Peter Singer Equality For Meat

In modern day society, the argument over the consumption of meat has gained in strength and popularity in the last several years. This debate has brought forth individuals who support the meat industry and its treatment of animals, and the vegans who oppose the use of all animal products and the inhumane treatment of animals on factory farms. For clarification, a vegan is an individual who makes a conscious effort to not consume any animal products, whether it be food, personal products, or cosmetics. While these two stances are situated firmly on opposite ends of the debate spectrum, the large gray area in the middle needs to be addressed. This gray area includes vegetarians, who do not consume meat, but may still use other animal products

such as cosmetics and dairy products. This category also includes the people who are consciously trying to limit their use of meat and animal products in hopes of reducing the amount of animals sacrificed on factory farms. Peter Singer, Gary Steiner, Bill McKibben, and A. G. Sulzberger are a few authors who have chosen to take a stance on the pro-vegan side of the debate. In their essays, they discuss the treatment of animals on factory farms, the effects these farms have on the environment, and the difficulties faced by vegans. While these essays do not discuss everything there is to discuss about Veganism and the debate, these points may encourage you to think twice before eating animal products.
When most people picture a working farm with a variety of animals, they tend to believe that it is like the farms shown in Disney movies and on advertisements.

Unfortunately, this is not the life of animals, specifically cows, on factory farms. In Peter Singer’s essay “Equality for Animals”, he describes the demeanor of animals on a factory farm to be one of “confine sentient animals in cramped, unsuitable conditions for the entire duration of their lives” (179). In making this comment, Singer urges us to envision the brutal reality for the animals that we selfishly allow to lead horrible lives for our own gain. In the case of dairy cows, they are “treated like machines” until their productivity decreases, at this time the cow is slaughtered even if it could live several more years at a lower productivity (Singer 179). I agree with Singer on this point, a point that needs emphasizing since it is a common misconception that these dairy cows are allowed to live and work, until they pass on naturally. This point alone, of how horrifically animals are treated, is enough to persuade a rational person to question whether they can consciously support this industry. An industry that abuses living, breathing animals under the shelter of the term, food production. In reality, these animals, while large, are not much different than the cat or dog snuggled up at your feet. The only difference between them is that in America, it is not a socially acceptable practice to abuse and eat your feline or canine friends. This certainly encourages one to question how they are able to stomach eating meat, when they know how that cow was

treated.
Gary Steiner, author of the essay “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable”, agrees with Singer’s stance on how inhumanly animals are treated when he equates “our society’s treatment of animals” to “mass murder” (195). The animals are treated horrendously and then slaughtered when productivity decreases since the farms only goal is to maintain animals at the lowest possible cost, so the farm owners can preserve their large profit margins. As a result of this cycle, the efficiency of meat production is severely reduced because a substantial amount of crops grown, are fed to cows who are slaughtered before their prime, instead of directly feeding people. Consequently, this leads to growing concern about the effect factory farming and meat production is having on the environment.
Unlike Singer, who is pro-vegan based on the appalling treatment of animals, Bill McKibben is pro-vegan based on the harmful effects factory farms and meat production have on the environment. Although McKibben agrees with Singer’s view of meat being inefficient, he is less concerned about the treatment of animals and more concerned about the environmental impact of factory farming. In his essay “The Only Way to Have a Cow” McKibben is adamant that “we now use an enormous percentage of our arable land to grow corn that we feed to cows who stand in feedlots and eructate until they are slaughtered in a variety of gross ways and lodge in our ever-larger abdomens” (201). McKibben’s point is that instead of planting crops to feed cows, we could be growing fruits and vegetables, which could replace some of the meat in our diets. As a result, some cows could be spared from their life of misery. I agree with McKibben that it is wasteful that we use the majority of crops to feed cows, who we then eat, especially since most of the nutrition from the crops is gone. I never thought about farming practices and meat production in this way until recently, therefore, it would be beneficial for the general population to hear these rationalizations. This may encourage them to become a vegan, therefore reducing the amount of animals reared in inhumane environments, while also making the crops that were previously intended to feed the cows, available for the general public’s consumption.
In addition to essentially wasting crops, the environment is compromised by the fact that cows produce an exuberant amount of methane when they eructate. In fact, according to Singer, “The livestock industry… contributes more to global warming than the entire transport sector” (179). This is not to say that all farms contribute to this statistic, but instead that the factory farms, where numerous animals are housed in too little space, are contributing immensely to global warming. In order to please the environmentalists, the owners of these factory farms have started giving the cows injections and feeding them genetically modified corn to lessen the amount of methane they eructate. While this may provide a miniscule impact on the environment and climate change, it is certain that it cannot be comfortable for the cows to hold all of that methane inside.
Some readers may challenge the idea that the amount of methane is affecting the environment by arguing that cows have been around for a long time, and this problem has just recently come into light. McKibben addresses these concerns by pointing out that cows used to freely roam the land, moving on when the field was grazed, or when predators threatened them. This is no longer a concern for these animals since they have been removed from their free environment and predators, by being placed in confined spaces where they become so large that they cannot move, this is why their methane production has, logically, begun to impact the environment. These cows are not only adversely affecting the atmosphere and contributing to climate change, but they are also destroying valuable farm land. The producers of these factory farms are forcing cows to graze in the same pasture repeatedly, which contributes to overgrazed fields and the loss of healthy farm land. These adverse effects on the environment support the conclusion that humans should stop consuming large amounts of animal products, and consider tackling a vegan lifestyle.
While becoming vegan may be best for animals on factory farms and the environment, it also has many challenges. According to Singer, those of us who live “in industrialized societies can easily obtain an adequate diet without the use of animal flesh. Meat is not necessary for good health or longevity” (178). Basically what he is saying is that with the proper monitoring and nutritional substitutes, an individual consuming an all vegan diet can receive all the required nutrients and be perfectly healthy. Therefore, it should put those at ease who are concerned about the healthfulness of a vegan diet to be reassured that their health is not in jeopardy over their lack of animal products. Once an individual decides to accept the vegan lifestyle they might encounter the moral dilemma of if they should consume meals with people who are eating meat. Steiner answers this question stating that it may prove for terse conversation, but there is not a specific code that vegans must abide by. He challenges, almost humorously, that “You just haven’t lived until you’ve tried to function as a strict vegan in a meat-crazed society” (Steiner 197). I agree that it would be extremely difficult to function as a vegan because my experience in restaurants and social situations confirms it. It has been my experience that vegetarian or vegan options have begun to appear more frequently on menus, but they are usually quite limited. In addition, it is extremely difficult to stick to being a vegan when all of your friends are enjoying meals centered around meat.