Aug
3
Something everyone should watch
August 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I came across this page via Marginal Revolution: http://www.chooseveg.com/animal-cruelty.asp
Any omnivorous person should watch this footage to the point at which they are no longer comfortable, and that point will likely be before the end for many. Although the website is devoted to promoting vegetarianism, I’d say that it speaks just as much for the promotion of humanely produced meat. Yes, some will call that an oxymoron, but there are many people out there who believe that it is cruel and immoral to allow this kind of animal suffering just to shave a dollar or two per pound off the price of meat, yet they don’t believe that veganism or vegetarianism is necessary. Yes, it costs more to buy meat that doesn’t treat animal suffering as an ‘efficiency’ mechanism, but for the vast majority of people the extra costs would be such a small portion of their income that it boils down to a matter of priority and will rather than one of means. The nutritional benefits of such meat are also important, but secondary.
Perhaps there are even some people out there who can watch the video and simply continue with their normal eating habits. That’s fine, but at least they won’t be able to hide behind the veil of ignorance that large meat producers rely on to keep consumers buying $3/lb ground beef. There is no such thing as a free lunch. For meat, milk, and eggs to be cheap, the costs must be shifted elsewhere. This video reveals the primary destination of those costs quite vividly. The environment gets its own share as well.