Zuckerberg Only Eating Animals He Personally Kills

theodp writes "Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has begun personally slaying animals for food, part of a resolution to fully appreciate the meat he eats by limiting it to that which he personally kills. Zuckerberg has mostly been vegetarian since making the vow, but his hands-on kills thus far include a goat, pig, chicken and a lobster. 'He cut the throat of the goat with a knife,' Zuckerberg pal Jesse Cool told FORTUNE, 'which is the most kind way to do it.'"

Comments

To this, I say, so what?

[Kenja]

Really unsure why I should care... this seems more of a People Magazine article then News For Nerds.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

He's not gone off the deep end yet. We reserve that judgement til he takes a dozen tech journalists to a remote island and declares "The hunt ...is on".

I give it a week.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Omnifarious]

So, killing animals for food is 'going off the deep end'? I lived on a farm from ages 5-11. We slaughtered several of our animals for food. That's where the meat comes from after all, or weren't you aware?

Maybe you lived in a city your whole life and got it nicely packaged for you in a supermarket or pre-cooked and now you want to consider people who actually kill the animals as somehow beneath you, or having 'gone off the deep end'? Maybe you should reconsider your food choices if you want to avoid looking like either a blatant classist or a hypocrite.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

People of Palo Alto, HIDE YOUR HUMAN INFANTS!

Is he eating the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution?

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[grub]

When I was a wee lad, I thought that a veterinarian would put the animal, say a cow, under and cut out a steak. After that, he'd stitch it back together and back to the rolling hills of the farm for it.

Then my mom explained what really happened...

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[lpp]

So, killing animals for food is 'going off the deep end'?

Oh come on, who eats a goat?

Chupacabra

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Cosgrach]

Goat meat is fantastic! They make great stew or lasagne. The last two that we slaughtered we shot in the brain pan. Quick and easy. A knife? That's stupid.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[jcoy42]

ATTENTION CmdrTaco-

Do not accept any invites from Mark Zuckerberg to visit his outfit in exchange for T-Shirts.

I repeat- Do not accept any invites from Mark Zuckerberg to visit his outfit in exchange for T-Shirts.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Jiro]

It's not killing animals for food that's going off the deep end, it's the idea that there's some meaning in only eating the ones you kill yourself. He'd never eat only the vegetables he picked himself, or only the bread he baked himself (starting with wheat that he threshed himself). And nobody would only use a computer that they made themselves from iron ore and raw silicon. ("I want to remind myself of how we must destroy the environment in order to get my computer".)

We have division of labor for a reason.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[MaskedSlacker]

No, the Chupacabra (literally, Goat Sucker) sucks their blood.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[peragrin]

NO Cmdr Taco accept his invites to visit his outfit and send kdawson in your place.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Darinbob]

Warn your Gummi Bears not to wander the streets without an adult being present!

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Darinbob]

So this salesman visits a farmer and notices he has a pig with three prosthetic limbs. He asks the farmer what's going on.
The Farmer say "well, this here's a special pig. Once my son fell in the well and the pig came and pounded on the door until we came to see what was wrong. So this pig here saved my son's life."

The salesman asks again, "but what about this pig's legs? How did they get like that?" The Farmer says "My wife was alone at home when a fire broke out and she fell unconscious. The pig broke in and grabbed her wrist in its mouth and dragged out outside to safety. So this pig here saved my wife's life!"

The salesman says "this is wonderful, but how did you pig lose his legs?" The farmer replies "well this one time I fell off the tractor and got my foot caught and it started dragging me across the field and I could not control it. But the pig ran up and into the cab and sat down on the brake until it stopped. So that pig there saved my life!"

Again the salesman asks "this is a marvelous pig I understand, but how did he lose his legs?"

The farmer answers "Well, a find and wonderful pig like this who has saved you and your family's lives, well... You just don't eat a pig like that all at once."

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[ed1park]

mod this guy up. For all we know, Mark enjoys killing things and uses this story as cover.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[sumdumass]

Interestingly enough, In the US, there are federal laws on the humane slaughter of an animal and slicing their throat is not part of it unless you hit them in the head with a single blow to knock them unconscious.. It's outlawed unless involved in a religious ceremony which would by default make it a ritual sacrifice unless he wants to go up against the laws.

I don't know if or any penalties that would apply for violating it, but we have laws on it.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode07/usc_sec_07_00001902----000-.html

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[BasilBrush]

Now, /not/ killing the animals and still eating them, at least partly... That would hit the mark for going off the deep end for me...

For me, killing animals for fun rather than to eat them would be going off the deep end.

And as it happens that is a disturbingly popular pastime in some countries and areas.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Savantissimo]

I prefer kid (young goat - the word "kid" as signifying "a child" is a figure of speech, when you refer to someone as a "kid", you're calling them a young goat. Apologies to those who already knew this. Some people react badly when you tell them you enjoy eating the flesh of kids. )

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[rhakka]

this is a pretty bullshit argument. He's not allowing others to do his murder for him, and he's making the choice to only eat meat if he's willing to kill it himself.

I have struggled with this myself, honestly. I don't want to kill animals. but I love to eat meat. I should not eat meat unless I can be ok with killing the animals. Otherwise I'm just a hypocrite.

being willing to eat meat as long as SOMEONE ELSE kills the animal is simply insulating yourself from the consequences of your own actions. That's like saying I'm fine with not giving poor people health care as long as I don't have to watch them die. It's cowardly. Facing the consequences honestly and making the decision for yourself is the most intellectually honest thing a person can do.

It's not a "desire" to kill animals. It's a desire to only be RESPONSIBLE for the death of animals you'd be willing to kill yourself in order to eat. That seems like a clear and honest litmus to me.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[SydShamino]

Sure, but sometimes a division of labor leads to a lack of knowledge about the effort involved in said labor, which then leads to a lack of respect for the laborers or the end product itself.

Killing your own food might be one of the more extreme ways to address this - there are certainly people who can eat meat but are too squeamish at the sight of blood, and they have a right to eat meat just like the rest of us - but there are other plenty of other ways to address this, too.

For example, Dirty Jobs is all about showing how some of the manual jobs in our country get done, and celebrating the fact that there are people out there willing to do them for us. Matthew Moore's Digital Farm Collective project is designed to show non-farmers the effort involved in the production of their vegetables - if you knew that it took the use of a small bit of our fertile planet and some of our precious water for 140 days just to grow one single carrot, might you be a little more invested in the appreciation of that carrot in your dinner? Would you be less likely to let it rot in your fridge?

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Fjandr]

Unfortunately, our society has become increasingly sociopathic. It's alright as long as someone else does it. If you want the end result, what it takes to get there doesn't matter, and so forth. Unless you do it yourself, and then you're a monster. Or, unless you do it for others, then you're a service provider.

Then there are the people like the one you responded to, who are incapable of distinguishing between personal responsibility and a fleeting desire to get what they want regardless of the consequences.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[quacking duck]

I actually think he's doing something different. I've heard vegetarians say that people should only eat animals that they kill themselves -- it's a way to make people fully aware of the fact that eating meat involves the death of a living animal (rather than the normal way of having the animal killed out of sight and we just stop by the grocery store and purchase some meat nicely wrapped in plastic, or already cooked in a restaurant). The goal is to make people stop eating meat.

The goal is flawed. The goal should be to make them aware and *appreciate* the fact eating meat involves the death of a living animal, not to turn them off meat altogether (though exposés of modern industrial methods of butchering and preparing meat may do that all on their own).

Though I've not personally killed an animal myself aside from cooking a live lobster, I was with my grandmother when she choose a live chicken in the markets of Hong Kong, which was then slaughtered and de-feathered in front of us. I remember being slightly queasy at the sight, having grown up in a big Canadian city, but only slightly. Far from turning me off meat, it made me appreciate dinner more that night, and I make a point never, ever to waste meat at a meal.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[Mindcontrolled]

Same here in Germany. Any vertebrate needs to be made unconscious before killing it. I just had a game warden check my equipment for the right kind of club to knock out my fish before bleeding them on my last fishing trip. Around here we definitely have penalties - in the fishing case, that would be suspension of your fishing license if you get caught not doing it the proper way.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[BeanThere]

Seeking to re-evaluate the fundamental aspects of life isn't "going off the deep end". It's just a sign of someone who thinks about things, and goes through something called "personal development" that is actually a sane and normal and healthy process that some intelligent adults go through. But go ahead with the irrational ad hominems if it makes you feel better. I'm not a fan of Zuckerberg, but this is not worthy of criticism.

Re:To this, I say, so what?

[omfgnosis]

I don't think the AC was lecturing anyone, and in fact specifically said in the line you quoted that they don't necessarily oppose eating meat. If you're so self-conscious about your diet, you might consider spending more time being sure that it's the diet you want and less time lashing out at strangers on the Internet.

All of that said, I think it's a mistake for most people, at least in industrial societies, to regard their diet as a personal choice. A personal choice is a choice which only affects the person[s] making the choice. For those of us in industrial societies, our dietary choices affect far more than just ourselves. Even if you aren't willing to consider the effects on the animals you eat (or consume non-meat products from), the different farming methods available can have a huge impact on the quality of the surrounding environment—large factory farming operations create massive amounts of pollution, particularly harming water—as well as on the quality, diversity and affordability of foods available to the population at large.

You and your cheeseburger are not an island.

I heard...

[Anonymous Coward]

I heard he actually has someone else kill the animal and then steps in and claims credit for the kill.

Re:I heard...

[Puzzles]

Actually Zuckerberg does the killing himself. However the Winkelvoss twins claim the kills for themselves.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg Eaten

[microcentillion]

The man claimed no foul, as he had killed Zuckerberg himself before enjoying his meal

I've been doing this for years!

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

Which is why I mostly eat spiders out of tissues :(

Re:I've been doing this for years!

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

On a completely OT note, whatever happened to the "Don't use karma bonus" option when commenting? Seeing as half* my posts are ridiculous shit (see above) it seems stupid to post them at +2.

*: OK, only half are supposed to be ridiculous shit. In practice it's closer to a 90/10 split.

Re:I've been doing this for years!

[Qzukk]

Assuming that everything is working, you can push the little gear icon next to the "Post Anonymously" checkbox (which I just now realized that after a year or so they finally made it not white-on-white). You can also push the Options button below the input box. Either one will open a Web 2.0!!! div that contains a checkbox with "No Karma Bonus?" and a save button. Check it, and Save. Then Post.

Posting without karma bonus, in case it doesn't work...

Re:I've been doing this for years!

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

So they've made a one-off option into a permanent configuration setting? Or is it still one-off (which would make the placement truly bizarre).

[Posting to test]

Re:I've been doing this for years!

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

Permanent setting it is. Odd.

I approve of this course of action.

[Nadaka]

I grew up in a hunting and fishing household. I've long held the belief that you appreciate you food more if you kill it yourself. I hate to say it because I really dislike Zuckerberg, but he has something going here. If I had the disposable income and free time to procure live animals on a regular basis I would probably do this as well.

Re:I approve of this course of action.

[Apocryphos]

I think AC had that covered with "excellent businessman"

Re:I approve of this course of action.

[element-o.p.]

I've long held the belief that you appreciate you food more if you kill it yourself.

+1

I have two nieces who routinely waste about half the food they put on their plates -- which pisses me off for a number of reasons -- but both are died-in-the-wool animal lovers. "How can you shoot a moose? They are soooo cute and cuddly!!!"...while throwing away 8 oz. of steak every night at dinner.

When you kill the animals you eat for food yourself, it becomes very, very real to you that your dinner was bought with the blood of another living creature. You don't just throw the meat away because you understand where it came from and what it means for it to be on your dinner plate.

Re:I approve of this course of action.

[mortonda]

while throwing away 8 oz. of steak every night at dinner.

WHaaaat? Your nieces have steak every night for dinner? Wow.

Re:I approve of this course of action.

[Teckla]

I have two nieces who routinely waste about half the food they put on their plates -- which pisses me off for a number of reasons -- but both are died-in-the-wool animal lovers. "How can you shoot a moose? They are soooo cute and cuddly!!!"...while throwing away 8 oz. of steak every night at dinner.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps the parents should give them smaller portions of steak, and only give them more if they ask for it.

Or maybe the parents should quit feeding them something they obviously dislike.

Re:I approve of this course of action.

[Bill Dimm]

And they throw away half of what is put on their plates, so they are each served a 16oz steak every night.

Re:I approve of this course of action.

[Warhawke]

I completely understand your sentiment. However, I would also claim the sentiment to encourage everyone to eat everything that is served to them is what singlehandedly promotes childhood obesity in the United States. I actually had to teach my own father (who is fit but has high cholesterol) that the trick to being healthy is to stop eating when it's time to stop eating, regardless of what remains on your plate, or regardless of whether or not you want to finish it. If you want your nieces not to waste food, don't over-prepare food. If they get food at a restaurant, get a to-go box. If you want leftovers for tomorrow, put away half of the food you prepared and only serve the other half.

I fail to see how this is your nieces' faults. Nor do I think it's yours, per se. I'm just saying that your nieces' response is perfectly acceptable if they are being over-served food.

Do you think I deserve your full attention?

[tibbetts]

I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try - but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the slaughtering pens of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, has the stomach to do.

He only slits their throats

[Ossifer]

So he doesn't raise, hunt or catch them, or clean them or prepare them himself. He only does the actual killing...

Does anyone else find this disturbing? [think Of Mice and Men]

Re:He only slits their throats

[dadioflex]

I think you're on to something there. There's a process and most people would baulk at the killing while being relatively happy to raise, feed, care for and then eventually eat the animals. Even most farmers don't kill the animals, either through choice or legislation. If he's killing animals to make their sacrifice meaningful then good for him. If he's killing animals because just eating meat he hasn't looked in the eye before plunging home the dagger is no longer good enough for him then I wouldn't approve.

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

[Qbertino]

the most humane way to kill a goat is *not* to cut its throat.
The most humane way to kill a goat (or any animal for that matter) without chemicals is to shoot it.
At best with a powerfull but silenced firearm - as not to scare the animal while its
sensory functions remain intact for a few seconds after the fact.

Anyway, please refrain from cutting throats of live beings, wether they're animals or whatnot.
Thanks.

Re:Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

[Hatta]

Cutting the throat leads to a massive drop in blood pressure. That leads very rapidly to unconsciousness. The idea that one could remain conscious for a few seconds after decapitation is bunk.

Properly done, shooting is a better option as it will destroy parts of the brain that would perceive danger or pain. However that takes more skill. You could easily shoot the wrong part of the brain, and leave an incapacitated goat to slowly bleed out.

Re:Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

[Rob the Bold]

Anyway, please refrain from cutting throats of live beings, wether they're animals or whatnot.

I realize it may sound odd that this is what caught my attention in your post, but what whatnot do you refer to that is a living being -- with a throat -- but not an animal?

Re:Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

[Hatta]

Absolutely, the bolt gun used in slaughter houses is the best way. However a slit throat is not a "slow bleed". It's a nearly instantaneous loss of blood pressure to the brain. No blood pressure means no oxygen delivery to the brain.

Have you ever experience postural hypotension? That's where you stand up rapidly, and lose blood pressure to the brain for a few seconds until your blood can catch up. Normal people can get light headed from this, and those with low blood pressure can pass right out.

Now if that momentary decrease of blood pressure can cause someone to pass out that rapidly, what do you think cutting the source of blood is going to do?

Re:Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

[Mycroft-X]

Not true, I heard a P220 (.45) with a can on it about two weeks ago -- the impact of the bullet 50 yards away was louder than the pistol itself.

Most, if not all .45 ACP rounds are subsonic.

Eh, okay...

[girlintraining]

He's working his way up to humans slowly.

Not at all.

[pigwiggle]

I've killed, butchered, and cooked several animals. By far, the most difficult part is killing the animal. Especially when it doesn't go well. It can be pretty disturbing. All the rest is just gore. I wish more people had this attitude. I think fewer animals would live miserable lives and people would waste less.

Re:Not a big deal

[Shabazz Rabbinowitz]

...Big deal, get a hunting rifle and go get a deer, moose, elk...

Pffft, a rifle. A real man goes into the woods naked and unarmed, and kills his prey by ripping out its throat with his teeth.




And a real woman tells him to stay the hell out of the house until he's hosed himself off.

Re:"It is not normal for humans to eat meat."

[circletimessquare]

i think it's because i'm an omnivore. and i guess you missed my shpiel about your canine teeth in my top post

"No. Historically humans are vegetarians"

and what the hell do you say to that delusion?

from the inuit to the masai, from the butchered animal bones found at caves and archeological sites everywhere...

what do you say to someone completely deluded as to natural human history?

if you want to make the case for vegetarianism, that's fine. if you want to deny the full and obvious weight of history, all you do is undermine your own credibility, which means maybe your argument for vegetarianism is as unsound as your grasp on reality and natural history

Re:Awesome, why do sociopaths run everything?

[pandrijeczko]

You kill possum but can use a computer keyboard? What are you? Some kind of stereotype-erasing freak???

Re:Mark Zuckerberg and Ted Nugent

[circletimessquare]

which means that vegetarianism is just as indefensible as what i am saying

which means i can come over and murder you with a nailclipper, you have no argument with that

oh no wait, it means you're an idiot

morality is real, just as real as every other goddamn thing you can discuss in logical and coherent terms. additionally, a lion kills a zebra, an orca kills a seal, i eat a piece of bacon: in natural morality, all are acceptable or equivalent. in human morality, i cannot kill another human being unless in self-defense. who says? WE say. who the hell are we? human society, human civilization, bitch

and if you continue to think these moral statements have no meaning or weight, please shut up and let the adults speak and get back to us when you stop painting your fingernails black, stupid teenager

Re:The most kind way?

[FiloEleven]

This reminds me of Mike Rowe talking about Dirty Jobs at TED. Seen here. Turns out the "humane" method of castrating lambs (using rubber bands) is a lot worse for the lambs than the "barbaric" method (using a knife). The whole talk is pretty interesting.