[schola]

I'm not a vegetarian but I've considered the lifestyle due to health and philosophical reasons. I've never been hunting or participated in the slaughtering of an animal before either.

What I realized quite recently is that whether one eats meat or not, they must take responsibility for their food sources, animal and plant. This means knowing where your food came from, how it was grown, and the inputs and chemicals used. Specifically in the case of animals, it means knowing how the animals were treated and killed.

We're so far disconnected from our food sources. How can we decide what's right or wrong when we don't even know how it's made or where it came from?

An organic farmer I worked for over the summer is very interested in the subject and he has very strong views about the factory farm feedlots where most grocery store meat comes from. He believes those operations are harmful to the environment as well as inhumane. Yet he also eats meat and slaughters cows and pigs on his farm and hunts deer for venison. Now, mind you, these pigs and cows lived and ate better than most animals including wild animals. They lived relatively worry free until a few seconds before they died. He treats his animals humanely but he still kills them and eats their meat and has no moral qualms about it.

I've come to the conclusion that the only way I could decide for myself if I should continue eating meat is if I directly participate in the slaughter and butchering of my food. How else can I know?

This question is for both meat eaters as well as former meat eaters.

Have you ever hunted or raised and killed your meat? As well, do you believe it's important to be involved with the production of your food both plant and animal?