“The soil and climate in some parts of Australia is not suited to pigs, so they need to be intensively farmed.”

Whilst I do not have the research to back me on this but I have a hunch that there were civilisations from the past that struggled to cultivate cattle due to droughts or other adverse weather patterns. If this is correct then what did the people back then do about with their diets? Refuse to alter it and still maintain their daily intake?

This is an important question to ask because it puts into perspective what exactly is wrong with the idea of reducing one’s meat intake. My question above is a hypothetical one, but it is a thought that I hope it puts into perspective that the issue of farming practices is the root of the ‘dilemma’. Killing animals is another, broader dilemma as well, but that is a separate issue.

In the last ten years we have had outbreaks of cow, bird and pig related diseases. I can only wonder what will happen once the Chinese and Indian middle class population start to demand higher protein diets.

Personally, I have found a butcher at my local farmer’s market who has convinced me that his produce is not industrially farmed and I am confident buying meat from him. I don’t eat meat in restaurant anymore. I never buy it from the supermarket. I think everyone who is an omnivore should reduce how much meat they eat in any case, simply because it’s not great for our health to eat as much meat as we do, and then find happy meat when they want to eat it.

If you can find/ have found a butcher that guarantees this to a point that you’re satisfied with then the problem is eliminated and ignore this, but I do think eating 70% less meat is, while better than most, a flawed logic if the reason you’re doing it is to avoid partaking in the overwhelming cruelty and systematic abuse that the meat industry subjects animals to.

I think that if you’re doing things for moral, ethical or humane reasons I don’t think a reduction makes sense. You can’t reduce something that’s immoral, unethical or inhumane.

The all or nothing view of eating meat isolates a lot of people. It’s attitudes like that that will make some people shy away from the issue altogether when they should be doing something, anything. How many people do you know who aren’t willing to give up meat? I bet it’s quite a few. What I was talking about there were viable solutions for those of us who don’t want to become vegan or vegetarian. 70% makes a huge difference, and if the other 30% is meat coming from a sustainable source, I don’t know how that is necessarily wrong. The cruelty is wrong, the effect on the planet is wrong, there are so many wrongs, but is it wrong to eat animals that have been raised with a good quality of life on a sustainable farm?

Also while I admire those who do eat a vegan diet and have seriously considered it as an option myself, don’t you think that it would be important for you (I’m assuming you are a vegan) to also be compassionate towards people who choose to eat meat (provided it comes from a sustainable non-industrial farm), as you claim to be? There are many options for omnivores that aren’t wrong. It’s not as black and white as eating meat = bad.

The issue is not what we eat but how we farm it for me also. Great article.

Saying it is OK to eat 70% less meat, is exactly like saying it’s OK if you just shoplift 70% less.

If something is wrong it’s wrong. It’s wrong to buy clothes made in sweatshops, it’s wrong to buy things on the black market, and it’s wrong to eat animals – because we know they suffer.

Vegans are healthier, have much less of an impact on the climate, and are compassionate to all species (including humans).

It is a sad day when we decide to choose to torture an animal, simply because we like the taste of their tortured flesh.

http://www.supportmfm.org

Meat Free Monday is an environmental campaign to raise awareness of the climate-changing impact of meat production and consumption. Many people are unaware that livestock production is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions – that’s more than the entire transport sector.