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Kaylee Torres

Professor Rosenfeld

English 113B

10 April 2017

Meat or Eat

The American diet consists largely of meat and everyday Americans are consuming

around 270 pounds of meat each year per person (Walsh 1). While people fill their plates with

meat, an animal is killed and dead to satisfy the insatiable appetites of Americans. Recently,

more grocery stores are selling their meat products with a humanely raised certification claim.

If the fate of most farm animals is inevitably death, how can that be considered humane

treatment? In the article Humane Meat? No Such Thing, Sunaura Taylor describes the

oxymoron behind consuming humane meat as animals suffer and die in the end because they are

essentially stripped of their rights and used selfishly for the benefits of people. Even as a vegan,

Taylor discusses how a famous cattle rancher agrees with her point that animals are highly

emotionally complex and can experience distress. While the author acknowledges the reasons

behind eating small portions of meat, she does not understand how raising animals humanely

lessens the gruesome fact that they will eventually be slaughtered. The author suggests that

people can continue maintaining a healthy, nutrition-balanced diet by choosing from the multiple

organic food options available at farmers markets or grocery stores. By moving towards a meat-

free lifestyle, the author explains how there are more people becoming advocates in favor of

animal rights (Taylor 707-10). Although many believe that eating meat is necessary for human

health and development, people should not consume meat due to higher risk of illness and

disease resulting from the misuse of antibiotics in livestock and poultry, and high-fat content in
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meat. Furthermore, as factory farms continue to increase meat production, they are cruelly taking

advantage of helpless animals by genetically modifying them and abusing the environment

through the release of greenhouse gases.

Some may argue that eating meat is the only way to supply vital nutrients to nourish the

body; however, most people are unware that the meat they are buying and consuming has more

antibiotics than it does nutrition benefits. Typically, people are busy in their everyday lives and

do not have time to prepare a full meal so they depend on fast food restaurants to relieve them of

their hunger. In the article Fast Food Restaurants Improve Grades on Antibiotics in their Meat,

Ben Trinker discusses a report on the misuse of antibiotics in the meats of 25 of the largest fast

food chains with only Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill receiving a letter grade of A,

which leads to around 2 million Americans contracting antibiotic resistance infections every

year and 23,000 people dying from it (Trinker 1-2). In this passage, the author stresses the

importance of people understanding what they are putting into their bodies. Restaurants such as

Subway and Wendys promote that they provide healthy options for their customers with food

items like chicken salad or fresh chicken and turkey sandwiches. They are falsely advertising the

actual nutritional and health benefits of their food by including antibiotics in a large portion of

their meat selections. People are going into these restaurants thinking that these options are better

than a burger from McDonalds, but their final grades say otherwise. The price of their deceit is

the deterioration of a persons health. Not only are these restaurants generating lies, they are

supporting the misuse of antibiotics in their meat. The reason for using antibiotics in poultry and

livestock is that it helps animals grow faster and survive longer in harsh, unhygienic conditions.

By selling this to customers, these restaurants are essentially condoning animal abuse and

mistreatment. Therefore, people should stop consuming meat because it is still unknown in many
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restaurants how much misuse of antibiotics is happening and 23,000 people are dying from

antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections yearly.

Those against living their lives without eating meat believe a vegan diet leads to a

deficiency in nutrients and vitamins; however, avoiding or reducing levels of red meat

consumption is often associated with decreased risk of developing diseases. Even though red

meat consumption is not the only reason for developing diseases, it plays a large factor in the

American diet. In the article, Health and Wellness: Major Study Examines Meat-Diabetes

Link, Jennifer Corbett Dooren explains, the study showed that, compared with a group of

people who had no change in red-meat intake, increasing red-meat consumption by more than a

half-serving per day over a four-year period was associated with a 48% increase in the risk of

developing Type 2 diabetes during the next four years (Dooren 1). The 48% is a large statistic to

consider as it correlates to the potential percentage of people likely to develop diabetes sometime

in their lifetime. Diabetes is already one of the leading causes of death in the United States and

this study proves that peoples eating habits are a major factor which can be changed for the

better. Many red meats contain high fats and Americans are over-eating more fatty meats than

lean meats. If people stop eating red meats, they are already increasing the longevity of living a

healthy, disease-free lifestyle. If a person contracts this disease, not only do they have diabetes

but they are at a higher risk of developing other chronic health conditions. Ultimately, if people

make the change to not eat red meat then it is possible that there would be a decrease in diabetes,

other health complications, and deaths as a result of this disease.

Supporters maintain that factory farming is necessary to increase meat production;

however, factory farming is seriously damaging to our environment as greenhouse gases our

released during production. These greenhouse gases negatively impact the atmosphere as they
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can lead to climate change and a decline in soil quality; in the article, The Carnivores

Dilemma the author states, In American farming, most carbon dioxide emissions come from

fuel burned to operate vehicles and equipment (Niman 700). In order for factory farms to keep

producing meat, they need to constantly have their machines working which means a large

amount of greenhouses gases are emitted into the air. Greenhouses gases are a major contributor

to global warming. Since factory farms rely on the burning of this fuel, they are only adding to

the long-term deterioration of the Earth itself. Furthermore, the climate of these factory farm

areas will increase in temperature because of the constant gases being brought into the air. As the

climate changes, certain crops will no longer be able to grow to feed the animals. This will result

in animals becoming sick and more prone to disease because of the lack of nutrition the farm

would provide them for survival. There is no way to undo the damage that has already been

done, therefore factory farms need to slowly make their way towards an environment friendly

method of raising animals.

It may be objected that animal cruelty no longer exists as new laws have been

implemented for the humane treatment of animals; however, animals are still being taken

advantage of by factory farms, leaving some with physical complications due to genetic

modifications. Genetically modified animals tend to grow at an unnatural rate, whereas if they

were to mature at their own pace they would not be as large in size. In figure 1, it displays an

image of two chickens of the same age. They are the same age, yet visibly different in size.

These chickens were obviously raised in different environments and were clearly unevenly

treated. The chicken on the left is 5.5 weeks old and appears to be the average size of a chicken

her/his age. Also, the chicken on the left appears to have a balanced stance and clean, white

feathers. This chicken was most likely raised in an open farmland where he could run free and be
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fed appropriate portions of food. On the other hand, the chicken on the right is most likely a

factory farm raised chicken who had all odds against him. The chicken on the right is

disproportionately large in comparison to

the chicken on the left which means this

chicken was most likely overfed, injected

with antibiotics, and living in an

unsanitary environment. The chicken to

the right has brown feathers which means

this animal probably lives in a crowded, dirty space. Also, this chicken appears to be unable to

stand which means her/his weight is too much to lift on its weak legs. This is only one example

of many that demonstrates the abuse and cruelty towards animals which continues to exist today.

These animals are voiceless and cannot defend themselves so industries keep using this to their

advantage. Americans have fallen into this illusion that animal cruelty no longer exists because

meat industries and corporations are placing humanely raised stickers on meat products. It is

not possible to call this humane treatment when the end result is the expected death of an

animal. Ultimately, people need to stop eating meat because eating meat is the equivalent to

saying that animal cruelty is justifiable.

Meat is the dead flesh of animals. Animals are helpless creatures of nature who are

unable to speak up for the rights they deserve. From the time they inhabited this Earth, they were

doomed to become powerless to their intellectual superiors known as humans. These animals

never had their rightfully deserved chance to prove they were worth more than being killed and

eaten. For years, animals have constantly been used by humans for their own selfish benefit.

They have become the main source of food in America and the increased consumption of meat
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has become part of the American diet. These animals are being placed into crowded, stressful

conditions where they are injected with antibiotics to survive. Their right to roam freely has been

taken away from them as their main purpose has become to produce. These animals are

overworked and are not raised properly in factory farms which leads to their agonizing death.

The way the animals are treated is translated into those who consume them, meaning it is not

good for the health of who ingest the meat. It then turns into a domino effect of animals and

people becoming ill. Not only are humans hurting animals, but the environment included. These

factories have equipment which unfortunately constantly run on burning fuel and affect global

warming. Even though some may feel like they cannot give up meat, it is important to remember

that a life was taken away in order to give life to someone else. Those who stand beside the life

of an animal, agree that animals are worth more than being served on a plate.
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Works Cited

Dooren, Jennifer Corbett. "Health & Wellness: Major Study Examines Meat-Diabetes Link."

Www.wsj.com. Wall Street Journal, 18 June 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2017.

<http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/1368553252?accountid=7285&rf

r_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo>.

Niman, Nicolette Hahn. The Carnivores Dilemma. 2009. Practical Argument: A Text and

Anthology. By Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandel. Third ed. Boston: Bedford/St.

Martins, 2016. 699-702. Print.

Normal and GMO Chicken (Figure 1). Digital Image. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.

<https://goo.gl/images/2S5lhS>

Taylor, Sunaura. Humane Meat? No Such Thing. 2011. Practical Argument: A Text and

Anthology. By Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandel. Third ed. Boston: Bedford/St.

Martins, 2016. 707- 10. Print.

Tinker, Ben. "Fast Food Restaurants Improve Grades on Antibiotics in Their Meat." CNN, 20

Sept. 2016. Web. 03 Mar. 2017. <http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.csun.edu/ps/i.do?

&id=GALE%7CA464065717&v=2.

1&u=csunorthridge&it=r&p=EAIM&sw=w&authCount=1>.

Walsh, Bryan. "The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production."

Time.com. Time, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

<http://science.time.com/2013/12/16/the-triple-whopper-environmental-impact-of-global-

meat-production/>.