Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Ethics and the Environment
Abstract
A primary contribution of this essay is to provide a survey of the human and environmental impacts of livestock production. We will find that the mass consumption of animals is a primary reason why humans are hungry, fat, or sick and is a leading cause of the depletion and pollution of waterways, the degradation and deforestation of the land, the extinction of species, and the warming of the planet. Recognizing these harms, this essay will consider various solutions being proposed to ““shrink”” livestock's long shadow, including proposed ““technical”” or ““market”” solutions, a transition to ““new agrarian”” methods, and a vegetarian or vegan diet. Though important and morally relevant qualitative differences exist between industrial and non-industrial methods, this essay will conclude that, given the present and projected size of the human population, the morality and sustainability of one's diet are inversely related to the proportion of animals and animal products one consumes.
Pages
63-93
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.2979/ethicsenviro.16.2.63
Volume
16
Issue
2
Publication Date
Fall 2011
Disciplines
Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Henning, B.G. (2011). Standing in Livestock's 'Long Shadow': The Ethics of Eating Meat on a Small Planet. Ethics & the Environment 16(2), 63-93. doi:10.2979/ethicsenviro.16.2.63.
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This item is included in the Center for Climate, Society, & the Environment's Faculty Publications Bibliography.
Find more Climate Studies works by Gonzaga University faculty at the bibliography's home here.