Ah, veganism, I knew you so well...
So, today was an interesting day.
We watched Food, Inc. as a part of my Applied Ethics class. If you are not familiar with it, it is a movie about not only factory farming itself (it glosses over the poultry, pork and beef industries), but the politics of modernized, industrial farming and the toll it takes on the farmers. It also goes into GMOs and how corn and soybeans have become the top crops and for what reasons. Of course, I was aware of a fair bit of this. The GMOs were interesting, of course. In any case, the previous class was about the ethics of animal rights, basically. Why can't we eat animals? They eat themselves, they'd eat us if given the chance. They are lesser beings and do not reason, or are self-aware. These were just the few comments made in opposition to animal rights. Let me give you the twelve step argument that my professor wrote in opposition to these statements, basically providing the sound, logical reason why anyone who accepts the premises should, at the very least, not buy meat from industrialized sources, that is, factory farms.
1. Animals can feel pain.
2. If animals can feel pain, animals have an interest to avoid pain.
3. Therefore, animals have an interest to avoid pain. (1, 2)
4. An animal's interest to avoid pain is more important than a human's desire to taste animal flesh.
5. If (4), then it is morally wrong to cause an animal pain (merely) to satisfy a human's interest in enjoying the taste of animal flesh.
6. Therefore, it is morally wrong to cause pain to animal merely to satisfy a human's interest in enjoying the taste of animal flesh. (4, 5)
7. Producing meat in factory farms causes pain to animals merely to satisfy human's interests in eating meat.
8. Therefore, producing meat in factory farms is wrong.
9. If producing meat in factory farms is wrong, then supporting factory farms is wrong.
10. Therefore, it is morally wrong to support factory farming (8, 9)
11. One who purchases factory farmed meat supports factory farming.
12. Therefore, it is morally wrong to purchase factory farmed meat.
I, of course, saw no problems with this argument. I hate the taste of meat. I hate that I've had to revert back to eating meat. The vegetarian lifestyle I had was far more satisfying. I don't feel morally superior, though. I have a friend who has medical reasons for eating a diet mostly comprised of meat--am I going to impose my beliefs on him? No, of course not. But one must agree that, "I just like the taste," is not a satisfactory answer for causing the suffering of animals. I'll admit--if the animal is treated with compassion and is killed swiftly, painlessly, and respectfully, I can't say that I have, at this time, any arguments to that. I have chickens and ducks. I know they are kept far better than most, and are fed and watered, and are happy. They have had no hormones and aren't forced to lay. They're as free range as physically possible in an urban, owl-filled neighborhood. I'd see no problem eating their eggs, and by extension, eating their meat. Honestly, I find it funny, because the only thing stopping me is the fact that I know their personalities, love my babies since I raised them from day-olds, but also because I simply can't stand the texture or taste. I like cheese, and I guess milk, but I hate eggs and hate honey. Also, in Iowa, the only thing keeping me warm is my leather boots and leather trench, under which I layer cotton and rarely the synthetic fabric. Hate 'em. Therefore, I won't be technically vegan, I guess, but I might as well be. Milk products don't agree with my system.
In any case, I'm hoping that I'll be at least vegan in diet by the end of the semester. At the very least I'll take dairy, but I don't know yet. It's interesting, too, since my stomach has gotten so much more sensitive than it was before. Extraordinarily so.
So that was the extent of my day.
We watched Food, Inc. as a part of my Applied Ethics class. If you are not familiar with it, it is a movie about not only factory farming itself (it glosses over the poultry, pork and beef industries), but the politics of modernized, industrial farming and the toll it takes on the farmers. It also goes into GMOs and how corn and soybeans have become the top crops and for what reasons. Of course, I was aware of a fair bit of this. The GMOs were interesting, of course. In any case, the previous class was about the ethics of animal rights, basically. Why can't we eat animals? They eat themselves, they'd eat us if given the chance. They are lesser beings and do not reason, or are self-aware. These were just the few comments made in opposition to animal rights. Let me give you the twelve step argument that my professor wrote in opposition to these statements, basically providing the sound, logical reason why anyone who accepts the premises should, at the very least, not buy meat from industrialized sources, that is, factory farms.
1. Animals can feel pain.
2. If animals can feel pain, animals have an interest to avoid pain.
3. Therefore, animals have an interest to avoid pain. (1, 2)
4. An animal's interest to avoid pain is more important than a human's desire to taste animal flesh.
5. If (4), then it is morally wrong to cause an animal pain (merely) to satisfy a human's interest in enjoying the taste of animal flesh.
6. Therefore, it is morally wrong to cause pain to animal merely to satisfy a human's interest in enjoying the taste of animal flesh. (4, 5)
7. Producing meat in factory farms causes pain to animals merely to satisfy human's interests in eating meat.
8. Therefore, producing meat in factory farms is wrong.
9. If producing meat in factory farms is wrong, then supporting factory farms is wrong.
10. Therefore, it is morally wrong to support factory farming (8, 9)
11. One who purchases factory farmed meat supports factory farming.
12. Therefore, it is morally wrong to purchase factory farmed meat.
I, of course, saw no problems with this argument. I hate the taste of meat. I hate that I've had to revert back to eating meat. The vegetarian lifestyle I had was far more satisfying. I don't feel morally superior, though. I have a friend who has medical reasons for eating a diet mostly comprised of meat--am I going to impose my beliefs on him? No, of course not. But one must agree that, "I just like the taste," is not a satisfactory answer for causing the suffering of animals. I'll admit--if the animal is treated with compassion and is killed swiftly, painlessly, and respectfully, I can't say that I have, at this time, any arguments to that. I have chickens and ducks. I know they are kept far better than most, and are fed and watered, and are happy. They have had no hormones and aren't forced to lay. They're as free range as physically possible in an urban, owl-filled neighborhood. I'd see no problem eating their eggs, and by extension, eating their meat. Honestly, I find it funny, because the only thing stopping me is the fact that I know their personalities, love my babies since I raised them from day-olds, but also because I simply can't stand the texture or taste. I like cheese, and I guess milk, but I hate eggs and hate honey. Also, in Iowa, the only thing keeping me warm is my leather boots and leather trench, under which I layer cotton and rarely the synthetic fabric. Hate 'em. Therefore, I won't be technically vegan, I guess, but I might as well be. Milk products don't agree with my system.
In any case, I'm hoping that I'll be at least vegan in diet by the end of the semester. At the very least I'll take dairy, but I don't know yet. It's interesting, too, since my stomach has gotten so much more sensitive than it was before. Extraordinarily so.
So that was the extent of my day.