Vegans everywhere are familiar with the scoffs and rolling eyes that often accompany discussions on the ethics of eating meat. The fact remains that meat is increasingly prevalent in households in America and around the world. The average American consumes over 200 pounds of meat, poultry, and fish every year, nearly 20 percent higher than 50 years ago. For many, the seemingly endless rows of cheap meat lying easily available in supermarkets appears too good a deal to pass up.
It has become such an integral part of American life that the protests of vegans and vegetarians are often silenced or left unheard despite the many health, environmental, and moral reasons not to eat meat. A new diet—flexitarian—has become one of the biggest buzzwords in the health world. Flexitarian, which is followed by some of the world’s top healthy living experts, focuses on reducing meat consumption and adding more plant-based alternatives. However, the question remains, can eating even a little meat ever be ethical?
The most common justification given for meat consumption is the “food chain” argument, or the complete misapplication of Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest to human behavior. Notwithstanding the fact that the statement comes across as self-proclamation by humans considering themselves as fittest and at the top of the food chain, this argument has lost its validity. Darwin’s theory may have been relevant in an era when humans hunted for survival. The difference is clear—the animal on your plate did not die fleeing from its natural predator. It was bred and raised in cramped, feces filled spaces on a factory farm, pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics, then ruthlessly transported and slaughtered. Is it still survival of the fittest?
Some claim that meat is necessary for human health. Yet endless studies link meat to diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart complications, among other diseases. One does not need a PhD to realize that any animal that has been given hormones, fed a GMO diet and pumped with antibiotics is unsafe for human consumption. Despite the abundance of vegetarian options such as soy or lentils, meat eaters are often held back by the lack of awareness of the situation in which their food was raised and slaughtered and/or the alternatives available.
Many insist that meat “tastes too good” to give up. Only the tiniest fraction of the tens of billions of farm animals slaughtered for food each year were humanely treated during their lives in ways respecting their interests. Even when animals are allowed to roam freely, operations like hot-iron branding, castration, and dehorning are carried out without any regard for the animals’ capacity to suffer. Is the temporary satisfaction of taste worth the suffering it causes?
There is an undebatable environmental cost to eating meat. Consider these facts and figures: globally, animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all the world’s transportation systems combined. According to the United Nations, a global shift toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change. It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef, while producing 1 pound of tofu requires only 244 gallons. Animals on U.S. factory farms produce about 500 million tons of manure each year, which often runs into rivers and pollutes our water. More than 90 percent of all Amazon rainforest land cleared since 1970 is used for grazing livestock. Clearly increased meat consumption is harming the environment.
Factory farming creates a destructive cycle of pain as our meat addiction fuels the factory farming industry, which in turn contributes to meat consumption. The only way to escape the vicious cycle is to say that enough is enough. It is upon each one of us to make the decision not contribute to the injustices of factory farming. The system affects the planet and every being on it and that includes chickens and cows who are equally exploited and tortured for eggs, milk, cheese and other dairy products. It is not enough to become flexitarian or vegetarian.
Given all of these arguments, the fact of the matter remains—veganism is the only possible solution.
Reha Kakkar is a contributing writer to The Animals Voice Magazine.
Sources:
“Estimated Animal Agriculture Nitrogen and Phosphorus from Manure.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 30 Jan. 2019.
Maynard, Micheline. Veggies May Be Healthier, But In 2018, Americans Will Eat A Record Amount Of Meat. 2 Jan. 2018.
“The Roots of Deforestation in the Amazon.” One Green Planet, 16 Dec. 2014.
Thirsty Food, 6 Jan. 2012.
