“If slaughter houses had windows, everyone would be vegetarian”
A well known quote by Sir Paul McCartney himself, suggesting that if the world’s population weren’t being so blinded, we would all be herbivores. An interesting fact referring to the 750 million animals killed for food each year in the United Kingdom. Aside from the obvious reason to why it’s wrong – the completely inhumane, unfair murdering – there are hundreds of reasons to go veggie, including the promised health improvements, or the benefits for the environment.
So even after all these reasons, why do some people remain unconvinced? The fact is some people are unaware of how cruel animal slaughter is. Who’s to blame? It is only up until recent years where it has become more exposed by documentaries what actually happens inside the slaughter houses. This is something organizations such as Viva are trying to promote to the world with the intentions of making it more of a taboo.
Some religious restrictions prevent the growth of the vegetarian society. In religions such as Judaism and Islam, Vegetarianism is frowned-upon and not promoted by mainstream authorities. It is also a general belief (but merely a pathetic excuse) that humans eating meat is part of the food chain. This is a completely ignorant statement and is usually said by people who are not well educated in the subject. Animals are not as advanced as we humans – they can’t boil an egg, or bake a cake, whereas we can. They have their excuse, where’s ours? There is none. We can live perfectly healthily without meat, and as stated above, we are better off too.
A very popular factor involved in the question whether to go veggie or not is the fact that it is, ultimately, animal cruelty. There is no reason to why we can’t live off the sources already placed on our planet very generously by Mother Nature. All over the world, vast amounts of the population are herd into fast food diners like McDonalds’, Burger King and KFC, and while these places cover up the blood, sweat and tears it has took to get the supposedly edible corpses onto a plate for our pleasure, most of the customers will not know that 70% of pigs in the U.K are farmed intensively, under poor and crowded conditions. Most of these hungry carnivores will not know that the Chicken on their plate just reduced its life from 7 years down to 7 weeks, and most of them will not know that roughly 3,500 seals are killed each year in the seas around Scotland, just because they are considered a threat to farmed salmon. Is this not crazy? We have actually reached the stage where we are no longer just murdering the animals we eat, but we are now becoming repeat offenders by killing the animals that may kill the animals we want as if the first wasn’t enough. Well it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee! By law, if you murder another human, you go to jail, yet when an animal is killed at a slaughter house, they get money for it and the fried corpse ends up on some billboard in Detroit. These acts are completely inhumane and unnecessary. Singer, Pink say’s - “I would like to set the animals free and chain up all the humans” – perhaps something worth mentioning to the government.
Becoming a Vegetarian is also considered to be much healthier to our diet. In fact, Harvard University of Massachusetts, United States of America, have studied this query, to find that vegetarians are on average 40% less likely to have heart attacks or Cancer. The list is endless. We herbivores are much less likely to catch the following diseases: anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast, colon and prostate cancer, constipation, diabetes, gallstones, gout, H.B.P, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes, and varicose veins. It really is a no brainer. If you like your good health and have no means to part with it in the near or distant future, quit eating meat, vegetables are apparently really nice these days.
On average, Vegetarians are 12% leaner than non-vegetarians, as farm animals are purposely fattened up to increase profits. This would surely benefit the world’s obesity problem - a campaign within a campaign; two birds with one stone. The majority of cases of food poisoning found are most often caused by eating meat, and too think, you could have just had roasted parsnips and cauliflower that night, instead of diving headfirst into that plate of veil.
The environment would also be improved if more people went Veggie. With the dramatic increase in cattle (all to suit those hungry, impatient customers at MacDonald’s) there is more and more methane being emitted into the atmosphere every day. Something to think about next time you go for your weekly Sunday night binge at Kentucky fried chicken. Another contributor is the fuel that is burned to transfer the meat all over the world by truck, ship, train or plane, which releases more harmful gases into the atmosphere. What’s the point? It’s only going to end up unfinished, at the side of an 8 year olds plate, and slowly but surely kill you as well. See, nobody wins.
This is precisely the thing about meat-eating. Nobody really thinks about the behind the scenes story or the aftermath of the crime. It’s all very unspoken, repressed, ignorant. The boss’s behind these big corporate companies have hidden the truth behind ‘happy meals’ and the very energetic but repetitive, ‘Ronald Macdonald’. We moan about how leaving a light on for ten seconds is putting the earth up into flames and how driving to the shop is melting some iceberg at the other end of the world, but in reality, these factors are inevitable. However, eating meat is not compulsory, it’s been going on since time began, and it’s time it ran its course. Meat also puts a lot of pressure on the world resources. Lord Stern from the government of Brentford says – “Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases... I think it's important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating”.
It is also thought that if the plants fed to animals in order to fatten them up were fed to humans, the world’s food crisis would disappear almost virtually overnight, as well as saving our land and oceans. In addition, our economic situation would also improve, for example, the majority of the price it costs to make a hamburger is paid by the tax man. Without the tax money, a hamburger from McDonalds or any other fast food diner would cost about £21, as compared to the current average price of £1.50. Think of all that money that could be spent on improving public schools or fixing that dodgy pothole in the road you bump into every morning? Let your imagination explore because the sky is the limit when it comes to opportunities.
Another major problem with animal rights is the lack of them in foreign countries, such as Northern Africa and Southern America, where rules and regulations are close to none. In the United Kingdom, animals must be stunned, to keep pain of the animal to a minimum. There are also new regulations on their living conditions, and it is becoming more frequent that animals must be kept in monitored, clean, open environments. However, unfortunately this is not the case in other countries. Animals are kept in the poorest of environments to keep costs as low as possible. One of the worst cases of this is with merino sheep. In the 18th Century, Thousands of Merino sheep were imported to Australia. This was to increase their wool production with the hot, sunny climate. The sheep do not survive happily in this climate. Their wool grows excessively and the sheep grow to a very poor condition where their faces are almost completely hidden and flies take residency in their wool. Once they have completed their time in Australia, they are transported elsewhere to make place for the next sheep. On the ships, if there is not enough room, they are killed. Unlike in the U.K, there are no rules on how they are killed or when, and many have their throat slit whilst being perfectly conscious. PETA, a well known organisation which prevents cruelty to animals attacked this tradition, and have now placed animal welfare developments on the issue, although, the problem remains unsolved.
In summary, Vegetarians have better health, spend less on food, are more environmentally green, and are not involved with the cycle of death. Knowing where your food comes from and what it does to your body is a privilege that comes at no cost. Vegetarianism is a lifestyle choice that has been proven to increase lifespan, lower obesity, and promote a more healthy and active life. If people were made more aware of the abuse and mistreatment of animals, not to mention how unhealthy, and how brutally the food in front of them is produced, I believe that a large portion of people would no longer eat meat. After all, it’s better for them, and better for you.
