The recent outcry surrounding Australian live meat export to Indonesia has raised some interesting questions in public about how we (as humans) source and treat our food before it lands on our plate. Seeing the footage of cattle being slaughtered and sheep being jammed into the boots of cars on the ABC’s Four Corners was enough to turn many into vegetarians. This is one of the most common reasons for vegetarianism that I hear on my day-to-day rounds: killing an animal is inhumane (inanimane?), and that they have a right to live. I would agree with this statement, but I would also reject it at the same time. Why?
Let me start by saying that in no way am I having a go at vegetarians (I used to be vegetarian, before my metabolism decided that it wanted to lose 5kg of ‘unnecessary’ muscle). I’m just saying that if we look at the world of biology; at animals and bacteria and plants and fungi and everything else that it out there, we see a persistant theme begin to emerge. Living things kill and eat each other to survive!
No way! Yes way. In fact, the world is divided into (basically) two types of organisms: autotrophs and heterotrophs.
Sun to Autotroph, to Heterotrophs
Autotrophs are the guys that make their own food; they are the plants, algae and bacteria in this world. Plants make up such a large portion of all life on earth, and are essential for all animal life because (directly or indirectly) we all feed off of them! They are there to be eaten.
Heterotrophs are the organisms that make up basically everything else. These guys eat autotrophs and also other heterotrophs. That puts us and every other animal into this category, whether they are herbivore, carnivore, omnivore or detritivore (things that feed on decaying organic material – like mushrooms!). These guys are also there to be eaten. So unless you are a plant or specialised bacterium, you’re basically living off of some other living (possibly dying) thing.
So then, what’s the difference between killing a plant or some bacteria to eat, and an animal? I would say the common argument here would be that animals have neural networks that allow them to think, but also experience sensations such as pain. Do correct me if I’m wrong.
This is where the discussion gets tricky, and where the specifics become important. You see, if we were to argue simply that because we see members of the Animal Kingdom eat other animals then vegetarianism is nonsense, the discussion would be over. But because of the way in which our meat industry (and agriculture industry, for that matter) functions, we have to start to look at our own ethics about the way that we keep these animals and how they are killed slaughtered.
See, this is just strange. What if these were people instead?
For me, the issue lies more in the treatment of the animal while it is alive than in its death. In the real world, a buffalo that is killed by a hungry lion is going to suffer for quite a long time. But for us, because it is relatively simple to relieve the animal of this suffering then there is no reason as to why we shouldn’t do it. But the systematic breeding and slaughtering of animals that are fed specialised diets to make them ‘produce’ more meat is where I draw my moral line. If you think this is an interesting topic, then I recommend watching the film Food Inc. While it is based around an American industry and also includes agriculture, it is still relevant for us Aussies (or wherever you’re reading this from).
There are of course other reasons for being vegetarian. Another common one is: ‘We don’t need meat nutritionally as it can be supplemented with other things, so why eat it?’ There is still debate about that one as many vegetarians do not adequately plan their nutrient intake, but if this is done correctly then all stages of life (including pregnancy) can be safely achieved with a vego diet. Even still, it is known that some nutrients such as iron are far more easily absorbed through meat than iron supplements and other vego sources (~25% absorption compared to ~8% absorption). Iron is essential for your body’s ability to create energy, as it is used in your blood to transport oxygen from your lungs to your cells for burning. Feeling tired? Eat some iron. (But not literally, please.)
On the plus side, well-prepared vegetarians reap the benefits of showing lower rates of coronary heart disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and dementia. Pescetarians (‘vegetarians’ who also eat fish) compare even more favourably.
So why are(n’t) you a vegetarian?
I am not a vegetarian but I try to only to consume as much meat that I beleive directly contributes to a healthy diet. Basically I removed all meat from my home except tuna. It is quite hard to avoid meat based meals out and about so I made that my only meat intake. The strange thing is I find a lot of vegetarians despise this ‘fence sitting’ approach rather than see it as a positive. This is why I really can’t stand people who adopt vegatarianism as a pure self image thing.
If meats good enough for the Dalai Lama, it’s good enough for me!
>Gasp!<
meat’s>Gasp!< I mean meat’s
Gee, I should really lay off the comments… ughhh
I come from a farming background, and by that I mean I get my bacon, eggs, lamb, and most beef from my parents farm. This also influences that way I feel about meat eating in general as my family need people to buy in order to survive.
Unfortunatly my main meat intake is chicken or turkery – it’s just so bloody expensive to by free range chicken and I’ve yet to see free range turkey options.
I try to limit my meat intake… to only really thick and juicy steaks.
Its hard sometimes.
mmm… Meat… so tasty.
I’m not a vegetarian but do try to eat less meat, mainly for environmental reasons and the fact that we probably don’t need to eat as much meat as we think we do to get all the nutritional content.
But I don’t think I’d become a vegetarian because A) meat tastes awesome and B) meat is a part of my culture. I think a lot of the time, the cultural aspect of meat is missing from the debate. A lot of asian cultures have a very very strong food culture tied to it. And in families, food is often used to show love. To completely take the meat element away from the food culture is um…well for a lot of asian families, it’s laughable. To take meat away is in many ways, to take away part of their culture. I’m sure other cultures would have a similar relationship with meat.
i love my meat but i think the point for vegos is that unlike lions and such we mass produce and our methods of feeding ourselves is not sustainable. we take the bigger fish and leave the smaller ones and we breed and breed, sometimes even inbreeding. this could totally destroy our ecosystems and ability to farm in the future.
You’re right! Well, that was my main reason for being vegetarian anyway. Do you take any measures to try to avoid this style of unsustainable ‘meat-manufacture’, like buying local, organic or free-range meat?