyone asks — no, I haven't eaten any!

Gloomtastic!

^ Cat or dog anyone? 😬

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123210729#Comment_123210729

You can advance at least some kind of credible argument that an all-vegetable factory-farmed diet causes greater harm to animals and their habitats than a diet which is more diverse

at the risk of derailing the thread - animals are a very inefficient way of producing food, certainly for meat.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123210854#Comment_123210854

Yeah, I've never bought this idea that "growing vegetables is so harmful, it's better to eat animals!" argument trotted out by people who are anti vegetarian. How can it be better to grow vegetables to feed to animals which are then slaughtered????

There's always outlying situations and cases but I cannot accept that eating animals can in any way be more environmentally friendly than not eating animals.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123210830#Comment_123210830

I'd be a firm believer that no one has any right to be outraged at others eating any animal unless you are vegan.

I once had to endure a person waxing not very lyrically about how it was morally wrong to eat horse - while she tucked into a beef steak! Oh, but a horse is a noble animal - bollix!

We have cultural aversions to eating certain animals I don't believe it is acceptable to criticise other cultures for having different norms provided animal welfare standards are comparable.

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123210899#Comment_123210899

Well, that's a bit of an extreme position, a straw-man ("growing vegetables is so harmful, it's better to eat animals!").

The argument I'm referring to, is not really saying that growing vegetables is harmful in absolute terms, it's more that there are harms associated with very industrialised approaches to factory farming of crops. It's presented that if you have a very aggressive, industrial approach, with demanding crops, using monocrops, then in the long term for the soil and the eco system, yes, you are causing harm. The suggestion then is that if that harm is extreme enough, you could eat humanely-raised livestock, combined with more moderate farming practices, and it would be better (Albeit more expensive and producing less food).

Haven't referred to factory farming of livestock above, in the context of the argument we take it as accepted it is harmful across the board.

To be clear, I don't have a dog in this race, I don't have a view on way or the other.

Climate and animal rights are two areas that I accepted, a long time ago, that I can make decent enough choices, but I don't actually live out what I think are probably objectively the highest moral standards I can recognise.

magicbastarder

it's not controversial to say that there are forms of intensive veg farming which are more damaging than some forms of animal production - that if you were to take, say, one hectare of land, veg farming would degrade it more in many measures.

but the kicker is, you need far more land to produce the same amount of meat. so if you were to turn, say, 1000Ha of meat producing land over to veg production, you'd be able to reduce the amount of land farmed by more than half to produce the same amount of food. you'd be able to rewild the 'freed up' land, for example.

i think cattle are about 15% efficient in turning calories in to calories out.

Black Sheep

It's an interesting one.

Efficiency is certainly a valid criteria, whether its in economic or energy terms… But there's a point of diminishing returns too, especially the stricter the application. I think most of us might like the idea of greener agriculture and rewilded land… But equally we want to retain an industry producing humanely-raised livestock, at a price affordable by more than just the wealthy.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123211288#Comment_123211288

Oh, I wasn't arguing for or against what you posted, at all. I was just throwing stuff out there.

But I have heard all flavours of irrational nonsense from people arguing against vegetarianism and veganism.

I, also am not vegetarian and I don't want someone to eat my cats. But I do find that the arguments for a vegan world stack up much better than the counterarguments. And then you get the complete thickos who object to anyone being vegan and will actually try to argue that vegans are damaging the environment.

New Home

Hi folks, cleaning question. I've a silicone muffin mould (one of those rectangular ones with six moulds built in). I also have a set of individual fairycakes moulds, also silicone. No matter how or how much I wash them, when they dry they have a white bloom all over them. I've even tried with limescale remover, but no joy. Does anyone know what causes it or how to remove it?

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230292#Comment_123230292

Pic?

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230292#Comment_123230292

Dishwasher?

The Nal

Anyone know where you can get Sneem pudding (or Nolans in Kilcullen) without going there?

https://www.irishtimes.com/food/2025/03/04/top-irish-food-and-drink-products-and-people-for-2025-are-named/

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123233547#Comment_123233547

Ask them…….

https://sneemblackpudding.ie/contact-us/

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230525#Comment_123230525

A bit late, but here it is. This is after scrubbing it A LOT.

Gremlinertia

Jaysis help the people that have trypophobia 😱😱

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123247528#Comment_123247528

I know this would have looked nicer,

but 1. it wasn't my tray, so - 2. you couldn't see the white marks and 3. it's full of muffins and it's making me hungry.

New Home

Incidentally, I also have spatulas that tend to develop the same bloom.

sammyjo90

I'd say it's the silicon breaking down NH. Don't think it's fixable

sammyjo90

@Black Sheep just back from my belfast trip. Went to deanes at Queens, while it was good, Waterman was excellent! So thanks for that reccommendation. hope you enjoyed it when you went.

Didn't manage to get to OX, maybe if I ever get up that way again we'll hove it a go

oscarBravo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123110150#Comment_123110150

Totally. Worth. It. An outstanding dining experience.

Planet X

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123247184#Comment_123247184

@New Home Is this an issue with silicone moulds? Looking at metal rectangular types on Amazon.

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123251794#Comment_123251794

It's not affecting the baking itself, but I was curious to find out what the cause was.

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123251372#Comment_123251372

Waterman was great when we were there…!

They also have a really spectacular large city scape painting by Colin Davidson on the wall that is almost worth going for alone.

Better known as a portrait painter these days, maybe one of the best in the UK (if not the best). But he started out doing city scapes. I never understood the appeal of them, they don't look like much until you see one on a wall, like that.

sammyjo90

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123254357#Comment_123254357

The painting is awesome! The light in it is fantastic and such a good use of that wall!

Nice to know who the artist is