Veganism Research Paper

Do we as individuals have moral responsibilities tied to our food? Peter Singer and Jim Mason, two controversial and influential authors have arisen debate over the ethics of eating animals. Many of those who favor vegetarianism insist that eating meat is as repulsive as condoning racism or slavery in past centuries. Eating meat is natural. It appears to be likely that humans are omnivores. We are designed to eat meat. When vegetarians talk about doing the right thing, they are not talking about doing the natural thing. To you, it may be just a meal, but to them it is their life.

In order to feed society’s immense appetite for meat, animals are kept and raised in confined and torturous situations. Ninety-nine percent of the meat in the US

comes from factory farms, money hungry corporations who make animals endure fear and torment. Just recently my eyes were opened up and I was shown the overall picture around factory farming. Factory farms hold large number of animals, typically cows, pigs, turkeys, or chickens. Farmers are keeping these animals in extremely small enclosures in order to control movement or actions that are undesirable to the farmer. There is no doubt that animals are falling victim to the difficult and cruel conditions of factory farms. When many of us imagine farms the way our childhood storybooks described them to us, we often think of a big red barn with lots of space and plenty of grass for the animals to eat. That's really not the case at factory farms. Because the main purpose of these industrial operations is to save as much money as possible, it is much cheaper and efficient to feed them a mixture of junk then to allow them the freedom to roam out in the pasture. As a result, they are treated with hormones and antibiotics to prevent diseases and maximize their growth and food output. Fortunately, we all have the opportunity to reduce the impact of livestock feed by reducing our demand on animal product consumption. “Vegans are a living demonstration of the fact that we do not need to exploit animals for food”. (Singer)

We know that humans have the ability for consciousness because we think, make decisions, and have feelings. Singer is more interested in the sensation of pain in particular. If you can feel pain then you have the only type of consciousness that really matters. Arguments have been upheld of whether animals have the ability to feel pain or suffering. Suffering implies consciousness. Scientist can confirm that an animal species possesses some sense of self. Animal consciousness is the quality or state of self awareness within the animal. Singer writes, “If possessing higher degree of intelligence does not entitle one human being to use another for his own ends, how can it entitle humans to exploit nonhumans for the same purpose?”. (Singer)

Why go vegan?

Ethically veganism is clearly the way forward, as it can be argued that we cannot get rid of animal cruelty in the world as long as animals are brutally exploited by the cruel human species. A person usually becomes a vegan because of ethical reasons involving animal rights, for environmental aspects, or for better health. Veganism is a sustainable way of feeding humans. This plant based diet certainly has great health benefits. It usually involves fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. Including this in your diet, you will certainly be rich in protein, iron, calcium, other essential vitamins and minerals and low in saturated fat. These great benefits may mitigate or even prevent illnesses such as obesity, cardiac disease, cancer and diabetes. These diseases are very preventable most of the time. Not only does it benefit our diets but our environment as well. By going vegetarian, we can reduce climate change, rainforest destruction, and pollution all in one. As a matter of fact, raising animals for food produces more harmful emissions than all the cars, planes, and other forms of transportation combined. Meat production also contributes to terrible levels of deforestation. Producing meat especially beef requires large amounts of land. Trees are being cut and the land is being converted into pasture for cattle grazing. The only way to stop this would to reduce our demand for

meat.