Response to Becca

In her blog Becca asks, "What do you think the world would be like, if in order to eat meat, everyone was required to hunt and kill the animal themselves?"

For me, the world wouldn't be much different. This is one of the main reasons why I choose not to consume meat. I find it to be slightly hypocritical for someone to eat meat if they are incapable of doing the deed on their own. This is not to say that some people who hunt for food do not feel a deep connection to the animals that they kill. I think in some cases hunters respect the animals that they kill, even if they're killing for sport, or at least they claim they do. It doesn't make much sense to me, but what else can I do but take their word for it?

I suppose, though, that there would be a different attitude toward vegetarianism if everyone grew up from childhood witnessing the death of animals and even partaking in the act. Today most of our meat is raised on factory farms. The majority of meat eaters will never go to a slaughterhouse. This allows people such as myself to be uneasy about the act of killing animals because it is not something that I am accustomed to seeing everyday. Perhaps if I were I would have no problem killing animals and consuming their flesh.

I think morality often derives from social norms. When those standards change over time, so do attitudes. I would imagine that among Native American tribes who hunted animals on a daily and personal basis did not encounter much vegetarianism simply because their norm was to kill and eat. If there are basically no societal objections to a practice then there is no one to contest whatever act is being done and therefore no objections to that act. To directly answer Becca's question, I think that if everyone grew up hunting and killing their own meat that vegetarianism would eventually phase itself out.

My question for this blog is: How much of a role do you think social norms play in vegetarian diets in regards to encouragement/understanding or discouragement/misunderstanding both of the parts of vegetarians and meat eaters?