@OutOfMemory, Well spoken, and honest. I had a different background.

I am 4th gen farmer, on a prairie. We mostly did row crops, but there were enough creeks zig-zagging through the cropland that we always kept 40-60 head of cattle. We fed and sold out their calves, and butchered for our own beef use. As farmers, we saw death often, and learned that it is a part of life.

I have carried newborn calves in the dead of winter to a 200 year old house my family owns in the woods to save them (momma's supposed to lick them off, but some of the heifers didn't know). It's never had electricity, has been unoccupied since the 1930's but it had a wood stove and we could warm them up.

During the annual rodeo of vaccination, I've been kicked in the chest several times and landed flat on my back in 6 inches of mud and shit.

As children, we raised calves, broke them to lead to halter, and competed with them in the summer fairs. We cried when we sold them, because they were pets. The farm cattle were not pets, yet many recognized me, and we had our daily rituals.

Still, I love to eat beef, because as Bob said, that's what God sez. This is not factory farming, my family's cattle are some of the best in the world. I understand that too much red meat is bad for some people's gene pool.