I was watching a movie a couple of days ago, in which there was a sign on a bus that read: “If God didn’t want people to eat animals, he wouldn’t have made them out of meat.” Yes, I eat animals. Not ALL animals, but some. I eat what everyone else eats: cows, pigs, chickens, some deer, and some seafood. Does that make me a bad person?
As Michael Pollan points out in “An Omnivore’s Dilemma”: “humans are … omnivorous” (p. 289). This means that we eat plants and animals alike. Do I go hunting and actually kill animals myself? No. I’m the kind of person who likes eating a variety of things, but I want to have nothing to do with the killing of what I’m going to eat. It’s exactly the way Pollan puts it: “most of us would simply rather not be reminded of exactly what meat is or what it takes to bring it to our plates” (pp. 304-305).
The discussion about ethics in eating meat is endless. I like to think that we are all equal, but at the same time, all creatures hunt and prey on others. Why is eating meat worse than eating a plant? Isn’t a plant a living organism, as well? It is capable of keeping itself alive, and plants consume energy in some way, too. So when we say that we can’t or shouldn’t eat meat, are we saying that animals and humans are more important than plants? That’s a bold statement, especially given the fact that we CAN’T LIVE without plants. And if one species is considered more important than another, then we are being speciesists… This discussion is never a good one, because there is no resolution. I want people to decide on their own whether they choose to eat or not to eat meat, or any other food for that matter. Eating meat is not illegal, nor will it ever be, I think, so let people make their own decisions, and let’s respect them for who they are. We may not agree with a person of his or her decision to eat meat, but we’re PEOPLE, we are in charge of our own lives.
