Has Selective Breeding Gone Too Far?

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I think it has. I remember many years ago when they developed chickens with no feathers in order to make it faster and cheaper to produce chickens for consumption. And probably most people are unaware that the domestic turkey has been selectively bred for decades to come up with turkeys whose breasts are so enormous that they can no longer fly and can no longer breed. In today's world, there is DNA modification to go along with selective breeding which can bring radical changes in a living thing

I am no PETA guy and I like my meat. However, I am also an animal lover as in cats, dogs, and horses. I am not an animal lover of bovine, although I do admire African Cape Buffaloes (from afar and I've never seen one in real life) and there is probably a very good reason they aren't found in zoos. I also admire American Bison...which I have seen and not just in zoos. I grew up on a farm and I feel cows are basically pretty stupid animals that don't care about affection or having the ability to know nothing more than when to eat, drink, copulate and are only smart enough to know which stall is theirs when they come into the barn (yeah, I know...dairy farms no longer use stalls and are in free roaming monster barns and are bar-coded, processed (milked) in assembly lines 3 times a day, with milk data going to a main frame computer, etc). In my opinion, the desire to grow an animal whose soul purpose is to eat should be done so with a little bit of heart so that the animals do not suffer. I'm glad they outlawed the featherless chicken even though chickens are just plain stupid.

In our current world, I am impressed while also being somewhat disgusted by the Belgian Blue beef cattle. They have been developed for maximizing meat on hooves. There is more meat on these cattle than any other breed and because of it makes it difficult for them to run or have much flexibility to maneuver or to breed normally. Also, their calves tend to be massive so giving birth sometimes causes the death of the mother and now, most of the time calves are born caesarean section to make sure the cow lives. And I don't think this is the end of their evolution as they are still being selectively bred to get an even more massive cow

Regardless...I'm still trying to wrap my head around this and for whatever reason, I find this a bit cruel. What say you?

The Belgian Blue:

[Slugsy-Narrows]

Well seeing how the world population has exploded.

The population in this country has exploded with thousands being let in unchecked daily, food supply is a major concern.

Farmers profitability and the amount they need to produce vs the shrinking number of working farms is a concern.

I think it's all tied together.

Personally I'm not for engineered food!  I think that is why obesity is an issue!  When you artificially make the animal bigger, we eat the animal, you can't tell me it isn't passed along.

I don't know what the answer is!  Our path is not sustainable long term though!

I guess I just need to buy another freezer, hunt more and eat more of what I kill then what comes out of the supermarket!


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[Ed Vette]

Well seeing how the world population has exploded.

The population in this country has exploded with thousands being let in unchecked daily, food supply is a major concern.

Farmers profitability and the amount they need to produce vs the shrinking number of working farms is a concern.

I think it's all tied together.

Personally I'm not for engineered food!  I think that is why obesity is an issue!  When you artificially make the animal bigger, we eat the animal, you can't tell me it isn't passed along.

I don't know what the answer is!  Our path is not sustainable long term though!

I guess I just need to buy another freezer, hunt more and eat more of what I kill then what comes out of the supermarket!


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We eat the food fed hormones and antibiotics and like you said...