Ethical Carnivores: An Oxymoron

A new article in a local paper practically made a saint out of the already sainted something or other Niman, founder of Niman Ranch, a producer of "ethical meat." Not unlike the phrase "humane slaughter," that is an oxymoron if I ever heard one, and I told the paper as much. Here is my freshly written letter below:

Dear Editor,

I was disappointed to read yet another laudatory article about sustainable animal agriculture and Saint Niman. Thanks to such tributes, this trendy, elitist food system has usurped its way into people's consciousness as the "ethical" way to eat. The lionization of people who raise living, feeling beings to be killed to satisfy people’s tastebuds is surreal. And of course there is no mention of the terror animals experience as they are violently slaughtered. Even Niman Ranch animals experience the terror of mechanized murder, and it's not pretty.

If it is "ethical" to live off of the bodies of animals who are harmed a little less than others, isn't it still more ethical not to live off their bodies at all? Why is it that vegetarians are often ridiculed for their choices, while "sustainable" ranchers are celebrated as "ethical”? I look forward to the day when your paper writes an equally enthusiastic article celebrating that crazy eco- and animal-friendly concept of NOT eating animals at all.

Only a plant-based diet is truly sustainable - using fewer resources, being affordable for everyone, protecting rather than denigrating our health, and making us truly compassionate people, not being responsible for the death of animals - just because to satisfy our tastebuds. What a shallow, selfish reason to end lives.