I'm only too aware of the impracticality of continuing meat consumption in the western world and I've never been a fan of commercial farming. I'm sure 'compassionate farming' isn't all it's cracked up to be in all cases, but it IS a (albeit small) step in the right direction (and don't, at any cost, get me started on the feckin' RSPCA!!!)
I wish, I really do wish, that everyone would stop eating meat, but how do you convince the fuckwits that religiously troop down to McDonalds every weekend and couldn't read the anti-Maccy D leaflets handed out to them? How do you convince the dear old souls like my Mum who simply don't believe that a vegetarian diet provides them with adequate iron and protein? (And don't start - I KNOW it's possible in theory to get your protein from pulses and your iron from leafy green vegetables!)
I have the utmost admiration for people who choose to live as vegans, but I stand by what I say about some vegans and veggies being vile to other human beings - that's my own personal experience and no, it doesn't necessarily apply to everyone who has made that life choice.
I think what you say about it not having to be an 'all or nothing' thing is extremely salient, though - perhaps in my own small way I am contributing towards a decline in meat production by not eating meat, I just don't really see it like that (much as I'd love to take that credit!) as the reason I don't eat meat isn't entirely due to being against animal suffering, it's first and foremost cos I really don't like the stuff - it's skeevy and clangy and I was unfortunate enough to work in animal welfare for MAFF (an oxymoron, I know) many years ago and believe me, that was enough to put anyone off meat!
The fox hunting thing is slightly different, though. I find it particularly disgusting and distasteful because, regardless of the freedom enjoyed by the fox prior to its death it is surely a worse ending to be torn apart by countless dogs than to be beheaded or electrocuted in a slaughter house? I know that's pretty disgusting too but it's GOT to be quicker.
It's not just the death of an innocent animal thing with fox hunting, though - it goes beyone the animal cruelty issue and into the arrogance of the over privileged. People involved in fox hunting are, by and large, wealthy and expensively educated at posh public schools. What gets me is that they think it's their God given right to ride wherever they please over other people's land in pursuit of a fox, and how many of the tossers does it take to get rid of one fox, for fux sake?! I've heard, as I'm sure we all have, horror stories about hounds bringing down pet cats in front kids, and all this business of wiping bits of dead fox over first time hunters is fucking barbaric!
So what I'm getting round to saying in a rambling and roundabout way is that fox hunting IS different from farming because I guess, it's a class issue. Not everyone that eats meat is an overprivileged tosser but people involved in fox hunting, IMO ARE. Sorry if I'm making sweeping generalisations; I'm just an ignorant comprehensively educated townie with no appreciation of the ways of the country!
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