Analysis on Gary Steiner´s Animal, Vegetable, Miserable

In addition to his solutions, Pollan’s modern narrative sheds light on the façade of our food industries; asking us to rethink what we know. Despite the mention of certain inhumane acts in All Animals are Equal, Pollan takes us one step further to uncover the reason for which we continue to purchase our corrupt food. We all know animal abuse exists, but the average consumer like myself is more worried about the best price and the fastest way to get a burger rather than how fairly the animals are treated in the process. Whether it be the confined living space of chickens or the mental and physical torture of pigs, we continue to blind ourselves from reality. Is it purely out of selfishness? Or are we too ignorant to come to terms with our wrong doings? Like Pollan explains, it takes seeing the abuse before the shame of our disrespect can be felt (pg.6). After seeing Pollan’s truth, I might now think twice before eating out and the choice to support organic produce can make a dramatic difference for those farmers who promote the ethical lifestyle.

As humanity becomes more civilized, many of us perceive that eating livestock is morally incorrect, but aren’t we are designed to be an omnivore? Our teeth and digestive system serve the purpose of breaking down animal and plant foods and to bring these important nutrients to every part of the body. Despite the fact that, in 2011, U.S. meat and poultry production reached more than 92.3 billion pounds, the ethic of killing and eating animals as well as the concern of the environmental burden caused by the production of meats is debatable. However, animal based diet is necessary for the human body to function properly and we can choose the meat produced from environmentally sustainable farms to avoid the moral ambiguity.

When, I was growing up my parents would rarely very buy meat from grocery. My parents would go over and beyond when it came to buying meat. A couple of my uncles and one aunt would go with my parents in-group to Indiana. They would drive to farm in Indiana to buy their meat. She would go and pick out the cow that seemed joyful. My mother always said, “in order to have delicious meat. You must pick a looks relaxed and joyful means they have been feed properly and taken care of.” I first did not understand her when I was young. After, I traveled to visit my mother’s side of the family in small village in Yemen named Yafa is when I knew what she meant. Inside the village, all the cows, goats, sheep, and chickens were treated so much love. I was told the animals such as goat would be feed special food, so the meat would taste better. Animal cruelty reflects on our meat product, which is why we need to switch to organic local small

In his 2009 article “Eating Meat,” Jonathan Safran Foer uncovers the cruel and gruesome truth about factory farms and how they violate animal rights. Foer believes changing food habits prevents the sufferings of animals. He explains that factory farmed animals are suffering due to their inhuman living conditions and style of killing. Foer explains that chickens are cramped with twisted legs and cows are skinned or dismembered while still conscious. In addition, Foer clarifies that after making an animal suffer and go through torture, it is just plain wrong to eat it. Foer would often acknowledge his grandmother’s story, emphasizing her famine during the War and how she had refused a piece of meat offered to her. Even though she had been starving for days, she refused the piece of meat.

The debate whether we should eat or not eat animals remains unconcluded. In most societies, many people eat meat but with increasing controversy it has elicited questions over ethics surrounding eating animals. This argument is commonly found in the developed world conversations but in poor nations who are starving they

We are a nation of meat eaters. We are socialized from a young age to consume high levels of animal products. This deeply ingrained meat-eating tradition is a big part of the American standard diet. A visit to the local grocery store shows that there is no shortage of animal products. Isle by isle you see a plethora of meats, neatly packed and ready to be cooked, dairy products neatly shelved, and even candies that contain animal by-products. This is an omnivore’s utopia, allowing for a lifestyle that involves the overconsumption of meats and animal by-products. The rampant meat industry has managed to condition people to disassociate the meats in our grocery markets and the animals from which they came. Most people have become unaware omnivores, consuming whatever meats are available to them. This shift of moral degradation is evident in how we process and consume our meats. We have become a selfish society that values our own convenience and affordability of meat rather than the consideration of the animal. This begs the question, is eating meat inherently wrong and should we forbid meat consumption under any and all circumstances? To fully address this issue, we must first define the moral status of animals. So, are animals equal to humans in worth and value and should they receive similar treatment?

Animal cruelty continues to plague the meat and dairy industry and a policy to reverse this is enacting stricter regulations on meat and dairy labels that explicitly state the additives and preservatives used on the product. Moreover, my policy will persuade people to purchase meat and dairy that is ethically raised and is not made with preservatives or additives, this is my value of health. Moreover, my policy is for those who eat meat and dairy and are unaware of the health side affects of consuming it and the animal cruelty that goes into producing a piece of meat or glass of milk, which encompasses my value of compassion. We are a compassionate species who turns the channel during an ASPCA commercial. We root for Nemo, Babe and Bambi yet we watch the movie whilst eating fish, pork or venison. The hypocrisy is unbelievable yet not talked about. Most Americans do not recognize this link between our compassion and the animals we eat and the hypocrisy that surrounds it. In this essay I address the compassion humans posses and how it is being wiped out through eating meat and dairy. I also address how we have the potential to rid the meat and dairy industry of the abuse. I will also discuss how meat and dairy is detrimental to our health.

One of the major reasons that people are becoming vegans is because they feel morally obligated to reject the slaughtering of animals for personal gain. As an example, JoAnn Farb, an author, microbiologist, and stay at home mother started her herbivorous lifestyle at the age of thirteen when she made the connection between meat and a living animal; she vowed never to eat meat again (Singer 188-189). For most, the idea of eating meat is an ordinary activity that is learned at a young age. One ignores the fact that animals are being mistreated up until their death which at times is not even quick and painless. For instance, in Lawnel Farms sick cows that are no longer able to stand are dragged by a tractor to the slaughterhouse instead of being

For example, in the article “Vegetarianism Is a Moral Decision with Many Benefits,” psychologist, professor, and author, Melanie Joy states, “When we say yes to health, we say no to harm. We protect our bodies as well of the bodies of the animals—approximately 20,000 of them per minute in the U.S. alone—who are brutally raised and slaughtered for their flesh and excretions.” Animals are intelligent, loving, and very much deserving of life. Humans have come to think that they own every animal on the planet and can extort, exploit and execute them at no cost except $5.99 a pound. However, there is a much greater cost to the meat on America’s plate-- millions of animals’ lives. Furthermore, in the same article, Melanie Joy states, “Animals are routinely castrated, de-beaked, and de-horned without any painkiller whatsoever. They are born and raised in crowded, filthy, dark environments where their existence is one of abject misery and terror.” Animals are sentient beings with nervous systems and thought processes. The pain and suffering animals in commercial farming must endure preceding their murder is harrowing. If factory farms had glass walls, people would take a moment to think about the consequences their eating habits ensue. It is a simple and apparent conclusion that a vegetarian diet is more humane and virtuous than the standard Western

Today, “Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year by humans” (Animal Equality, n.d). For hundreds of years’ animals have been killed so that people can source meat for food products. “Human population growth and hunting…invariably lead to major extinctions,” (John Alroy, 2001) and through this the discussion as to if animals should be killed so that the growing population can consume meat products begins. The ethical consumption of animal meat poses two major questions a) is it wrong to raise and kill farmed animals for meat produce and consumption b) does it become ethical if the process is done in a humane manner? (Eating Animals, 2014)

In Gary Steiner’s Animal, Vegetable, Miserable; he expresses the fact, that people are more interested in the meats they eat and how they were raised. The authors outlook on animals; is they should be considered equal to humans. In the article Steiner references to “non human animals”. He is questioning whether or not the way animals are raised is in lines with the Animal Welfare Law. At one point, Steiner mentions a writer named Issac Bashevis Singer and the story he wrote; which reflects the view of the writer thinking that he and a mouse connect. It is portrayed in the article, that making animals for human consumption is wrong in his eyes. Steiner claims the fact that people purchase free-range meat; but, this does not mean that the animal

In “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable,” Gary Steiner argues against the eating, or using, of animals and animal products. Steiner is the author of multiple books on topics similar to this, and a dedicated vegan of fifteen years at the time of this article. The author begins with an allusion to the recent outcries for the humane treatment of animals being raised for food. However, he points out, no one seems to be concerned about the animals being slaughtered, merely that they were not abused beforehand. Steiner then goes on to explain the two main

While you’re reading this, thousands of animals are being slaughtered throughout the world and around sixty billion animals are killed every year throughout the world by humans. This is no surprise to most people around the world when animal slaughter is considered “normal” these days. Many people are not aware of the long term impacts animal slaughter and animal consumption causes to the environment and human health. If most people were educated and aware of the major consequences animal consumption and slaughter causes, people wouldn’t contribute to the cruelty and consumption of it. Animals are killed for food consumption all over the world without humans realizing the impact they are causing.I personally believe that animal slaughter should not be acceptable anymore. In this essay, I will be explaining why Veganism is the best lifestyle you can take and how a Veganism lifestyle is healthy for the environment, human health, and important for the animals.

Everyday nearly twenty six million meat birds die. That’s 300 chickens a second. These chickens who are basically babies, hang by their feet in blood splattered shackles. Their lives have barely begun. With crimson feathers, they are forced to stare at the incarnadine walls. Their only reminder of family, friends, and strangers, it’s a promise of their future. Barely alive chickens who have been thrown, kicked or stomped upon, litter the floor gasping for air in the ammonia filled room. About twenty eight thousand cows die everyday. Cows have their limbs strewn around to decorate the floor, smears of red matching the kill floor’s stained color. Deep, low bellows echoing of the walls signaling the cows’ distress when they smell the blood of their friends and now they know what’s next. The drain overflows with the almost black fluid as a cow’s throat is slit, its eyes wide while all twelve gallons of its blood comes cascading out while the rest of them hang from bloody chains protruding from the ceiling. These animals did not choose the fate that they currently hold. In today’s world, with the beef and poultry industry’s appalling inner workings, being vegetarian, or even vegan, are the only morally right diets, especially since we have said we want animals treated humanely and we would be just fine without meat.

In the debate of whether or not animals should be kept for human consumption, animal activists have a strong opinion and a strong voice to back it up. Animal rights groups argue for drastic changes to – or even complete abolition of – animal agriculture. They believe that each year more than 58 billion farm and aquatic animals are unnecessarily killed for human consumption. Activists argues that humans do not need to eat animals to survive, they can do it on a completely plant based diet. The understanding in every day diet has evolved and, in the process, come to learn that plants contain all the vitamins and nutrients that the human body needs to thrive. Humans find it difficult to overcome traditional idea and ways of thinking that they rarely stop to question the fundamental ethics and underlying morality of slaughtering animals for food. “Just because something has been done a certain way for thousands of years, doesn’t make it automatically right (Srinivas). An example that fits this situation well, is the fact that when born into American culture, people are taught to believe that certain animals are for eating, others are companion animals, and others are wild animals. The idea of eating a dog or a cat is repulsive, but in other parts of the world it is something that is perfectly normal and occurs everyday. Furthermore, they stand behind the theory that humans are creating emotional pain and suffering for the animals. These animals