Thanksgiving arrives every year with a heated debate over how to best cook that plump and juicy turkey. But the idea of a tofu turkey (also known as a “tofurkey”) has gone from a joke a couple years ago to a reality for many. While vegetarianism has been practiced for over a thousand years in some countries, it is a relatively new concept in the West. And so, with the question cropping up more and more often, should we eat meat?
Animal cruelty is stain on modern farming. But if that’s what keeps you up nights, don’t swear off meat: Become an informed consumer and a judicious evangelist.
In 2003, PETA compared cruel poultry farming practices to Auschwitz with its “Holocaust on Your Plate” campaign. Needless to say, the campaign caused a smidge of controversy. The comparison is absurd, and it highlights the problem with absolutism on this issue. If you say with a straight face that 6 million chickens=6 million Jews, the conversation is over before it began.
Why not try the soft sell? Use your restaurant dollars at fine dining establishments that serve free-range chicken, and invite friends there. Buy pork from farmers who treat Wilbur right.
If you’re the type to chatter at your friends about your food choices, you’ll do more good by convincing a handful of your KFC-loving pals to make a habit of buying and eating happier chickens than if you chew their ears off (figuratively, of course, since ears are meat) demanding the end of all meat consumption in your presence and in the world.
People consistently tell pollsters that they’re not going to become vegetarians, but they are willing to pay more for certain kinds of ethical food. Why not capitalize on that good impulse?
There are dozens of websites to help you wade through your ethical quandaries and find a position that sits somewhere south of insisting that Tyson=Hitler.
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