Sarah Beinner - Week 2 - Is eating meat unethical?

    Many people are going vegan and vegetarian because they believe that meat consumption is unethical. This virtue has been around for a while, but it has boomed in the last few years. There are three main reasons that a person cuts meat out of their diet. 

    The first argument that someone may use to justify going vegan is that it is wrong to eat meat since we are killing and caging animals for our own consumption even though they are living and thinking organisms. However, the only reason that the human race still exists is because cavemen didn't starve to death since they were able to use the animals around them as a source of fuel. I think that cavemen had the moral compass that they were meant to have, meaning that they were made to eat meat, so they did. We know that we were made to eat meat because the human body produces protease and lipase, which are specific enzymes made in the pancreas whose main purpose is to break down meat. This means that on a biological level, we are supposed to eat meat. We are omnivores, for crying out loud, which by definition is an organism that consumes both animals and plants.

    The second reason that a person may choose to stop eating meat is because they think that we are hurting the planet from the overpopulation of cows created by farmers who are trying to meet demands. Cows produce methane which is more harmful to the planet than carbon dioxide. However, if we are going to use that as an argument for going vegan, then I guess we should stop: using planes and cars, creating materials through factories, and at that point, just start killing all of the animals so that they can't breathe out any more CO2 or methane. People enjoy meat and will pay for it, so farmers are going to keep breeding them to make money, and people are going to keep eating and buying the food that they want. Therefore, this argument isn't very effective unless large numbers of people are going vegan to stop the demand for meat. However, I don't see that happening anytime soon because people are going to keep doing what makes them happy, and if that is enjoying a nice meal, then so be it. Also, this argument only applies to vegans because a vegetarian has a larger demand for dairy products than the average person since it will become their new main source of proteins and other nutrients. Therefore, they could not use this argument because their increase in dairy consumption would still require animals to meet their new demands.

    The third reason someone might decide to go vegan is less relevant to my argument, but it is cutting out meat for health purposes. People with high cholesterol are recommended to cut down on meat consumption because it contains a lot of fats. However, cutting out meat completely can cause many nutrient deficiencies, so you would have to take supplements. This is a large issue for many people in the vegan and vegetarian communities because some people don't take supplements, and these deficiencies can leave people very weak and tired. Common side effects of going vegan or vegetarian are anemia, brittle bones, depression, anxiety, worsened skin conditions, and hair loss. This further validates my previous point that our bodies are made to eat meat, and therefore our consumption of it is not going to ruin our earth or render us unethical.

What do you think? Is going vegan/vegetarian the direction that you see the human race going towards? Would you give up animal products for any of the reasons that I listed?