Meat Eaters- Finally a Defence

This is one of my articles from the Ecclesiastes archives. Vol. 3: No. 159 – May 16, 2012. Read more Ecclesiastes archives here

What with the recent horrid images in the movies and on TV of the lives of chickens and commodity beef, creatures pumped up with hormones and antibiotics to withstand the imprisoned and inhumane conditions of their lives, most people are unable to dismiss casually the proposition that eating meat may be unethical. So the New York Times ran an essay contest to award a prize on the best essay on the subject written in 600 words or less. The judges were a panel of well-respected names that only the New York Times could assemble. See the following link for the results. The humorist Calvin Trillin crafted his submission in only 9 words. “If they had a chance, they would eat us.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/opinion/sunday/in-the-middle-of-a-food-fight.html

The next link is the winning essay which by any measure is brilliantly written.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/the-ethicist-contest-winner-give-thanks-for-meat.html

Feel any better about yourself? If you are a vegan you may be unhappy to learn eating vegetables may be unethical too.