Response to Becky

Becky asked: Do you think that if everyone knew the effects of eating meat, the rate of meat consumption would decrease?

Yes. Unfortunately there are far too many factors for me to determine by how much. Knowledge should be, and is, the first step. There are far too many people who simply do not know the condition in which their meat is produced, how cruelly the animals are treated...etc...and for good reason. The companies do their best to keep this information away from the general public for the very reason that it would, most likely reduce the amount of meat eaten.

There are, of course, reasons why this knowledge would fail as you point out in your post. Religion has impact, though I do not know by how much. Misconceptions about dietary needs are another, though this could be combated by more knowledge. Religion, however, is uniquely resistant to knowledge; it's remarkable really.

Lastly, some people just don't care. They refuse to care about the animals. Ethics cannot be argued with an admittedly evil person. I am not saying that all people who do not care for animals are evil, but an ethical argument will only work on someone who cares about ethics.

Question: On an unrelated note, is a vegetarian lifestyle more or less expensive, and by how much?