(Source: https://www.parenthub.com.au)
The meat industry has continuously grown into a highly commercialized one. In fact, it is amazing that the cruelty continues to be treated as a norm as animals are harvested just to satiate human desires. The Anthropocene makes a good point in theorizing the trend of global impact, especially based on human growth and human behavior. One of the more important considerations in human behavior is food consumption. We are a species that consume a lot and because of that, we demand a lot as well. The majority of humanity has specific needs and these include the abundant carbs, proteins, and other dietary aspects that we continually seek. The problem with these demands is that many animals are sacrificed. People continue to seek the comfort of animal produce and animal meat to satiate their needs, and this has caused a continuous cycle of suffering. The meat-centric diet has many bad effects, such as heightened levels of cholesterol which can lead to many health complications, so why allow such a diet to continue? Many animals are sacrificed and as a result, human conditions are also affected.
The world is shaped because of these needs, influencing the world through our actions. Ecosystems have been tweaked to adapt to human needs, with the increase of poultry, pork, and cattle because of the selfish desire of people to attain whatever they want at any cost. This is not natural, and hence, it is something to think about. People have been modifying the world around us because of personal gain, and this requires redefinition. Our habits have resulted into unhealthy conditions and we have introduced the pang of problems which include obesity, heart disease, and other issues — all because of our desire to mass produce meat.
You raise a really valid point regarding the ever-increasing demand for our meat-centric diets. With the growth of the human population, it may seem as if we will shortly have a shortage of readily available meat products for our consumption. As we grow as a species, the amount of foods, plus additives and preservatives will continue to rise. You have a great point regarding how we have severely altered the global ecosystem to our liking, it’s remarkable to review the changes that we have created to satisfy our needs. The global ecosystem simply can’t keep up with our dietary demands, leading to more ‘fake foods’ hitting the market. I recently watched a video from CNN where they interviewed the CEO of a ‘meat’ product coined Beyond Meat. Here, various types of plants and plant proteins were combined to create a product that is nearly indistinguishable from a genuine meat product. This is just a small sample of what technology has in store for our dietary future, but this new dietary phase won’t have a large global impact for some time.
Link to video!
https://youtu.be/w1mnqr2Rh0A