Every individual on the planet deserves the same love, protection, and security. Different countries experience different prejudices, but all have one thing in common–the mistreatment of animals. If we take a look at America, in total, they consume 52.2 billion pounds of meat every year. That rounds to 270 lbs per year per person. The only country that rivals that number is Luxembourg at nearly 301 lbs per person. These are gross trends that kill billions of animals every year. Something has to be done to stop the killing of so many animals every year. It’s been shown that animals feel bad, they recognize love and hate, and they form bonds with the other animals around them. It’s simply cruel that we think ourselves so much above animals that we are willing to slaughter them by the thousands.
- Animals Want to Live
When you look inside a truck headed to the slaughterhouse, the first thing you might wonder is, “Do they know where they’re going?” Animals recognize the need to live. It is their first instinct, and they fear death. On arriving at the slaughterhouse, the animals can already smell what the place is for, and they become terrified. Butchers have to drag them off the trucks that they spend hours in, cramped and suffocating between hundreds of other terrified animals. It’s an awful way to die. They deserve the same protection that humans seem to have an inherent right to. We’ve established a system that allows you to have a personal lawyer in New Delhi or a car accident lawyer in Huntington Beach regardless of your age, sex, or race. Not that an animal needs a lawyer, but they need some sort of protection. They deserve to enjoy their lives.
- We Have No Need for Meet
Studies show that living a vegan or a vegetarian lifestyle actually increases your lifespan up to 5 years compared to someone who consumes meat on a regular basis. Our bodies not only don’t need meat, but they’re better off without it. Today, we have access to nutrients that promote a healthy lifestyle without the need for meat. If you’re a vegetarian, you have no need to take any extra multivitamins to balance off your diet. As a vegetarian, you have full access to B12 (a nutrient that vegans lack without a multivitamin. A vegetarian diet is healthier than an omnivore but isn’t fully omitted from animal cruelty like a vegan diet is. The milk and egg industries slaughter as many animals as any other meat industry would. With a simple multivitamin of B12, you can live a long, cruelty-free life as a vegan without ever having to eat meat again. And the best part is that you’re healthier for it.
- Stop Eating Meat to Solve World Hunger
6 million children starve to death every year. Of the 7 billion people who live on the planet, 1 billion of them are malnourished. We definitely have an issue when it comes to world hunger. Most people, if given three wishes, would use them to become wealthy, stop world hunger, and give world peace. If one of the three wishes is always world hunger, then why not act and change it on your own? Farming to produce livestock is incredibly ineffective when you could use that land to grow crops to feed the world instead. Livestock need land to live on and another few acres few animals to feed. They use more land and eat more food than they actually end up providing. It takes 13 lbs of grain to produce 1 lb of beef. By eliminating the middleman (the cow), we could feed 70% more people than we do now.
Meat definitely has its problems. It not only is morally wrong but it also is one of the main reasons why millions of people starve to death every year. It causes climate problems, destroys the coral reefs through runoff into the oceans and the production of methane gas, and it is something that is wholly unnecessary for us to consume. So, make the smart decision and decide to give up meat.