The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

The Politics of Eating Meat

64 Comments

March 23, 2010 by Kathy McManus

A philosophical food fight about responsible eating broke out among readers of a Newsweek.com article. “No More Sacred Cows” questioned the perceived moral superiority of eating so-called “high-end” meat: “grass-fed, sustainably raised (and incredibly expensive),” as writer Jenny Yabroff described it. 

According to Yabroff, the “cache” of high-end meat means vegetarians can now have “their burgers without sacrificing the moral high ground.” The argument, in other words, is that eating meat isn’t unethical. But eating unethically raised meat — mass-produced, hormone-laced — is. 

What “flexitarians” and “steak apologists” are missing however, Yabroff said, is that “no matter how ‘lovingly’ the cow was raised, no matter how much grazing or rooting he did in his life, he gave up that life to become their dinner.” 

Readers bit into the subject. “The problem with vegetarianism,” wrote one, “is that people use it to fill their desire to be ‘good’ and ‘moral,’ yet their efforts are misplaced.” Another wrote, “Supporting the ‘meat’ industry = murder of animals,” which relies on “conscious decisions made on a daily basis and true moral responsibility.” How many “murders are pesticides responsible for?” someone asked. And this Darwinian comment: “Seals eat fish, whales eat seal. Is the polar bear immoral for gorging on spawning salmon?” 

Tell us what you think: Is it responsible to eat meat? Mass-produced meat? Are you what you eat?

64 Comments

What do you think? Leave a comment

• March 24, 2010 by runi

  Unless one eats exclusively roadkill, a meat eater is responsible for killing the animals who are eaten. That is a statement of fact, not some lofty exposition about morality. Eating meat is not necessary, it is a choice that is made.

  Reply

  • May 20, 2010 by kiki

    hi were is the dinosour that eat plant and not meat

    Reply

    • October 22, 2010 by Juli

      I'm pretty sure all the dinosaurs are dead.

    • January 23, 2011 by veggiedude

      The latest news is that most dinosaurs ate plants, not meat. Just google it.

    • January 23, 2011 by veggiedude

      I became vegetarian on my 18th birthday, 33 years ago. It was for one reason only. My empathy for the animals. A recent study says vegans are neurologically different - they are wired to have more empathy - something I have long suspected. I don't blame people for eating meat - they were not born to feel as I do.

  • June 6, 2010 by Pat Volk

    You said the truth-absolute, plain, and simple.Animals kill their prey,but quickly, and naturally.It is not necessary for us to do so. Meat is not necessary (aka dead animal).I have been a vegetarian for 26 years. I am 82 years old and in good health,still able to participate in aerobic classes.

    Reply

  • September 24, 2010 by Gail Adams

    Yes, it is a choice that is made. A choice that every insectivore and carnivore in the world makes. It is natural and is part of the great chain of being. To take the moral high ground, and say that I "know better than a seal, wolf, or bear does." is to put oneself above all other animals. It is a form of snobbery. We developed as omnivores. If we eat only plants, then we inevitably kill insects and rodents to protect our food source. What about those insects and rodents? If we all cease eating meats, or dairy foods, then we condemn hundreds of breeds and species to extinction. All breeds and species have a right to existence. What we need to do is to be humane about our treatment of farm and sea animals.

    Reply

    • December 24, 2011 by Ron

      "If we all cease eating meats, or dairy foods, then we condemn hundreds of breeds and species to extinction."

      We bred the animals in the first place. They're not even natural animals, but are rather genetically manipulated to serve our purposes. If we were to stop breeding them, there would be fewer, but they could be allowed to breed naturally. But that's a big "if" - it's not going to happen.

  • November 25, 2011 by Rene

    Rabbits eat carrots. The carrots died. Vegetarians are murderers. Stop killing the veggies.

    Reply

• March 24, 2010 by Tammy Brogren

  This is a good question. One that is tough to awnser from my persepctive because, I was raised on meat. Yet, the further I read into the book skinny bitches and find out how cruel farms are to the animals we consume I think the real question should be what are we doing about the in humane treatment on the animals not do we or should we eat meat. I think I would be prone to eat more elk meat or fish after hearing about some of the tortureous events that take place in slaughter houses.

  Reply

• March 25, 2010 by Mackenzie Mancuso

  I think becoming a vegetarian is the hardest thing ive ever done. Its cruel what is being done to animals but that is our main source of food. I am a vegetarian, but it took me awhile to become one.Becoming a vegetarian is a life style choice, but in my opinion animals are like humans. We should be treated with respect not hurt. How would we feel if it happened to us that way? Thats what people should be asking themselves when they are concidering not eating meat.

  Reply

  • September 24, 2010 by Gail Adams

    Imagine you are a rat in a sugarcane field. Vegetarians also have a sweet tooth, so many eat sugar. You smell smoke. The field is being routinely burned, to get rid of you. The fire surrounds you, and you die in agony. OK, you say, I don't eat sugar. However, you eat other plants. You compete with insects, rodents, and other creatures for the plants. Possibly you eat only organic foods. Still, animals are driven from their homes, to provide room for farms. They go to other areas (if they aren't killed in the process of farming), where they compete with already-established animals or insects. The loser dies.

    We are not herbivores. And even herbivores accidentally eat insects. This accidental eating is often necessary to their health and reproduction. Because of accidental eating, there are probably no true vegetarians in the world. We are omnivores, just as bears, chimpanzees, and many other animals are. We need to embrace what we are. We are part of this world, not out of it.

    Reply

• March 25, 2010 by Drew

  It is hard to justify either view point with a purely ethical argument. True, eating an animal does involve killing it, but this occurs all the time in nature. The horrendous conditions in factory farms do not occur in nature, however, and they have an effect on the quality of meat produced. Thus it seems clear that there are without a doubt benefits from the responsible consumption of grass fed (particularly locally farmed) animals, both to our health and our planet. To the vegetarians: we are opportunistic omnivores by nature, to say meat eating is unnatural is simply ignorant. To the McNasties: eating meat may be natural, but not with every meal, and not from the high-fat grain-fed beef yielded in factory farming. You could afford the healthier and more sustainable "high-end" meat if you were to cut back on your overall meat consumption!

  Reply

• March 25, 2010 by M Anderson

  First of all, to correct a few errors in the comments above, cows do not "root" pigs do. And, Polar Bears do not eat spawning salmon, grizzly bears eat spawning salmon. That being said. . . this is calving season here in Montana, and I cannot get any more pleasure out of watching the calves being born, playing and romping around like puppies. The male and female calves are tagged, a percentage of the males are castrated to become “steer” and a few are allowed to grow up to become bulls. Steer are more docile than bulls and are used for meat production because the muscle mass in a steer is concentrated in the rear of its body whereas the muscle mass on a bull is concentrated in the neck area. Cull Bulls are used to populate the herd. The number one industry in Montana is agriculture and livestock makes up approximately two-thirds of the agriculture industry. Of the livestock portion, cattle make up the largest fraction. In fact, there are 2.6 million head of beef cattle in Montana. That means there are about three head of cattle for every human in the state of Montana. This makes Montana sixth in the United States for total number of beef cattle. Montana also has 18,000 dairy cows, and on average each cow produces 16,833 pounds of milk per year. Dairy cows produce milk, which is very important, and milk can be made into other products like ice cream or cheese. Dairy farmers in this state produce enough milk to fill a football field 314 feet deep every year. That's a lot of milk! Montana is also known as the seedstock capital of the world. Seedstock means registered cattle used for breeding. Other than meat and milk, cows provide us with other important by-products. Some edible examples include oleomargarine, gelatin and marshmallows. Those we cannot eat are things like leather, soap, cosmetics and buttons. Cattle also contribute to the health industry. Humans use medicines made from cattle by-products such as insulin, estrogen and thyroid extract. Cattle are ruminants, which means they have one stomach with four separate compartments. They have a digestive system that allows them to digest plant material by repeatedly regurgitating it and chewing it again as cud. This digestive process allows cattle to thrive on grasses, other vegetation, and feed. Many ranchers run cow-calf operations. They keep a herd of cows to produce calves. Cows are pregnant for nine months (just like humans!). In Montana they have their calf in January, February or March. The calves stay with the cow until October when they are sold. In some other states, cows have their babies in the summer and the calves go to market in early spring the next year. There are many different breeds of cattle. The first cattle were brought to the United States by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Other cattle came mainly from England, France, Switzerland and India. Some types, or breeds, are Angus, Limousin, Simmental, Hereford, Charolais and Shorthorn. Breeds like Angus or Hereford are well suited to Montana. They have thicker hair coats and can adapt to the cold winters. And that being said . . . cows are raised for food . that is what is for "dinner" and sometimes, breakfast and lunch. Our cows are raised on thousands of open acres - they are not constrained in pens. Come out to Montana sometime and see for yourselves.

  Reply

• March 25, 2010 by M Anderson

  First of all, to correct a few errors in the comments above, cows do not "root" pigs do. And, Polar Bears do not eat spawning salmon, grizzly bears eat spawning salmon. That being said. . . this is calving season here in Montana, and I cannot get any more pleasure out of watching the calves being born, playing and romping around like puppies. The male and female calves are tagged, a percentage of the males are castrated to become “steer” and a few are allowed to grow up to become bulls. Steer are more docile than bulls and are used for meat production because the muscle mass in a steer is concentrated in the rear of its body whereas the muscle mass on a bull is concentrated in the neck area. Cull Bulls are used to populate the herd. The number one industry in Montana is agriculture and livestock makes up approximately two-thirds of the agriculture industry. Of the livestock portion, cattle make up the largest fraction. In fact, there are 2.6 million head of beef cattle in Montana. That means there are about three head of cattle for every human in the state of Montana. This makes Montana sixth in the United States for total number of beef cattle. Montana also has 18,000 dairy cows, and on average each cow produces 16,833 pounds of milk per year. Dairy cows produce milk, which is very important, and milk can be made into other products like ice cream or cheese. Dairy farmers in this state produce enough milk to fill a football field 314 feet deep every year. That's a lot of milk! Montana is also known as the seedstock capital of the world. Seedstock means registered cattle used for breeding. Other than meat and milk, cows provide us with other important by-products. Some edible examples include oleomargarine, gelatin and marshmallows. Those we cannot eat are things like leather, soap, cosmetics and buttons. Cattle also contribute to the health industry. Humans use medicines made from cattle by-products such as insulin, estrogen and thyroid extract. Cattle are ruminants, which means they have one stomach with four separate compartments. They have a digestive system that allows them to digest plant material by repeatedly regurgitating it and chewing it again as cud. This digestive process allows cattle to thrive on grasses, other vegetation, and feed. Many ranchers run cow-calf operations. They keep a herd of cows to produce calves. Cows are pregnant for nine months (just like humans!). In Montana they have their calf in January, February or March. The calves stay with the cow until October when they are sold. In some other states, cows have their babies in the summer and the calves go to market in early spring the next year. There are many different breeds of cattle. The first cattle were brought to the United States by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Other cattle came mainly from England, France, Switzerland and India. Some types, or breeds, are Angus, Limousin, Simmental, Hereford, Charolais and Shorthorn. Breeds like Angus or Hereford are well suited to Montana. They have thicker hair coats and can adapt to the cold winters. And that being said . . . cows are raised for food . that is what is for "dinner" and sometimes, breakfast and lunch. Our cows are raised on thousands of open acres - they are not constrained in pens. Come out to Montana sometime and see for yourselves.

  Reply

• March 26, 2010 by Teri

  You all are missing the point!! You eat FOR NUTRITION!!!!! GOD gifted us the ability to stay healthy by giving us the means to eat. Your body ALL the nutrients of meats....phosphorus,selenium, potassium, RBC's, etc.etc. No Meats will eventually catch up to you,manefesting itself in many diseases. Eat for nutrition!!

  Reply

  • June 6, 2010 by Pat

    Are you sure? I have read otherwise hubdreds of times that eating meat contributes con trubutes to many diseases.

    Reply

• March 26, 2010 by john smith

  What about the cruel and ungodly things the government does to our food additives, mercury,aluminum, fluoride, pesticides god only knows how else they poison us. And far as meat no where in the bible are we ever given a command of not eating meat unless it was a time of fasting. They were put hear for us to consume.

  Reply

  • April 18, 2010 by zora

    People with attitudes like yours,is the reason this world is on it's way to hell.God saaid in his word,that his people perish because of the lack of knowledge.Uh! I guess this excludes most Christian folk lol!!! They're more concerned about your bank account than your health.Well,this is a whole other topic.What you put on your plate will put u in the ground.Eat to live,don't live to eat.

    Reply

  • June 11, 2010 by Rick

    C'mon John Smith, you have sad misconceptions about how our country operates. The notion that the government puts harmful chemicals in our foods is absurd.

    This is Capitalism. Company produces foods. Company wants money. Company wants more money, so Company puts substances into the foods to make them grow faster/develop more/produce larger amounts. Substances harmful to humans, but Company doesn't care. Company wants more money. Government interrupts and tries to discourage and make these sorts of chemicals illegal in foods. Conservative Capitalist politicians and laws don't allow Companies to be stopped. Therefore, people continue to eat Companies harmful chemicals.

    Socialists, and some progressive democrats, attempt to reform this system and advocate new ideas so people don't have to eat harmful chemicals anymore, but they are demonized and mocked by the media which caters to the conservative capitalists, because, well, the particular media outlet is a company too. Media wants money. Company wants money. Media is company.

    And this is why change is near impossible. Capitalist 'democrats' are elected and people hope things will change, but The President's still a capitalist from the center just like his opponents, the republicans.

    Meat bad. Meat never good in Capitalism. Eat meat, support meat, support bad. Don't eat meat.

    >_< Understandable enough people?

    Reply

  • July 16, 2010 by moralschizophrenia

    Consider the hubris in your statement that animals were put here for us to consume. Consider the lack of critical thinking in that statement.

    If there is a god he/she is disgusted and weeping at our about human depravity, and in due time everything will be wiped clean. What we do to the animals we ultimately do to ourselves.

    Reply

• March 27, 2010 by Lisa Grove

  My decision to stop eating meat was years ago and easy. It was an ethical decision--I never thought much about the health benefits. Being raised in Wisconsin, I do miss bratwurst, though. My husband stopped eating meat about 5 years ago and I think he thought he would get weak and malnourished and be bedridden. Now he rides his bike 25 miles 3x a week and is nearly 60. We are now in much better health than before and my Mom is proud of me--I eat all of my vegetables! We do not lecture anyone we are dining with. If anything, THEY ask about it. Again, their choice. People make choices everyday--it's a good thing. Thanks, Lisa

  Reply

  • June 6, 2010 by Pat

    good for you, Lisa. It really isn't that hard.We also have many more food choices than the meat and potatoes people.when we are asked, "what do you eat?" my reply is, everything except dead animals.

    Reply

  • June 9, 2010 by Kimberly

    I like what you said, I also don't eat meat anymore...and I feel better then ever. I enjoy many other foods now. Some of my friends tell me that I even look younger. I like that!

    Reply

• March 28, 2010 by Rainfly

  Even if this was correct, 'The argument, in other words, is that eating meat isn’t unethical. But eating unethically raised meat — mass-produced, hormone-laced — is' - which it isn't, as the animal ends up suffering in the end - they are missing the point (!); why would a human being want to eat meat in the first place when it is fact that unlike our carnivorous conterparts we ARE NOT carnivores by nature; we are the only eat meaters that end up with clogged arteris as we are naturally herbivores; medical science proves this as a fact! Ask any doctor. So, why then, would we want to poison our bodies by eating meat? Even if it was 'ethical'? Why would we want to shorten our lives, put ourselves at increased risk of diseases and poison our children by eating meat? I don't get it. Meat taste fowl to begin with. And why would I want to eat the insides of any animal, yuck! To eat their bacterias and illnesses and everything? My body is my temple and I respect it and it respects me back =)

  Reply

  • April 7, 2010 by Brennan Colbert

    If we are naturally herbivores then why do we have canine teeth which are found exclusively in carnivores and omnivores?

    Reply

    • June 6, 2010 by Pat

      We also have long winding intestines.Dogs have a very short,effective way to eliminate waste.Probably this is ture of other carnivores.

  • May 18, 2010 by John

    Ask any Doctor? This does not prove your point. The vegetation that we primarily digest is from annual plants. The production of calories from annuals depletes the top soil and so is unsustainable. I think our long term survival is more likely if we focus food production efficiency by evaluating nature's balance in particular relation to system carbon balance. Extensive use of oil takes long sequestered oil and returns it to a biotically active role. Food production currently is a very significant negative carbon user, when it has potential to produce calories and stabilize carbon at the same time. Appropriately raised food animals enhance the environment for all. It is a complex issue which will benefit from an altruistic analysis.

    Reply

• March 28, 2010 by katelyn hutton

  okay so i use to be a meat eater but thenn i watched this youtube video that one of my friends sent me.and now imma a vegetarian.but i have one question is eggs meat. and is it okay for a vegetrian like me to eat it.

  Reply

  • June 6, 2010 by Pat

    Chickens are raised in "chicken hell". Baby male chicks, being of no use in the egg laing business are ounr up ALIVE.Try to find cage free eggs.lAssomeone who tried to be a vegan I did not eat eggs for 20n years until I find those fre range, cage free egss and find out how they deal with baby male chicks.

    Reply

• March 28, 2010 by Donofrio

  I'm about finished reading "The China Study" by Campbell and am already convinced about it's contents, especially relating to the correlation between the high intake of protein and various cancers. Need some advice on HOW to start going toward a "somewhat" vegatarian or vegan diet. Thanks, Mike

  Reply

  • June 6, 2010 by Pat

    There are many many books on that subject. PETA, HSUS have starter information.Also The North American Vegetarian Society.Go to the store and check out all the good and interesting vegetarian/vegan choices.Get a vegetarian cookbook.Once you become a vegetarian you will never go back.I cannot even stand the smell of meat(26 years a vegetarian). It can be hard at first.

    Reply

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