The food movement for ethical eating that I introduced in the previous entry is not monolithic. To the contrary, there are so many strands of food activists, each pushing for a different set of parameters against which we should evaluate the way we eat.
It’s a safe bet, however, to say that many of them are vegetarians, who believe that animal farming is a terribly unsustainable industry that is harming the planet.
Indeed, many animal farms these days are commercial or industrial, and we know what that means: The underlying goal is to put in to the production process as little investment as possible, while ensuring the maximum number or amount of output.
Because many of these meat factories are trying to cut corners, they compromise on a lot of things: They cram the animals in small spaces. They inject antibiotics and chemicals to speed up their growth unnaturally. They do not invest in a treatment process for their wastewater. They bring their meat products to far places where they have a market or distributor. And all of these mean that animal farms create a lot of waste and carbon footprint.
But I myself am not a vegetarian, owing to my great love of a fine steak, lobsters, cake frosting, and cheese. Let me share an important argument meat-eating food activists have been saying: To say that vegetarians are off the hook when it comes to sustaining life on Earth is misleading, and in fact, wrong.
For example, biologists have pointed out that plants are intelligent creatures, too. For her part, Lierre Keith who authored five books on the impact of agriculture on our planet, makes an interesting point: “If you are eating agricultural foods, you are eating dead species, dead rivers, dead communities. People have to understand what agriculture is: In very brute terms, you take a piece of land, you clear every living thing off it, and you plant it for human use.” And I very much get her point, which makes me feel a bit better about being an omnivore.
Still, I know that there is much to be desired when it comes to meat production in the United States and around the world. So, whenever I come to a fancy restaurant and order, I try to look for dishes that make use of ethically produced meat. Or more accurately, I take this step as early as when I am choosing which restaurant to dine in. In the next entry, I’ll discuss the tenets of ethical eating I try to live by.
This is a guest blog post by Richard A Kimball. To learn more about him, check out his Tumblr blog and YouTube page.
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