Not too many months ago, news stories broke about the inhumane treatment of cattle at slaughterhouses. In addition to other misdeeds at some slaughterhouses, so called "downer" cattle -- those that are too sick or injured to walk -- were being handled inhumanely.

The U.S. Agriculture Department announced last Tuesday that cattle that is sick or too injured to walk will not be allowed to enter slaughterhouses. The USDA hopes that this measure will help prevent the mistreatment of animals in these facilities. They also hope the measures will help ensure meat safety.

I'm not a vegetarian, but reports like this make me want to become one. While I think any measure to ensure the humane treatment of animals is good, I can't help but think that a ban against those cattle that are too sick or too injured to walk isn't really solving the problem at all. What do you think?

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I've mentioned my hesitance to eat meat before -- and while I'm not a vegetarian per se, becoming one wouldn't be much of a stretch for me. I like meat, but I don't like to consider where it came from, what kind of hormones are in it or how many questionable practices were used to get this slab of meat on my plate. I'm what this article might call a 'compassionate carnivore' -- I don't see much wrong with eating meat, as long as the animal lived how nature intended it to. I'll eat meat, but I prefer it to be free-range. I also believe that the food industry needs to come up with sustainable farming practices.

Compassionate carnivores are a new breed of meat eaters that it's thought are inspired by Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. I can't say the book inspired me because, well, I've yet to read it, but there's lots of literature out there these days that calls into question to methods used to get animals on our plate. And whether you believe in vegetarianism or not, I think it's important to figure out what you're putting into your body -- don't you?

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