WOULD JESUS EAT MEAT TODAY? Perhaps not. Here’s why. Peace by William Strutt, inspired by Isaiah 11 Allastar Publishing Modern animal agriculture causes immense pain and suffering to animals, harms the environment, and damages our health. Yet many Christians believe the Bible gives us permission to eat animals. Can Christian teachings and principles help guide our food choices? As ChristiAns, we are called to serve God, which means that we must be mindful of how our choices affect God and God’s Creation. The Bible relates that God gave humanity “dominion” over Creation (Genesis 1:26), and we see this as a sacred respon- sibility, not a license to ruin the environment and torment God’s creatures. Indeed, many of the world’s problems are due to human heartlessness and self-indulgence. Moving toward a plant-based diet is a responsible, effective, and faithful way to serve God and to protect God’s Creation. How is vegetarianism good stewardship? God’s Earth In Genesis 2:15, God in- structed Adam to “till” and “keep” the Garden of Eden, and by analogy we may see caring for God’s Creation as our sacred task. The typical meat eater’s diet can require up to 14 times more water and 20 times more energy than that of a vegetarian. Indeed, current use of land, water, and energy is not sustainable; resource depletion threatens to cause hardships for humankind this century. A 2006 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Manure and wastewater from factory farms Nations found that animal agriculture contaminate the environment with drug residues, is a leading cause of climate change heavy metals, pathogens, and excess nutrients. Cattle ranching is now the primary reason for and air pollution; land, soil, and water deforestation in the Amazon. Seventy percent of degradation; and biodiversity loss. the deforested land is now occupied by pastures; According to the report, the livestock feedcrops cover a large part of the remainder. sector is an even larger contributor to global warming than transport (cars, trucks, airplanes, and so forth). Huge quantities of the potent greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide are emitted by farmed animals and their waste. Animal agriculture is also a key factor in deforestation, which releases the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The total area used for grazing and the production of feedcrops accounts for 70 percent of all agricultural land and 30 percent of the earth’s land surface. They shall not hurt or destroy About 20 percent of the world’s pastures and rangelands have been degraded in all my holy mountain. (over 70 percent in the drylands), mostly Isaiah 11:9 through overgrazing, compaction, and erosion created by livestock action. 2 Christian Vegetarian Association ✢ Would Jesus Eat Meat Today? World Hunger Jesus preached, “For I was hungry and you gave me food.… [A]s Animals are God’s creatures, you did it to one of the least of these my not human property, brethren, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:35, 40 RSV). Yet, while tens of millions of nor utilities, nor resources, people die annually from starvation- nor commodities, but related causes and close to a billion suffer precious beings in God’s sight. from malnutrition, 37 percent of the world’s harvested grain is fed to animals Rev. Andrew Linzey being raised for slaughter; in the United States, the figure is 66 percent. Only a fraction of what chickens, pigs, and other animals eat makes them grow edible flesh—most is needed to simply keep them alive or to grow body parts that people don’t eat. Consequently, farmed animals consume much more food than they produce. Converting plant foods to meat wastes 67–90 percent of the protein, up to 96 percent of the calories, and all of the fiber. Because land, water, Under crowded, stressful conditions, birds peck and other resources are limited, the world each other. To combat this, the ends of their beaks are cut off with hot blades. can support many more vegetarians than meat eaters. As worldwide demand for meat has grown, the net effect is that the world’s poor have become increasingly unable to afford food of any kind. God’s Animals Jesus said that God feeds the birds of the air (Matt. 6:26) and does not forget sparrows (Luke 12:6). The Hebrew Scriptures forbid inhumane slaughter or cruelty toward beasts of Inefficient conversion of grains into animal flesh burden (Exod. 23:5; Deut. 22:6–7, 25:4). contributes to world hunger. Yet, in the United States, virtually all food derived from animals is obtained through intensive factory farming methods. In fact, nearly ten billion land animals are slaughtered each year, over a million every hour, and the number of aquatic animals killed for food is far greater. These animals suffer greatly from stressful crowding, barren envi- ronments that frustrate their instinctive drives, mutilations and amputations without pain relief (including debeaking, Questions and Answers about Christianity and Vegetarianism 3 If we really love and care about animals, we shouldn’t pay people to raise them in inhumane conditions and then kill them. Fifty billion land animals are killed worldwide each year, and no country has ever tormented and killed more animals than the United States today. If sin is whatever separates us from God, is not cruelty to God’s creatures and unnecessary damage to God’s earth a sin? For many Christians, a plant-based diet constitutes mindful and faithful eating. Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D., CVA chair dehorning, tail docking, and castration), and other painful procedures (Bernard Rollin, Ph.D., Farm Animal Welfare). For example, farmers crowd egg- laying hens in cages so small they can’t spread their wings. Some birds are im- mobilized when their feet get caught in the wire mesh; unable to reach food, they starve to death. Millions of chicks are mailed via the U.S. Postal Service each year. Although mortality rates are high, chicks are deemed cheap and not worth the cost of humane transport. It seems that contemporary farmers embrace any practice that increases Turkeys on a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. productivity, regardless of how much animal pain and suffering it inflicts. During transport to slaughter, ani- mals are often handled roughly and Some calves are chained by the neck in individual exposed to extremes of heat or cold. stalls for 18–20 weeks before being slaughtered. Finally, slaughter typically involves ter- ror and, often, great pain (Gail Eisnitz, Slaughterhouse). Illustrating the indus- try’s callousness, animals too sick to walk are painfully dragged to slaughter rather than humanely euthanized. Typical of the industry’s attitude, Hog Farm Management advised, “Forget the pig is an animal. Treat him just like a machine in a factory.” If we eat the products of factory farming we are, Fr. John Dear notes, “paying people to be cruel.” 4 Christian Vegetarian Association ✢ Would Jesus Eat Meat Today? Your Health The apostle Paul wrote that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and it follows that we should care for our bodies as gifts from God. The largest organization of food and nutrition professionals in the United States, the American Dietetic Association, has endorsed well-planned vegetarian diets. In 2009, the ADA noted, “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle…and for athletes.” In contrast to the predominantly Hens in battery cages have about 1⁄3 sq. ft. per bird. plant-based Mediterranean diet that Jesus ate, modern Western diets (heavily laden with animal products) put people at risk. For example, animal foods tend Almost all mother pigs spend their adult lives to be high in saturated fat and cholesterol, in stalls without enough room to turn around. which elevate blood lipids and increase the risk of heart disease—by far, the number one killer in the West. Because farmed animals are bred to grow quickly and given little exercise, their flesh is particularly high in saturated fats. In contrast, unsaturated fats in plant foods generally improve one’s lipid profile and reduce heart disease risk. Numerous studies show this. The Cornell-Oxford-China Project found that rural Chinese people, who eat much less animal fat and protein and derive the bulk of their nutrition from plant sources, have far less heart disease mortality and much lower cholesterol They [animals], too, levels than Americans or urban Chinese people who eat a more Western diet. are created by the same loving Regarding obesity and diabetes, fiber Hand of God which created us. in fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans), oats, …it is our duty to protect them and barley helps people feel full, which discourages overeating. In study after and to promote their well-being. study, vegetarians weigh less and have Mother Theresa an easier time maintaining a healthy weight than their meat-eating peers. Questions and Answers about Christianity and Vegetarianism 5 Does the Bible support vegetarianism? The Bible depicts vegetarianism as God’s ideal, and the diet conforms to the cen- tral biblical principle of steward ship. In Eden, all creatures lived peacefully, and God told both humans and animals to consume only plant foods (Gen. 1:29–31). Several prophecies, such as Isaiah 11:6–9, foresee a return to this vegetarian world, where the wolf, lamb, lion, cow, bear, snake, and little child all coexist peace fully.