Morder Collage
"Damn I look good in my hamster hat, buffalo wings and bacon earrings. There's nothing as pleasing as knowing that you can wear dead animals and every day, if you please, stuff meat in your mouth. Greens in my plate, no thanks. It's animal protein that humans need. And lots of it!"
In retrospective, I perhaps should have left the sandwich + cold cuts plate on top of the blue half circle and not add the meaningless texts. I thought that the cold cuts, as it's in color, would have taken too much attention from the b&w lady but it wouldn't have. Well, at least I had the sense to take the meatball arm away. But not the sense to say, enough is enough because less could sometimes be better than more. But I do love some ideas in this, the hamster hat and the buffalo wings are spot on.
A collage made from Hjemmet magazine that I used first time in Inktober 2021.
I never threw away the magazines although I did not use them last year because I had a plan. A plan that has been brewing this long. Waiting for a right time. For those who don't understand Finnish or Norwegian here's a little explanation.
The magazine is called Hjemmet which means home. To a Finn the logic what it actually looks and sounds like is pretty simple. Just don't pronounce the j and add one of the really typical Finnish language characters to the end; double consonant and the word ending vowel. Hemmetti. That's an actual Finnish word. And it means damn, dammit and darn.
So I'm doing a series of collages that are the cover images of a fictional magazine called Hemmetti. Darn. There are so many things in life that deserve a special darn mention.
Trophy hunters, people who wear dead animals on them, animals that are bred just for their skin, for the fur but the rest thrown away and excessive meat eaters and claiming that animal protein is the only way to get enough protein deserve a special damn mention.
I'm omnivore. I simply have to have milk in my coffee. My special mention sins are yogurt and cheese. Proper ones. Really creamy and greasy ones. And I love smoked salmon, a good artisan hamburger and I make sure to eat everything from my plate when there's reindeer with mashed potatoes or good old sausage soup available.
But.
I do not eat meat very often. And when I eat it, I try to keep the amount moderate. First of all because there are so many other foods that just taste absolutely amazing. Like fried zucchini with a hint of olive or avocado oil and salt, pickled beetroot, fresh anything like peas, radish, carrots, fruit and berries, you name it and oh my god have you tasted pickled cucumber pieces on top of a pizza? I'm not a fan of beans or lentils but I'll eat them as long as there's something else available too, something that actually tastes good. Nuts and almonds and seeds and lettuces and cabbages, all my favourite. And talking about food makes me so hungry.
Second of all because mostly eating meat is just so wrong. Because of the way we nowadays treat animals. I have nothing against hunting your own food if the species isn't endangered and if you truly use everything from the dead animal. If you have to kill an animal, the least you can do is honor that life taken and not waste any part of the body you have in your bloody hands. Oh gosh that sounds bad but yeah, I say that I have nothing against killing animals when in need, but then again I kinda have, because you take the life of a living, breathing and feeling individual and you can never undo that. That's it for the individual. Finished. Over. Vanished. Gone. And don't give me that bullshit that animals do not feel, do not think, are not intelligent or do not develop deep relations to other animals, including us animals that we call humans. Do your homework, read the publications from scientists and don't say fake news and that you know better because the people who have studied animals for years and worked with them know what they're speaking of. Same goes with the old and tired claim that humans need animal protein and meat is the only source of protein. No. You're wrong if you claim that. Don't try to explain the thing that you like meat with false claims of necessity. We are not cats. Cats need meat to survive.
Is it okay if I now warn you that this post is truly going to be a proper rant? A rantity rant rant rant. A rantage.
But after all that ranting about hunting I do think though that hunting your own food in the wilderness is far more better that raising cattle for the meat industry. But we can't all be hunters or know a hunter who can provide us meat. And as for the reindeer in Finland that are not either wild or domesticated, there's not enough reindeer for all the Finnish carnivores. How reindeer are kept (actually not kept because they don't need keeping, they survive on their own) would be the ideal way of growing meat if one absolutely needs to eat meat and wants to do things easier than hunting one animal at the time. Reindeer, for the most of their lives, live free out in the north and I think twice a year there's a round-up. But there's a downside there too. The more there are reindeer the less there is lichen in the nature and the more you have to feed the reindeer, grow hay and import lichen and also limit the amount of natural predators so that there would be more reindeer meat for humans.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Think of all the animals out there (or actually most inside cages and pens so not at actually out) that are grown for humans to eat or wear. First we people cut the forests to get farmland to grow food for animals which we kill for food for humans. Tons of water needed, mostly miserable conditions where the animals are kept, short livestock lives, animal children taken from their mothers, animals bred to have huge muscles but otherwise may be incredibly sick and also antibiotics pumped to keep them "healthy". Huge monoculture fields so that it's easier for humans to gather all the wheat with big machines and then it's mostly carried to animals that we breed. Heck, I can't eat wheat, oat, barley or rye but most people can and why feed animals with food that could be food for people? This earth just needs more forests and homes for all the animals that can not survive in monoculture fields. And it's not only the food that both humans and the animals that humans eat, can eat. It's the whole monoculture industry. From palm oil to apple or almond trees. It's so mono and full of pesticides because it's so mono that I could die. And soon it'll be true. Us people will ultimately perish to our greed because we are stupid and shortsighted.
But there's more. Double standards.
The way we treat the animals we eat or wear versus our pets. It is simply ridiculous. It's "These animals can't feel anything and if they did, it doesn't matter because we eat them" versus "Oh god look at my precious I've clothed my sweetheart like it's my own child and I give him sugary treats and look how he looks at me, he surely loves me" and both approaches are a little bit sick. Oh okay, let's not lie, nauseating. On other hand we've dehumanized or deanimalized certain group of animals and humanized the other group which are both wrong.
But as I said, we all can't be hunters or even have our own reindeer farm and I do eat meat but I sure would like meat industry to be more like not industrial at all. But it's all about the profits. More money.
I saw a video several years ago. It was about meat industry and pigs. It was horrible. And after that pork started to taste bad. I stopped eating pork for many years. Nowadays I'm not so picky, I usually do not choose pork if there are other options as the thought of me eating pork isn't so disgusting anymore. Which is kinda sad. Because the meat industry has not gotten better. And I'm disappointed in myself and people who could do something about it but don't because they don't want to. I'm not saying that I couldn't go all vegetarian. It would be of course possible but a bit difficult because of certain other food restrictions.
Anyway, it would make me happier if animals would be treated better. And if there would be zero animals raised in a cage for their fur and only their fur. That is simply sickening. As is trophy hunting and bragging about a kill. I mean come on, the hunted animal doesn't have a fair chance. Running after your prey and killing it with a spear, a knife or a hatchet would be fair. Or bare hands. But humans are physically really lame and feeble, no sharp teeth or claws and running speed is ridiculous compared to most four legged animals, that they need extra help. Killing extensions. So now with those extensions humans can kill all other animals to extinction and have done that for several species for centuries. And to other humans. People from other cultures and countries. Humans that we don't need to kill because we don't need to eat them. At least I know I don't and I think none of the people I know do.
What?!? I wen't too far? It's your fault, you should have not read this far.
This became so much of a rant that I think I'm not gonna post this to Alien Art Hive but to Fuckit community. I think my damn fits very well to Fuckit.
I did a quick photoshop (hence the crappyness) and this is sort of the other option that could have been. Is it better? I don't know, perhaps. Should I try to change the collage? I don't know, perhaps. Some day.
Dragen Collage
https://peakd.com/hive-158694/@insaneworks/dragen-collage
Just Cut The Bullshit Boss, Put Your Honey On
https://peakd.com/art/@insaneworks/just-cut-the-bullshit-boss-put-your-honey-on
Collage Art
https://peakd.com/collageart/@insaneworks/collage-art
Collage Art - Mixed Media
https://peakd.com/mixedmediaart/@insaneworks/collage-art-mixed-media
https://twitter.com/1894177170/status/1639315028359757844
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The very first sentence completely cracked me up!
... and then it got serious....
I myself have a lot of prejudices against eating too much meat, especially processed meat as well as supermarket one.
If people didn't buy cheap meat, there wouldn't be any on the shop shelves. Seems simple, doesn't it?
Unfortunately, nothing is black and white.
I come from a very small village, and as a child I witnessed pig slaughter, the killing of chickens for broth, etc. I can't pretend that it didn't leave a mark on my psyche. However, I would like to say that not only industrial slaughterhouses, but also private slaughterhouses in small shambles, is just horrific and brings suffering to the animals.
My brother is a zootechnician and food bio - industrialist. Thanks to him, I have a slightly broader understanding of the costs of growing crops and raising animals for slaughter.
There will always be abuses in mass production, which is necessary with the current number of people on the earth. (mass production, not abuse of course). Always. And believe me, it is not just a question of greed or profit.
Anyone, who has spent any amount of time tilling the land and raising animals knows, how hard and unprofitable this work is. I challenge any townie who has never held a pitchfork and never driven a wheelbarrow of dung to a duel!
Your payment is the fact that you can watch something grow, it is the work of your hands.
We live snugly in the comfort of our homes, eating kale salad with avocado and cashew nuts, and feel entitled to criticise the choices of others.
While we have a choice, others do not, and we should always remember this.
You said rant, and rant it was indeed. Can we call it rant - duel?
Love the collage! Hamster is the best!
Same goes with almost every product. Cheap every day gadgets and electronics that do not last. We complain about it but nevertheless keep buying shitty products. Cheap clothes, cheap plastic containers, cheap furniture, cheap TVs... We as in people generally. Not all but too many.
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/theres-enough-food-world-everyone-not-everyone-can-access-it
This article sums the above article pretty well:
https://reason.com/2022/06/17/world-food-supplies-are-enough-to-feed-everyone
It's not the farmers that are greedy. Farming is hard work and most aren't actually payed what they deserve. It's the people, companies that distribute the grain or prevent distributing it, the ones that determine the prices to consumers and the ones hoarding grain. Wars, climate change. There are so many who have too much food and so many who have nothing.
But to think of this from the animal industry aspect, if we would think that there's not enough food in the world it makes no sense at all to first grow grain to feed the animals that we then eat. It would make more sense to eat that grain meant for the animals. That's my food industry point.
https://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/issues/nature-food/45159/majority-of-european-crops-feeding-animals-and-cars-not-people
Besides, many people, me included, do eat too much meat. Although I don't eat as much meat as the average European or a Finn for that matter, I do eat meat more than I should.
https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/foods-and-beverages/world-consumption-of-meat
Finns: https://yle.fi/a/3-10915602
I guess by now (2023) on average Finns eat about 80 to 90 kg meat per year per person. Let's make it 85 kg. And I think that's a huge amount! It's about 230 grams per day and that's a medium to large size stake in a restaurant here. On average I eat that amount of meat perhaps in a week! So that means that when you count all the Finns who do not eat meat at all and people who eat relatively small amounts like I do, there are people who eat huge amounts of meat. 500 g or 1 kg or more per day and that sounds really sickening every way I think of it.
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/theres-enough-food-world-everyone-not-everyone-can-access-it
Yeah, I've read about this issue many times. But one thing is a theory, and other thing is what actually is happening. And fact is - there are plenty of people that hardly can afford to feed their families.
More so - there are many countries with huge overproduction of the food in general, not only dairy or meat products, which seem insane if you think about it. Plus you have the tons of the food that supermarkets just throw away, because is either doesn't look 'attractive' anymore or is close to due date.
But think about it for a second longer - how would you want to enforce laws that prevent people from eating meat? If not prevent - even convince people to eat less of it? As you pointed out - small farmers aren't at fault here, they should be able to grow and eat their own food, but they are struggling everyday. Do you know how often farmers burn their own crops to keep the price high? Why they have to do it? Becouse price is so low, that hardly can afford living.
Talking about greedy:
'dirty soya beans'
This actually is scary. Why do you think those stats look like this? Is is traditional to eat loads of meat? In my family home we would have proper meat -meal only once a week, usually at Sunday, you know, big, family dinner. I am hardly eating meat these days at all, not only because I feel bad about it - although I do, but I am questioning its quality. I live now in UK now, and in comparison to Poland - my home country, I think the food standards here are just disastrous.
Yes exactly and then there's that. And sometimes there's even regulations that the food can not be donated away. Fortunately there also are charities that collect food that markets can't sell to customers anymore, when the restrictions don't prevent it. Charities that give the food away locally to anyone who needs it. Things are getting better but it's not enough. And it only fixes a bit the symptoms, poverty by giving away food, not the sickness which is that not all people can afford to buy the food which isn't only about food being too expensive but people not having jobs or not making enough money from the work they have. So lots of other issues behind poverty.
I wouldn't. I don't want laws that patronize people. People are omnivores and can be that if they want. Some like the taste of meat. And even though eating meat shortens ones life like smoking and excessive drinking I would never want to patronize people and prevent people from eating meat.
But I would try to influence the way people think about eating animals. To respect the life of animals, treat them well and not think that eating meat is a necessity or that they need to eat excessive amounts of meat. If one wants to eat meat, it should be happy animals meat if you know what I mean. Not tortured animals in poor conditions.
I know that change would not be immediate but I think it surely would be better than forcing people into something they are reluctant to do.
And of course prices. Meat shouldn't be cheaper than vegetables, fruit or grain because much more natural resources are used in growing meat. So taking care that food producers get enough and controlling that the distributors wouldn't overprice the healthy food in the markets would be one of the things I would do.
This is so crazy! Rainforests and all forests are giver of life but instead of inventing a way to combine old traditions of living of and with the forest and combining it with modern world we burn it and cultivate food for animals which we eat. And like in so many cases, it is the big companies that determine the prices with which smaller farmers have no way of surviving. Totally nuts.
I have no idea. I think there's no tradition in Finland to eat loads and loads of meat, at least among the people I know. Few years ago, or perhaps a decade or two ago, oh I don't know, time goes by so fast nowadays, people started to be more aware about the affects of eating meat. It's environmental impact and what it does to your body. And although there still are people who deny all of this, most do believe the facts: it's not good for individuals or the earth to eat too much meat. Nevertheless at the same time as there's more and more vegetarian options available and there's more awareness, the amount of meat eaten per person in a year has risen. Almost all over the world. So my only explanation is that there's a group of people who think: "You do not boss me around so now more than ever I'm eating meat more than ever!"
Same thing like if there are adds that people should save energy and fuel and think of the environment there are those who shout out loud: "Oh I'm buying a Humvee, driving with it everywhere, even 10 meter journeys, keeping my lights on all the time, heating my outdoor pool to 30 degrees of Celsius in the winter, buying 10.000 W lights to my front yard and keeping my electric sauna on all the time, even on nights and warming my backyard grass with electric power and cutting it with my Humvee and also throwing my garbage everywhere so that poor people can pick it up!"
:D
That's the image in my head.
Sorry for the incredibly looooooong response. I got carried away.
To be honest, we could go about it on an on. I totally agree with you. Giving a fish instead of a fishing rod is just short-term solution, if we can call it 'a solution' at all.
I do appreciate your idealist sentiment behind education and all, where truth is - all knowledge, thanks to internet, is accessible to everybody. The videos from slaughterhouses, statistics, thousand of docu-series about not only bestiality of industrial food processing but about diets, making ourselves healthy and fit and all. I really don't believe that people are so ignorant or short-sighted. I think people nowadays are plain hypocrites and self-centred narcissist. They know, but just to choose not to care. I am not saying, there are no good, reasonable people, that have wellbeing others, animals, environment and such at heart. I only challenge the argument that people do not realise the consequences of their actions and choices.
I really hope I am mistaken on this one, but don't think I am.
If you go down this rabbit hole - gets even worse, for instance: the avocados or the kopi luwak coffee. Virtually everything that at some point become extremely popular food(like soy bean years back, when vegetarian diets became a big thing) - get taken over by huge companies - it actually stop being what it once was - good quality food, that is quite expensive, but great quality. So now we have those poor civet cats in tiny cages, fed with nothing but coffee beans, even though they should eat plenty other things. Again - cats that lives in the wild on trees - in cages...
Avocado leave huge carbon foot print, but not only that
https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/features/is-our-avocado-obsession-destroying-the-planet/
I just simply not understand, why we cannot just buying local food? Our digestive systems would be surely thankful :)
Exactly my point... I would say that we are on the same page on this one 🤣
I am sorry too. Feel really powerless about it, not gonna lie. I really appreciate your time though, with all the links and stuff.
I hope you are well, and see you next time, eh?
It's true that the internet and libraries are available to most and most people perhaps do not use it all the time to seek facts or learn more. Laziness, the need to rely on easy answers and too many darn cat videos. Then again I recently read (listened actually) a book called "Factfulness" by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Ronnlund which basically showed through statistical facts that things are better that what we think they are. Not to say that there aren't places where things are really bad for certain people, minorities, animals and nature, but there are more than ever good things too and worldwide the average person has never been richer and better educated than now. Of course there certainly is less forests in the world than 100 years ago but deforestation we can not only blame the modern society and humans nowadays. It's just that today destroying nature is faster and easier and also we know the stuff that happens in the other side of the world almost instantly, if we choose so. The more knowledge, the more pain. Especially when the news agencies usually pick the tragedies, not those stories that basically say every day: "Today, everything is well, just like it was yesterday." The boring news.
But we know more than our parents and they know/knew more than their parents and so on. And the future is in the young people. And although there are efficient ways to influences us everyone, social information, ads, infoads, teachers, governments, incentives and sometimes laws, there are also plenty of ways to influence us with opposite opinions: misinformation, disinformation, corporate and politicians lies and propaganda.
But the ones that are young now, young adults and children, will be (most of them) better than what we ever were, know more and be wiser so although there are evil forces out there (oh, how fairy tell like, evil forces...) there are also wise young people who know better. I mean, we now know not to spray DDT on kids by the pool and also know that it's a good thing for a doctor to wash their hands before surgery. Especially if coming straight from the morgue.
But from the morgue subject to being well, I surely am well. And I hope you are too!
So until the next time, toodaloo!
I would hope for people to be better, and better, but social media and stuff like tik-tok shows otherwise :D
But from health perspective - yeah, we know better, just getting lazy!