Why I Don't Eat Meat

When I tell people I'm a vegetarian, I usually get the reaction of raised eyebrows and perhaps a joke about how I need to get some protein in me. Sometimes people try to convert me by waving pieces of dead animals in front of me and going "mmmm...see what you're missing out on?". Lovely. They assume that I am a tree-hugging nutter with no sense of reason who goes around spoiling everyone's fun by kicking up a fuss about animal rights.

However, some people react with a mixture of sympathy and admiration and say something like: "Oh that must be really difficult. I could never do that, you must be very disciplined." Those make me laugh, as I am hardly a disciplined person. I just prefer not to eat meat, that's all. It's no big deal and I don't want a fuss. Just pass me a veggie burger and leave it at that, okay?


As part of my philosophy course I'm reading a book called Humans and Other Animals by Rosalind Hursthouse and I have an essay due this week entitled: "If animals have no rights, there is still a good case for vegetarianism. Discuss." I've been a vegetarian for about two years now, and my Mum and sister are also vegetarians. Doing the research for this has really made me thing about the reasons why I no longer eat meat. Please note although it would be nice if more people became vegetarians, I am not trying to actively convert anyone. It's a very personal choice.

Reasons I don't eat meat:

-Most factory-farm conditions and slaughtering processes are cruel and inhumane. Despite the happy looking cows and chickens we see in adverts, the reality is that the animals do suffer horribly. They're separated from their mothers much too early, fed terrible diets, pumped full of growth hormones and other nasties and not given the space or quality of life that they need and deserve. I'm sure some farms are better than others and many make claims about the animals being 'free range', but that doesn't guarantee they've not suffered. Unless you've been to the farm personally you have no way of knowing if the animal was killed humanely or had adequate living conditions. So like Peter Singer says, it's better not to eat meat at all if you can't be sure.

-I believe that the suffering felt by the animals involved outweighs the pleasure of the humans that eat them. This is a utilitarian argument. Sure, sometimes it's hard to go without a tasty, tasty bacon sarnie. But that's nothing compared to what the animals go through. It's just not worth it. I don't need meat to survive, it's a luxury.

-For me there are no good reasons to presume that humans should have dominion over the animals. I don't believe that animals were made to be mere resources for us. I don't think they are here to be exploited by us.

-I believe that the differences between humans and animals, such as the fact that animals can't talk or reason like we do, do not justify killing and eating them. Otherwise we could justify eating infants or people with learning disabilities! Bear in mind that pigs have a similar intelligence level to children of three years old.

-However, having said all this, eating an animal may be acceptable in some extreme situations, for instance when one is starving to death and has nothing else to eat. It's just that in most cases it's not necessary for our survival. We can live perfectly healthy lives as vegetarians, so the only reason we really go on eating them is because we like the taste. That doesn't seem like a good enough reason to justify the suffering.

-Like Hume and Rawls, I don't believe that animals have rights, because they cannot understand the contractual nature of rights. However I do believe that we still have duties towards them because they are vulnerable and need our protection (much like young children).

-There are plenty of tasty alternatives to meat without all the suffering such as quorn, soya or tofu. Some of these products are excellent dupes for the real thing-they even do imitation cottage pies, pork pies, lasagne, chicken nuggets and steak and kidney puddings now. There's a lot more choice than there used to be.

-My Mum (also a vegetarian) said that what made her go veggie was something she read in a book that said "Don't eat anything that has a face." That creeped me out a lot!

-I grew up with a lot of pets, including chickens, ducks and geese. I couldn't justify eating supermarket bought chicken but not eating my pet, because there is something hypocritical about that. If I wouldn't eat my dog, why should I eat a pig?

Anyway, that about sums up my views on vegetarianism.


If you're vegetarian, what were your reasons for giving up meat? If you're not vegetarian, I'd still love to hear your views.