Pros and Cons - Debbie Newman, Ben Woolgar 2014
Vegetarianism
Section H. Health, science and technology
Vegetarianism has always been an alternative lifestyle that has been practised by some proponents of animal rights, by a faction of the health-conscious and by some religions. In recent years, however, it has taken on an environmental dimension with some green campaigners saying that widespread vegetarianism could be crucial to the planet’s future. It is unlikely that this debate would call for a law banning the eating of meat; rather, it should debate the practical and moral advantages and disadvantages of the lifestyle choice. See the introduction to the debate on ’animal experimentation and vivisection, banning of’ (Section E) and the entry on ’animal rights’ (Section A) for an overview on the issues of animal welfare.
Pros
[1] We are animals ourselves, with shared ancestors with all other creatures. We should take responsibility for our animal cousins rather than exploiting and eating them unnecessarily. Furthermore, we cannot know exactly what feelings and emotions other animals can have.There is good evidence that they feel fear and pain like us.Therefore, we must err on the side of caution and not farm and kill animals at all. As Jeremy Bentham said, the question about animals is not ’Can they think?’, but ’Can they feel pain?’
[2] Most mass meat-farming techniques are barbaric, especially the battery farming of chickens and the force-feeding of veal calves. Supposedly quick slaughter techniques are often botched — leaving animals half-alive and in pain for hours when they were supposed to be dead. Cows are pumped full of antibiotics and steroids to force them to grow to an unnatural size, and are forced to produce an unnatural quantity of milk, so that they become exhausted and die at half the age they would in nature. By buying and eating meat, the non-vegetarian is indirectly torturing animals that have unnaturally short, miserable and confined lives.
[3] There is no need for meat in a balanced diet. All sorts of fruits, vegetables and pulses provide the variety of carbohydrates, proteins, fibre, minerals and vitamins that we need. Our closest animal relatives — the apes — have all-vegetarian diets. It has been suggested that this is our natural diet too. Meat consumption has been linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and some cancers. In addition, almost all of the worst forms of food poisoning are transmitted from meat (E. coli, BSE, salmonella). Vegetarian diets are often lower in fat and healthier all round.
[4] There is an environmental cost attached to livestock farming. It is estimated that the farming of animals causes more greenhouse gas emissions than the world’s entire transport system. The land needed to farm animals has led to mass deforestation, with over 70 per cent of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest occurring for the raising of cattle. Meat is also a wasteful use of water. The only environmentally responsible thing to do is to go vegetarian.
[5] Factory farming is increasingly dangerous for human health. Agricultural slurry is poisoning our rivers and nitrates entering our water supply have been linked to increased rates of cancer. Antibiotics fed to animals in vast quantities are causing the evolution of ’super-bugs’ — bacteria that are resistant or immune to antibiotics. The inclusion of animal brains in their own feed has led to the disastrous spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (’mad cow disease’) and the human equivalent, Creutzfeldt—Jakob Disease (CJD). Epidemics of foot and mouth disease, bird flu and swine flu have all been linked to intensive livestock farming.
Cons
[1] It is natural for people to farm and eat other creatures. Humans have come to flourish and dominate through their successful adaptation to and manipulation of other species. It is a strange and unnatural idea that we have ’duties’ to other animals — rights and duties are exclusively applicable to humans. It is true that we cannot know what feelings or emotions animals have, but we can assume that they are minimal. Vegetarianism rests on sentimentalism and anthropomorphism. It is natural for us, like many other animals, to kill and eat other species to survive.
[2] Modern farming techniques may often be cramped, but we cannot assume that chickens or calves really have much of an awareness of their quality of life anyway. Their slaughter is generally swift and painless. If it is thought to be very important, free-range chickens, eggs and meat can be purchased to ensure that the animal one is eating had a natural and more varied life.
[3] Humans have evolved as an omnivorous species. Therefore, the omnivorous diet (meat and vegetables) is what we are adapted to flourish on. By cutting out half of this natural diet, we are bound to lose the natural balance and variety we need. Meat is a rich source of minerals such as iron and zinc, which are not easily found in a vegetarian diet. Excessive meat consumption might be bad for the health, but this is not a reason to cut it out completely.
[4] The effects on the environment arising from meat eating are disputed, as we would need vast amounts of land to farm the extra vegetables and meat substitutes needed; it may also increase the importation of food, thereby adding more food miles to our menus. Unless we all go vegan, livestock farming would still have to continue to produce dairy products and eggs. It may well be true that we should eat less meat and not consider it the main component of every meal, but switching to a vegetarian diet is going too far.
[5] Intensive farming allows the masses to access cheap food. A vegetarian diet may be healthy (if unbalanced), but it is exceedingly expensive. Vegetarianism is a luxury for the middle classes — fresh vegetables are prohibitively expensive, compared with processed meats, burgers and so on, which are affordable and filling. Safer farming techniques and increased health awareness, not a wholesale switch to an unnatural vegetarian diet, are the solutions to the problems of unsafe meat farming.
Possible motions
This House believes that meat is murder.
This House believes that we should all be vegetarians.
Related topics
Protective legislation v. individual freedom
Animal experimentation and vivisection, banning of
Animal rights
Blood sports, abolition of
Zoos, abolition of