Is it ethical to eat meat given its environmental impact?
Introduction
The production of meat, particularly beef, is known to be one of the most environmentally intensive human activities, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and land degradation. For the Christian committed to stewardship of creation, this raises a serious ethical question: Is the fulfillment of our dietary preference worth the environmental cost?
The Christian answer is nuanced: while eating meat is biblically permissible, the way we consume meat must be aligned with our ethical duty to care for the earth and our neighbor.
Main: Three Biblical Principles for Evaluating Diet
The Christian evaluation of meat consumption should move from blanket prohibition to responsible, intentional choice guided by these principles.
1. The Biblical Allowance for Meat
The Christian faith does not forbid meat consumption; it explicitly permits it.
Post-Flood Provision: After the Flood, God gave humanity permission to eat animals, fundamentally changing the relationship between man and creation: “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything” (Genesis 9:3).
Christian Freedom: The New Testament reinforces that dietary choices are a matter of Christian freedom and conscience, not moral law. Paul states: “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4).
2. The Mandate of Responsible Stewardship
Though we have dominion over creation, this authority is not a license for exploitation or destruction.
Care for the Earth: Our dominion is meant to be a benevolent stewardship, protecting the earth for future generations. If our consumption habits—particularly high rates of industrial meat eating—lead to irreversible environmental damage (like deforestation for grazing or excessive greenhouse gas emissions), that consumption becomes ethically suspect.
Avoiding Waste: The Christian is called to avoid wastefulness (John 6:12). If meat is produced through inefficient, resource-heavy processes and then heavily wasted, it is a failure of stewardship.
3. Love, Justice, and Animal Welfare
Ethical eating must consider the dignity of the animals and the impact on the global community.
Animal Care: The Law of Moses commands humane treatment of animals (e.g., caring for an ox). While animals do not bear the image of God as humans do, they are part of His creation, and treating them with excessive cruelty in industrial "factory farming" environments raises significant ethical concerns for the Christian.
Global Justice: The enormous resources (land, water, grain) required to produce meat, particularly beef, raises issues of global food justice. When prime agricultural land is devoted to feeding livestock that feeds the wealthy, while basic food security for the poor is lacking, the consumption becomes ethically problematic.
Conclusion
Is it ethical to eat meat? Yes, but it is unethical to eat meat carelessly or wastefully.
The ethical Christian response is not necessarily to adopt vegetarianism (though many do so for these ethical reasons), but to be intentional and sustainable:
Reduce Consumption: Eat less meat, treating it as a valuable resource rather than a daily staple.
Source Ethically: Seek out meat from local, sustainable farms that practice humane animal welfare and environmental stewardship.
Reject Waste: Use all that is purchased and treat the food with gratitude, acknowledging the cost it took to produce.
Your stewardship of the plate should be an extension of your stewardship of God's earth.
