# What justification is there for eating meat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 7, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659 "2017-07-07T00:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/41 "2017-07-07T12:00:17Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > We are also physically capable of spitting, but it usually isn’t considered acceptable to spit in people’s faces. Spitting is a battery against another person, eating meat is not. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/42 "2017-07-07T12:05:53Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > Meat eating is something , I believe, that needs to be severely scrutinized Scrutinize it all you want. I’ll be over here, helping myself to the sausage and bacon. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/43 "2017-07-07T12:28:51Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I was a vegetarian, once. Now I’m not. I’m usually vegetarian between dinner and lunch, but sometimes I give it up by breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/44 "2017-07-07T12:29:54Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > …(the other lines meat, but has an extremely restricted diet, and is grumpy he can’t eat onions or garlic or most vegetables or many fruits or any beans any longer.)… fodmap? ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/45 "2017-07-07T12:35:56Z")
We must eat them for their sake. Otherwise they would die needlessly, as their habitats were destroyed to grow tofu and similar abominations. So we breed them, then eat them. It is better to have lived and lost than never to have lived at all. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/46 "2017-07-07T12:56:31Z")
Vegetables are food my food eats. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/47 "2017-07-07T13:06:49Z")
OK, let’s turn it around: Vegetarians, how do you justify eating plants? Why is that any more acceptable than eating animals? Sure, we’ve got to eat something, but why should that something be a living plant rather than a once-living animal? Aside: **davida03801** , have you tried pasta products using TVP? I won’t claim that it’s a replacement for meat for every purpose, but when it’s drenched in tomato sauce, it’s really hard to tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/48 "2017-07-07T13:18:59Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > We are also physically capable of spitting, but it usually isn’t considered acceptable to spit in people’s faces. It is if they try to take away my meat! ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/49 "2017-07-07T13:19:06Z")
I don’t mind the veggie hotdogs and cold cuts and ground meat substitute. I even eat Tofurkey at Christmas. But, they have yet to produce something that even resembles the fatty, porky goodness of real bacon. Until they do, I remain a meat eater. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/50 "2017-07-07T13:21:54Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > fodmap? Yup. He was so sick he thought he would have to retire. Then he tried a low fodmap diet and completely recovered in days. He hates it, but it’s worth it. My other friend also recovered on a low fodmap diet, but she wasn’t as sick to begin with. And they both tried cheating. He can’t. She found she could eat onions and garlic. But she can’t eat beans or whole wheat or milk. (She can eat milk with lactaid.) She now has a pretty normal diet, but without being able to eat beans, she’s no longer able to eat vegetarian. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/51 "2017-07-07T13:26:48Z")
Because I value the pleasure and nutrition (at least for small amounts) of eating meat above eliminating the suffering of livestock. That’s not absolute, though – there’s a level of animal suffering above which I’d value more than the pleasure and health benefits of eating a reasonable amount of meat. But we’re not there yet, at least for the types/sources/amounts of meat I currently eat, in my opinion, though I don’t know everything about the suffering for all the meat I eat. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/52 "2017-07-07T13:27:41Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > That is true. Apparently it takes dozens of times more resources to produce a pound of beef than it does to produce a pound of wheat. Except of course where the animals graze on natural grasslands. While this is a minority of beef production these days, it did work for millennium quite well. Still many places where sheep & goats are raised though with no more or even less resources than our industrial corporate farming. Of course most of us love eating beef, pork and chicken; all of the worst commercial meat industry. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/53 "2017-07-07T13:30:18Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > Meat eating is something , I believe, that needs to be severely scrutinized Why? Just why? Do you hate cows? If we stopped eating beef, there would be less than 1% of cows alive in 10 years as there are now. ---
**Author:** ![Marcus\_Flavius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@Marcus\_Flavius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marcus_Flavius)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/54 "2017-07-07T14:00:17Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Except of course where the animals graze on natural grasslands. While this is a minority of beef production these days, it did work for millennium quite well. Still many places where sheep & goats are raised though with no more or even less resources than our industrial corporate farming. > > Of course most of us love eating beef, pork and chicken; all of the worst commercial meat industry. If we were to supply the current demand for meat with “grass fed, free range” animals, we’d probably need another earth. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/55 "2017-07-07T14:06:51Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > If we were to supply the current demand for meat with “grass fed, free range” animals, we’d probably need another earth. But that’s only current demand – if demand was much lower, and meat was grown free range on land otherwise useless to agriculture, would you still oppose eating meat? ---
**Author:** ![Marcus\_Flavius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@Marcus\_Flavius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marcus_Flavius)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/56 "2017-07-07T14:18:33Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > But that’s only current demand – if demand was much lower, and meat was grown free range on land otherwise useless to agriculture, would you still oppose eating meat? Yes, I’d still be opposed to breeding sentient life into existence to use as food. And it’s unbelievable that Americans would reduce their meat consumption to 1-2 meals per weak, if even that. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/57 "2017-07-07T14:26:55Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yup. > > He was so sick he thought he would have to retire. Then he tried a low fodmap diet and completely recovered in days. He hates it, but it’s worth it. > > My other friend also recovered on a low fodmap diet, but she wasn’t as sick to begin with. And they both tried cheating. He can’t. She found she could eat onions and garlic. But she can’t eat beans or whole wheat or milk. (She can eat milk with lactaid.) She now has a pretty normal diet, but without being able to eat beans, she’s no longer able to eat vegetarian. Yeah, I did that for a while. The onion and garlic restrictions were really difficult to deal with – it’s almost impossible to go out to eat, and even food at home has much, much less flavor. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/58 "2017-07-07T14:28:03Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > Yes, I’d still be opposed to breeding sentient life into existence to use as food. What about hunting wild animals for food? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/59 "2017-07-07T15:06:16Z")
If folks want to be a vegetarian or vegan, that’s cool with me as long as they don’t force me to do the same. And really, if animals didn’t want to be eaten, they shouldn’t be made out of meat. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659/60 "2017-07-07T15:22:34Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > If folks want to be a vegetarian or vegan, that’s cool with me as long as they don’t force me to do the same. . Or talk about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-justification-is-there-for-eating-meat/790659.md?page=4)