Meat: To Eat or Not To Eat?

Pollan isn't the first to inform me about animal cruelty on farms, and the disturbing details that surround the farm to the butcher process. I've watched enough 20/20 specials to know that conditions on farms aren't always in the best interest of the animal, rather the focus is on what is the most profitable to the farming business.

Despite knowing what I do, I still eat and will continue to eat meat. However, now I have almost a sense of guilt that if I support the farmers who leave the animals in these conditions by purchasing their products, that in some way I am support the very act of cruelty. However, this passage from Pollan eases my mind:

"The farmer would point out that even vegans have a ''serious clash of interests'' with other animals. The grain that the vegan eats is harvested with a combine that shreds field mice, while the farmer's tractor crushes woodchucks in their burrows, and his pesticides drop songbirds from the sky. Steve Davis, an animal scientist at Oregon State University, has estimated that if America were to adopt a strictly vegetarian diet, the total number of animals killed every year would actually increase, as animal pasture gave way to row crops. Davis contends that if our goal is to kill as few animals as possible, then people should eat the largest possible animal that can live on the least intensively cultivated land: grass-fed beef for everybody. It would appear that killing animals is unavoidable no matter what we choose to eat."

Now, the choice is in my hand. I could choose to go vegetarian or vegan and still play a role in harm of animals or I could continue consuming meat but be more responsible in what meat I consume. Pollan's book has encouraged me to seek out grass-fed beef along with other organic products. This way I can continue eating the foods I love and enjoy with less guilt.