In a world with a growing sense of activism and the need to do good, it seems impossible to find a worthy cause that is easy to stick to with minimum effort – because let’s be honest, regardless of how much we as humans want to do good, little of us are dedicated enough to put our lives to it. Something essentially every individual has control over is their diet. The concept of cutting out meat and animal products of any type from ones diet is often criticized as just being picky eaters lacking all the nutrients one can only get from eating meat, desperate for attention and ways to find going out to eat in groups much harder than it needs to be. Not to forget the generic arguments of how the human body was made to eat meat, and that meat just tastes far too good to even consider giving up. The quickness of meat eaters to catch a possible hypocrisy with vegetarians is often absurd in many senses, as catching a pescatarian eating sushi isn’t breaking their diet, and a vegetarian for health may not notice if his shampoo is made by a company that tests on animals, therefore breaking “his” moral views. The truth is, however, the negative effects of being vegetarian or vegan are often extremely overstated, and in reality, being a vegetarian consists of bettering oneself for the greater good that they as an individual determine, whether it be for health, ethics, or other various reasons like religious beliefs, flavor preferences, or even just to save money. There is endless
“Against Meat” by Jonathon Safran Foer (2009, New York Times Magazine) is intended to educate current non-vegetarians on what vegetarianism is, the benefits of it in terms of health and animal rights, and also the struggles of consistently being a vegetarian. Although Foer does not specifically express what a vegetarian is we can assume he is going off the generally known definition of a person who does not consume the meat of an animal, as oppose to a vegan who does not consume any animal products at all. According to an article about vegetarian Americans, 5% or 16 million Americans classify themselves as vegetarian in 2015, compared to the 1% back in 2009, making vegetarianism a growing trend throughout the US (Raw Food World). Foer proves his opinion on vegetarianism by backing it up with facts from the USDA and his own personal experiences with his babysitter, growing up struggling with being a vegetarian that loves meat, and the decision to marry and raise his child vegetarian. Foer does, however, have a few gaps in his argument about nutrition, the costs associated with vegetarianism, and the lack of a definition of vegetarian.
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
To improve their articles support, the writers for Vegan Outreach should rely mainly on logos to back up their claim that animal consumption is morally wrong and that they should switch to a less cruel alternatives to source food. Although the authors do originally provide evidence throughout the text, their argument is poorly constructed. For example, in one case Vegan Outreach used a statistic without indicating from where they attained the statistic “...[b]y avoiding the meat of chickens, turkeys, and pigs, you can prevent the suffering of more than two thousand of these animals during your lifetime!” (11). The initial issue with Vegan Outreach’s document is that it fails to reference their work, the second issue is that it does little to reference the sample statistics of other animals, which makes their application of logos unreliable. In addition, this example statistic is not their
Over fifty-six billion animals are slaughtered yearly for consumption, but because we are conditioned from a young age to view animals as resources, we neglect that they are passionate and intelligent living beings. Cows want to enjoy their lives, pigs want to enjoy their lives, and many other farm animals want to enjoy their lives but instead are abused and confined in small cages. Ironically, though, when someone does likewise to a cat or dog, they’re prosecuted. The sole solution to these inhumane acts is Veganism. Veganism is the ideal diet because plant-based foods are plentiful, and it recognizes the unethical treatment of animals.
Thesis statement: There should be meat free alternatives and more awareness of the benefits of choosing a vegetarian lifestyle as eating less meat is better for an individual’s health and the environmental.
“Meats, Dairies, and Eggs, Oh Why” (2014) is an argumentative essay written by Rebecca Dent that explains the benefits of eating a plant-based diet and advocates for the better treatment of the animals affected by the meat industry. Dent supports her assertions by discussing the negative health effects of an omnivorous diet, addressing reasons some might be hesitant to convert to a plant-based diet, describing the advantages of substituting meat for vegetables for both the consumers and the animals, and finally, by including expert opinions and statistical facts. Dent’s purpose for this essay is to highlight the benefits of vegetarianism in order to convince readers to convert to a plant-based diet. The intended audience for this argument is those who currently eat an omnivorous diet so that they would assess and change their eating habits.
In 2016 alone, the industry has made up $1.02 trillion in total economic output, which is about 5.6 percent of the nation’s GDP and has employed 1.87 million workers that earned over 71.63 billion in wages and benefits (Dunham and Associates, 2016). Based on these statistics alone, we can already see how important the meat industry is to our economy. Imposing a pro-vegetarian diet would indirectly harm the industry as less demand for meats would cause prices to go up and eventually workers to be laid off as employers cut costs to maintain their potentially dwindling industry. This would lead to an increase in the unemployment rate and an inflation in meat prices that would only serve to damage the industry even
There are two main lifestyles that we as human beings practice that impact our eating habits. One being a Vegetarian, a person who chooses not to eat meat. The other being a Meat Eater (also known as an Omnivore), a person who chooses to eat both meat and vegetables. A controversial debate continues to go on, evaluating the pros and cons of each group, along with the reasons behind their choice. In the end it all depends on the individual’s outlook on life that makes the decision.
Peter Singer is a moral philosopher that approaches ethical issues from both a utilitarian and vegetarian point of view. Utilitarianism is a theory in which one’s action maximizes utility, to generate total benefit and reducing negatives. In Peter Singer’s essay, Utilitarinism and Vegetarianism, he argues that people who follow and apply the principles of utilitarianism should ultimately become vegetarians and that vegetarians should follow utilitarianism. This paper will review and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments in Singer’s essay.
For hundreds of thousands of years humans were hunter gatherers, living off the sources of the land for necessity. Only ten-thousand years ago did the human species discover agriculture and the domestication of other species. The welfare of domesticated animals, used for their exploitation of products, has drastically diminished since the industrial revolution. Animals are now able to be mass slaughtered and crammed by the hundreds into cold, metal buildings, quite opposite to their natural habitat of grass covered feels. Not only are the animals being exploited in horrendous conditions, they are fed better than the eight-hundred and fifty million people in the world how are suffering from severe undernourishment (worldhunger.org). The animal agriculture business accounts for a staggering fifty-one percent of the greenhouse-gas emissions every year (peta.org). With the all the astounding information on the topic of inhumanity in the animal exploitation world, has left people with the question, “Is cutting out animal bi-products worth it?” There is a small, yet growing, number of people who have agreed to cut out any and all animal bi-products, be that in food, cosmetology, or fashion. Individuals who have taken the pledge of veganism can be comforted in their health, ethics, and humanity.
There are more vegans in this world than you think: According to an article published by PETA, approximately 2.5 percent of people in the U.S. are vegans (Hun). That’s about 7.5 million people in the U.S. alone (Nordqvist). “I became vegan because I saw footage of what really goes on in the slaughterhouses and on the dairy farms.” -Ellen DeGeneres. John A. McDougall, M.D. stated, “Heart disease is caused by eating rich foods like meat, chicken, cheese, milk, eggs, oils, cakes, and candies as well as refined and processed foods. These foods will surely cause you further misery and even premature death, like they have hundreds of millions of others.” "We have found that people not only slim down, but also see their cholesterol levels plummet and their blood pressure fall. If they have diabetes, it typically improves and sometimes even disappears. Arthritis pains and migraines often vanish, and energy comes racing back. Sluggishness vanishes, and they look and feel radiant." Neal D. Barnard, M.D (“Quotes”). If we don’t stop, our resources will be gone and we will not have our beautiful world anymore. The world will turn ugly and gray from pollution and uncompassionate people. It is time to fix it before it’s too late. You make decisions every day of your life: what to wear, where to go, what to buy, and what to eat. When you decide on your next meal, why not consider a
As we can now observe, vegetarianism has become something fashionable, and the number of people who reject eating meat is constantly increasing. In Britain, for instance, over 5 million people have done it so far. It is obviously connected with the recent animal diseases, but this tendency is likely to spread on the other regions of the world. However, it is not only a fashion or fear of illnesses. I myself became a vegetarian about 2 years ago, and I can see a number of reasons why people should stop eating meat. They are mainly of ethic, economic and health type. Those who think in an ecological way should also be aware of how this meat consumption ruins our environment. I don’t have an intention
As different crazes and fads are appearing each day, we have come to expect them to simply fade away as the hype passes. However, veganism has stood the test of time in our fad society and is still increasing in popularity. Originally only thought to be a religious lifestyle, many people from different walks of life are becoming vegans. However, this poses many questions and sparks heated debates, mainly from omnivorous people who believe that veganism is against life’s natural order. Vegans, then, argue against an omnivorous lifestyle by bringing up facts about humans’ biological makeup and how humans are, contrary to popular belief, herbivorous by nature, not omnivorous. While both sides present good arguments to some, the veganism lifestyle contains more benefits and less harmful cons than an omnivorous lifestyle.
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.
Whether it be because of religion, culture, or personal choice, millions of people worldwide do not eat meat, and the majority of the population, the omnivores, often ridicule these people, the vegetarians, for their choices. This has sadly created a divide between thousands of people, however the cause of this separation is simple. One side, whether it be the omnivores or the vegetarians, feels the need to impose its choices onto the other side. Both sides are at fault here, as the omnivores tell the vegetarians that they cannot get proper nutrients from a plant-based diet, and the vegetarians try to tell the omnivores that they are torturing animals by killing them for food. The omnivores are wrong because, while it does require careful planning, vegetarians can easily get the nutrients they need, and the vegetarians are hypocritical because, as the article will show, farming kills thousands of creatures.