The Ethics of Eating Meat

[Dan From Smithville]

I've heard that we're actually using more land than we would otherwise because a large portion of our crops goes to feed the cattle whose meat and milk we eat. But I defer to scientists on the question.

A large portion of US corn production goes to feed beef cattle. About 40% for ethanol production and 40% as animal feed. It is also fed to hogs, chicken and other livestock. Corn is grown on about 95 million acres annually.

I am not arguing against the eating of meat, but those are some of the broad facts associated with corn production.

I would be interested to know about the claim regarding the quantity of land available for plant production. What I do know is that organic production could not feed the world population on the land we have available, but what is termed conventional agriculture can. In fact, the amount of production from conventional agriculture is increasing as the area of land necessary for that production is being reduced.

 

[PureX]

For me the issue tends to expand to the need of life forms to ingest other life forms, to live. And why is this the case?

But I cannot answer this question, as I did not create the universe, and I am not responsible for how it functions. So for me to claim that this is "wrong" would be to assert a judgment that I have neither the knowledge nor the right to assert. That being understood, if it is my nature to want to minimize the suffering I cause to other life forms (or not to) then so be it. That is simply an expression of my own being.

 

[Heyo]

Do you consider it ethical to eat meat? If yes, are there any circumstances in which you consider it unethical? Do you eat some types of meat but not others (for ethical reasons)? What reasoning do you use to arrive at your conclusion?

I think it is a spectrum from amoral to immoral. Some meat consumption can be excused, most of it not. I think my meat consumption borders on immoral. My only excuse is that I'm lazy and our society makes really hard and expensive to go vegetarian.

 

[Samael_Khan]

Lately, I've been having an increasingly hard time ethically justifying meat consumption. Unless you live in some remote wilderness where animals are your only feasible source of nourishment, meat is not necessary for our survival. So I've been asking myself, why needlessly support killing animals simply to satisfy my taste preferences?

Do you consider it ethical to eat meat? If yes, are there any circumstances in which you consider it unethical? Do you eat some types of meat but not others (for ethical reasons)? What reasoning do you use to arrive at your conclusion?

I think people rethinking eating meat is a result from our ever growing companionship with the animal kingdom and empathy for them. If someone doesn't wish to eat meat for that reason then I have no problem with it, even though I eat meat. But I wouldn't be eating meat if I had to slaughter the animal myself because I love animals too much.

 

[Mindmaster]

Do you consider it ethical to eat meat? If yes, are there any circumstances in which you consider it unethical? Do you eat some types of meat but not others (for ethical reasons)? What reasoning do you use to arrive at your conclusion?

I neither consider it ethical, or to be lacking in ethics. It's eating. You kill millions of bacteria a day by breathing... You step on bugs all day when you go for a walk... You can't avoid killing, if that's the argument... You kill the plants to eat them if you are a vegan... Why is one class of killing better than another? It's an irrational argument. You can't live without killing unless you just decide to kill yourself, lol.

We're just designed to eat anything that comes in front of us, basically. Does the spider have a moral dilemma about eating the fly? Do the bears go vegan? It's just nonsense... Nature is kill to eat. You're killing even if you're just eating fruits and vegetables. Meat anxiety is just a damn neurosis.

 

[Secret Chief]

Do you consider it ethical to eat meat?

No, I consider it unethical. I see no reason for me to be an end-user of an industry which is continuously killing other sentient beings in vast numbers. (This global industry is also heavily implicated as a major factor in both global warming and human viral disease epidemics/pandemics).

 

[Secret Chief]

our society makes really hard and expensive to go vegetarian.

That's a shame. In the UK it's really easy to have a good meat-free diet. The popularity, availability and range of vegan products has sky-rocketed in the last couple of years. (Ovo-lacto vegetarian offerings are long established in the UK). As to cost, obviously I don't pay any attention to meat prices but I thought meat was expensive? If it is cheap, then perhaps one should ask how it can be that cheap?

 

[Secret Chief]

@Left Coast
Apparently persuasion is more likely appealing to emotion than facts. So if you wish to, watch some videos on youtube. You know the ones; the propaganda, the rogue companies, the practices that aren't used in my country, the out of date ones.

By way of example I used to think eggs were OK, as long as the hens were "free range" (which turns out to be a bad joke). Then I found out the egg laying breeds are not the same as the chicken meat ones. So what happens to the male chicks in the egg industry? Here's a video showing one of the two methods. It's quicker than gassing, so maybe this is the humane, ethical option.

Spoiler: Graphic Content

 

[SalixIncendium]

Lately, I've been having an increasingly hard time ethically justifying meat consumption. Unless you live in some remote wilderness where animals are your only feasible source of nourishment, meat is not necessary for our survival. So I've been asking myself, why needlessly support killing animals simply to satisfy my taste preferences?

Do you consider it ethical to eat meat? If yes, are there any circumstances in which you consider it unethical? Do you eat some types of meat but not others (for ethical reasons)? What reasoning do you use to arrive at your conclusion?

I don't eat meat. I see no reason to kill another living being for the purpose of my sustenance when I can just as easily survive eating plant based products and/or products that animals produce such as dairy and eggs.

I also take issue with the inhumane practices in animal husbandry. Not only are these animals being killed for food, they are living miserable lives leading up to their ultimate demise.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I've come up with a way to eat meat without the ethical issues... short version "try not to think about it". Works for me.

Cool. Let's try this logic with all of the other world's issues and see how that works.

 

[SalixIncendium]

One thing that caught my attention is that there is currently not enough arable land at this time for the entire world to be vegans.

Going vegan is the opposite extreme. I think a vegetarian diet is quite sustainable.

 

[Vinayaka]

I've heard that we're actually using more land than we would otherwise because a large portion of our crops goes to feed the cattle whose meat and milk we eat. But I defer to scientists on the question.

The amount of chick peas, (and the subsequent protein) for instance that can be grown on one section of prime land, versus cattle is ridiculously larger. Cattle ranching, other than the dry land variety is really inefficient. We also grow a lot of food, just for cattle. All that land could go directly for food for humans.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I neither consider it ethical, or to be lacking in ethics. It's eating. You kill millions of bacteria a day by breathing... You step on bugs all day when you go for a walk... You can't avoid killing, if that's the argument...

So killing animals is acceptable because of the collateral damage caused by being alive? Where do you draw the line? Is it okay to kill humans whose population has outgrown food resources so others can eat?

You kill the plants to eat them if you are a vegan...

Not necessarily. Food can easily be harvested from plants without killing the plant. Does picking fruits kill the plant? Does cutting lettuce (when done properly) kill the plant?

Typically, the only plants that are killed are root vegetables.

 

[Secret Chief]

So killing animals is acceptable because of the collateral damage caused by being alive? Where do you draw the line? Is it okay to kill humans whose population has outgrown food resources so others can eat?



Not necessarily. Food can easily be harvested from plants without killing the plant. Does picking fruits kill the plant? Does cutting lettuce (when done properly) kill the plant?

Typically, the only plants that are killed are root vegetables.

Be careful, this'll end up with carrots feel pain.

 

[Erebus]

That's a shame. In the UK it's really easy to have a good meat-free diet. The popularity, availability and range of vegan products has sky-rocketed in the last couple of years.

This hasn't been my experience at all but I suspect it may be a regional issue.

I live in a very rural area in the North of England. Your options when shopping are limited and vegetarianism (especially if you go vegan) is both impractical and prohibitively expensive for anybody on an average or below average wage. This is especially true for someone with a family or who doesn't have a car. In the latter case, you would be relying on public transport in order to do your shopping somewhere with a decent vegetarian range. There are several issues with this: 1. Public transport in my area is terrible. 2. It's also ridiculously expensive. 3. Only some towns and villages have a train station.

This is one of the problems that comes up when discussing the ethics of eating meat. There will always be groups of people who have to do a lot more than change their shopping list to become vegetarian.

 

[Secret Chief]

Going vegan is the opposite extreme.

Why do you think it is extreme?

 

[bobhikes]

Lately, I've been having an increasingly hard time ethically justifying meat consumption. Unless you live in some remote wilderness where animals are your only feasible source of nourishment, meat is not necessary for our survival. So I've been asking myself, why needlessly support killing animals simply to satisfy my taste preferences?

Do you consider it ethical to eat meat? If yes, are there any circumstances in which you consider it unethical? Do you eat some types of meat but not others (for ethical reasons)? What reasoning do you use to arrive at your conclusion?

Yes it is ethical to eat me. The only reason you can ask this question is because of societal advancements. You could not survive if society is ruined on non-meat alone and humans through evolution became omnivores as best for our survival.

 

[Secret Chief]

This hasn't been my experience at all but I suspect it may be a regional issue.

I live in a very rural area in the North of England. Your options when shopping are limited and vegetarianism (especially if you go vegan) is both impractical and prohibitively expensive for anybody on an average or below average wage. This is especially true for someone with a family or who doesn't have a car. In the latter case, you would be relying on public transport in order to do your shopping somewhere with a decent vegetarian range. There are several issues with this: 1. Public transport in my area is terrible. 2. It's also ridiculously expensive. 3. Only some towns and villages have a train station.

This is one of the problems that comes up when discussing the ethics of eating meat. There will always be groups of people who have to do a lot more than change their shopping list to become vegetarian.

OK.

So, in essence, are you saying that including meat in the diet is cheaper than a vegetarian diet?

I fully get that dietary changes are more than changing shopping lists. I would never have expected to discuss the ethics of Hobnobs.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Why do you think it is extreme?

I'm not saying it's extreme in and of itself. Just on the opposite end of the spectrum from a carnivorous diet. There are many diets that fall between these; some that include meat and others that do not. There are those that include animal products, but do not include meat.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

Cool. Let's try this logic with all of the other world's issues and see how that works.

You might scare yourself if you were to sit down and try to count the number of things you "try not to think about" to get through any given day.