Killing Animals for Meat Food

Killing Animals for Meat Food

Introduction

Human dominance over other creatures is undoubtable. To a greater extent, this dominance is attributed to human intelligence, technology, and the quest for survival. Being an omnivorous species, human beings feed on both vegetables and animal products, although the eating habit has been changing for a long time now. The appeal of meat attracts more preference; thus, humans have evolved to innovate creative means to get more meat food. However, excessive meat-eating and barbaric killing of other animals for meat food is against the humane principles of empathy and enormous health, economic and climatic impact on the world today, and animal rights. As a result, a change in food preference is inevitable.

History of Animal Farming

Meat as human food dates back to the ice age. History presents that before the ice age, humans were majorly hunters and gatherers depending on herbs and forest food. However, during the ice age, vegetation that forms human food was threatened. The extreme environment made it difficult for the survival of significant plants that humans did depend on. Survival was necessary as plants were frozen the most of the world, including the regions habited by humans. As a result, the prevailing conditions in most of the affected could support the germination of seed as well as the growth of existing vegetation.  

The evolution theory presents that survival demands exploration and adaptation. The only possible sources of food present were animals. Animals did accumulate more proteins in their bodies, and this was a critical source of food and nutrient for humans during the ice age (Godfray et al. p.115). The most preferred meals were large animals. Large animals were more comfortable to identify for haunting, did have the slow locomotive speed to make hunting easier, and could feed an entire population for long. Therefore, large animals like elephants were the preferred human prays. All the events of the ice age resulted in a new economic activity to the humans, hunting. Over time, hunting large animals also did come with disadvantages. Many people lost their lives to kill energetic elephants; this prompted the shift to smaller animals upon the innovation of sophisticated hunting tools. Small animals did pose a limited threat to humans during hunting.

After the ice age, human cannibalism evolved diversely. Humans evolved to keep animals’ as a source of food. It is an easy solution for ready, reliable food when one has animals to kill for food at their disposal, hence, domestication and husbandry. Domestication of animals evolved as humans innovated a variety used for the animals in transportation, and security and animal products such as the milk, skin, bones, and meat. However, until today, some are still hunting in the jungle as meat has become a significant sauce of food from many dimensions — dependence on animals evolved differently in different places. For instance, people who lived near rivers, lakes, and ocean evolved to depend on water animals (Godfray et al., p.182). The number of animals that humans depend on for food has since broadened.

Statistics of Meat Consumption

Currently, meat consumption is fundamental to many delicacies across the world. An average person consumes 45 kilograms of meat per year (Godfray et al. p.175). The most preferred meat is pig meat, a total of 190 million metric tons of pigment was consumed in the year 2016. In 2017, over half of the total pigment was consumed in China. Cow meat is popular in the United States. Over 30 million cows are killed for meat yearly. The United States population loves cow meat creating a high demand. However, the rate of meat consumption is diverse, depending on people’s economic stature. The rich consume more meat, as compared to the poor. As a result, meat is considered a luxury meal for the elite class and as a meal for the parties and special occasions. Rich nations also consume higher than average meat food per individual yearly. Due to the top currency value, most meat domesticated in developing nations still find their way to the markets of rich countries to add to high meat demand in these nations. It illustrates why African nations have lower individual average meat consumption than European nations despite having a high domestication ration.

In the United States of America, individual average meat consumption is high at 100 kilograms per person annually. Meat consumption is also diverse with culture. For instance, then Indian cultural and religious beliefs discourage the consumption of meat. As a result, it forms the least consumption rate annually at 5 kilograms per person (Bogueva, Dora, and Talia p.41). As have already been pointed out, Indian culture and religion consider cattle as divine creatures, which should be accorded utmost respect. As a result, the culture discourages the act of killing cattle and many other animals for meat. It reduces the dependency of cows for meat. Poultry is another vital source of people throughout the globe. Perhaps, this is the sole reason for the widespread cases of commercial poultry farming. Moreover, poultry meat is likable and one of the most preferred white meats. Based on several scientific findings, white meats from fish and hens are not only healthier but also affordable, hence, attracting more eaters in the market today.

Value Claim On Meat Food

Even though killing animals for food is ferocious, it is necessary to have predatory animals that feed other animals to complete the food web. Logically, an animal that knows that they are prey to particular animals in the jangle has an adaptive mechanism to lengthen their lives in the game. However, humans have evolved to change the rules in the ecosystem. Humans dominate the ecosystem by incorporating science and technology that favor and legitimize their prey habits. For instance, agricultural science has aided animal husbandry. Animal husbandry refers to the act of keeping animals for food, all the animals in human care are kept for food have one destiny, to die as a human meal just as a pray in the jungle (Fischer, p.501). Domesticated animals have no option to take control of their lives through adaptive means as other wild animals prayed upon in the jangle. Humans, through domestication, give these animals no option to explore and adapt the defensive mechanism that could lengthen their lives. As a result, domestication and dependence on animal meat limit the natural adaptation for survival, as stipulated in the evolution theory. Humanity has taken into control the destiny of other species through domestication, having the authority to decide which animal lives or die at their own will.

Besides making it evident that the destiny of a domesticated animal is death for human meals, the nature of death for these animals is absurd. Animals are conscious beings that have feelings just like humans, they form societies that cherish a specific order for integration. Just like a mother will show concern to their children, animals also have the same feeling to their young ones (Bogueva, Dora, and Talia p.55). The process of nurturing animal families alongside human families in the domestication process also enables them to form bonds with their owners. Sadly, killing these animals for food betrays this positive bond. In this case, domestication is cruel, just like hunting. In the hunting process, the animals have an idea that they could fall prey to an enemy in the jungle. However, domesticated animals have no idea on the scale of betrayal from their owners, who turn them, their parents, children, brothers, and sisters to dead meat for food.

Slaughterhouses are then the best place to look for evidence of human cruelty to animals. Slaughterhouses are dominated with blood, animal panic cries, and eventually slow death. Ironically, the slaughterhouses processing meat for humans is very scary to most people, because of the nature in which these animals are killed (Fischer, p.501). Death is a process that needs adequate time to effect most of the slaughterhouses are automated to have a quick kill that can accommodate the economy of scale for the high demand for meat. In most instances, the slaughterhouses do not give the time needed for death to effect. Most animals are cut into pieces while still conscious, they die slowly and painful death while being cut into pieces by human machines, it is only comparable to torture for food.

The quest for meat results in a rise in the demand for several animal products. Demand for meat meals aids mass production responsible production of substantive GMO meals (Bogueva, Dora, and Talia p.64). Genetic modification of animals means that their natural genes are altered to suit the standards of meat that is likable to humans. It is very selfish of humanity, to modify the genetic composition of a species to favor an eating habit.

Food science project that meat is nutritious; however, overconsumption of meat is a total waste. Averagely one deserves to consume three pieces of meat in a week. Besides, there are many disadvantages associated with the consumption of meat proven by science. First, meat has a high concentration of fats. Fats accumulation results in many health complications. For instance, when one takes in more fats in the body, they accumulate under the skin in the adipose tissue — causing such conditions as the increment in body mass or obesity. Fats are also stored in some other internal organs such as the heart, thereby making it heavy, resulting in cardiac arrests and other heart difficulties (Fischer, p.501). Cholesterol is associated with meat consumption, causing a blood clot in the arteries and other complications such as stroke and hypertension. Generally, meat consumption results in most lifestyle diseases that are currently threatening human health, causing high costs in health care.

As aforementioned, the consumption of meat shaped human existence in the ice age, and the current global events discourage dependency on meat as a sauce of food. Climate change and global warming as a result of carbon emotion are also associated with the global meat industry. First, deforestation is taking effect in most nations across the world, such as giving room for domestication. For instance, over 3 million hackers of the Amazon forest has been cleared specifically for domestication. The processing of meat, transportation, and preservation to serve different markets adds to the carbon count that results in global warming. Finally, the number of resources needed to produce meat, grazing land, and automotive is much more expensive as compared to the production of vegetables and nuts that is an alternative source of nutrition.

Policy Claim

Overall, the shift to discourage consumption of meat as sources of food is catching pace. Most cite health risks associated with the consumption of meat, the effect of the global meat industry on climate change, and the logic of betrayal in killing domesticated animals. In most cities across the world, there have been several strikes against meat eaters by vegetarians on many occasions. On 28th September of 2018, vegetarians stormed some slaughterhouses in Paris in the manifestation anger towards the barbaric killing of animals for food.

Many people across the world are shifting to vegetarianism. The statistic improves with time. The vegetarian revolution that is taking effect has many chiefs consider green delicacies that can replace meat with nutrients and tastes. For instance, lentils are a better substitute for meat in a diet. It has a high protein value to the body just like meat, but with a higher digestibility ration as compared to meat. Just like meat, it can be served with rice and other vegetables. However, unlike meat with a high energy demand to cook, lentils need a little cooking time and energy, hence, energy and time-efficient. Besides, beans and legumes are also other available alternatives that can serve as sauces of proteins to the body effectively replacing meat. Cauliflower is possibly the best replacement for chicken by protein content and taste.

The social good is not enough without policies to inhibit barbaric animal slaughter for food. In the United States of America, the Humane Slaughter Act effected in 1958 demands humane handling of animals in the slaughterhouses. The act needs proper enforcement. Most of the slaughterhouses do not uphold this regulation. The government should follow up on the implementation of the Humane Slaughter Act. Also, the act should be broadened to incorporate other chickens and other birds. Excessive meat-eating and barbaric killing of other animals for meat food is against the humane principles of empathy and enormous health, economic, and climatic impact on the world today, change in food preference is inevitable.

Works Cited

Bogueva, Diana, Dora Marinova, and Talia Raphaely. “Reducing meat consumption: the case for social marketing.” Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics (2017).

Fischer, Günther. “Transforming the global food system.” (2018): 501-502.

Godfray, H. Charles J., et al. “Meat consumption, health, and the environment.” Science 361.6399 (2018): eaam5324.

He, Yuna, et al. “Consumption of meat and dairy products in China: a review.” Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 75.3 (2016): 385-391.

Wahyono, N. D., and M. M. D. Utami. “A review of the poultry meat production industry for food safety in Indonesia.” Journal of Physics: conference series. Vol. 953. No. 1. IOP Publishing, 2018.

Watanabe, Mitsugu, Takayuki Watanabe, and Hideaki Watanabe. “Method for producing oyster meat essence containing large amount of antioxidants having high antioxidative power and high ORAC value.” U.S. Patent No. 9,943,553. 17 Apr. 2018.