Ethical Considerations of Meat Consumption and Its Impact on Society

This essay explores the ethical considerations surrounding meat consumption, examining the arguments for and against the practice. It delves into the religious and cultural beliefs that influence these viewpoints, particularly focusing on the Indian context where the cow is revered. The essay discusses the environmental impact of meat consumption, including the effects on the ecosystem and the water usage involved in meat production. It also highlights the health implications, such as the potential for increased cholesterol levels and the transmission of diseases. This essay also examines the cultural aspects of meat consumption, including the prohibition of beef consumption in some cultures. The essay also touches upon the ethical aspects of meat consumption and its impact on the society. This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the complex relationship between humans, animals, and the environment.

Running head: CONSUMPTION OF MEAT 1
Consumption of Meat
Name
Institution

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People have their specific view points on why they consume meat. Some consume it to discover
delicacies; some for tastes while others is a source of proteins. On the hand, there is group of
people who don’t eat meat because of their own personal reasons. The reasons may range from
religion, health or even beliefs.
The following are the two moral reasons why people don’t take meat;
In many religions across the world, animals are regarded as gods, for example, the most
practiced India consider cow as Goddess and as such, killing the animal for food is taken as sin.
For others, eating meat is not a necessity for living, since all the nutrients requirements can be
found in plants, slaughtering animals for food is not justifiable.
Environmental Factors
As we all know, animals play a big role in the food chain and as such, killing them has a big
negative effect on the food chain cycle and the effects are finally felt in the ecosystem. Second,
for meat to be consumed, it must be processed for it to be edible. The process entails breeding
and animal maintenance, the process causes pollution in the water bodies. Finally, food
consumed by animals is supplied from plants and their residues, the process uses a lot of water
that leads to acute water shortage hence affects the environment (Schwartz, 2014).
Health Reasons
Some types of meat have excess saturated fats such as red meat, the saturated meat increases
cholesterol level leading to clogging of arteries and cardiovascular illnesses. Secondly, there are

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many pathogens that are transferred from meat to human beings. The secondary host (human
beings) develops diseases such as cysticercosis.
Why consumption of meat is culturally ritualized
In India, Cow is a holy animal, it is worshipped. Although the country is a secular state with
different religions, the cow is Goddess to the Hindus, it is a sin to slaughter or eat beef (Sunder,
2019). Killing of animals especially the cow is greatly prohibited in India, it is culturally
unacceptable to consume meat and killing cattle is a sign of violence to the people.

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Reference
Schwartz, R. H. (2014). Judaism and vegetarianism. Lantern Books.
Sunder, J. (2019). Religious Beef: Dalit Literature, Bare Life, and Cow Protection in
India. Interventions, 21(3), 337-353.