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Insight: Aug 9

This week on Insight -eating Skippy. Ok, not really.

This week on Insight -eating Skippy. Ok, not really.

But here’s the blurb.

From foie gras to kangaroo, whale meat to shark-fin soup, dinner dishes and delicacies have long been the subject of heated debate. What’s fine in one country can be considered shocking in others, depending on your cultural, ethical or religious beliefs.

So how do different people justify eating one meat over another? Can any meat be deemed ‘more ethical’ than others?

Huge concerns have been raised about how Australian livestock are slaughtered, and many say stunning a beast first is far more ethical. But others believe that no matter how humanely an animal is killed, eating any kind of meat can never truly be ‘ethical’. Others say what matters to them is how smart or sentient the animal is (an oyster versus a pig), how much cultural affinity we have with that animal (the Skippy factor), or the environmental impact of eating that animal.

Join Insight as we bring philosophers and animal experts together with ‘pescatarians’, ‘kangatarians’, vegans, omnivores, and people who’ve eaten everything from dog meat to fruit bat.

7:30pm Tuesday on SBS ONE.

6 Responses

  1. Eating plentiful native wildlife is far better ecologically than bringing in animals from other continents. Kangaroos require a lot less water and supplementary feedstock than either cattle or sheep. Not being ungulates (having hoofs) they also cause a lot less damage to the environment. Plus their meat is only around 3% fat and is much lower in cholesterol than beef or lamb.

  2. @col – Not all Japanese are for the idea of eating whales. Definitely not the majority, just possibly some rusted on people wanting to hold onto their ‘culture’. Just like all those in Spain shouldn’t be seen as supportive of bull fighting, etc.

    I would agree with the sentiment from some Japanese and others that Australians shouldn’t have a Kangaroo killing industry though. Not only because of Kangaroos being the symbol of Australia but I am personally not a fan of supporting native wildlife slaughter. i’m not going to go purchasing ‘bush meat’ or other products made from killing wildlife overseas, so I’m not a fan of it here either. Furthermore even if everyone in Australia was for the idea of eating them, it couldn’t last. Kangaroos cant be farmed (as emus can) they’re killed in selected areas of Australia only. There just wouldn’t be enough kangaroo meat to go around and they’d be made extinct pretty quickly if it ever was enacted fully.

  3. I can understand people objecting to the way a animal is harvested or killed or slaughtered. Because in a seemingly intelligent and advanced species we should be able to kill an animal for humane consumption more humanly then before afterall we know more about them and we have better technology. I think that the global society needs to accept other peoples culture and move on. for example in Australia we would eat Kangaroo, Beef (cows), chickens, Pork (pigs) fish, etc. In India for example they would not even think about eating a cow because in India cows are sacred. Many cultures have reasons why they eat some animals more than others, what we as a modern society should focus on is how they are harvisted, to ensurer that the animals dont go through horrible pain.

  4. This is where the japanese will compare us eating our national emblem to them killing whales for scientific purposes and saying how dare we to criticise them , well folks theres millions of bloody kangaroos in this country , and not that many whales left.Simple maths.

  5. Heard there is a bit of controversy with this one about them not having any vegans/vegetarians on the panel. Surprised they didn’t get a hold of Peter Singer or various others.

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