1000s of pigs killed in fire in Co Down

3d4life

Donald Trump wrote: »

I don't know about that. We used to have a donkey here who actually published many peer-reviewed papers on topics such as group theory and differential geometry......

Not untrue.

Most of the members of the Maths Society in the college I was at looked like horses.

whelan2

Try out this place www.thewholehoggs.com

jimmycrackcorm

Seamai wrote: »

Yeah, I've often had this arguement with people.
Pigs are probably the most intelligent of all farm animals and acutely aware of their surroundings. Some people love getting up on their high horses claiming they'd never eat veal because of the tight conditions the calves are kept in but never give a second thought for poor pigs when tucking into their crispy bacon.

I've never heard of anyone going on about not eating veal for that reason, probably because not many eat it.

If people are concerned about pigs then they should create demand for free-range. I'm not fond of pork chops but I won't be giving up rashers and sausages any time soon. I'd pay more for free-range, simply because I reckon it would be better quality and taste.

Donald Trump

3d4life wrote: »

Not untrue.

Most of the members of the Maths Society in the college I was at looked like horses.

That's a bit unfair to horses.


What's the difference between a member of the Mathsoc and a horse?

You'd probably ride a horse

jam_mac_jam

Donald Trump wrote: »

Just be aware that "free-range" might not mean exactly what you envision it to be.



It will of course be better than factory-style production but that doesn't necessarily mean carefree animals wandering freely around a farm

I'm well aware of that. Still better then the alternative.

_Brian

Donald Trump wrote: »

You are free to buy a farm and let whatever pigs you like roam free on it.




Other than that, for people trying to make a living rearing pigs, they have to obey market forces and efficiency in order to try to survive on very low margins. If people didn't want pork then they wouldn't be rearing them.

Something you saod there is the crux of the situation.

Farmers farm the products consumers buy.

If people went out and bought nothing but free range pork products then ty e market for everything else would dwindle and farms would convert over.

The catch is yes, products would be more expensive. Are people willing to pay double for their sausage and rasher ?? I doubt it.

Incidentally we rear our own pigs for the table here and what your being sold in the e shops is a pale distant effort in taste to real pork products where pigs get to roam outside amd root in the ground. It’s more expensive but it’s multiple times better.

So if you want better products make the effort and go out and source them, the more people do this the more things change. If you continue to buy cheap mass produced products then pig farms will just get bigger and more intensive to meet your demand.

Literally consumers €€ is a vote for the farming you want happening.

We make our own sausages here reasonably regular which is great fun and rewarding. I wish I had time to do it more often.

Donald Trump

_Brian wrote: »

Something you saod there is the crux of the situation.

Farmers farm the products consumers buy.

If people went out and bought nothing but free range pork products then ty e market for everything else would dwindle and farms would convert over.

The catch is yes, products would be more expensive. Are people willing to pay double for their sausage and rasher ?? I doubt it.

Incidentally we rear our own pigs for the table here and what your being sold in the e shops is a pale distant effort in taste to real pork products where pigs get to roam outside amd root in the ground. It’s more expensive but it’s multiple times better.

So if you want better products make the effort and go out and source them, the more people do this the more things change. If you continue to buy cheap mass produced products then pig farms will just get bigger and more intensive to meet your demand.

Literally consumers €€ is a vote for the farming you want happening.

100%.


If people only bought free-range organic produce then there would be no pigs in industrial units.


And if free-range organic produce was financially viable then more people would produce it.

Seamai

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I've never heard of anyone going on about not eating veal for that reason, probably because not many eat it.

If people are concerned about pigs then they should create demand for free-range. I'm not fond of pork chops but I won't be giving up rashers and sausages any time soon. I'd pay more for free-range, simply because I reckon it would be better quality and taste.

I've often heard people saying this about veal but the thing is like you said it's pretty rare to find veal here in Ireland. Half the people who say this struggle to back up their arguement and come out with term "crate reared" not really understanding what that means.

No, I certainly wouldn't be giving anything up, I go out of my way to find free range pork and bacon products.

gozunda

neris wrote: »

Bet there was a lovely bacon smell lingering in the air locally

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/99/44/2b/99442b80b8096a6be7c381870a5a2dbd--os-simpsons-homer-simpson.jpg

Looks like more than the bacon went up flames tbh....

The thing is I'm not sure how one of the intensive Pig rearing units could catch fire There's very little flammable material to go up in flames.

I was in one years ago and maybe it was an exception. Staff were very strict on disinfection and wearing ppe so any visitors couldn't unintentionally bring in viruses etc.

I think I remember being told that the numbers of pigs per unit was set so stop overcrowding. There were also revolving scratching brushes and rubber ball like toys things for pigs to play with in the pens. Tbh the smell of pig was fairly strong so didn't stay long tbh.

That said the happiest pigs I ever saw were in the large free range pig farms in the UK. Made up of huge fields with arks for the pigs to live in. The pigs had most of the fields dug up like the battle of the Somme where they were running around like mad.

There are a couple of genuine free range pig producers in Ireland. Go to a proper pork butcher and ask. They should be able to source free range products.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump wrote: »

The pigs would be dead in a few weeks anyway Einstein.

Isn't that exactly the same line you used about the auld ones in the covid thread?

touts

We live in a world of cheap food. Very few animals live in nice conditions and the production process from start to finish is hugely damaging to the environment in terms of emmissions etc. But until we can produce synthetic meat we're stuck with the process. That said mass produced synthetic meat isn't that far away. The technology exists it just has to be scaled up. But within 30 years it is likely that meat grown in a factory rather than in an animal will be a staple of many diets.

DellyBelly

Poor things probably suffered an awful death. Can you imagine the noise of the them squeeling as the flames approached...yuck..

Must be some smell up there today though

Donald Trump

Deleted User wrote: »

Isn't that exactly the same line you used about the auld ones in the covid thread?

Do you not think you are being a bit disrespectful by comparing some "auld ones" dying from covid to a few pigs that died in a fire?

lozenges

Couldn't agree more with OP. The price of meat is far too low for the product that it is. Intensive factory style farming means that animals are kept in abysmal conditions. But people would rather have cheap meat than pay extra for what should be a premium product.

Our local butcher sells free range sausages, but it's something that I see very rarely. Hope it continues though. I felt genuinely sick reading that article.

eggy81

Hard to belive so many delicious forms of meat come from one animal.

weldoninhio

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

https://www.thejournal.ie/up-to-2000-pigs-killed-in-farm-blaze-in-co-down-5198692-Sep2020/

This is just horrific. Apart from a few free range producers, pigs are kept in horrible cramped conditions indoors and never see the light of day during their whole lives.
Do you ever think of this when you're eating pork products? Or do people just not care? I haven't eaten it myself in years, mostly due to how they are reared and the fact that they are intelligent animals, as intelligent as dogs.
It's weird how any article about a few dogs found stray or abandoned has people going nuts looking for people to be executed but a horrible story like this just gets smoky bacon jokes. Cognitive dissonance or whatever.
I look forward to the pig jokes below...

I'd say the firemen were starving afterwards. Nearest brekkie roll shop must have made a fortune on their way back to base!!

Donald Trump

Donald Trump wrote: »

Do you not think you are being a bit disrespectful by comparing some "auld ones" dying from covid to a few pigs that died in a fire?

Youre the one saying it, Donald.

Large bottle small glass

weldoninhio wrote: »

I'd say the firemen were starving afterwards. Nearest brekkie roll shop must have made a fortune on their way back to base!!

According to Christopher Hitchens, the reason a lot of firemen don't eat pork is the same reason why Jews and Muslims don't; the smell of pig and human flesh being burnt is very similar.

Having been in a few piggerys I don't eat pork or bacon myself.

weldoninhio

Large bottle small glass wrote: »

According to Christopher Hitchens, the reason a lot of firemen don't eat pork is the same reason why Jews and Muslims don't; the smell of pig and human flesh being burnt is very similar.

Having been in a few piggerys I don't eat pork or bacon myself.

I’ve smelled(smelt) human flesh burn, it’s in no way comparable to burning sausies or rashers.

Hande hoche!

Large bottle small glass wrote: »

According to Christopher Hitchens, the reason a lot of firemen don't eat pork is the same reason why Jews and Muslims don't; the smell of pig and human flesh being burnt is very similar.

Having been in a few piggerys I don't eat pork or bacon myself.

Was reading a book a few years ago about one of the various battles that took place in Africa in the 1980s. One of the combatants mentions an incident where himself and others were ransacking an enemy base after a large attack. They were following their noses after a delicious smell. Turned out a stray bullet had set off the incendiary grenade attached to one of the shoulder straps of one of the attackers. Was absolutely burnt to a crisp, to the extent where they couldn't tell if he was white or black. He mentioned that what should have been a light wound turned catastrophic.

_Brian

touts wrote: »

We live in a world of cheap food. Very few animals live in nice conditions and the production process from start to finish is hugely damaging to the environment in terms of emmissions etc. But until we can produce synthetic meat we're stuck with the process. That said mass produced synthetic meat isn't that far away. The technology exists it just has to be scaled up. But within 30 years it is likely that meat grown in a factory rather than in an animal will be a staple of many diets.

No doubt this will be attractive to fanatics but most people will continue to eat actual food and its important that the choice remains for both parties to do what they want..


The production of chemicals and energy associated to synthetic foods is also damaging to the environment. The difference being that data is being intentionally slewed to make agriculture look bad by vested interests. Animals farmed correctly actually benifet the environment and biodiversity, not something that can be said for imitation foods produced from at best suspect ingredients.

fret_wimp2

_Brian wrote: »

No doubt this will be attractive to fanatics but most people will continue to eat actual food and its important that the choice remains for both parties to do what they want..


The production of chemicals and energy associated to synthetic foods is also damaging to the environment. The difference being that data is being intentionally slewed to make agriculture look bad by vested interests. Animals farmed correctly actually benifet the environment and biodiversity, not something that can be said for imitation foods produced from at best suspect ingredients.

I agree with this. Lab grown meat may be good if there was a shortage, And it could make more with less, but there is no shortage of food or meat,.there are a just logistical distribution and political problems preventing everyone having enough food.

Ideally animals for food would be raised in a way that provides them with a stress free, relatively natural life, regardless of it costs more to do so. There are enough resources to do this, but the meat most available is that in stores like tesco or aldi/lidl and besides chicken, none is free range, and even then, free range is not the idealistic view people. Think of animals frolicking in sunlit green pastures.

Many more would probably buy ethically raised animal meat if it was easier to get. Unfortunately There is more profit for stores to sell the most available, cheapest meat.