Should We Eat Meat?

First published in the Exmoor Review in November 2024

Louise Lyons MacLeod

Debates over the Human diet tend to get heated rather quickly these days, especially when it comes to eating meat.

Arguments that we should or should not eat meat have historically been based on evolutionary, biological or ethical considerations, latterly much of the discussions have been about the environmental impact that eating meat has versus a plant-based diet.

Leaving aside the degree, or not that eating a plant based diet is better for our planetary health for a moment - albeit I would like to briefly engage and point out that much of the research into the reduction in meat consumption has almost all come from high income countries, whose main source of meat is from ‘mega factory farms’, where both the animals welfare, health benefits and deliciousness of the end product is entirely lacking and far below where it should be had the animals been farmed in a different manner. Historically and from an evolutionary perspective meat has been eaten as a nutritious and highly symbolic food. Modern man has evolved and is born a meat eater, moreover the mastery of fire, the development of art and language the division of work can all be related back to hunting and eating meat.

In the past meat offered us high quality protein and essential nutrients that were not available or easily obtained through eating a plant only diet. In the modern day these nutrients can be found in Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) and supplements, but it is well documented that these are not as biologically available of efficacious as those from eating meat. In the same way, ultra processed food does not offer the same level of nutrition as well produced meat.

We have evolved to eat meat, meat is symbolic and provides us with essential nutrients for life, so naturally we should eat the best quality meat available to us. Sadly this isn’t the case around the world or even in the UK. The prevalence and growth of behemoth factory farms is astonishing, frightening, and damaging our planet.

However, the tide may be turning in the tiniest of ways, and there are green shoots of farmers that really care about the land, the environment, who want to, and are, farming not only alongside nature, but actually enriching the environment and repairing the damage.

More than 95% of our food and meat comes from soil and water. How incredible that such seemingly basic things can feed and nourish billions of people worldwide with some care, but without the need for lots of processing. If we look after the soil, the soil will provide us with nutritious, sustainable, plentiful food for generations to come. It is these farmers who are not quite going back to basics, but are certainly taking into account how our ancestors would’ve farmed, in tune with nature, who are showing us how we can eat meat and proactively help our environment recover from decades of abuse. They are rearing native animals whose breeding through generations means that they thrive despite our British weather, and who live in harmony with other native species vital to our rural landscape and diverse ecology, such as dung beetles essential to the health of our soil, bees and songbirds. These farmers are looking after the soil by increasing diversity of plants, who are farming with no or little chemical input, they are farming with the thoughts of protecting and healing our planet at the forefront of their minds.

And the most wonderful thing is that the by-product of farming this way is producing an incredible super food; meat.

It is these farmers who we need to support, if we allow these farmers to produce food symbiotically (this applies to arable farmers too) in a system where nature and sustainability come first, the output is far reaching. There will be happier animals, beautiful, native rare breeds will be saved from extinction, the meat will be healthier, rural communities will once again thrive and so will our countryside.

For me, the answer is simple, we absolutely should eat meat. But, it is vital that worldwide we move away from factory farming and ultra processed meat.

We should be kind to ourselves and to our planet and eat the delicious meat, the most nutritious meat and the highest welfare meat that we can. We should learn how to cook and how to love all of the cuts of meat from an animal, so that nothing is wasted; we need to go back to eating highly nutritious offal - eating this way would make this superfood accessible to everyone regardless of budgetary restraints.

The only way we can make this happen is to support our local farmers. We all have the power to change the future.