# Do you find anything wrong with eating lamb or veal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257 "2002-11-11T06:38:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/21 "2002-11-11T15:45:15Z")
mmmm … Veal Marsala … mmm … Gyros … Nope. No problems here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/22 "2002-11-11T16:25:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*…but it doesn’t address the OP. Which is asking specifically about eating lil’ kiddie animals. Your problem seems to be with meat in general. \*\* Er, yes it does! Lamb and veal are specific cases of a more general question. My position is unaltered by the specificity. And, what problem? ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/23 "2002-11-11T17:12:43Z")
don’t eat veal, because the crating of calves is cruel. same reason i don’t eat battery chicken or the eggs produced by battery hens. i eat irish lamb, beef and pork, mostly because i know the animals get to spend much of their lives outdoors, in fields and are humanely slaughtered. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/24 "2002-11-11T17:18:44Z")
Love lamb. Happy to eat it. I’m at the top of the food chain, ya see. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/25 "2002-11-11T17:19:38Z")
[quote] Better? [quote] Not much. Please elucidate on exactly how and why I am deluded for not particularly assigning any intrinsic moral value to animalkind. Better yet, please start a Great Debate on it, or at least a MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/26 "2002-11-11T18:15:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*No defensiveness, no attack, just an opinion (just as yours is an opinion). It seems to me that the only one on the attack is you. \*\* The OP asks for opinions (and please note, Mr Bandit, that this is IMHO), that amounted to “for” or “against”, well I’m against, that is the extent of my scathing, snarling rottweiler attack. Ooh I’m nasty. > [@](#): > > **It also seems very strange to rely on a Biblical quotation to criticise eating of meat in a thread where nobody has declared an interest in their ethics based on the Bible. Even stranger for an athiest to do it.** It was certainly off-topic, I even marked it up as a Big Fucking Hijack – call it an aside, if you will. I can see no strangeness that an atheist might quote the bible, if that interests you start another thread. > [@](#): > > \*\*BTW, there’s no entry in the Guinness Book of Records for “single most surprising fact of this world”, nor, I suspect is there ever likely to be. But I’ll take a punt that somebody being a God-fearing Athiest might make it into the top three. \*\* Someone’s irony may be failing – I’ll check mine and get back to you. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/27 "2002-11-11T18:34:34Z")
What would have been the most productive approach here? [ul][li]Offering a straight-forward sensible rationale as to why eating lamb or veal is unethical[/li]Striding in with your big, red ranting trousers on and quoting the Bible[/ul]Personally I only read rants for comedy value, if at all, so I hope you won’t mind if I don’t search for your previous contributions on this subject. We’re still waiting for an explanation of your point of view, or an explanation of why you disagree with the other opinions. Without that, surely you can’t be surprised that some people think your contribution is unwelcome? ---
**Author:** ![Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peach)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/28 "2002-11-11T22:43:21Z")
If God didn’t want us to eat animals he wouldn’t have made them out of meat! ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/29 "2002-11-12T00:26:19Z")
The New York Times had a good [article](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/10/magazine/10ANIMAL.html) in their weekly magazine yesterday that touched on subjects like animal slaughterhouses and the meat/poultry industry these days. I personally don’t have a problem with eating any kind of meat as long as it tastes good to me; unfortunately we’ve got some horrible methods of raising edible livestock in America these days. It actually makes an argument for both sides of the coin IMO. -indigo- ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/30 "2002-11-12T00:37:18Z")
As a member of PETA(People Eating Tasty Animals), I feel it is my duty to eat anything lower on the food chain that is delicious. Stupid people should watch out as well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/31 "2002-11-12T01:01:06Z")
Love meat, but won’t eat veal. No problem with lamb though. I object to the way veal is raised. Not an entirely consistent position, I’ll grant you, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/32 "2002-11-12T01:07:25Z")
My husband eats meat but won’t eat veal in the US. Apparently in Italy (from what we’d read), veal calves are not penned up but are basically “free-ranging”, and so when we’ve traveled there he’s enjoyed it. He likes veal but is too disturbed by the way in which it is produced in the US. (Similarly, we buy eggs from free-range chicken farms, where hens can lay in nests rather than battery cages.) He eats and enjoys lamb; in fact we just got back from a Greek restaurant where he had lamb and artichokes. He also hunts deer for the venison. I’m a vegetarian, and eat no animal flesh of any kind. I also do not push my views on others, and cook meat for him. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/33 "2002-11-12T01:11:59Z")
Naw, supposedly people don’t taste that good. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/34 "2002-11-12T01:16:26Z")
Oh, I should put mine down, too. I have no problem eating lamb, but I don’t eat veal. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/35 "2002-11-12T03:48:48Z")
Maybe, but not enough to stop eating them. I went through a no-veal period about 10 years ago, but I’m feeling _much_ better now. And to rephrase **Peach** : If God didn’t want us to eat animals, he wouldn’t have made them so _tasty_! Anyone who thinks veal is tasteless hasn’t had good veal. Or doesn’t want to (not that there’s anything wrong with that). There’s plenty of tasty veal out there (particularly in chop form) for those who want it. I’ll eat free-range chicken when I can find it (although I do live in Montana, so that’s not often), but that’s not because of any ethical considerations, but because it simply tastes better. There’s a Hutterite colony a little bit away from here that raises the most delicious turkeys, ducks, geese, and chickens. Yummy. So yes, unregenerate carnivore checking in. :shrug: ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/36 "2002-11-12T04:09:35Z")
I have no problem eating lamb; then again, as I come from a partly-Greek family, that’s no surprise. Veal, on the other hand, I don’t eat, for the reasons mentioned above. Funny story (kinda): Once we were at my grandma’s house, and I mentioned in a conversation that I don’t eat veal. At this point, I’d never had veal–it’s not something we really have in my family. So, of course, I didn’t know what it looked like. That night, my mom made an unidentified roast. I asked her what it was, and she said pork. So I took a small piece (I find pork gross, but that’s a matter of personal taste). A minute later, after I’d taken a bite, my dad comes into the kitchen and asks, “what’s for dinner?” My mom, of course, answered, “veal.” Boy, there was one pissed off **Angel** in the house that night. My mom also made ham the day I finished dissecting a fetal pig in AP biology. I think she likes to torture me. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/37 "2002-11-12T14:26:10Z")
Lamb is my favourite meat. Yummy! Especially roast. _Drools_ I don’t eat veal. I may have tried it in a restaurant once. Maybe. I eat beef though. I don’t really see veal around that much. I have no idea how either are raised around here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/38 "2002-11-12T16:02:57Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by everton \* \*\*What would have been the most productive approach here? [ul][li]Offering a straight-forward sensible rationale as to why eating lamb or veal is unethical[/li][li]Striding in with your big, red ranting trousers on and quoting the Bible[/ul]Personally I only read rants for comedy value, if at all, so I hope you won’t mind if I don’t search for your previous contributions on this subject. We’re still waiting for an explanation of your point of view, or an explanation of why you disagree with the other opinions. Without that, surely you can’t be surprised that some people think your contribution is unwelcome? \*\*[/li][/QUOTE] Look, this thread isn’t exactly brimmimg with “straight-forward sensible rationale”, unless you count “yummy”, so don’t feel you can guilt me in this respect. There’s nothing like a rant from me, just a couple of more or less topical observations, so don’t characterize it otherwise. Some thoughts: AntaresJB admits that they couldn’t slaughter any animal for their eating pleasure. This is my position, trapped on an island with cows a-plenty, and vegetables a-plenty, I’d eat the vegetables. Starving, I’d kill and eat my grandmother. Then I realised that this is _exactly_ my position, I live on an island (abundant with cows and vegetables), albeit a fairly big one. Crusoe said “I think I’d be a hypocrite if it bothered me” Well, it bothers me. I’m no hypocrite, so I eat no meat. I ask the question, trapped on an island, with cows or veg, where do you start? How about dolphins or veg? Or dog and veg? Or grandmother and veg? I mean she’s not going to put up much of a fight, and there’s some good chewin’ still left in her. Show of hands please, how many on this island are creeping up to that cow right now with a big rock in your hand, salivating? Because do you know what I have to say? Put that rock down and stop slavering at my granny! ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/39 "2002-11-12T16:05:13Z")
I live for meat. I don’t eat veal much because I’m sort of on a budget, but I’ll be making an herb-crusted rack of lamb on Thanksgiving. I’m salivating thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257/40 "2002-11-12T16:11:43Z")
Lamb, yes. I don’t buy veal or order it in restaurants, for the same reasons others have mentioned, but I’ll certainly eat it if I’m invited to dinner at someone’s house. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-anything-wrong-with-eating-lamb-or-veal/136257.md?page=3)