In defense of eating meat

We live in an era of accelerating human progress, even if it does not always look this way. And progress, defined as improvement in social and economic conditions, has many facets. One aspect of human development that is often highlighted is the growing production, availability and consumption of food, in particular of nutrient-rich animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs.

For me, this particular aspect of human progress is  a source of motivation and pride. I became a veterinarian because I was fascinated with everything related to raising farm animals, and drawn by the noble mission of providing animal protein for humanity. I know I am not alone in feeling a sense of accomplishment by contemplating  the evident progress in this area of human activity. Improvements in genetics, nutrition, animal health, housing and general husbandry translate into ever greater quantities of safe, abundant and affordable high quality animal protein products, essential for human life.

 For this reason, it baffles me that some people see these clear signs of human progress as something repugnant, abhorrent, and immoral. Those who oppose modern farm animal production methods and results cite a variety of reasons for their opposition. Many of those reasons can be regarded as founded in ignorance and misunderstanding about the causes and tools of progress in animal farming. There is, however one argument against modern animal farming that is based on a growing body of science and appeals to higher human moral instincts.

 According to proponents of this argument, animals are sentient beings capable of suffering and therefore it is immoral to raise them for the sole purpose of benefiting human beings. Their lives ought not be taken as things and property of humans who can dispose of them as wished. Their well being ought to be protected and their rights ought not be considered inferior or subordinate to those of humans.

 This argument is now spreading fast and wide thanks to the growing popularity and ubiquity of digital social media and electronic devices. I have more than one friend in Facebook who posts something about this topic almost every day, frequently coupled with messages about the higher morality of adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet and life style. Their aim is to shame others for eating meat and to make one feel guilty for the animal suffering caused by one's choice of eating animal-origin food products.

 Enough is enough. Eating meat, dairy and eggs is a perfectly moral act, and modern animal farming is the most sustainable and morally defensible way of raising animals for the purpose of producing food for humans. There's nothing to be ashamed of in either participating or benefiting from the highly efficient animal production industry. Below, I outline my top 3 reasons why.

 First, humans evolved to eat meat and other animal-origin food products. There is ample evidence showing that eating meat is not an accident of human biology. On the contrary: hunting prey and eating their flesh had a decisive role in the evolution of hominids. Eating meat is as much a hallmark of human evolution as walking on two feet, making tools, and language. In other words, eating meat made us who we are. It's in our DNA, literally.

"eating meat made us who we are. It's in our DNA, literally".

 Second, domestication is a two-way contract. Animals benefit from domestication as much or more as humans do. In fact, domestication can be viewed as the domesticated animal strategy to coopt humans to feed, shelter and protect them from predators. By adopting such survival strategy, domesticated animals guaranteed the preservation and multiplication of their genes beyond of what could be expected otherwise.

 Third, before the advent of domestication, humans hunted hundreds of other animal species down to extinction. If it were not for the development of progressively more efficient husbandry practices, the devastation of biodiversity by humans would have been much worse than it is today. If you don't believe this assertion, just look at what's happening to wild fisheries in all oceans. The only way to stop the decimation of wild fisheries is by increasing fish farming, just like the way to stop the decimation of land species was by developing animal farming.

 Now, I want to be clear that I don't dispute that animals are sentient beings and are capable of suffering. For this reason, I am in favor of treating every animal with respect, and care for their well being with all the tools and technology at our disposal. Modern animal farming is constantly evolving, and animals raised for food today under current husbandry practices live a more comfortable life than at any past point in history. I will take my steak medium-rare and without guilt, thank you.