Article "Why Consuming Animals May Be The Right Thing To Do"

Article: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1173381--why-it-s-good-and-ethical-to-eat-meat?bn=1#article

When I read this article, I was just plain astounded.  None of these points gave any good reason why animals should be killed.

“All animals die. The choice for a pig is not between painful death and perpetual life, but between one death and some other. If we ate only animals that died naturally, then could there be any rational objection to our eating them — to eating their flesh in celebration of their life rather than burying it to rot or merely burning it?” - Adam Gopnik from The Table Comes First

I completely agree that if people only ate animals that died naturally, then there should not be any objection to eating them.   Unfortunately, the demand for meat is too high and that is why there are animals being and tortured and killed.

“That’s the ultimate goal, to have a swift kill so that the animal doesn’t know,” Stephen Alexander, butcher

My question: is human death okay, as long as it is done as quickly as possible?

 “You’re killing them to live, you’re killing them because you enjoy meat, because it’s good for you. But at the end of the day, there is the cold, hard truth that you’re killing animals to eat their meat . . . You have to justify it to yourself and that’s all there is to it.” Stephen Alexander, butcher

Killing animals is not necessary for you to live.  You do not "need" things that only come from animals.  Otherwise, all vegetarians would be dead.  As well, where do you think that the animals get those nutrients from?  Animals get their nutrients from fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc.  You can get all the nutrients you need to live without eating meat.

People kill animals because they enjoy meat.  I understand that meat tastes good.  Just because I'm a vegetarian doesn't mean that I think meat tastes bad.  When I used to eat meat, I mostly liked chicken and hamburgers the best.  Going without meat, of course, I miss those things.  I have found so many delicious fake meats.  Veggie Patch is one of my favourites.  Fake chicken nuggets and wings.  Tofurky is another delicious brand of fake meat products.  You don't have to go without the meat taste if you don't eat meat.

The last statement claims that meat is good for you.  The truth is that meat is not good for you.  it's not healthy.  By eating meat, it leaves you exposed to many animal diseases, you ingest the chemicals and hormones that some animals are given (to make them "fatter"), you get high cholesterol and much higher chance of heart diseases, and more.  There are many diseases (I can't list them all) that you are at a much higher risk at getting just because you eat meat.  Saying meat is good for you is like saying chocolate is good for you, or sugar is good for you, or pop/soda is good for you.  It just isn't.

Then the last sentence - you just have to justify it to yourself.  Well, if you have to justify it to yourself, is it really right?  If you kill another human, you probably have to justify that to yourself.  Does that mean it's okay, once you've justified it?  On a lower level, if you rob a house, and you justify it to yourself, is that okay too?

“As a hunter, you can go out and get your food. Humanely kill the animal you’re hunting. You pay respect to that animal by eating as much of the meat possible and by enjoying your harvest with your family." Mike O'Shea, former CFL all-stare linebacker

If you kill a human, and then enjoy the human feast with your family, eating every part of his or her body, is that okay too?  Of course, the human was killed humanely.

That article was so poorly written.  It was (obviously) very biased towards meat eaters.

Any thoughts?