Should Meat Be Banned?

Meat is being produced under unsafe terms in factories, instead of on farms. The FDA has not given the people of the nation a safe place to eat, for them or their kids. E. coli has been the one major virus infecting many kids, and adults throughout the nation. The book,”The Jungle” was written in 1906 by Upton Sinclair was the first real eye opener to the industry. It began to become a nice job for the middle income man, it was a safe, clean place, with a good wage. But what happened to that, the feeling that our food comes from a safe place? The FDA is too loose on its regulations, they should not allow for growth hormones to be

“For most humans, especially for those in modern urban and suburban communities, the most direct form or contact with non-human animals is at meal time: we eat them. This simple fact is the key to what each one of us can do about changing these attitudes. The use and abuse of animals raised for food far exceeds, in sheer numbers of animals affected, any other kind of mistreatment” (Coats). The most effective method to stop this cruelty is to learn about where the meat comes from, by supporting the organic and family farms which will ultimately lead to the reducing the amount of animals that have to suffer (PETA). More than 95 percent of animal abuse in America occurs in the meat packing industry (Harper & Low). Animals suffer an unimaginable amount, they are raised to be killed, then bought and then consumed. In order to help fight back against the abuse, there needs to be a cut back on the amount of meat or poultry that is consumed. Seriously consider the option of becoming a vegetarian; by not eating meat, you completely stop supporting animal

More than ever before, our planet is one filled with meat eaters. In fact, the average American consumes 270.7 pounds of meat per year. And, as one might have guessed, the question of where this food set before them on the table came from is often unregarded or ignored altogether. As more media forms commercialize extremely unhealthy versions of double cheeseburgers and meat lover’s supremes, the consumer’s demand for meat spikes up and companies in the food industry are faced with the ethical dilemma of benefiting themselves, their companies, increasing profits...and doing right by the animals- who without, they would not even be where they are today. Needless to say that animal rights and the humane treatment of their precious lives have been disregarded. Why do we, as a

Have you ever been in a rush, low on cash, and looking for something to eat so you didn’t really have a choice but to grab a burger with fries at your local fast food place? Have you ever paused or stopped to think about where the burger really came from, or the process that went in to be made? The Food Inc documentary investigates and exposes the American industrial production of meat, grains, and vegetables. Robert Kenner the producer of the film makes allegations in this film and he explores how food industries are deliberately hiding how and where it is our food is coming from. He emphasizes that we should find out where our food comes from and why is it that the food industry does not want us to know. Food Inc. does not only uses compelling images, such as hundreds of baby chickens being raised in spaces where they do not see an inch of sunlight, it also includes the speeches and stories of farmers, families, government officials, and victims of the food industry. The four current problems facing today’s food industry are the reformed usage of the false advertisement within the labeling of products , mistreatment of farmed animals, and the harmful chemical in our meats. The documentary Food Inc uses very persuasive tactics that demonstrates strong elements of pathos, ethos, and logos make an effective appeal, while uncovering the dark side of the food industry.

The demand for beef was caused by the expeditious growth of fast food restaurants in a short amount of time. Over the past several decades of the industrialization of food, most Americans have resorted to eating mainly processed foods, including beef and products that are derived from cows’ milk. These products were made to become appealing through countless advertisements, many of which exaggerated their health benefits and tried to bring a shot of sex appeal to their

Today, the food industry has not just altered the American diet, but it has also had a negative effect within the labor sector as well as the animals meant for consumption and the lack of government oversight. Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, and Jonathan Foer in Eating Animals, illustrate the mistreatment of labor workers as well as the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry. Foer gives such examples of employees who work in slaughterhouses giving accounts of what goes on in the kill floors, and stories of employees who have witnessed thousands and thousands of cows going through the slaughter process alive (231). Eating meat does not have to be so inhumane for example, Foer quotes Frank Reese, who does not permit inhumane practices on his ranch that are cruel, and Reese believes that there are other ways of having a sustainable humane animal agriculture instead of the methods of the large corporate meat industry (238). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only what people eat, but how the government has neglected the issues of the wellbeing of labor workers and the animals that are processed for consumption.

Jonathan Foer, the author, uses “Eating Animals is Making us Sick” to illustrate his goal of how dangerous food is to the audiences health. Foer explains how there is a large quantity of zoonotic diseases in the food Americans consume and shows how much it can actually affect the consumer. Jonathan Foer argues animal consumption is hazardous to the health of Americans successfully because he uses the rhetorical appeals ethos, pathos, and logos to show how much zoonotic diseases are in the meat. Jonathan Foer’s intended audience includes: parents, Americans, and people who have/ are sick due to a “food borne illness.” Everyone is not aware enough of how bad meat is treated before it hits the table.

He quotes, “ If I am going to eat meat, I want it to be from an animal that has lived a pleasant, uncrowded life outdoors, on bountiful pasture, with good water nearby and trees for shade” (52). This claim of value shows how consumers should know how food is considered as livestock and what animals go through to become meat. The cheeseburger consumers would buy from McDonald’s would be satisfying, but eaters do not realize anything about how the animal was treated or any of its background. Advertising keeps us buying food that is introduced to use as flavorful and looking good, so businesses can keep profits coming to them. The product at a grocery store seems appealing to us, so eaters buy and enjoy without having a doubt about the product. It seems like quantity is more important than

Most Americans are aware of global warming, cancer, heart disease and the fact that the earth’s supply of good water is diminishing. In an effort to conserve our planet people drive hybrid cars, recycle, and use low energy light bulbs and appliances, which is great. However, most Americans are unaware and uninformed about how meat effects global warming, our health, and how much of our planet’s water and resources meat production consumes. Meat contributes to global warming, increases risk for cancer, causes heart disease and uses a tremendous amount of resources to produce, therefore people need to be informed about what they are eating through food labeling and Surgeon General warnings, as well as

In the book, Livestock/Deadstock: Working with Farm Animals from Birth to Slaughter, the author, Rhoda White says, “Thus, for many, but not all, consuming meat is a legitimate cultural norm. However, the task of killing food animals is generally regarded as dirty work.” People should eat responsibly, with knowledge of the growth of their food and the methods used to make it edible. In the article “Wendell Berry: The Pleasures of Eating” Wendell Berry agrees that consumers must remember that they are a part of an agricultural process by using rhetorical devices such as appeal to pathos, style, repetition, and tone.

Tracing back history, food has always been traditionally imperative to humans. Food is what we treasure and really derive pleasure eating. It has been part of every culture and tradition because every culture has its delicacies. In some parts of Nigeria, if you eat a meal that is meatless, people tend to consider you as poor and unable to afford meat. In essence, meat is really considered a big deal in some parts of my country. Growing up as a child, I was taught that I needed the “omnivore’s diet” to grow effectively and be healthy but today, I have discovered that I no longer need animals in my diet. America

America’s meat industry hides from the consumer, according to Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The consumer, as well as corporations, have built walls instead of demanding transparency. Journalists and the general public are not permitted to enter abattoirs of many corporations, leaving the judgement of slaughtering methods to the businesses themselves. State and federal regulations aren’t always enforced, thus corporations decide what is ‘humane’. Profit organisations find the most efficient and lucrative system, yet ignore the secondary costs to natural systems. Pollan argues that in preventing abuse, only transparency holds businesses accountable to regulations. He states in Omnivore’s Dilemma, ‘No other country raises and slaughters its food animals quite as intensively or as brutally as we do’. Many Americans would disagree because they are ignorant of the system. We have chosen not to see what really happens to the animals we eat, understandably, due to the unpleasant truths Pollan uncovers. As a summary, slaughterhouses kill a steer by stunning it, hanging it upside down by its leg and bleeding it out by cutting its throat. However, (according to McDonald’s) they accept a five percent error rate, meaning when the first ‘stunning’ does not kill the animal, the steer continues along the conveyor belt for processing. Animal rights group’s accounts have revealed that live animals have been skinned alive and go through immense suffering. Despite the

The government’s role in the food industry seems as if it is to protect the reputations of these companies instead of the well-being of its workers and consumers. This statement is made clear in the “What’s In Meat” chapter

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?

Consumption of meat by humans creates several problems. First and foremost, raising animals for food compromises the environment. For example, it takes a large amount of natural resources to sustain the meat industry. The use of water, land, and food to raise animals for human consumption is not an efficient use of our limited resources. In contrast, it is more efficient to feed humans directly than to use land, food, and water to feed animals to be used as food. There are shortages of fertile land, clean water, and food in several third world countries. Many of these countries’ resources are allocated to produce feed for animals in developed countries around the world. As a result, the citizens of these countries are stricken with water and food shortages, while their crops are feeding cattle from across the globe. However, this problem can be solved by adopting a vegan diet. The vegan diet will allow a more efficient use of resources that in turn can be used to feed starving men, women, and children throughout the world. Consequently, more people in the world could be fed if the land used to grow feed for animals was used to grow food for humans.