A school teacher who sold the school sheep for meat has resigned after coming under pressure from various Facebook groups and the like. In the Telegraph, Charlie Brooks moans about the nation’s attitude towards meat. Other commenters suggested that it was mainly a problem of online bullying. I left the following comment:
“For when it comes to food, we have become a nation of dreadful hypocrites.”
I had a look at one of the Facebook groups and I didn’t see much hypocrisy on display. They’re all a bunch of vegans and animal rights activists. In other words, the analysis that this says more about the power of social networking than anything else is probably about right.
I don’t see this as a problem because it works both ways. All we need to do is learn to recognise what is happening when these minority groups speak out, so that they can be properly ignored. The only relevant question is, who *owned* the sheep? It’s none of anyone else’s business, no matter how vocal and organized they are.