The question of whether eating meat is ethical has been on the rise lately. More commonly, a vegan or vegetarian life-style has become the new trend of today sparked by the controversy surrounding animal welfare. Groups like PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, have convinced the public that consuming meat is unethical, and to not support agriculture and farming. However, I grew up surrounded by livestock production, 4H and FFA, and meat on my dinner plate almost every night. Livestock, specifically beef, provide useful fertilizer, necessary protein, and are raised and treated humanely. Consuming meat is ethical. Cow manure creates useful fertilizer. Unlike processed and synthetic fertilizer, cow manure is completely …show more content…
Specifically here in the Northwest, cows, lambs, or goats would not be provided protection from predators or have an unlimited supply of water and feed in the wild. Angelique Chao describes that animals are not just killed for food; they are bred, raised, and killed for food. “Therefore, if you decide to stop eating meat because you don’t agree with killing animals for food, you are not just stopping animals from being killed. You are also stopping them from being bred and raised. To put it bluntly, you are creating a smaller market for their existence” (Chao). Chao then states that if life is worth living, then it is ethical to give livestock a life, even if it’s a short life. For every animal we don’t eat, the birth and life of another animal would not occur. Meat consumption guarantees the existence of livestock for many years to …show more content…
In fact, “Agriculture employs over 1.3 billion people throughout the world, or close to 40 percent of the global workforce” (Agriculture’s Key Figures). Agriculture professions can range from feedlot managers to horticulturists. There’s no denying that agriculture is the largest job sector around the world, and in some countries more than half of their population is employed in an agriculture profession (Agriculture’s Key Figures). Livestock production is a big percentage of the agriculture industry. Actually, “Livestock contribute 40 % of the global value of agricultural output and support the livelihoods and food security of almost a 1.3 billion people” (Animal Production). Without meat consumption, these jobs would not exist, and many of these workers would be
Jonathan Safran Foer wrote “Eating Animals” for his son; although, when he started writing it was not meant to be a book (Foer). More specifically to decide whether he would raise his son as a vegetarian or meat eater and to decide what stories to tell his son (Foer). The book was meant to answer his question of what meat is and how we get it s well as many other questions. Since the book is a quest for knowledge about the meat we eat, the audience for this book is anyone that consumes food. This is book is filled with research that allows the audience to question if we wish to continue to eat meat or not and provide answers as to why. Throughout the book Foer uses healthy doses of logos and pathos to effectively cause his readers to question if they will eat meat at their next meal and meals that follow. Foer ends his book with a call to action that states “Consistency is not required, but engagement with the problem is.” when dealing with the problem of factory farming (Foer).
The population of the earth is now 7 billion and rising. Demand for meat products is rising day by day and companies need to meet the consumer demand and to do so they forget morals about factory farming for animals. However some people over the world people are turning into vegetarians, some do it to improve their health and some do it for religion. After reading the article “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable” by Professer Gary Steiner, I came to agree with many of his well stated arguments against meat eating like: cruelty to animals, animals being given hormones and antibiotics or animals not living a good quality life. In his essay he constantly repeats about thanksgiving and the turkey which didn’t live its life to the fullest.
When people are eating meat, have they ever stopped and asked themselves what they 're eating, or what type of life the animal they 're eating went through. The articles “An Animal’s Place” by Michael Pollan, explains the moral issue if it 's correct to consume meat. “The Omnivore 's Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals”, by Blake Hurst, defends himself against critics who says negativity about industrial farming and the ways animals are treated. After close examination of both articles, the reader would be able to determine what type of farming is more logical.
In the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, the author talks about, not only vegetarianism, but reveals to us what actually occurs in the factory farming system. The issue circulating in this book is whether to eat meat or not to eat meat. Foer, however, never tries to convert his reader to become vegetarians but rather to inform them with information so they can respond with better judgment. Eating meat has been a thing that majority of us engage in without question. Which is why among other reasons Foer feels compelled to share his findings about where our meat come from. Throughout the book, he gives vivid accounts of the dreadful conditions factory farmed animals endure on a daily basis. For this reason Foer urges us to take a stand against factory farming, and if we must eat meat then we must adapt humane agricultural methods for meat production.
Is it morally permissible to eat meat? Much argument has arisen in the current society on whether it is morally permissible to eat meat. Many virtuous fruitarians and the other meat eating societies have been arguing about the ethics of eating meat (which results from killing animals). The important part of the dispute is based on the animal welfare, nutrition value from meat, convenience, and affordability of meat-based foods compared to vegetable-based foods and other factors like environmental moral code, culture, and religion. All these points are important in justifying whether humans are morally right when choosing to eat meat. This paper will argue that it is morally impermissible to eat meat by focusing on the treatment of animals, the environmental argument, animal rights, pain, morals, religion, and the law.
“The assumption that animals are without rights, and the illusion that their treatment has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality."(Schopenhauer). I always wondered why some people are not so drawn to the consumption of meat and fed up with only one thought about it. Why so many people loathe of blood, and why so few people can easily kill and be slaughter animal, until they just get used to it? This reaction should say something about the most important moments in the code, which was programmed in the human psyche. Realization the necessity of refraining from meat is especially difficult because people consume it for a long time, and in addition, there is a certain attitude to the meat as to the product that is useful, nourishing and even prestigious. On the other hand, the constant consumption of meat has made the vast majority of people completely emotionless towards it. However, there must be some real and strong reasons for refusal of consumption of meat and as I noticed they were always completely different. So, even though vegetarianism has evolved drastically over time, some of its current forms have come back full circle to resemble that of its roots, when vegetarianism was an ethical-philosophical choice, not merely a matter of personal health.
...e Animals and Satisfy Meat Eaters?” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 21.6 (2008): 580-96. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.
Lowell explains in her article that animals in slaughterhouses have no legal protection and that animals can be abused to no end. It is unethical and cruel to kill animals for a food source when other options are available. Animals are living creatures with emotions and social connections. There have been studies that have proven that all warm-blooded animals are completely capable of experiencing pain, stress, and fear. These animals should not have to die only in order to satisfy people’s tastebuds. Being a vegetarian also saves water and reduces the greenhouse gas emissions created by all of the animals. Lowell strongly advises against meat eating because of these factors. Although to many, eating animals is considered to be an inhumane act, Sterbenz states in her article that people can eat meat and still be an ethical meat-eater. She says that she loves animals and understands that the meat industry notoriously mistreats their livestock. She backs up her statement of being an ethical meat eater by making conscious choices as a consumer to lessen her negative effect on the animal community. She buys free-range chicken and eggs and also buys grass-fed beef which is supposed to be healthier. Even though Sterbenz buys those types of meat, it does not change the fact that she is still consuming meat. Buying free-range chicken and grass-fed beef will not help the environment or the cruel killing of
The issue of meat consumption has been a controversial topic on whether to allow the practice or discontinue it, non-meat eaters argue it’s unethical because it is abusive to animals. On the other hand, meat consumers argue that eating meat is ethical as long as meat eaters are conscious of how their meat is collected and the treatment of livestock is fair. The consumption of meat is an act that an individual decides whether to partake in or not. Therefore, the option of eating meat should not be completely taken away, but it should be limited. Eating meat ties in with vegetarian and vegan diets, in the sense that both have to follow guidelines to create an ethical approach to eating any grown foods. The consumption of food is ethical when
Ethical eating is currently an international trending topic. Many people from around the globe are considering their options regarding food sources, humane foods and ethical preparation of food and its origins. After learning how to prepare meatless meals in their kitchens, new vegetarians find cooking to be easier and more enjoyable than when they prepared meat in their respective kitchens. For example, new vegetarians can appreciate the cleanliness of their kitchens due to the lack of blood, grease and animal fat that may be left behind from preparing flesh. There are many studies that reveal the positive attributes of vegetarianism. What about ethical eating options? What does ethical eating really mean? Several nutritionists and scientists
Meat is a coroner stone to the majority of American’s diets. I would venture to say the majority of American’s eat meat for their three meals a day. Eating meat isn’t all bad, it actually brings a good source of protein to one’s diet, in a moderate amount. In 2012 a study was done and found that the U.S. total meat consumption was 52.1 billion pounds. That comes out to be 270.7 pounds per person. We still eat more meat than just about any other country, besides Luxembourg (A Nation of Meat Eaters). Eating red meat is bad for humans because of the negative health effects, the environmental issues it causes, and the inhumane treatment of the animals.
For several years the issue of eating meat has been a great concern to all types of people all over the world. In many different societies controversy has began to arise over the morality of eating meat from animals. A lot of the reasons for not eating meat have to deal with religious affiliations, personal health, animal rights, and concern about the environment. Vegetarians have a greater way of expressing meats negative effects on the human body whereas meat eaters have close to no evidence of meat eating being a positive effect on the human body. Being a vegetarian is more beneficial for human beings because of health reasons, environmental issues, and animal rights.
Every person has the ability to make their own choice of whether to eat meat or not. However, eating meat is directly tied to negative health effects, pollution leading to a depletion of ozone, and the depletion of hundreds of thousands of acres of land “wasted” on animal production when they could be used to solve the hunger crisis or lower emission levels. What humans eat is no longer a matter of choice; it has become a matter of life and death. Literally, the future of the whole planet rests on the decision of whether or not to eat meat. If humans chose to eat less meat the world that wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences (outlined above.) Vegetarianism is one possibility, as is Veganism; however the world would be
Let me begin with the words by George Bernard Shaw: ‘Animals are my friends and I don’t eat my friends’. This indicates the ethic aspect of meat consumption. In fact, people often don’t realize how animals are treated, but they can see commercial spots in their TV showing smiling pigs, cows or chickens, happy and ready to be eaten. My impression is that there can’t be anything more cruel and senseless. It is no secret that animals suffer ...
Vegetarians tend to be healthier than those who consume meat. This is due to the prevalent unnatural chemicals used in the processing of meats, and eating these are unsuitable for the body. Meats already contain harmful amounts of cholesterol, and over-consumption of red meat can lead to early heart disease. Animals that are raised on farms for their meat are not treated well, and this mistreatment can lead to harm in the meat they are producing. Although one life choice cannot change one’s environmental