If you’re at all aware of what goes in farming in Australia you know it’s a massive horror show. From chicken macerators to pig gas chambers animals suffer massively to end up on your plate.
Every Australian I’ve ever spoken to describes themselves as loving animals, and is horrified at things such as whaling. Most of us even find activities like puppy milling or hunting upsetting.
In light of this; and the knowledge that a few decades ago whaling was a-ok, monkeys didn’t matter, and elephants certainly didn’t feel pain; what makes you confident that what you were raised to consider beneath consideration actually is?
Eating animals is neither necessary nor nice, so why do it?
For me its a few things.
The availability of alternative options and their price - I’m not a rich fella…
The variety/options - if I want fast food the options are 90% meat based, or they’re a salad/veggie burger. If I’m hungry and in a rush, it’s too convenient to find myself in a drive-through and too disinteresting to pick a vegan option while I’m there.
If I go to a restaurant the options feel like they’re all either capsicum or mushroom based, neither of which I am into - or they’re just something I could make at home much cheaper. Why spend $20 on a pasta while I’m at a restaurant? If I’m out eating with family, the parma or steak are just much more attractive options to me
Variety in my own home is another issue for me… Generally speaking I don’t eat meat at home. I have greatly reduced my meat intake, and dairy too. I used to have meat with every lunch and dinner in some form - now I only have oat milk at home, never really stock or cook red meat, very rarely have chicken and I do have fish perhaps an average of once a week… But I’m tired of quiche, pasta and golden curry… I’m not a professional chef… I’m not great in the kitchen… I love roast broccoli with other roast veg, but really don’t love zucchini, mushrooms, eggplant or capsicum so my options for vegan foods are dramatically reduced…
Ultimately, I am trying to reduce my intake but it’s made more difficult by the above for me, personally.