The more someone likes meat and likes animals, the more pronounced the problem becomes. “If an animal died of natural causes, I doubt that people would feel conflict over eating it.” “One of the most deeply and widely held moral concerns is to prevent harm,” Bastian says. Fundamentally, if you like all creatures great and small, the idea of causing them harm is at least a little disturbing.

“If you scratch the surface, everybody seems to be a bit uncomfortable about eating meat,” explains Brock Bastian, a psychologist at the University of Melbourne in Australia. This discomfort stems from a phenomenon that scientists have dubbed “the meat paradox.” It comes about when people like to eat meat but do not like to think of animals dying to provide it. If at this point you are starting to feel a little uneasy about your BLT, you are not alone. A 2014 study in Animal Cognition revealed that pigs could understand pointing cues from humans in a way similar to what dogs do. Savvy swine play chase, operate thermostats in their pens and can even learn simple computer games. Remarkably social and much cleaner than their reputations suggest, pigs are very intelligent.

And some people regard pigs-particularly the diminutive potbelly variety-as adorable pets. Consumption is banned by both Islam and Judaism. Americans consume about 50 pounds per person every year-and that is nothing compared with China, where people eat twice as much.īut in some communities, pig meat is untouchable. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reports that people eat pork in more places worldwide than any other meat, with it making up 36 percent of all carnivorous consumption. Perhaps your mouth is already watering at the thought of crispy bacon, juicy ribs, savory ham and spicy sausage.

Author of eating animals