A Friendly Conversation: Exploring Omnivorous vs. Vegetarian Diet

[Bring4th_Austin]

So I was just curious: With veggie options freely available, that didn't cause the death of an animal, why go to all the trouble of trying to find 'humanely slaughtered' meat? Seems like a lot of hassle to me, with dubious results, so I was just wondering why, in general, meat-eaters go to such great lengths. It seems a lot easier to just quit eating animals.

But try telling that to the animals who are suffering (or to humans that are suffering).

Responsibly grown produce takes just as much effort to find as humanely raised meat. If you're unaware of the source of your vegetables (and a quip on the grocery store shelf doesn't count), then you have no clue exactly what sort of suffering is caused by it's production. How do they deal with pests/varmints? (For wholesale producers, varmints are probably poisoned and die suffering.) What sort of animals are harmed and displaced by the production? (And not just insects, but the millions of living beings which might have previously called an acre of monoculture home.) What sort of harm is done to the local and surrounding ecosystems causing suffering? What sort of harm is done to the greater ecosystem? What sort of labor do they use? (For wholesale producers, most likely underpaid immigrant workers working and living in conditions I wouldn't consider "humane".) Also, just as importantly for me, what is their intent in growing the food? I believe fully that our intent will affect the "emotions" of a plant...if a lettuce plant is viciously uprooted from the ground by a disgruntled worker, having only been placed there for the sole reason of profit, do you think that lettuce plant lived a happy life? These are a small fraction of considerations given to food production which could cause suffering on some level.

I know that most vegetarians feel that it is more ethical to slaughter a plant rather than an animal, and that's where the philosophy departs from my own beliefs; there will be disagreement there that is beyond recourse. But the argument that finding ethically raised meat is wasted effort when there's plenty of vegetarian options available I do not buy at all. It takes just as much effort to be sure that the vegetables you're eating were grown without unnecessary harm to living beings, directly through production or indirectly through influence on the ecosystem, as it does to find meat that is humanely raised.