A debate website, Opposing Views, asks “Should We Eat Meat?”

Many people have chimed in on the debate both for and against.

Should we eat meat?
…Yes:

The reasons to eat meat include such ridiculous reasons as:

• The humane myth:
  “Use your restaurant dollars at fine dining establishments that serve free-range chicken.” Why go vegetarian or vegan when you can just eat meat that bears a meaningless label?
• Your footprint is smaller if you wear heels instead of flats:
  “A dozen hothouse apples might cause more carbon emissions than a slice of delicious crispy bacon.” Unlikely, sure, but one can dream, right? Just go ahead and use some new math to warp the statistics in favor of your preferred meal.
• Don’t listen to anyone:
  “Nobody should be allowed to tell you whether or not to ‘Go Veg’” So if you want to eat paint chips and your doctor says it’s not a good idea, just don’t listen to Doc. If you want to eat from your neighbor’s fruit tree, don’t listen when your neighbor says, “Get off my lawn.” If you want to gnaw on your cousin’s arm, go for it!
  
• Americans should eat meat because people elsewhere can’t eat meat:
  “For millions of people worldwide, a non-meat diet is a starvation diet.” Who cares if you’re not one of those millions of people?  Just ignore the fact that you can make a choice to eat meat or not . Meat-eating is a “personal choice,” except when the meat and dairy industry tell you it’s a political, social choice.

Right now, the tally is 50/50. About half the people who voted think we should eat meat and about half think we shouldn’t. The votes are not representative of people’s actual behaviors: in reality, far more than 50% of people eat meat and far fewer than 50% of people are vegetarian or vegan.  I think lots of people agree that meat-eating is bad, but they do it anyway. Since so few debaters are pro-meat, that suggests that the people who really think about it are more likely to conclude we ought not to eat meat and that the people who don’t think deeply about it are more like to think we should eat meat. But, I bet the majority of meat-eaters simply don’t think about it at all. They just do it out of habit.

Should we eat meat?
…NO:

Clearly, we should not eat meat. There are numerous excellent reasons, including some of the ones listed at Opposing Views:

• Animals Have Feelings, Awareness and Preferences
• Eating Animal Products has been Linked to a Host of Deadly Diseases
• Animal Agriculture Causes Global Warming
• We Cannot Justify Eating Animal Products

Should we eat meat?
…Your response:

Wanna have your say? Leave a comment here at Vegan Soapbox or go to Opposing Views >>

Our very own Alex has participated in the debate:

“As the processes involved in turning experiencing beings into food require funneling plant protein through these nonhumans, which make’s the outcome roughly 10 pounds of plant protein to 1 pound of animal protein, aren’t vegans displaying more reverence for life by consuming the plant matter directly?”

My suggestions, if you participate in the debate:

1. Make your title simple and catchy - grab their attention.
2. Use links to back up your claims - not only does it help with your credibility, it breaks up the web page and makes your comment stand out.
3. Make lists and separate paragraphs - it makes it easier for people to read.
4. Be succinct and use short words, short sentences, short paragraphs - just because you have a degree in philosophy or law doesn’t mean any of your readers do.

Sections: Vegan Theory
Topics: debate, meat, Vegan