Eating meat

All I know is that I can't imagine in nature that our bodies were meant to consume meat 3 times a day, seven days a week, with animals being farmed on such a large scale and in such a manner that their lives are shortened to weeks, they're pumped with hormones and brine, their feet never touch the soft ground and they never experience eating the natural foods and doing the natural things they were designed to do. I can only imagine that the disrespect and torture of these animals must manifest itself some how in the lives of their consumers.

At the same time, I can't imagine my own life without eating meat. This causes a moral struggle within me. We have become desensitised to animals being killed for our consumption because we are able to buy 'meat' in packets at the shop. We refer to pigs as pork, cows as beef and sheep as mutton. At the very least, when we sit down to eat a 'meat' dish, we should recognise it for what it is and honour and thank the animal whose life was taken so that we may eat. We should also know the source of our meat and dairy (what do the animals go through while alive?). It is a big deal, and we should treat it as such. The native American indians know this well. Every human being should experience raising an animal then slaughtering it for consumption. Our gluttonous habits would change and we would treat animals with the respect they so richly deserve. We would, at the very least: 1. educate ourselves about the facts regarding what happens to animals so that we may consume meat and dairy. 2. look at buying more humane alternatives (Choose free range/organic and do not purchase meat sourced from battery farms. When choosing free range/organic, make sure you investigate the source properly); 3. reduce our consumption of meat (make sure you get sufficient protein, but don't be fooled by some of the false claims out there about how much that should be); 4. stop eating the meat of baby animals (i.e. veal, lamb, etc). 5. stop eating fish that comes from overfished/endangered populations and fish from improperly managed fisheries.