Too many people are disconnected from their meat; we’ve been so well trained to just go to the grocery store and not question anything except for the prices. This arises from the fact that farmers are not dealing directly with consumers. There used to be a day when people would go to the local market, pick out the animal they wanted to buy, and haggle the farmer on the price. Nowadays, processors get in between the two sides and undermine the sustainable eating process with packaging, preservatives and costly marketing. It’s important to discuss these matters because this is not simply our planet to exploit as we wish; animals deserve to be treated with respect, as this is their land too.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) cram as many animals as possible into a small space for the sole purpose of fattening them up for slaughter. I think this is unethical because the animals aren’t given a nice life where they’re allowed to enjoy the little time they have. Rather, they’re living cargo that processors see as cash.

We have to also look at the positives of this situation to understand it holistically. Meat provides essential nutrients to humans. If all of it were free range its price would increase, as farmers wouldn’t be able to put as many chickens on a lot. That means decreased supply which leads to rising prices. Less people would be able to afford meat, which would put strain on other resources causing their prices to rise as well.

Some people argue that if humans all switched to a plant-based diet we could use animal feed cropland to grow for our own consumption. Given the worldwide popularity of meat and its growing demand in now-wealthier China, is this idea realistic enough to be worth even considering? There’s no doubt that this is a complicated topic and one has to look at all sides before forming an opinion. As mentioned, I believe animals should be allowed to live somewhat fruitful lives before going to slaughter. Small-scale farms would be best in my perfect world, but again this is quite unrealistic.

Hunting is the fairest method as animals at least have the chance to escape. However, if all we did was hunt for our food we wouldn’t progress much as a species as we’d be preoccupied with feeding ourselves. Would this lack of progress be more natural and fairer to Earth, or a waste of our intelligence? Isn’t a person’s answer to that question based on their values and perspective?

Writing this journal has caused me to more fully understand that ethics is a sliding scale depending on whose viewpoint you’re looking from. The personal result of this lesson is the insight that I need to always evaluate things fully before coming to an opinion. One cannot base decisions on what one feels; we have to think and analyze in order to come to appropriate conclusions.