Dangers of Meat Consumption

By: Rose Lu

In today’s society, meat is thought to be an essential part of our daily diets. While it may taste great and provide a lot of nutrients such as protein, people don’t often question where meat comes from or what it goes through to make it onto the table.

Many argue that meat is unhealthy for human consumption, as they are associated with all types of different diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Often, poultry also has added antibiotics and growth hormones that can affect and promote cancer growth.

Not only is meat unhealthy for the body, it is also inhumane and brutal to produce. According to the Huffington Post, animals are not allowed outside of their pens or cages unless it is slaughter day. Poultry animals are brought into the world solely to function as food later in their life.

Meat goes through a long process to get to our dinner tables. Factory farming, farms that raise large amounts of animals for food, encourages consumers to buy more meat products because they are so cheap. Factory farms barely make revenue off of selling these animals. Both the environment and the consumers facing the consequences, however.

It is extremely pricey to raise poultry for consumption. According to foot-tank, a site dedicated to tracking down the consequences of different subjects, the total amount of water needed to produce a pound of beef is 1,799 grams and 576 grams to produce a pound of pork. In comparison, soybeans take about 216 grams and corn takes about 108 grams. It also costs more resources to transport poultry across the world, which damages the environment in turn. Rather than feeding these plants to animals, humans could consume the plants directly rather than having an extra step.

There is another method that many small farms are adopting to make meat production less cruel and more sustainable. Rather than confining animals and forcing hormones into them, these farms are allowing these animals to free-range and adopt more natural diets.

Another solution to meat consumption is to become a vegetarian or vegan. A Harvard study has been proven that plant-based diets are healthier. Athletes such as Serena Williams have adopted a plant-based diet in order to perform better in their sports.

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