The relationship between humans, animals and the environment: the overconsumption of meat.

Abstract

The relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world, animals included, has been subject of profound and radical changes through the course of history. In this context, what once was a deep connection based on respect and even adoration, started to evolve into a sort of slave-master relation, in particular from the moment when men from gatherers became first hunters and then shepherds and farmers, thus discovering the benefits derived from agriculture and animal domestication. In this dissertation an overview of these changes to the present day is provided, when the worsening of the environmental crisis and the threat of climate change which are affecting the whole planet are something that can no longer be ignored. Through the analysis of the works of activists like Jim Mason, Jonathan Safran Foer and Melanie Joy, I discuss the strong connection between the increase in meat consumption derived from the sector of the intensive livestock farming, and the aggravation of the global warming conditions. In particular, I examine the cultural origin of the worldwide development of the intensive livestock sector, namely the ideology of carnism, deeply rooted in our society. The main purpose of this dissertation is to report how the current lifestyle of the great part of human societies, especially the western ones, is no longer sustainable.