Meat Is It Morally Right?

To Meat or Not to Meat? That is the question.

In America today, most of us don’t put very much thought into one of the most vital things for life; where our dinner comes from. We drive over to the grocery store, put what we want in the cart and check out. Not much to it, right? Wrong! We don’t think twice about picking up a pack of chicken breasts or a big T-bone steak but, where did these animals come from. Most people in the store would not be able to answer these questions knowledgeably. Some of us would say they come from a farm. Are the animals that we eat today still raised on a farm, how are they being feed and treated. The truth is that in today’s world there are so many people that need to be fed that most of our animal are not cared for and raised like they once were. In this selection I will be looking at how those animals are raised and treated. The burning question in my mind, "Are these animals being raised with our best interests in mind?” What are the benefits to our bodies and the ecosystem of eating less or no meat in our diets?

First we will look at the conditions in which these animals are living. To me abuse can be more than just how the animals are killed. They are kept in an inhumane way and also even made to eat other animals that have died from illnesses or living conditions. Chickens being raised by a breeder are kept as many as 80,000 in one warehouse. Even having to have their beaks removed so that they don’t peck each other to death in their tight quarters. Most cattle are only free to roam for six months to a year before they are kept in facilities that only allow for standing to be fattened up.

The raising of chickens or cattle today deals very little in a hearty diet and free roaming pastures. In order to produce the quantity that is needed the animals are loaded with every hormone or chemical that will help speed the process up. The feed that these chickens are eating is filled with things like antibiotics,...