Food Essay

The topic of ethics when it comes to food is huge. The main argument is that of meat: is it ethical to eat a living thing that was tortured and is it ok to eat meat of cattle that was living in horrible conditions?
In my opinion, I know that some cattle are treated very badly and that could at times effect how healthy the meat is, but in general, I do not care how the animal is treated because the food in the end tastes really good. At the same time, I do think it is mean that they are treated this way because they are living things and even though they can't express in words what they are feeling, we can imagine that they are in pain. But how the cattle is treated before it gets made into meat affects the end result of the meat because cattle that is treated very badly and is tortured gets more diseases than cattle who liven good conditions and if bad meat is eaten, people can get very sick from illnesses such as mad cow disease, e-coli, and salmonella.
This idea translates into where you can find this "bad" meat. Most of the bad or unhealthy meats get sent to Mcdonalds and other fast food chains where this lowest form of meat gets made into burgers, which is also shown in the "Cows with Guns" song. I believe that as long as we (the people) all know what is in the meat and how the cattle is raised, we should then make our decision on whether or not we should eat it. This means that the people in society should be told exactly what is in the meat by somebody such as an FDA administrator and then make our decision if we should at the meat or not. We should not be left in the dark about this situation.
In America especially which is the fattest country, many people eat meat and most Americans do not care about how the meat was produced and how it was treated which is why we have the highest rating of food-borne illnesses and deaths at around 5000 cases per year. One would think that because of this staggering number, society would be more careful about what is in their meat and food, but people still continue to eat fast food on a daily basis. On a personal level, I eat fast food but not often and I usually eat Mcdonalds. When I go there, I eat the chicken nuggets with fries. I do not get the burgers there because I don’t trust how they handle the beef. It is the lowest grade of beef and the things that are in the beef are most likely unmentionable products.
Some people don’t eat meat because they feel sorry for the cattle but some people take it to the extremes in protesting animal cruelty and the group is called PETA or the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. They protest fast food chains that use meat, which was tortured in their cages and they try to get society to stop using animal-based products.
I think that the PETA people take this too far because not everybody agrees on exactly how they think animals should be treated and/or eaten. I do think, though, that it is not right how animals are treated in some different farms or factories but meat is crucial in surviving because they provide different vitamins and proteins such as iron that us humans need to stay healthy when eaten in moderation. Some may argue that there are other ways to stay healthy without having to kill innocent cows and animals but these foods taste very good and I believe that cows were meant to be eaten which is why they are here. In old times, people used to kill cows all the time and eat them so we should still eat them now. In conclusion, We should be aware of how the cows and cattle are treated but I think that after we know this information, we should then see if we would still eat meat or not and I personally could care less about how the cows are treated because the end result tastes very good, doesn’t it?