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Melanie Joy Quotes

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Famous Melanie Joy Quotes

“To identify with others is to see something of yourself in them and to see something of them in yourself--even if the only thing you identify with is the desire to be free from suffering.”

People Suffering Food Meat Animals Identifying Factory Farming

Book:Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

Source: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

“But why must the system go to such lengths to block our empathy? Why all the psychological acrobatics? The answer is simple: because we care about animals, and we don't want them to suffer. And because we eat them. Our values and behaviors are incongruent, and this incongruence causes us a certain degree of moral discomfort. In order to alleviate this discomfort, we have three choices: we can change our values to match our behaviors, we can change our behaviors to match our values, or we can change our perception of our behaviors so that they appear to match our values. It is around this third option that our schema of meat is shaped. As long as we neither value unnecessary animal suffering nor stop eating animals, our schema will distort our perceptions of animals and the meat we eat, so that we feel comfortable enough to consume them. And the system that constructs our schema of meat equips us with the means by which to do this.”

Values Behavior Empathy Meat Animals Eating Animals Carnism Meat Schema

Book:Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

Source: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

“It's just the way things are. Take a moment to consider this statement. Really think about it. We send one species to the butcher and give our love and kindness to another apparently for no reason other than because it's the way things are. When our attitudes and behaviors towards animals are so inconsistent, and this inconsistency is so unexamined, we can safely say we have been fed absurdities. It is absurd that we eat pigs and love dogs and don't even know why. Many of us spend long minutes in the aisle of the drugstore mulling over what toothpaste to buy. Yet most of don't spend any time at all thinking about what species of animal we eat and why. Our choices as consumers drive an industry that kills ten billion animals per year in the United States alone. If we choose to support this industry and the best reason we can come up with is because it's the way things are, clearly something is amiss. What could cause an entire society of people to check their thinking caps at the door--and to not even realize they're doing so? Though this question is quite complex, the answer is quite simple: carnism.”

Food Meat Animals Cows Pigs Dogs Cats Pets Carnism

Book:Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

Source: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

“If you walked into your local convenience store and bought a package of cigars, you would notice that it carries a label warning of the potential dangers of cigar smoke. Yet research suggests that cigar smoking poses a hazard only to moderate to heavy cigar smokers, who comprise less than 1 percent of the adult population. More than 97 percent of American adults, however, eat animal foods, and despite much research demonstrating the connection between the consumption of animal products and disease, we are not warned of these dangers.”

Health Disease Meat Meat Industry

Book:Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

Source: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

“The ten billion animals that are killed every year for meat and the virulent consequences of contemporary animal agricultural practices remain conspicuously absent from public discourse. How often have you seen media exposés on the violent treatment of farm animals and the corrupt practices of carnistic industry? Compare this with the amount of coverage afforded fluctuating gas prices or Hollywood fashion blunders. Most of us are more outraged over having to pay five cents more for a gallon of gas than over the fact that billions of animals, millions of humans, and the entire ecosystem are systematically exploited by an industry that profits from such gratuitous violence. And most of us know more about what the stars wore to the Oscars than we do about the animals we eat.”

Media Meat Animals Exploitation Carnism Factory Farms

Book:Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

Source: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism