What moral/ethical issues (if applicable) convinced you to become vegetarian?

Question

For me, I would have a huge problem with inhumane treatment of animals but I don't seem to have an inbuilt aversion to killing them to eat. I have to say that I don't know exactly how the animals I eat are treated but I am going to make an effort to find out just in case. For me, the traditional way of killing animals with respect as seen in many extant hunter-gatherer tribes is acceptable combined with better and more stress-free technology. I may change my mind about this but not yet.

The other concern that I think may convert me is the fact that with modern population growth, eating meat is so unsustainable and negatively effects the environment. As a biologist who wants to work in conservation and sustainable development, I think that this moral concern may be enough to change my diet even if I was eating perfectly when eating meat.

Anyway I'm just wondering are there any other concerns that you guys have. Thanks.

Answer 1

I'm vegetarian for health benefits but I think fish might be an exception.  Fish, I hear, is good for you.  The American Heart Association recommends that you eat fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids twice a week in order to reap specific health benefits.

Answer 2

The way animals are treat in slaughterhouses put me off meat for life.

I went veg at 8. As a child, it never felt right for me to eat something that was once an animal that wanted to live.  I don't want to support something that causes suffering. Animals are full of fear when they are about to be slaughtered. Even now, the word 'slaughter' sends chills down my spine.

Being meat free is in accordance with my spiritual beliefs. I'm not a Buddhist, but I have adopted some Buddhist ethics/values. I believe in the practice of non- violence to all sentient beings. I would not kill an animal myself, so I don't pay for others to do it for me.

Once I had seen the connection between living creature and it's death to satisfy my taste buds, I vowed to never eat meat again. And I've never looked back.

Answer 3

Inhumane treatment and killing of animals.  When I was younger I always loved animals, but managed to keep a good ignorance that the animals I ate were "animals" in the same way pets and animals at the park were.  Obviously I realised the truth, but it just didn't fully connect.  

Then, I saw video and read tales of how cruelly they're treated, which then knocked down my self-imposed wall of ignorance and I started seeing them more clearly as living, sentient beings just like every other animal.  So I stopped eating meat.

It just seems ridiculous to kill an animal for a meal when you don't need to.  You mentioned hunter-gatherer tribes, but even that's fairly antiquated.  Most ancient (and even modern) tribes hunted because they needed to, as there wasn't enough vegetation available.  Interestingly, many cultures actually developed complex farming practices and lived completely vegetarian (and even vegan) lifestyles... Pueblo Indians, many sects of ancient Hinduism, etc... and were among some of the healthiest people in the world.  

And in today's world, hunting and eating meat is no longer necessary, coz face it, most of us shop at the store to buy all our food, and you can just as easily pick up a package of Fantastic Falafel as you can a chicken breast (and for much cheaper, at that).  You don't need to eat or buy meat.  At all... ever.  There are always other options - it's not a matter of "must kill animals to survive!".  

Likewise, hunters really p**s me off, for so many reasons... First of all, the whole "it's natural, I'm just living off the land" argument is BS.  If you want to "live off the land" then cool, go for it... live off the land.  Don't be a p**sy and go to the grocery store for ANYHTHING... completely live off the land.  See how well you do at that.  Secondly... guns... yeah, no.  Thirdly, as for "population control"... Uh, human's are more overpopulated than any other species.  So, will we see human hunting season anytime soon?  Besides, there is no set "natural order", and by humans trying to enforce such a thing, we're actually destroying "the natural order" process.  The fact is, population ratios change... the species population ration now is different from 100 years ago, is different from 1000 years ago, is different from 10,000 years ago, etc...  It's an evolution.  Had humans not been allowed to become "over-populated", we wouldn't be here today.

And then yeah... the unsustainability.  Though frankly, I don't pay much heed to that, as that unsustainability is directly linked insane human population growth, which you'd think we'd be more concerned about than the population growth of deer.  If we really want to kill ourselves so badly (as we're already struggling for all kinds of resources) that we can't deliberate slow down the population growth (note: pigeons, rats, squirrels, etc... won't mate unless they have enough resources to care for their offspring... So why aren't humans that intelligent) then good riddance!

/rant rant rant

=D

Answer 4

I didn't really approve of eating animals at all, but that is not what made me a vegetarian. Before, when I was around ten or so, I thought that all farms were like scenes from childrens books, with all the animals being treated well. But then my cousin, who was a vegetarian, showed me what really goes on at factory farms, I decided I would quit eating meat.

Answer 5

That animals have souls too, just like human beings. Due to my spiritual/religious beliefs (Hinduism), I see sanctity in all life. Every sentient being has a soul so for that reason, should not be subject to torture for us to fill our plates.

Answer 6

I'm a vegetarian and I stopped eating meat because I just realized one day that I simply didn't like it.

The moral and ethical issues are icing for me.  There are far too many issues regarding humane treatment of animals for me to feel that it would be a "right" thing to do to support them.

On that note, I am an ovo-lacto veggie....I try to only buy organic, free-range (etc...) products.  I find the "best" ones at co-ops and natural food stores.

Plus-they taste a h**l of a lot better!

Answer 7

I went vegetarian for the same reasons that you listed, mostly for the inhumane treatment of the animals being slaughtered.

Even if conditions changed though, I don't think I would go back. Meat now just isn't as attractive to me when I think about where it came from, it's flesh (i.e. it's a pig, not bacon).

I would add one more issue though: How could I eat something if I wasn't willing to prepare it? If I cannot stomach the thought of shooting an animal, skinning it, and then butchering it, then isn't it weird that I can still pick it up in a supermarket and eat it? I have more respect for hunters who eat meat in this aspect.

And it's just another luxury turned into cheap c**p. You think people decades ago had meat this often? No. If you're going to eat it, I would expect more enjoyment out of that activity, at least the animal died for human pleasure - rather than that midday snack from McDonald's which is mindlessly consumed. Okay, I know this sounds weird, but seriously, I'd rather have someone enjoying a medium-done filet migon steak once a week than having McNuggets and other c**p every day. A lot of meat I didn't enjoy, so why eat it?

Truthfully, I don't think our pleasure outweighs an animal's suffering, but I still think if you are going to eat meat, it should be an enjoyed luxury, not convenience food.

Answer 8

That pretty much sums up my views.   I just do not condone how animals are pumped full of man made substances, treated poorly in general while "farmed" and inhumanely killed for mass consumption.  It goes against my philosophical beliefs to partake in this practice.

I do not reproach anyone who hunts animals in their natural habitat and kills them with respect, killing only what will be consumed without waste even though I can't bring myself to do it.