Is eating meat a detrimental threat to the environment? This debate over meat’s involvement in the global warming crisis was what inspired Nicolette Hahn Niman to write, “The Carnivore’s Dilemma.” Niman hoped writing, “The Carnivore’s Dilemma,” would cause her audience to understand that eating meat, raised on traditional farms, was a superior alternative to vegetarianism. Niman supported her claim by explaining how industrialized farms and vegetarians produce more of the three greenhouse gases that caused global warming, than that produced by traditional farms. Niman’s article fell short of being effective due to flaws in her supporting evidence and conclusion.
Summary In this article “Against Meat” Jonathan Safran Foer describes his personal experience with struggling whether he eats meat or not and what he went through to become a vegetarian, his main reason was he didn’t want animals to suffer. Foer had a lot of influence in his life, starting with his grandmother who he considered her as a role model he loved her passion with food, although she had one recipe
The types of evidence provided throughout the essay, primarily consists of facts, examples, and descriptions, with only one account of statistics provided. For the most part, the evidence given, is unreliable and does not prove to be credible or strong enough to be taken into consideration as sound proof to Garretson’s claims on vegetarianism. An example of an unreliable instance of evidence presented by Garretson, can be seen through her first fact. At the beginning of her essay, Garretson reasons that vegetarians are healthier than meat eaters and lists supposed benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle, which she says includes “a lower body mass index, significantly decreased cancer rates…longer life expectancies, and [avoidance] of Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis”. (162)
“Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat”, is a famous quote by the well known philosopher Socrates, who believed this is the perspective we should take when we are eating food. Unfortunately, the times have changed and so has the way we eat. We no longer have to go hunting for our food, or grow crops to receive all of our fruits and vegetables. Because we have become a society that has grown into the new world of technology, there would be no need to rely on ourselves for what we need-- we can simply gather our resources from other people. In the book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, written by Michael Pollan, takes us on a journey full of concerns of the “Food Industrial Complex”.
In Michael Pollan’s book, An Omnivore’s Dilemma, we are focused on many different views of eating meat and other foods that are products of animals. The majority of those who chose to consume
He presents a compelling argument for why we have to recall lowering or casting off our intake of animal products, the use of evidence and records to guide his claims. for example, Foer cites the fact that animal agriculture is chargeable for more greenhouse gas emissions than all kinds of transportation combined. via presenting this statistic in a clean and concise manner, Foer makes a robust case for the environmental blessings of lowering our meat consumption. Foer additionally appeals to our sense of morality and values. He emphasizes the significance of compassion and duty in our food choices, encouraging readers to remember the ethical implications of consuming meat.
Grazing and growing feed for livestock now occupy 70% of all agricultural land and 30% of the ice-free terrestrial surface of the planet. If these current events continue, meat production is predicted to double between the turn of the 21st century and 2050. Yet already, the Earth is being overpowered by livestock that consume massive quantities of energy and resources, whose wastes contaminate waterways and farmlands, and when eaten excessively, degrade our health. Pollan makes a considerable point when discussing concentrated animal feedlot operations, “The economic logic of gathering so many animals together to feed them cheap corn in CAFOs is hard to argue with; it has made meat, which used to be a special occasion in most American homes” (pg. 67, An Omnivore's Dilemma).
For vegetarians, animal rights should trump human rights. In “Utilitarianism, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights,” Tom Regan defines animal rights as “the natural right to life” (307). Similar to Regan, many vegetarians believe that animals have rights and deserve to have their best interests taken into consideration, regardless of whether they are useful to humans. By switching to a plant-base diet, people will be able to alleviate the needless suffering and deaths of countless animals. Besides, in the same article, Regan also suggests “to treat animals in a more humane manner” (308).
“I just wanna give up” and “I can’t do this anymore”. These phrases are said by many individuals throughout life, but in my opinion no one should never give up in life even if you have lost hope already. This message is shown throughout many poems that talk about some form of survival, and some of these poems are “I Am Offering This Poem” by Jimmy Santiago Baca and also “The Writer” by Richard Wilbur. In these poems, instead of using the plot to portray the message, they instead use a variety of symbols to represent the idea of not giving up in life. In the two poems “I Am Offering This Poem” by Jimmy Santiago Baca, the speaker’s love(the poem) and “The Writer” by Richard Wilbur, the starling, are both used as symbols that help show the idea of not giving up in life.
The Pro side of this debate is written by Wayne Madsen. He argues that eating less meat would help protect the environment. Mr. Madsen says that the way animals we use for food are being raised is hurting the atmosphere.
Experts recommend that adults eat just over half a pound of meat per week to help reduce their risk for diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and/or strokes. “We don’t eat animal products for sufficient nutrition, we eat them to have an odd form of malnutrition, and It’s killing us” (Bittman). There’s a simple way to reduce not only our calorie intake, but our carbon footprint as well: “less meat, less junk food, more plants” (Bittman). While Bittman makes some very compelling points about how much of the meat we produce and subsequently waste, he fails to take into account the affordability of meat because of it’s mass production, as well as the simple facts that most people lack the time needed to produce meals with fruits and
In the article, “Is It Possible to be a Conscientious Meat Eater”, the authors argue that processed meat can greatly affect the many things in our everyday life. Sunaura and Alexander’s argument is significantly unreliable because of the certain professions both authors yield. As stated in the article “Sunaura is an artist, writer, and activist in Oakland.” “Alexander’s profession is studying philosophy, and ethics in Athens, Georgia.” This shows that neither of them are qualified to argue in the subject of conscientious meat eaters.
In today’s world, there is a division among the people in the world regarding whether or not it is ethical to eat meat. After researching about eating meat and vegetarianism, I have come to the conclusion that it is indeed ethical to eat meat in today’s society. Sure, eating meat might have its drawbacks, but I have found that the benefits of eating meat far outweigh the negatives of eating it. Eating meat not only helps improve people’s health, but it also helps strengthen our economy and it has little difference in the environmental impact that involves in the farming of vegetables. Eating too much of anything usually results in a negative outcome.
Vegetarians consume less animal fats and cholesterol and replaces it with more antioxidants and fibers. If more people decided to become vegetarians it would not only improve people’s health but also the environment and the economy. Taking America as an example, the statistics show that nearly 70% of America 's adults are suffering from obesity and one of the consequences of this is getting a heart disease meaning that you most likely have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. This is usually because the typical american diet is not very healthy because of the amount of bad fats and fast food they are consuming. If an american were to change to a vegetarian diet, the majority of the bad fats will be eliminated and replaced by foods that are
Veganism is a foolproof method to provide the answers the Earth needs, especially as the world’s population continues its inefficient and environmentally damaging methods of energy usage. People tend to focus on the political sides of climate change, however, the biggest problem the world faces in energy consumption is not transportation emissions but is how we go about out food systems and daily food choices. Evidence has surfaced about how daily food choices impact the climate severely. According to an assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the livestock sector of global greenhouse gases surpassed that of transportation.
