If I’ve somehow kept your attention, and you weren’t instantly put off by the title of this article, then just know that I’m not going to bombard with anger or spite because you eat meat. However, if you’re a fellow vegetarian, then just sit back and relax, or become further enlightened. Now, let’s get into it.
I used to love meat. In the Black community, food and meat specifically, is a part of the culture and language. So trust me when I say that there are, in fact, reasons to make you stop eating meat that are greater than the taste of your mother’s famous ribs or ox tails. It all started two years ago when I watched the documentary “Earthlings,” which outlines different ways that the meat industry is cruel and not beneficial to anyone (humans or animals).
The messages that were conveyed in the documentary were strong enough to make me stop eating red meat but didn’t strike a nerve that made me want to give meat up entirely. In fact, after a few months, I was back to eating hot dogs and hamburgers. However, three months ago, I watched the film “Cowspiracy,” and my outlook on meat, animals and meat agriculture was completely altered. I’m glad I watched these films, because otherwise, I wouldn’t be aware of how I’ve been poisoning my body all of these years, and contributing to an industry filled with deception and greed. However, for those of you who haven’t seen these films and have not yet seen the oh-so-bad side of consuming meat, please read on.
Meat is killing humans. Much of the meat that is sold in supermarkets is filled with hormones and chemicals that animals were forced to digest so they would grow at a quicker pace and be on your dinner table even quicker. Essentially, you are filling your body with “meat” that is not “meat” anymore, because it has been stuffed with unpronounceable ingredients. In fact, many of the animals that have been filled with these harmful ingredients have been genetically modified, and if you’re lucky the manufacturer of those meats has labeled the meat as being from GMOs. Even though it is against the law to falsify a label, many manufacturers still fail to label genetically modified meats as GMOs. This failure is not because they’re having a long day and forget to place the label on the meat. It’s because they don’t want consumers to become aware of the harmful things that they are consuming. If consumers become aware, they stop buying, and when they stop buying, manufacturers lose profits. What’s more important, not causing someone to lose a life or making a buck?
Animals are treated poorly at the hands of humans in animal agriculture. A combination of blood, urine, feces, dead animals, crowded pens and the sound of shrieking animals is a slaughterhouse. Animals are treated with no respect and neither is the well-being of the consumer. Pigs are kept in small pens that are overfilled with feces and urine, and often times, dead pigs that did not survive the chaos. Although this example is only one example of the horrors that pigs are forced to endure, other animals face similar realities. Imagine living among hundreds of other animals, without so much as a small space for you to move around or navigate, living among dead animals and your own feces, and enduring this condition as you anticipate the day that a worker slices your throat open and skins you alive.
As consumers, we are not only allowing slaughterhouses to treat animals like inanimate objects without feelings but also allowing slaughterhouses to continue this treatment by validating it by investing in their business.
The animal agriculture industry is killing the Earth. This point is one of the most significant points when discussing vegetarianism or discussing global problems, in general. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of pollution, water scarcity and climate change. I know what you’re thinking: “Are you telling me I just made the switch to a Brita filter, started recycling and bought a Prius for no reason?” Not quite. What I’m saying is you just made the switch to a Brita filter, started recycling and bought a Prius, when you could’ve just stopped eating meat. Animal agriculture is responsible for 80 to 90 percent of U.S. water consumption. This level of consumption means Sally from Chicago, who is stressing out about using too much water, is worried about something in which she only accounts for a very small portion. A farm with 2,500 dairy cows produces the same amount of waste as a city of 411,000 people. The Johnsons from Los Angeles, who are breaking their backs trying to make sure they’re not producing too much waste, can attribute the massive amount of pollution in this country to Connor the Cow, and not themselves. Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation. Kathy from New York City, who sold her car to get a bike, can blame animal agriculture and not her Mercedes. And although all of these modifications are overall beneficial, the blame is being placed on the wrong demographic. The reality is that this industry is killing the planet, despite all of the other information that you’ve been told.
The harsh reality is, if you’re an animal lover or an environmentalist or care about your health, then you should not be eating meat. In fact, if you value transparency of organizations or frown upon industries that are greedy and do not care about the consumer, then you should also not eat meat. But as I said in the first sentence of this article, I am not writing this to reprimand you for eating meat. I am simply supplying you with the information that many of us have been denied.