They were originally domesticated for meat. They eat grass (which humans cannot) and turn the indigestable fibers of tough mountain grasses into protein, they also grow quickly and reproduce quickly. Makes sense the Andean cultures would domesticate them.
One thing many don't think of about this cultural staple of many South American countries is that they also do not have access to large grazing pastures. It is easier to raise the small mammals vs the flat acerage needs of big mammals. I haven't had cuy yet either.
Though when you look at this based on topography being far more varied it makes sense why they raise them for meat.
I’m not vegan and probably never will be, but your comment made me think: if we invented a machine that could create food out of inedible substances, we’d consider it an incredible scientific breakthrough.
This is essentially how we use many livestock animals: as biological machines that convert grass and otherwise unusable plant matter into food. I don’t know that I feel great about that. I’d never thought of it in those terms before reading your comment. I know that’s not what you were getting at, but this shit lowkey fucked me up.
Many animals have the same issue and it's why they eat meat. It's natural for us to eat meat, and there's nothing morally wrong with that Biology. The issue is, we know how to raise and butcher meat ethically, but we don't because that costs more money than capitalism is willing to part with. People should try to eat less meat and choose more sustainable meats where they can, not because eating meat itself is wrong, but the production of meat under capitalism is unethical.
Great comment. I think reducing consumption is ideal because it seems quite possible that even under a more ethical economic system, it may be infeasible to ethically produce the required amount of meat.
Well, I'd say another part of the issue is the culture of consumerism that runs alongside everything else. Richer countries overall tend to be more wasteful and more demanding of product they don't need. I'm not saying it's not ok to have nice things, but when I watch one of my coworkers get 5 or 6 Amazon packages almost every day, well. Clearly we have to take a little responsibility for our culture. I think it's possible to eventually get to ethical consumption, but we're gonna have to make stuff that lasts and be happy with WAY less "stuff" over all.
I know what you mean, friend. This insatiable demand for more has contributed to all manor of unethical conditions. From the slave wages and brutal conditions required to provide affordable products, to the offshoring of pollution, and undermining of developing institutions, we have really done a number on billions of people.
Beyond that, I think we’re doing a number on ourselves. Not to endlessly opine the ills of western civilization, but this shit feels so hollow. Every major cultural event is a superficial cash grab, memes that are literally just marketing campaigns (seriously a new viral water bottle every year????), worst of all, a near complete lack of community and ever worsening social cohesion. The last part isn’t entirely attributable to the prevailing economic conditions, but certainly *the death of the third place* is largely attributable to our consumer culture and the MBA psychos who exploit it.
In Europe, butchering and in many respects raising meat ethically is largely a non-optional legal obligation (although imperfect, and I'm going to stay away from the topic of halal and kosher exceptions). And where there are current issues, things have at least are progressively moving in the right direction such as increasing regulation of battery farming.
It's no surprise that ethical treatment of animals is a very low priority in undeveloped and developing countries, but that's not so much capitalism per se as poverty and being able to afford to eat protein at all. But for other countries, most notably the US, you're right that the pandering to capitalism whatever the ethics is a problem... but Europe is showing that a different path does exist, and people in countries like the US have a choice to vote for people to take them that direction if they wanted.
We’re so removed from knowing what it’s like to harvest animals for food. I don’t mean to be graphic but for example it breaks my heart every time I put a knife through a lobster’s head to make a lobster roll. I grew up with chickens too and when we would kill them to eat was always awful. If you eat meat I think that’s something you should experience just to know what happens if you choose to consume animal products.
Most people are happy to stay totally ignorant of the hypocrisy in criticizing the eating of certain types of animals. Absent specific criticisms of how the animals are raised or slaughtered of broader scientific concerns like endangered species, nobody has the right to judge what is acceptable for other cultures to eat. Vegans are the exception, since they consider all meat eating unethical.
63
u/[deleted] Aug 07 '26
They were originally domesticated for meat. They eat grass (which humans cannot) and turn the indigestable fibers of tough mountain grasses into protein, they also grow quickly and reproduce quickly. Makes sense the Andean cultures would domesticate them.