Check out this adorable video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ_Sk6p8mpw

Some info about pigs:

One study carried out in Brazil, the world’s fifth-largest pork producer, found that when interviewed, all 44 participating pig farmers believed that pigs are capable of feeling pain. Participants also overwhelmingly agreed that pigs are sentient beings who can feel stress, fear and joy. Farmers additionally attributed personality traits to the pigs including stubbornness, friendliness and gluttony. Seventy-three percent of the farmers agreed that the pigs in their care are intelligent.

Among the indicators of pigs’ intellectual abilities are the ways that they interact with each other and members of other species, their ability to display emotional contagion, their natural desire to maintain a clean living space, and their ability to feel pain and suffer.

There are numerous studies that show pigs have impressive cognitive abilities. In a study carried out in 2009, for example, pigs were able to interpret a mirror image in order to find a food bowl. This demonstrated that the pigs could understand that they were seeing themselves in the mirror, and use this information to solve their problem of finding food. The ability to recognize an image of themselves, known as self-recognition, is only found in the world’s most intelligent species.

An animal displays emotional intelligence if they are able to recognize and manage their own emotions in response to another’s emotions. Numerous studies have shown that pigs can display emotions and understand the emotions of others. The ability of pigs to experience a wide range of emotions was demonstrated in a recent study where pigs reacted differently to different types of music being played. One of the things emotional intelligence also allows us to do is work together to resolve conflict. In another study carried out in 2022, it was shown that pigs can resolve conflicts within groups. The pigs demonstrated an ability to know when a conflict had taken place, and determine whether it was the aggressor or victim pig that they should approach in order to best resolve the conflict.

Animals have different ways of expressing that they are in pain, but we do definitively know that all animals are able to feel pain and suffer. In some species, signs of pain are more difficult to detect, but even those unfamiliar with pigs and their intelligence are able to recognize suffering when they hear the high-pitched squeal of a pig in pain. This is a sound heard all too often from piglets being mutilated on factory farms.

With an average lifespan of 12-18 years, pigs don’t live long enough to test their long-term memory to this extent, but they do still have an impressive long-term memory. In one study, pigs were given a box containing food with a sliding door, and the pigs were able to learn how to solve this test, and retain the memory of the solution for at least six months.

As intelligent as our furry companions[dogs] are, pigs are widely considered to be more intelligent, particularly when it comes to their problem-solving abilities. In a study published in 2020, dogs and miniature pigs were each given tasks to solve. With the more difficult tasks, pigs persisted until they solved them on their own, whereas dogs turned to humans for help.

What we do know about pigs, however, is that they can play, learn and explore. They have their own personalities, recognize emotions in others, and know their own likes and dislikes. This means that when pigs are generally compared to human children, they are estimated to have the equivalent intellectual capability to a three-year-old child.

https://sentientmedia.org/pig-intelligence/

In one study, pigs were confined to two sets of crates for varying times: one set for 4 hours, the other for just 30 minutes2. Most pigs preferred the 30-minute container over the 4-hour one when given the option to choose between the two. As a result, researchers came to two key conclusions: Pigs are capable of both time perception and decision-making based on lessons learned from prior experiences.

(Which would also imply a lack of consent to being confined, something which is done to them for the majority of their unnaturally shortened lives).

Pigs are excellent communicators, both with humans and other pigs. You may have heard about how strong pigs’ sense of smell is, such as how they can detect odors up to 25 feet underground. Their sensitive snouts, however, also enable them to interact with one another through pheromones that are jam-packed with data. Pigs also use body language to effectively communicate with humans, whose noses aren’t quite as keen. They use their nudges, tail wags, stubbornness, playfulness, and even smiles to express their feelings and desires. They can be very noisy when this doesn’t work and will employ a variety of oinks, grunts, and squeals to communicate. Researchers have identified approximately 20 unique noises used by pigs to transmit their emotions.

https://petkeen.com/are-pigs-smarter-than-dogs/

https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.uk/latest/blogs/piglets-factory-farms-day-life/

One popular answer is that sometimes people just experience things that they find scientific answers to not be able to answer adequately. We as a species are still far from knowing everything.

I’m a spiritually-inclined person. Also think it’s totally legit to be atheist. You’d think that actively wanting diversity of belief would be reasonable, but evidently a lot of people just want uniformity and cultural erasure.

Lol. The funny thing is they are kind of technically right. All refined sugars have some harmful effects like blood sugar spikes and inflammation, but corn syrup only has a slightly higher ratio of fructose to glucose as table sugar does. In small, irregular doses it’s fine to consume. And for athletes it can even be beneficial since refined carbs can replenish glycogen stores rapidly.

Mainly the people who are profiting from anti-carb diet fads - Atkins, keto, paleo, carnivore, etc.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BKOQOP3G1go

If you’re blaming rising obesity on sugar, it shows you’re more susceptible to marketing than you are knowledgeable about the relevant science.

Refined sugar is generally not good, and certainly whole food sources of carbs are much more beneficial than simple sugars - however, sugar is not nearly as much of a demon as popular health influencers make it out to be. Importantly, it also needs to be kept in mind that the “standard american diet” (sad) or standard western diet is one that’s high in animal products, fat (particularly saturated fat), refined carbs; while being low in whole fruits, vegetables, and fiber and phytonutrients in general.

Walter Kempers rice diet is worth learning about. It was a terrible diet - patients could basically only eat white rice, sugar, and fruit. But despite being an absurdly high sugar and high carb diet, a lot of patients saw dramatic improvements in their health, particularly when it came to things like obesity and type 2 diabetes reversal.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/education/information-all/walter-kempner-md-founder-of-the-rice-diet/

Looking forward to getting a Pinetime. It might not be polished, but community support never truly ends.

Here’s one that emphasizes health.

https://annas-archive.org/md5/9fb9b2b1d763d1030d56c4161e2541d6

There is a vegan keto, and at least one study has found it to not have the same harms that other variants of keto has. The problem there is that it’s an extremely restrictive diet, so good luck to anyone trying to stick to that.

Aside from the one legitimate use it has - alleviating seizure symptoms - keto is just plain a diet that makes no sense for humans whatsoever.

What I’ve been finding so far about lemmy is that if I post something vegan that puts all the blame on corporations, the upvotes come rolling in. But anything else is either closer to a 1:1 ratio, or downvote abyss.

What is it?

Umm, yes you are.

Sounds well reasoned.

Or, more memes. 🙃

It’s a sample size issue. What percentage of people make the effort to get swole? It’s maybe (maybe not) a similar figure to how many vegans bother to get strong. Now what percentage of all people are vegan? Estimates range from 1% to 10%, with 3-5% being probably the most reasonable estimate.

But you’re the one making the claim without backing it up. Vegans can get all the protein they need, even when strength training. And the best part is we do it without the heart disease, cancer risk, and autoimmune diseases.

Veggie Burger.

Easy to point the finger at everyone doing this, but every person who continues buying and consuming animal products are still most primarily to blame for this situation.

If this does become a new pandemic, we might be talking about an unprecedented ~50% of the human population killed. A real life Thanos event. Thanks omnivores.

Was this written by a vegan?

Why are the animal’s choices never considered in this equation? Freedom is something the west places a high value on, but it’s generally agreed that freedom should never go so far as to harm others, yet your “freedom” to choose what to eat is resulting in a horrifying sort of perpetual holocaust.

Why is your fleeting sensory pleasure (something that can be had just as easily from plants) more important than the entire lives and wellbeing of all the animals you paid to have killed?

“No ethical consumption under capitalism” says nothing about the abstaining from consumption.

https://animalclock.org/