1. You think animals raised for meat are treated well. The vast majority of farmed animals are subjected to extreme confinement, mutilations without painkillers, and ruthless slaughter. Their short lives are filled with misery and deprivation.
2. You think eating meat is necessary. No one needs to eat animal products to survive; it’s quite the opposite. In fact, there are tremendous benefits to ditching animal products for our health and the environment. Right now millions of people are thriving on a delicious and humane plant-based diet.
3. You think eating meat is “natural”. We don’t have claws and large canine teeth to catch prey. And we don’t have digestive tracts built to optimally absorb nutrients and discard toxins from animal flesh. We do, however, have a physiology friendly to plant eating, and science clearly shows many health advantages to sticking to what nature grows: plants.
4. You think you can love animals AND eat them. But if we truly believe that it’s wrong to hurt animals, we must accept that there is absolutely no humane way to kill animals who do not want to die.
5. You think that plants have feelings too. Seriously? Plants have no brain or central nervous system, which means they can’t feel anything. It takes a reported 16 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of beef, so if you’re really concerned about plants, you should be avoiding meat anyway.
6. You only buy “humane meat. All animals raised for meat will face the same violent and unnecessary death. You may see “cage-free, “free-range, and other so-called humane labels on meat, dairy, and eggs, but don’t buy the hype.
7. You would never hurt your dog. For many of us, our dogs and cats are family members, and we make it a priority to ensure their happiness. And in the ways that matter most, farmed animals and our cats and dogs are the same. They all have unique personalities, experience joy, and feel pain.