Morrissey has a point. Killing animals for food is not a very practical way of feeding the most people (read Peter Singer’s stuff). Grow crops, let cattle wander about grazing, give them additional feed, house them indoors in winter and, when the price is right, kill them.
On the other hand, we owe a duty of care towards other animal species. Farming ethically is part of the rural way of life that ensures that cattle, poultry and arable crops continue to feed the nation. Herds of cattle would not exist if there was no market for them, and property developers would be rubbing their hands at the prospect of selling freed up farmland.
Silent Spring is a book well worth reading if you are interested in ecology. Consider a landscape without rare breed cattle, a breakfast table without eggs and bacon, and the dullness of existence without a rich variety of foodstuffs.
odespinner 
2 responses to “Meat is Murder – discuss”
I’m doing a course in agroecology (permaculture etc) and it seems everyone in my class has read Silent Spring, I need to get into it
Rachel Carson’s book is a stark warning to the USA and the world in general about taking care of our planet. Published in 1962 DDT would have been sprayed on crops and heavy industry’s pollution was a concern.