Could vegetarians eat a "test-tube" burger?

[hope rainbow]

[...] why dont moral vegetarians eat roadkill?

Thanks Tor for this question.
I am what you call a "moral" vegetarian, and I would eat roadkill, for there is no contradiction there.
If the animal is dead, if he is dead accidentally, naturally, if he has not been killed out of delusion, if he has not been killed for consumption, then of course eating the meat has nothing un-ethical about it. Nothing. Please show me where it is un-ethical?

However, if afterwards I find myself wishing that this or that animal drop dead so I can eat it, then I'll know I'm not even ready to eat roadkill, because my attachment for the taste of meat makes me develop anger-some thoughts.
Then the refraining from eating any type of meat (all the way to tets-tube meat) is not only motivated to refrain from killing but also to lower my attachment to a sensual pleasure (of eating meat).

But if I am free of these thoughts, then , definitely, why not eat roadkills?
Why not?

[Positive Change]

[...] why dont moral vegetarians eat roadkill?

Thanks Tor for this question.
I am what you call a "moral" vegetarian, and I would eat roadkill, for there is no contradiction there.
If the animal is dead, if he is dead accidentally, naturally, if he has not been killed out of delusion, if he has not been killed for consumption, then of course eating the meat has nothing un-ethical about it. Nothing. Please show me where it is un-ethical?

However, if afterwards I find myself wishing that this or that animal drop dead so I can eat it, then I'll know I'm not even ready to eat roadkill, because my attachment for the taste of meat makes me develop anger-some thoughts.
Then the refraining from eating any type of meat (all the way to tets-tube meat) is not only motivated to refrain from killing but also to lower my attachment to a sensual pleasure (of eating meat).

But if I am free of these thoughts, then , definitely, why not eat roadkills?
Why not?

Now this is certainly interesting as it conjures up very disturbing images of people lining up at highways waiting for roadkill!!!! Not a nice thought... but... hang on a moment, is it not happening in the supermarkets? The carcases in the freezers were not killed by me or by us... so what is wrong with that? I do not wish the animal to be killed but I just walk in and see that it is on the shelf and buy it... Any different?

One can also debate the fact that, the animal is already killed and dead and I/we certainly did not wish it so and on top of that, would it not be a waste if left to rot on the shelf? Similar to roadkill?

Yes perhaps the killing was not accidental like in a roadkill but does the fact that I/we did not wish it to be killed make a difference and "justifiable"?

[negra orquida]

The carcases in the freezers were not killed by me or by us... so what is wrong with that? I do not wish the animal to be killed but I just walk in and see that it is on the shelf and buy it... Any different?

the difference between the dead animals that are frozen in the supermarkets and the dead animals that are flattened on the road is that the former were specifically mass bred by humans to be mass killed for mass human consumption, whilst for the latter case.. the animals' time was just up, not like they were born to be hit by a car. i'm assuming the road kill is like wild animals or stray animals.

anyways, i wouldn't eat road kill. unless its like a life and death situation. i'm not sure what kind of energy would be stored in the meat as a result of the animal dying under such circumstances.

One can also debate the fact that, the animal is already killed and dead and I/we certainly did not wish it so and on top of that, would it not be a waste if left to rot on the shelf? Similar to roadkill?

every dollar we spend on meat is like a vote cast for "yes - i want meat". how do the suppliers get you meat if they don't kill it? if the meateater said "i did not wish the animal to be killed" then what... they expect to keep the animal alive but cut bits of meat out each time they want a pork chop? i'm pretty sure that the animals certainly did not tell the butcher "pls kills me, cos this guy wants to eat my meat". and i can't imagine anyone who would aspire to work in an abbattoir since they were a child as its a glamorous and respectable job (ok maybe i'm just biased) and make it their life long mission to kill animals for others. they are doing it just for the money, they live off your desire for meat, and basically people who buy meat are paying someone else to kill the animals for them.

as for "such a waste to let it rot" - imagine if the whole world stops buying meat forever... yes there would be huge load of rotting meat everywhere initially but companies are clever and they won't continue to make something that no one wants to buy. so rotting meat is just a short term "cost" or "waste".  but really, this is not likely to happen soon... so why worry? definitely someone else would buy the meat you did not purchase.

[ratanasutra]

i not really sure what a process of making test tube but my point of view is if we can avoid it, that's the best. Since there are also mock meat for us to eat if we really want to eat something that have look, texture and test similar with meat.

i don't think i will eat animal from road kill either, for me it does not matter how the animal was killed as long as it dead, its a corpse so we should not enjoy and satisfy in eating corpse which is other beings life.

[Dhiman]

This entire thing about making test tube burgers sounds like a great initiative to reduce the slaughtering of farm animals. We live in a world where millions of animals are slaughtered for food every day, we can't possibly stop the entire production anytime soon, so why not reduce it? Even if we can expect more problems to arise out of this new venture, does it even equate to the problem that we are facing today i.e. cattle breeding being the main contribution towards global warming? At least these people are contributing towards a great cause besides being greedy (profit driven).

On a spiritual note, the slaughtering of living beings is lessen and we rejoice to it, which moved to the issue towards the attachment for food. Being a vegetarian actually stopped me from being picky in what I eat and I treat food merely as fuel for the body (eat to live). Therefore, I don't find it wrong to eat meat when killing is not involved.

Honestly, besides the possibility of having harmful side effects, I would be curious to try them out when they're more commercialized in the market (meaning that it doesn't cost $200,000 a pop!).