“Strong growth in meat production and consumption continues despite mounting evidence that meat-based diets are unhealthy, and that just about every aspect of meat production is an environmental disaster with wide sometimes catastrophic consequences.” “The Case Against Meat” article attempts to convince environmentalists to become vegetarians and achieves this purpose efficiently. “The Case Against Meat” is written by Jim Motavalli, a speaker, journalist, and author of nine books specializing in environmental issues. The article was published in The Environmental Magazine in February 2002, with fellow environmentalists as Jim’s target audience. Vegetarianism is a divisive topic today. Since the rise of environmentalism in the 1960s, vegetarians …show more content…
The reason is good, as it remains relevant to the thesis that environmentalists should become vegetarian and appeals to the intended readers. Jim uses the topic of world hunger to provoke his audience emotionally, and the direct correlation between eating meat and contributing to waste proves the reason relevant. While world hunger may not seem like an environmental issue, the topic still appeals to environmentalists, as a wide motivator in the fight against climate change is to stop world hunger. The article uses evidence from the British group Vegfarm to support the claim stating, “A 10-acre farm can support 60 people growing soybeans, 24 people growing wheat, ten people growing corn and only two producing cattle. Britain--with 56 million people--could support a population of 250 million on an all-vegetable diet.” This evidence supports the claim that the meat industry causes massive waste of resources and hinders the fight against world hunger. The quote shows the blatant inefficiency of meat production, using this to induce the world hunger argument, later giving numerical values that express the positive potential of an all-vegetarian society. Jim Motavalli successfully uses the inefficiency of the meat industry as a reason for environmentalists to become vegetarian and uses valid
Is eating meat a detrimental threat to the environment? This debate over meat’s involvement in the global warming crisis was what inspired Nicolette Hahn Niman to write, “The Carnivore’s Dilemma.” Niman hoped writing, “The Carnivore’s Dilemma,” would cause her audience to understand that eating meat, raised on traditional farms, was a superior alternative to vegetarianism. Niman supported her claim by explaining how industrialized farms and vegetarians produce more of the three greenhouse gases that caused global warming, than that produced by traditional farms. Niman’s article fell short of being effective due to flaws in her supporting evidence and conclusion.
Throughout this book there is an underlying message about today’s culture and how it has changed eating for the better or worse. The first section of this book is all about industrialized farming and industrial eating. This form of food production is superior in terms of the amount of food produced. Unfortunately, in some cases, namely corn, food is being overproduced which brings down prices and hurts the economy. Another con to this form of farming is that it hurts the environment as well as some of the animals in the CAFO’s.
“Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat”, is a famous quote by the well known philosopher Socrates, who believed this is the perspective we should take when we are eating food. Unfortunately, the times have changed and so has the way we eat. We no longer have to go hunting for our food, or grow crops to receive all of our fruits and vegetables. Because we have become a society that has grown into the new world of technology, there would be no need to rely on ourselves for what we need-- we can simply gather our resources from other people. In the book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, written by Michael Pollan, takes us on a journey full of concerns of the “Food Industrial Complex”.
For instance he considers Joel Alatin's opinion about "vegetarian utopia" that it is supported by animal rights activists,although it is a fact that in some places people cannot grow crops because the environment is not able to do it and the author has witness this in his own country where rain does not occur enough to grow crops. "Vegetarian utopia" illustrates a place where people stopped eating meat, but then they would need enormous portions of vegetables which would be unnatural and bad for the health of the environment as farmers would use chemicals to adapt in the new increased demand which would harm the earth and all the living organisms that live upon it. With logos the author wins his audience trust and inclines them to his ideas by leading them with reasons and using
Due to McWilliams’ strong claim, evidence, warrant, backing, and rebuttal to counter arguments, his argument is therefore an effective one, according to the Toulmin method. The most important and key components, that are vital to an argument, are the argument’s claim, qualifiers, as well as the evidence the author uses to support their argument. If there were no claim, then the author has no firm stance or basis for their argument, because they would have nothing to defend or persuade their readers of. The claim James E. McWilliams makes in the article “The Locavore movement: Why Buying from Nearby Farmers Won’t Save the Planet” is that since there are so many factors that are attributed to the destruction of the earth and the waste of tons of energy ,that the locavore movement is not quite saving the planet simply by focusing
He presents a compelling argument for why we have to recall lowering or casting off our intake of animal products, the use of evidence and records to guide his claims. for example, Foer cites the fact that animal agriculture is chargeable for more greenhouse gas emissions than all kinds of transportation combined. via presenting this statistic in a clean and concise manner, Foer makes a robust case for the environmental blessings of lowering our meat consumption. Foer additionally appeals to our sense of morality and values. He emphasizes the significance of compassion and duty in our food choices, encouraging readers to remember the ethical implications of consuming meat.
Growing up with a pescetarian mother (eating no meat other than fish) and omnivore father has not been the easiest of tasks. My mother likes to think she is holier-than-thou because of her diet, while my father just sits and laughs in the corner while eating a stack of ribs. When I read Alan Richmands excerpt “Fork It Over: My Beef with Vegans” I identified with his experiences with vegans because they were what I had experienced with my pescetarian mother over the years. Despite non meat eaters trying to convert meat eaters through persistent ranting, describing in great detail how the animals are raised and slaughtered (guilt tripping), and by trying to demonstrate that food made without animal products can taste just as good as those made with animal products a person can still make the decision to eat meat and enjoy it.
These eaters ignore the politics concerning food rather looking for esthetics and quick service. Due to these disregarding’s, the industrial eaters won’t ever realize that eating responsibly is a way “to live free” (2). Berry then lists off seven points regarding how to eat more responsibly for the passive consumers. These points range from “[participating] in food production to the extent that you can” to “[learning] as much as you can, by direct observation and experience if possible, of the life histories of the food species” (Berry 4-5). Berry also believes that it’s important for the animals that meat comes from to have lived a pleasant life.
Moreover, it has been discovered that in some multiple countries that their food production is approximately twice the amount they need. Therefore, the surplus food supply is being wasted. Due to the outrageous statistics that have been found about the food waste, Stuart advocates more responsibility in using the world 's
As diets and health become more and more of a public concern in America. Two authors weigh in on their opinions on how the American public should handle the problem of obesity as well as their solutions to the overwhelming issue. In one article, “Against Meat,” published on the New York Times website in 2009, points out that the solution to obesity should be vegetarianism. Johnathan Foer who is a vegetarian, claims that his diet and way of living is his the way of improving health in the American public. Foer’s article provides a sense of humor as well as personal stories to attempt to persuade his audience for the ethical treatment of animals along with his personal solution for his own health and the health of his family.
The production of meat and dairy is ultimately killing the environment. The majority of land today is being used to produce meats and dairy. The production of plant based foods on 2.5 acres of land would feed 30 vegans a year, while the same amount of land would feed only five to ten omnivorous people (“Going Vegetarian is Good for Environment”). Producing meat, dairy, and eggs take up about three times the amount of land than plant based foods such as fruits, vegetables, and grains. If there were no longer meat and dairy industries taking up so much land, there would be much more space for producing healthy and ethical foods.
In today’s world, there is a division among the people in the world regarding whether or not it is ethical to eat meat. After researching about eating meat and vegetarianism, I have come to the conclusion that it is indeed ethical to eat meat in today’s society. Sure, eating meat might have its drawbacks, but I have found that the benefits of eating meat far outweigh the negatives of eating it. Eating meat not only helps improve people’s health, but it also helps strengthen our economy and it has little difference in the environmental impact that involves in the farming of vegetables. Eating too much of anything usually results in a negative outcome.
The documentary Cowspiracy, overall, wants to tell us about the truth behind animal agriculture, which heavily affects the survival of our planet. Basically, the documentary said that animal agriculture is responsible for most of the greenhouse gases that lead to global warming, which also affects our planet. The goal of this documentary is to make us believe that the meat industry, and by extension the fast food industry, are the causes that lead to most of our environmental issues. Also, the documentary stated that the amount of water that is used for cows and other livestock is way too much and our planet will gradually face a lack of water. The solution that they propose is just to become vegetarians, which will solve everything.
“I asked myself a question: "Knowing what I know, why am I not a vegetarian?"’ Graham Hill, an inspiring speaker, introduced a new way to eat. During his speech on TED Talk, he explains to his audience how eating meat has affected the world. In a calm and humorous tone, Hill proposes his purpose. He explains to his audience by becoming a “weekday veg” you will live a better live, it’s great compromise that will help people, animals, and the environment.
Veganism is a foolproof method to provide the answers the Earth needs, especially as the world’s population continues its inefficient and environmentally damaging methods of energy usage. People tend to focus on the political sides of climate change, however, the biggest problem the world faces in energy consumption is not transportation emissions but is how we go about out food systems and daily food choices. Evidence has surfaced about how daily food choices impact the climate severely. According to an assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the livestock sector of global greenhouse gases surpassed that of transportation.