English 101 discussion

1

Fish Are Friends, Not Food

Sean Parr

EN101: English Composition 1

Grantham University

Danna Teicheira

March 22, 2021

“A dog is a man’s best friend”. Sweet, cuddly beings that have the most innocent souls. It is said to believe that any “bad” dog is because a human has mistreated it. Such gentle creatures, it would take a truly evil person to hurt a dog. Right? Let’s flip the script. “Each year, an estimated 10 million dogs and 4 million cats are slaughtered each year in China.” (Animals Asia Foundation, 2020) Does the abuse and killing of these dogs make it okay just because they are being used for food purposes? Absolutely not, right?

America has a tricky way of picking and choosing which animals are acceptable for consumption. Listed below are a few animals that would and would not be acceptable for eating:

· Cows: Yes, can’t give up burgers.

· Pigs: Yes! Bacon!

· Dogs: Never

· Cats: Of course not, even for the people who “hate cats”.

· Ducks: Sure.

· Dolphins: Nope.

· Chickens: Duh!

· Penguins: No, they are so cute.

So basically, it all boils down to how sweet and cuddly an animal it to be considered socially acceptable to eat them. What is the difference in pigs and dogs? Both animals have emotions and feelings, learn their names and can learn different commands. Pigs and dogs are kind, loving animals. The only real difference is their looks. Is this what makes pigs acceptable to eat and not dogs? How shallow are humans?

Eating animals does not come naturally. One does not simply look at a bunny and think “dinner!”. It has been taught in our culture and passed down to children. Children learn that “milk gives them strong bones” and “meat will make you big and strong”. Almost every restaurant in America has meat as the main dishes. Eating meat is normal, right? “More than 10 billion land animals are killed each year in the U.S. alone to produce meat, dairy, and eggs. That’s more than one million every hour.” (Factory Farms, 2021) Is that normal?

In America, the educational system is pretty black and white. There is a strict curriculum that schools and teachers are required to follow. This is so teachers do not add any of their personal perspectives into their teachings. In health class, every student is taught the beloved food guide pyramid. People are taught that meat and dairy are important features of a human’s diet. What is not taught is “there is no nutritional need for humans to eat any animal products; all of our dietary needs, even as infants and children, are best supplied by an animal-free diet” (PETA, 2013). Believe it or not, the human body is designed as herbivores, not omnivores. We know this by different reasons, one example is the way the humans jaw moves, which is similar to a horse or a gorilla. The human jaw moves left to right and up and down. The jaw of a carnivore or omnivore strictly moves up and down, like a cat or dog’s jaw. Another example is human intestines. Human intestines are much larger than ones of a carnivore, a tiger for example. This allows the body to break down the fibers and absorb all nutrients in the consumed foods. “Meat actually begins to rot while it makes its way through human intestines, which increases the risk of developing colon cancer.” (PETA, 2013)

Eating meat is a huge part of the American culture. From backyard bbq’s to chili-cook-offs, anywhere there is food, there is always meat or dairy involved. People gather to come try and taste new, exciting foods. The problem is that people do not stop and think “how did this get on my plate?”. If people were to see the terror that the animals have to go through to get there, people may think twice about consuming them. Culture is very important in life, but just because people do something culturally, does not make it ethical. Take slavery for example. In the 1800’s, slavery was a part of everyday life. It was very common for people to own slaves and treat them however they pleased. Just because this was considered “normal” back then, we now know that slavery is immorally and ethically wrong, making it illegal. When will humans stop enslaving animals? Animals do have rights, but those rights are stripped away for our tastebuds.

There is hope for the future of society without animal products. “Non-dairy milk sales have increased by 61% while dairy milk sales have decreased by 22% in the recent years”. (Bourassa, 2021) Fast food chains are now adding plant-based products on their menu, such as White Castle adding the Impossible Sliders and Pizza Hut adding the Beyond Sausage to their menus. Newly added documentaries on Netflix are booming as people learn more and more about veganism.

Just like humans, animals have emotions, feeling and souls. They are creatures that were put on this earth to live just as equal as humans were. Giving them a fair shot at life only seems like the right thing to do. Making this lifestyle change will not only improve one’s health, but also relieve the guilty conscious of killing innocent animals. Remember, Dory said it best, “fish are friends, not food”.

Resources

“Facts About the Asian Dog Meat Trade; Dog Meat Festivals.” About the Dog Meat Trade in Asia, Animals Asia Foundation, 2020, www.animalsasia.org/us/our-work/cat-and-dog-welfare/facts-about-dog-meat-trade.html.

“Factory Farms.” A Well-Fed World, 8 Feb. 2021, awellfedworld.org/factory-farms/.

“Don't We Need to Eat Meat and Dairy Products to Be Healthy?” PETA, 14 Oct. 2013, www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/dont-we-need-to-eat-meat-and-dairy-products-to-be-healthy/#:~:text=No!,by%20an%20animal%2Dfree%20diet

Bourassa, Lacey, “Vegan and Plant-Based Diet Statistics for 2021.” PlantProteins.co, 13 Jan. 2021, www.plantproteins.co/vegan-plant-based-diet-statistics/#:~:text=Vegan%20Population%20Statistics%20in%20the%20United%20States&text=While%20we%20can%27t%20know,that%20figure%20spiked%20to%206%25.