I am a vegetarian and I love animals. Unless all Bhutanese go vegan, I am for the establishment of slaughter house for Bhutan has to become meat self sufficient.
The issue on establishing a mega farm AKA slaughter house is again tabled for discussion in the National Assembly when the opposition questioned the government citing the sentiments of Bhutanese at large. I felt that having understood the economic un-stability of the country by our so called policy makers, such initiatives should not be questioned at-all let alone opposing it. I am for the establishment of mega farm with following reasons:
1. Establishing a mega farm mean meat self sufficient
- Though statistically not proven, I am pretty confident that about 50% of Bhutanese eat meat. I feel even more than that. And to make matters interesting, almost all the Bhutanese meat eaters are heavy meat eaters with majority going for beef and pork (rural areas); and chicken, fish and mutton. Don't believe me! visit any meat shop before 'holiest' month; you shall see it for yourself. Should Bhutanese meat eaters be supplied meat locally, it shall greatly reduce the outflow of currency and help ease the rupee crunch. Though, i don't have any data on the amount of rupee outflow to supply meat to Bhutanese, I am confident of easing the rupee crunch should the meat be supplied from our own farm.
2. Meat from Bhutan would mean safe
- All animals reared for meat are constantly fed antibiotics to harvest meat at the earliest possible. This means spoiling the purity of meat and ultimately Bhutanese meat eaters land up eating contaminated meat as our regulatory authority does not have authority to regulate the meat farms across the border. However, should the meat farm AKA mega farm AKA slaughter house be established in the country, our regulatory authority can check the quality of meat being produced and supplied. This shall ensure clean and safe meat to our community of meat eaters.
3. Animals shall be treated better
- I do not claim to have visited any meat farm. Thus, this is based on all the videos with regards to cruelty against meat producing animals i watched in various sites. We can be sure that meat producing animals in Bhutan will not be treated BAD or rather tortured. I am confident of this as we have some of the tough regulatory authorities and it shall be manned by government officials. This also has reference to the powerful statement made by Paul McCartney "If slaughter house had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian".
4. Meat would come cheaper
- Should meat be supplied within, it would mean meat getting cheaper. I am not an economist but i believe that, quality product at a cheaper rate means an ideal market.
5. We are not hypocrites
If we are against mega farm, all Bhutanese should go vegan; and this is not possible. We are a Buddhist nation at large and we are taught compassion in all grounds. We are also taught that all sentient beings were our parents. However, this does not mean that we should ask someone to kill for us. Buying meat from across the border is no different from asking someone to kill for us for we dread the accumulation of negative merit. If we can't stop eating meat, let's get our own meat. Let us not make someone accumulate negative merit to supply us meat. If we eat, we should kill and that should be our philosophy being a Buddhist.
6. Employment generation
- Having mega farm in the country would also mean generation of employment opportunities. Let's employ as many people as possible and gear towards self sufficiency.
For those who are against the idea of having mega farm established should not defend citing religion. Religion should never be mixed with the policies of the nation. Religion is not to show to the world what we do, but to show to our own self of what we are and how true we are to ourselves. Vegan should not defend from the angle of singular perspective but should try to represent the large.
Having said that, our mega farm should not be established with an objective to supply meat to another country. Should this be the objective, it defeats the whole purpose of self sufficiency as this would mean greed. We should remember that 'self sufficiency' and 'greed' are two totally different words understood as same by many , unfortunately!
The issue on establishing a mega farm AKA slaughter house is again tabled for discussion in the National Assembly when the opposition questioned the government citing the sentiments of Bhutanese at large. I felt that having understood the economic un-stability of the country by our so called policy makers, such initiatives should not be questioned at-all let alone opposing it. I am for the establishment of mega farm with following reasons:
1. Establishing a mega farm mean meat self sufficient
- Though statistically not proven, I am pretty confident that about 50% of Bhutanese eat meat. I feel even more than that. And to make matters interesting, almost all the Bhutanese meat eaters are heavy meat eaters with majority going for beef and pork (rural areas); and chicken, fish and mutton. Don't believe me! visit any meat shop before 'holiest' month; you shall see it for yourself. Should Bhutanese meat eaters be supplied meat locally, it shall greatly reduce the outflow of currency and help ease the rupee crunch. Though, i don't have any data on the amount of rupee outflow to supply meat to Bhutanese, I am confident of easing the rupee crunch should the meat be supplied from our own farm.
2. Meat from Bhutan would mean safe
- All animals reared for meat are constantly fed antibiotics to harvest meat at the earliest possible. This means spoiling the purity of meat and ultimately Bhutanese meat eaters land up eating contaminated meat as our regulatory authority does not have authority to regulate the meat farms across the border. However, should the meat farm AKA mega farm AKA slaughter house be established in the country, our regulatory authority can check the quality of meat being produced and supplied. This shall ensure clean and safe meat to our community of meat eaters.
3. Animals shall be treated better
- I do not claim to have visited any meat farm. Thus, this is based on all the videos with regards to cruelty against meat producing animals i watched in various sites. We can be sure that meat producing animals in Bhutan will not be treated BAD or rather tortured. I am confident of this as we have some of the tough regulatory authorities and it shall be manned by government officials. This also has reference to the powerful statement made by Paul McCartney "If slaughter house had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian".
4. Meat would come cheaper
- Should meat be supplied within, it would mean meat getting cheaper. I am not an economist but i believe that, quality product at a cheaper rate means an ideal market.
5. We are not hypocrites
If we are against mega farm, all Bhutanese should go vegan; and this is not possible. We are a Buddhist nation at large and we are taught compassion in all grounds. We are also taught that all sentient beings were our parents. However, this does not mean that we should ask someone to kill for us. Buying meat from across the border is no different from asking someone to kill for us for we dread the accumulation of negative merit. If we can't stop eating meat, let's get our own meat. Let us not make someone accumulate negative merit to supply us meat. If we eat, we should kill and that should be our philosophy being a Buddhist.
6. Employment generation
- Having mega farm in the country would also mean generation of employment opportunities. Let's employ as many people as possible and gear towards self sufficiency.
For those who are against the idea of having mega farm established should not defend citing religion. Religion should never be mixed with the policies of the nation. Religion is not to show to the world what we do, but to show to our own self of what we are and how true we are to ourselves. Vegan should not defend from the angle of singular perspective but should try to represent the large.
Having said that, our mega farm should not be established with an objective to supply meat to another country. Should this be the objective, it defeats the whole purpose of self sufficiency as this would mean greed. We should remember that 'self sufficiency' and 'greed' are two totally different words understood as same by many , unfortunately!
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