Standing in Livestock's ‘‘Long Shadow’’: The Ethics of Eating Meat on a Small Planet

The Ethics of Food, Fuel & Feed

“…The analysis will proceed in two parts: the ½rst part builds on earlier work that examines the impact of using feedstock to create meat and other animal-based food products; the second part considers the ethics of biofuel production, which has been left out of earlier analysis. 4 I conclude that although there are important and morally relevant differences between various modes of agricultural production, given the present and projec ted size of the human population, eating grain-fed animals and converting food to fuel are dif -½cult to ethically justify.…”

Neoliberal Backgrounding, the Meatless Monday Campaign, and the Rhetorical Intersections of Food, Nature, and Cultural Identity

“…While many vegetarians focus on the health benefits of avoiding meat consumption, including reduced intake of cholesterol, fat, antibiotics, and hormones (Maurer, ), other justifications include disavowal of the human‐centered (anthropocentric) assumption that humans have a natural moral right to scientifically test and to kill nonhuman animals. This ethical focus extends to vegetarians who worry about the reality that most of the meat consumed in the United States comes from a mass production system (Henning, ). Critics note that the meat industry is one of the top contributors to several major societal problems: the destruction of land, water, air, climate, biodiversity and rural economies, chronic human health problems and food‐borne illness, and labor exploitation (e.g., Henning, ; Kim et al, ; Kimbrell, ; Kirby, ; Knight, ; O'Connor, ; Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, ; United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, ).…”

“…This ethical focus extends to vegetarians who worry about the reality that most of the meat consumed in the United States comes from a mass production system (Henning, ). Critics note that the meat industry is one of the top contributors to several major societal problems: the destruction of land, water, air, climate, biodiversity and rural economies, chronic human health problems and food‐borne illness, and labor exploitation (e.g., Henning, ; Kim et al, ; Kimbrell, ; Kirby, ; Knight, ; O'Connor, ; Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, ; United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, ).…”

“…In public discourse on global environmental destruction as well as chronic human health problems of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, meat consumption and production continue to receive significant scrutiny (Andersen & Kuhn, ; Fiala, ; Henning, ; O'Connor, ; Pearlstein & Kenner, ; Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, ; United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, ). In the United States, where a high level of meat consumption is a celebrated part of cultural norms, expectations, ideals, and rituals, convincing the public to eat less meat remains a formidable challenge.…”

Cows, Congress, and Climate Change: Authority and Responsibility for Federal Agencies to End Grazing on Public Lands

“…12 Other experts have concluded that this number fails to take into account the true impact of raising animals for food and that animal agriculture contributes closer to fifty-one percent of all global greenhouse gases. 13 Regardless, the number is significant and government agencies should be acting to address this dire threat, not contributing to it.…”