As a vegan, you often hear from meat eaters that Meat in moderation is healthy and ethically justifiable. But is that really the case? In principle, it is very commendable to reduce your own meat consumption. Be it for your own health, our environment or animal welfare. But does it make the piece of meat on your plate healthier, more environmentally friendly and more animal-friendly?
In this article I would like to question the meaning of the argument "Meat in moderation is okay for me" - and show whether it is a sensible, logical argument, or whether you are ultimately just deceiving yourself in order to appease your own conscience.
Is it sensible and healthy to eat meat in moderation?
Of course, reducing meat consumption is already a step in the right direction, as you reduce the resource intensity and greenhouse gas emissions of your personal diet, for example. However, one more meat-free day a week makes eating meat neither healthier nor more ethical. It doesn't matter whether you eat 2 or 7 pork schnitzels a week: animal products are still bad for your body. And if you eat them regularly, you triple the risk of heart disease compared to a plant-based diet at any time.₁
Lurking in animal foods saturated fatty acids, Trans fats, animal proteins, Hormones, Antibiotics and Cholesterol. Your body only absorbs the latter from meat, milk and eggs. Ultimately, we can get exactly the nutrients and vitamins from plants that we would expect from animal products such as beef steak. But without the unhealthy ingredients and without animal suffering. Because in addition to the health effects, you are still paying someone to kill animals so that you can eat them. And all this despite the fact that Eat meat not necessary is. From a health and ethical point of view, reducing your meat consumption basically changes nothing.
So don't let your habits tempt you to say that moderate meat consumption is okay. Or would you accept it if a racist promised to only insult two people a week instead of seven? If your food is bad for your body and claims innocent victims, then it simply can't be okay.
Notice: For meat to be on your plate, there always has to be a sacrifice. You can find out more about this in these vegan documentaries.
Eating meat in moderation hardly changes anything
Of course: it is better for your body, our environment and the animal world if you consume your meat in moderation and not in masses. But even if your behavior is better, it still demands sacrifices of your body, nature and other living beings. In my opinion it is therefore not enough to be "only" vegetarian.
Why should we eat meat when it is no longer essential for survival and plant-based foods are available in abundance? There are even meat alternatives that are not inferior to their animal counterparts in terms of appearance or taste. Just take a look at this juicy soy patty, which you can enjoy as a meatball or burger, for example. You can definitely get off to a good and simple start with the Blog article about the vegan life.
Do you have any questions, tips or special experiences with eating meat in moderation? Then just write me a comment.
Stay sustainable,
PS: Would you like to know more prejudices about veganism? Then take a look at the article "Vegan is just a trend" in.
References:
₁ National Institutes of Health: Eating red meat daily triples heart disease-related chemical (as of 08.01.2019), available at https://t1p.de/avcc. [07.05.2020].
