Some Ethical Considerations for Eating Meat

Since beginning CrossFit, most of you have probably had to increase the amount of meat protein you consume. This is not surprising. Meat is calorie dense and therefore supplies the body with energy. As for muscular development, animal meat is the ideal building block for human meat. The brain also thrives on the fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6 which are found in animal fats and tissue. Unfortunately, eating meat, as with most of our daily consumption practices, comes with ecological consequences. 

Modern meat production in the western world is based on a model of rationalization. This means that the animal is treated not as a living, sentient creature that feels pain, but as a thing. This rationalizing process is about creating as much meat as possible at the lowest possible price.  Efficiency and uniformity are key with modern meat production. Under the rationalizing logic of capitalism it makes much more sense to switch from small-scale animal husbandry to the large-scale models of efficiency offered by large corporations.  Concentrated animal feeding operations CAFOs, (as opposed to traditional livestock operations, where animals were given the time to forage for food and most importantly, the time to grow), are now firmly rooted in the western psyche as the natural way to produce meat and to treat animals. I don't want to go into the gruesome details of modern meat production, but it is really quite horrific. 

So what is an omnivore to do? Research and ask questions! Take the time to inquire about the history of the meat you are eating. BUY LOCAL. Visit the farm that you are purchasing your meat from.  Find out how the animals are being treated. Are the chickens provided with the opportunity to be chickens? To root and forage for grubs and weeds, under the sunlight? Are the cows able to be cows and graze on pasture?  

Charity and I have bought an elk tag for the coming hunting season and we are going to give elk meat a go.  Also, some of you have been asking about bison meat and we will be making another purchase soon. Let me know if you are interested.  

You might also want to check out the following book: The Compassionate Carnivore (2008) by Catherine Friend.

I realize that I have not even touched on the global dimensions of meat production and consumption but I will save that for later! 

Here is Theresa at her brother's farm in Ontario. He has a small, organic mixed farm.  Theresa is showcasing the roaming chicken coop, a wonderful invention that enables the farmer to move the chicken coop daily to a new patch of grass. 

darci