A common controversial topic that is debated in many society’s, especially in Europe and North America, is the ethics of consuming meat. There has been a rise in vegetarians, as persuasive journalist and companies such as PETA have introduced their opinion on eating meat and how it is morally wrong. Even with this rise of vegetarians, there is a prediction that the global meat consumption will double by the year of 2020 (Singer).
As the need for meat rises, there will be an increase of factory farming, practically an animal torture facility that is a negative contributor to climate change.
With the torturing of animals, a negative influence on climate change, and humans having the ability to survive without consuming meat, is it still ethical to consume it? The quick answer is, surprisingly, yes; although, the meat in question has to be different than the factory farmed meat which the majority of Americans consume. Many writers and organizations, such as Peter Singer, are against the use of meat; they argue “that factory farming of animals – also known as CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations – is morally wrong.
This belief is correct, as the way they treat the animals is horrendous. The animals spend most of their entire lives restrained inside sheds, not being able to go outside, ever. Their crates are so narrow that they are unable to turn around and barely move. The animals are restricted in this same position for days on end, and become frustrated from this inactivity and end up attacking one another. For chickens that are seen exhibiting aggressive behavior, producers sear off their beaks which have sensitive nerves in them, in an attempt to stop the loss of chickens.
The Essay on Eating Meat Animals Eat People
Good Eats A pig isn't dumb. In the old Chicago slaughterhouses, pigs lifted by their hindquarters knew something bad was about to happen. With their throats slit they could unleash a hellish scream. Their lifeless bodies then passed along the rest of the disassembly line. America has moved on from that point in history. In America it could be said that the 20 th century was spent recognizing those ...
“Chickens, reared in sheds that hold 20,000 birds, now are bred to grow so fast that most of them develop leg problems because their immature bones cannot bear the weight of their bodies” (Singer).
With this horrible treatment of these animals, it is surprising they are still able to partake today. Although with the high need for meat, and in order for it to be cheap, companies still continue the awful treatment of these animals. Factory farming not only is a place where animals are tortured to a point that it is hard to comprehend.
Factory farming also has a large negative effect on the environment; these factories contribute large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, linking to global warming (Pluhar 457).
These factory farms store their waste in giant lagoons and cut down a large amount of forests in order to grow crops to feed the animals. This cutting down of the forest has a contributor for fossil fuel emissions, “during the 1990’s, tropical deforestation in brazil, India, Indonesia, Sudan and other developing countries cause 15 percent to 35 percent of annual global fossil fuel emissions.
Most of these fossil fuels are put into the atmosphere from the fuel being burned to operate vehicles and equipment. Cattle contribute methane emissions, due to their poor quality food, causing their digestive systems to be out of balance. The farms themselves cannot not take the full blame, as many of the greenhouse gas emissions come from the processing, transportation, storage, retailing and food preparation (Niman).
Factory farming is the fuse to the time bomb of climate change waiting to happen.
With the horrible treatment of these animals and the negative effects on the environment, how could consuming meat be ethically right? These animals are tortured by us, yet have the same, if not higher, intelligence than an infant or a severally mentally challenged individual. Yet, we still partake in these horrific events, even though they have a full capability to perceive pain. (Pollan) To even imagine a life where humans are treated much like these factory farmed animals is something out of science fiction and would possibly be our worst nightmare.
The Essay on Animals Human Humans Moreau People
The question is not can they reason, not can they speak, but can they suffer? - [quote Jeremy Bentham] It is estimated that 33 humans die each second in laboratories world wide. Shocked? Don't be, because it's not actually 33 humans that die each second, it is 33 animals; consisting of - cats, dogs, primates, rabbits, rat and mice. Between twenty and seventy million animals suffer and die in the ...
To add to the negative factors, these factory farms have such a big effect on the environment, where it is a possibility that every species that inhibits this planet could be wiped out, since global warming could create and unbalance on this delicate planet. Yet we still participate in this form of producing meat. Nonetheless, the ethics of eating meat by itself is morally right, if it is done in a way where the animals are treated humanely. All humans are designed and evolved as omnivores.
We grow relatively enormous brains, giving us an evolutionary advantage; we need large amounts of high-quality protein to develop these brains. Even though a chimp is larger than a human, our brains are about three times the size. Human guts and teeth are designed to consume meat. Although a human’s gut started off as an herbivorous one, through adaptation the colon and stomach have been designed to include animal proteins in a mixed diet. Herbivores have large grinding molar teeth, in order to break down plants, which are difficult to chew (DEB).
Although our molars and premolars are reduced in size, compared to out ape-like relatives, and we also have a smaller muscles that are used in chewing, resulting in the difference of our skulls to primates, “the various crests and ridges of bone used to anchor the large chewing muscles [are] no longer needed. ” (DEB) Our metabolism is also another indication of humans being omnivores, specifically the need for Vitamin B12. Herbivores get this vitamin from bacteria that produce it in their gut, although humans only have these bacteria inside their colon, and the vitamins cannot be absorbed there.
So the only natural way for humans to acquire this vitamin is through animal products. Even though humans are designed to consume meat, Vegetarians and vegans have the capability to survive without it. Today we have the ability to process and grow food, something that our primary ancestors were not able to do. So it is actually possible to be a vegetarian and be healthy, as long as one consumes a fine source of proteins and nutrients that meat is able to provide.
The Term Paper on Animal Cruelty: Physical Abuse Of Animal In Traditional Farm
Do you know what animal cruelty is? This is a common question where people would probably answer with the same response. The thing is that do you really know what animal cruelty is? Animal cruelty is not only physical abuse that animals receive but also on many other factors. This type of animal cruelty mostly occurs on industrial farms. You’re also probably wondering what an industrial farm is. ...
“Beans and legumes are excellent sources of vegetable protein and different vegetables will help with iron, especially if combined with vitamin C. ” (DEB) Yet, many vegetarians are able to get enough vitamin B12 from milk and/or eggs, although most commercial milk and eggs are produced at factory farms, where the animals spend about 20 percent of their lives in chronic pain. So the ethical factor of consuming meat, that animals are tortured and used much like machinery, still is in play, even for a vegetarian.
Vegans, who do not consume any form of food involved with animals, need to have a variety of artificial supplements, in order to receive the vitamins and proteins essential for the human diet. Unfortunately, most vitamin supplements provide very little health benefits and are often harmful. Children who are raised vegetarian could also be at risk, as they have different nutritional needs than adults do (DEB).
Children are continuously growing, and have not yet obtained the large brains that adults have already developed.
As their brains and body grow and them being hyperactive, they need to be monitored so that they receive the right nutrients. This brings up a moral dilemma that the consumption of meat is morally right, yet the way we do it today is not. The answer to this problem is to buy food from local farms, avoid processed foods, and those from industrialized farms. Buy from farms that treat the animals like living beings, instead of machines. Where they are fed properly, treated with care, and live a sustainable life.
Cutting out meat altogether does not solve the problem, as many animals that are used for consumption are only alive today from us. If all humans stop consuming meat, there is a probability that these animals will become instinct, like the many species that are becoming extinct today. The only exception to this are the ones that benefit humans, such as domesticated animals, and ones used for food. As a result, if the boycott of factory farms takes place, yet a rise in local farms also takes place, this will not only benefit the animals’ way of living, but also the environment.
The Essay on Animal Farm Dystopia
Animal Farm Dystopia Humans are just as bad as animals, or is it the other way around? True equality between societies can never be accomplished because of true human nature leads societies to become dystopias. Animal Farm by George Orwell is the perfect example of a dystopia for three main reasons. One, propaganda is used to control the citizens of the society. Two, a figurehead of concept is ...
Livestock grazing can “decrease soil erosion by 80 percent and markedly improve water quality. ” (Niman) If animals are fed properly it could also lower the emissions of methane gas, and if fed in pastures and grasslands it could help lower global warming by acting as carbon sinks (Niman).
In a result, it removes many of the ethical and environmental problems that are illustrated in factory farming. Ultimately, the consumption of food today is something that needs to change, as it represents more than just an ethical dilemma.
As billions of animals are tortured a year, and thousands of ecosystems are destroyed in order to carry on this torture, there has to be change. The boycott of factory farming needs to happen, and only we, as individuals, have the capability to make this happen. I do not believe that the majority of humans can stop consuming meat, and there is no real need to do so; however we do have the capability to purchase from local farms, supporting not only the humane treatment of animals, but also the environment.
