The Manifesto of a Conscientious Omnivore

Many vegans and vegetarians voluntarily restrict their diets in order to change their environmental impact and reduce animal suffering. At different times during my life, I have been a vegan and a vegetarian. Currently, however, I am a Conscientious Omnivore.

As a Conscientious Omnivore, I also restrict my diet in order to change my environmental impact and reduce animal suffering. However, I do this not by avoiding animal products, but by seeking out sustainable, humane sources for them.

Eating meat can positively impact the environment if the meat comes from sustainable, grass-based, local, humane farms. Animals play a key role in ecosystems; farming without them does not respect "nature as measure" (using nature as a guide for how to do things). As Sir Albert Howard said, "Mother Nature never farms without animals." Grass-based farms that practice strategic rotational grazing leverage animals' natural behavior and proclivities in order to built up the fertility of the soil and increase biodiversity.

Eating meat can decrease animal suffering if the meat comes from sustainable, grass-based, local, humane farms. The more customers these farms have, the more their business can grow, and the greater the competition they provide for conventional agribusinesses relying on CAFOs. The more consumers seek out meat from sustainable, grass-based, local, humane farms, the more money goes into supporting and growing those enterprises instead of CAFOs.

Could we survive without eating animals? Yes. But then think of how many animal species would cease to exist.

If we lived in a vegan society, there would be no demand for farm animals and no market to support raising livestock. (I doubt many people would raise cattle, sheep, and other animals as pets, especially since these animals require lots of land and the majority of our population is urban.) If livestock numbers were dramatically reduced, we would lose biodiversity as well as an important component of sustainable farming ecosystems. (Some have said that the biggest mistake in agriculture was separating fruit/grain/vegetable production from animal husbandry.)

There is still the question of whether it is morally acceptable to eat non-human animals. But here again, I look to nature as measure. Nature has no objection to animals eating animals; there are many animals that are carnivores and omnivores, and they are an important part of the food web. Should humans be among those omnivores? Well, humans are unique in having the capacity to care for animals and breed them to produce greater biodiversity. We are also unique in our ability to manage animals in order to build up top soil, sequester carbon dioxide, and revitalize arid regions. Humans can provide farm animals with good lives (better than they would have if left to their own devices in nature!) and, at the same time, provide nutritious protein sources to families and communities, taking market share away from agribusiness giants that are much less humane.