A strong and opinionated article. It contains much that is sound and worthwhile. It also contains much that is not so sound.

That humans were once hunter/gatherers is not necessarily reason for them to be so now. That some cultures eat meat within rituals or worship does not necessarily justify it. That sometimes we kill to safeguard health, prevent disease or protect other food sources, does not necessarily negate the moral correctness of not killing other animals without some valid necessity.

As you imply, everything eats something and almost everything eats some other life-form or one that does so. However, again, that does not mean that there is not a problem with humanity eating other animals.

There are many reasons why farming livestock and feeding ourselves by harvesting animals is not a good thing to do. Not least is the reality that we do not need to do so to be healthy and survive, even if we did do so in the past.

We do not live in the past. We have far more knowledge than we had in the past. Using animals as a food source has many harmful effects, regardless of how people see its morality.

I enjoyed the taste of meat when I ate it. I still often crave it. However I don't need it to life and be healthy. I don't regard myself as a hypocrite. I don't go and insult or abuse butchers or their clients. I do, however, argue against meat eating and the harm it causes to our planet and the cruelty it causes to animals. It is also not cost effective in terms of feeding the World's population and causes massive degradation of our environment as well as making a massive contribution to global warming.

Human population is currently around 9 Billion and of that, around 4 Billion people live at or below subsistence levels. Meat production only increases that inequity being the haves and have nots.

So, whilst I cannot condemn and don't wish to condemn those who cannot escape their conditioning towards meat eating, neither can I condone it for those who have the education and intelligence to understand its undesirability.

We can be selfish and (not necessarily validly) justify almost anything when we choose to do so. In the case of meat eating, there is no valid justification in 2024, except perhaps for a relative minority who may still have no access to any alternative.

Take care. Stay safe. ☮️