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?

[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?

[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?

[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?

[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?

[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.

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.

I've been doing this for years!

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

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

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.

[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.

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]

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]

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: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.