Eating animals is the circle of life
Nature wants us to eat them
It can sometimes be tricky to pin down just what people mean when using 'circle of life' as a justification for the mass killing and eating of animals. On more than one occasion I've asked those using it to expand on what they mean and found them unable to do so. It's a pretty vague phrase all said and done, but one that conjures up the notion of being in harmony with nature or of somehow being a vital part of earth's natural systems - perhaps that's why people like to say it so much.
What I think is being put forward as 'the circle of life' is the constant and ongoing process of all living things
on this planet. They are born, they live, and they die - and in death they return to and nourish the earth.
The cycle goes something like this:
- We (or other plants and animals) come into existence.
- We grow and age.
- We hopefully benefit the earth in some way.
- We die.
- We return to the earth (as nourishment).
- The cycle continues for all life on earth, over and over again.
Collins dictionary defines the circle of life as being "nature's way of taking and giving life back to earth…
meaning that if something dies it gives new life to another".
The problem with using this as a justification to eat meat is that it couldn't be further from what really
happens to us, the earth and the animals through animal agriculture and our consumption of animal products.
Yes, (massive amounts of) animals are born and killed during this process, but from start to finish there is nothing you could honestly point to as being cyclical, nourishing or of any actual benefit to the planet (other than financial).
Below you'll find just some of the issues that arise from raising animals for food. None of them invoke
anything even close to a so-called 'circle of life' or of any process that is beneficial to nature. They harm the planet's ecosystems whilst providing poor nourishment to humans (compared to plant foods) and zero nourishment to the planet itself.
The list is a long one because the problems are many, but this is just a brief selection of the many problems
we create when we choose to eat animals and their secretions.
What I think is being put forward as 'the circle of life' is the constant and ongoing process of all living things
on this planet. They are born, they live, and they die - and in death they return to and nourish the earth.
The cycle goes something like this:
- We (or other plants and animals) come into existence.
- We grow and age.
- We hopefully benefit the earth in some way.
- We die.
- We return to the earth (as nourishment).
- The cycle continues for all life on earth, over and over again.
Collins dictionary defines the circle of life as being "nature's way of taking and giving life back to earth…
meaning that if something dies it gives new life to another".
The problem with using this as a justification to eat meat is that it couldn't be further from what really
happens to us, the earth and the animals through animal agriculture and our consumption of animal products.
Yes, (massive amounts of) animals are born and killed during this process, but from start to finish there is nothing you could honestly point to as being cyclical, nourishing or of any actual benefit to the planet (other than financial).
Below you'll find just some of the issues that arise from raising animals for food. None of them invoke
anything even close to a so-called 'circle of life' or of any process that is beneficial to nature. They harm the planet's ecosystems whilst providing poor nourishment to humans (compared to plant foods) and zero nourishment to the planet itself.
The list is a long one because the problems are many, but this is just a brief selection of the many problems
we create when we choose to eat animals and their secretions.
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- Animals -
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- More than six million animals are killed for food every hour.
- We kill around 1,200,000,000 (1.2 billion) animals for food every single week.
- On a planet of seven billion people (a large portion of which eat little or no meat) we slaughter seventy
billion land animals every year.
- The animals we eat have been selectively bred to increase yields, and suffer a variety of debilitating health
defects as a result.
- The animals we eat are killed as babies or infants. The slaughter age of chickens is just 42 days old and for
pigs it's twenty-six weeks (their natural lifespans are eight years and twelve years respectively).
- Animals are forced onto crowded transport trucks when taken to slaughter, a trip which can take up to 24
hours without food or water often in extreme temperatures. Each year millions of animals arrive at the
slaughterhouse dead, dying, sick or injured.
- Male dairy calves are removed from their mothers shortly after birth (cows, like humans, must be pregnant to
produce milk) then killed not long after that (usually for veal). The mother is then re-impregnated whilst
the milk she creates is taken away for humans to consume.
- The 'layer' breed of hens have been genetically manipulated to lay up to three hundred eggs per year, when
in nature they would lay less than twenty. This results in massive losses of calcium and other vital minerals,
the animals suffering a variety of health problems as a result.
- Male 'layer' chicks are deemed useless to the industry as they don't produce eggs (and don't grow large
enough to be profitable for meat) so on the day of their birth they are tossed alive into grinding machines,
dumped en masse into gas chambers or simply discarded in large plastic containers to suffocate or starve to
death. They are born and die in motherless, mechanised hatcheries. Six billion male chicks are killed this way
globally each year.
- 80% of antibiotics sold in the United States are fed to livestock in order to prevent the many illnesses the
animals would otherwise suffer from being crammed together in such filthy conditions. Doing this creates
more and more antibiotic resistance in humans, as well as creating the perfect environment for deadly
superbugs and viruses to develop.
- We kill around 1,200,000,000 (1.2 billion) animals for food every single week.
- On a planet of seven billion people (a large portion of which eat little or no meat) we slaughter seventy
billion land animals every year.
- The animals we eat have been selectively bred to increase yields, and suffer a variety of debilitating health
defects as a result.
- The animals we eat are killed as babies or infants. The slaughter age of chickens is just 42 days old and for
pigs it's twenty-six weeks (their natural lifespans are eight years and twelve years respectively).
- Animals are forced onto crowded transport trucks when taken to slaughter, a trip which can take up to 24
hours without food or water often in extreme temperatures. Each year millions of animals arrive at the
slaughterhouse dead, dying, sick or injured.
- Male dairy calves are removed from their mothers shortly after birth (cows, like humans, must be pregnant to
produce milk) then killed not long after that (usually for veal). The mother is then re-impregnated whilst
the milk she creates is taken away for humans to consume.
- The 'layer' breed of hens have been genetically manipulated to lay up to three hundred eggs per year, when
in nature they would lay less than twenty. This results in massive losses of calcium and other vital minerals,
the animals suffering a variety of health problems as a result.
- Male 'layer' chicks are deemed useless to the industry as they don't produce eggs (and don't grow large
enough to be profitable for meat) so on the day of their birth they are tossed alive into grinding machines,
dumped en masse into gas chambers or simply discarded in large plastic containers to suffocate or starve to
death. They are born and die in motherless, mechanised hatcheries. Six billion male chicks are killed this way
globally each year.
- 80% of antibiotics sold in the United States are fed to livestock in order to prevent the many illnesses the
animals would otherwise suffer from being crammed together in such filthy conditions. Doing this creates
more and more antibiotic resistance in humans, as well as creating the perfect environment for deadly
superbugs and viruses to develop.
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- The Environment -
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- There are no sewage or treatment works to remove the massive volumes of waste produced by the billions of
animals we raise for food. The issues this creates are the leading causes of environmental problems
ranging from freshwater pollution to ocean dead zones, as well as poisoning those in the local communities.
- 2500 gallons of water are needed to produce just one pound of beef.
- One thousand litres of water are used to produce one litre of milk.
- Up to one third of all freshwater consumption on earth is attributed to animal agriculture.
- The leading causes of rainforest destruction are raising livestock and livestock feed production.
- 91% of Amazon deforestation is caused by animal agriculture.
- Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction with experts believing we've entered the sixth
mass extinction event in earth's history (the last one being the dinosaurs).
- 130 times more animal waste is produced in the United States than human waste.
animals we raise for food. The issues this creates are the leading causes of environmental problems
ranging from freshwater pollution to ocean dead zones, as well as poisoning those in the local communities.
- 2500 gallons of water are needed to produce just one pound of beef.
- One thousand litres of water are used to produce one litre of milk.
- Up to one third of all freshwater consumption on earth is attributed to animal agriculture.
- The leading causes of rainforest destruction are raising livestock and livestock feed production.
- 91% of Amazon deforestation is caused by animal agriculture.
- Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction with experts believing we've entered the sixth
mass extinction event in earth's history (the last one being the dinosaurs).
- 130 times more animal waste is produced in the United States than human waste.
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- Nourishment -
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- The United States could feed 800 million people with the grain it instead feeds to livestock (around 900
million people are starving globally)
- We currently grow enough grain globally to feed ten billion people, but much of it is instead fed to livestock.
- 82% of starving children live in countries that feed much of the food they grow to animals. The animals are
then eaten by people in wealthier countries.
- The majority of the leading causes of death in western countries are dietary related.
- Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in the developed world. A plant-based, whole foods
diet can help prevent (and even reverse) it.
- At least 30% of cancers in the western world are dietary-related.
- Vegetarians have been found to be 40% less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters.
- Evidence suggests a plant-based diet can prevent many of the world's top killers.
million people are starving globally)
- We currently grow enough grain globally to feed ten billion people, but much of it is instead fed to livestock.
- 82% of starving children live in countries that feed much of the food they grow to animals. The animals are
then eaten by people in wealthier countries.
- The majority of the leading causes of death in western countries are dietary related.
- Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in the developed world. A plant-based, whole foods
diet can help prevent (and even reverse) it.
- At least 30% of cancers in the western world are dietary-related.
- Vegetarians have been found to be 40% less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters.
- Evidence suggests a plant-based diet can prevent many of the world's top killers.
It's hard to see how the mass exploitation, harm and destruction seen above is in any way related to beneficial circles of life or indeed anything of use to the natural world, and when we consider these issues with a logical mind it's pretty clear that 'circle of life' is little more than a romanticized appeal to nature fallacy.
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- Further Information -
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Many of the facts above are taken from the documentary Cowspiracy, which focuses on the laundry-list
of environmental issues caused by animal agriculture that go largely ignored by the main environmental organisations. |
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Gary Yourofsky: Circle of life
hypocrisy |
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The ADAPTT Kill Counter is also worth a quick look. It's a running total of the number of animals killed
for food that starts running when you open the page. The speed and volume at which the numbers rise
gives a truly sobering perspective.
for food that starts running when you open the page. The speed and volume at which the numbers rise
gives a truly sobering perspective.
"We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to."
Terri Swearingen
Terri Swearingen