When people learn I’m vegan, they often share their personal beliefs, which often are that they think we need to focus on more humane methods of animal agriculture. They believe eating animals is normal, natural, and here to stay.
Most people don’t consciously condone violence against animals. The majority viewpoint is that it’s OK to use animals anyway we see fit, so long as we “treat them well” in the process. The problems is, in practice it’s nearly impossible to avoid massive suffering once you put beings in the category of property and units of production. Even the minority of animals who are given some freedoms and exposure to natural living environments, will suffer greatly – emotionally and physically – during the production process. And of course “humane slaughter” is an oxymoron, is it not?. When it comes to using animals on the massive scale we do currently, no qualifying is necessary: it is impossible to avoid massive suffering.
Sure, eating animals is normal and natural. So are lots of other behaviors we’ve outlawed as uncivilized and immoral, such as human slavery, rape and murder to name a few. With respect to non-humans we call these things by euphemisms like domesticate/house, impregnate, and harvest, and so as a society condone this institutional violence. It is our current normal. It’s so common that we’re largely blind to it.
Yes humans eating animals probably is here to stay, at least for quite some time. Though it does seem the time is ripe for a new normal to emerge. Meat eating is trending downwards. Major food companies are investing R&D into vegan foods and introducing new products at an unprecedented rate. Increasing numbers of people are concerned about the health and environmental consequences of eating animal foods. And with increasing awareness about the horrors of animal agriculture combined with increasing awareness about the social and emotional lives of animals, consciousness and attitudes about our relationship with animals also are evolving.
The growing vegan movement says we shouldn’t use animals at all. We should accept them as other beings with the right to life and freedom from becoming our property and resources. I became vegan after becoming aware of factory farming and being very disturbed at the treatment of animals. But once I reflected on the whole practice and educated myself on nutrition, I realized it’s not necessary to use animals to meet all my needs very well, and in fact it’s beneficial to forgo animal-based foods. So I now am firmly in the “don’t use/objectify animals at all” camp. I believe this quote is credited to Edgar’s Mission in Australia, and it sums up the sentiment perfectly: “If I can live a happy and healthy life without harming others, why wouldn’t I?”