Should there be a Tax on Meat

The Times organised a debate on whether there should be a Tax on Meat.

My response below was published

I would say meat should be removed altogether from human diet.

The biggest cause of global warming is meat consumption. We are heading towards almost 120 billion animals being raised for human consumption. These animals do not grow on thin air. They consume vast amount of cereals and water. It means that this planet has to sustain 120 billion animals and almost 8 billion Humans. The planet is just not big enough to sustain these numbers. The result is destruction of green habitats, soil erosion and spreading deserts. The blood and discarded parts of animals pollute our rivers causing dad zones. Australia which up to the seventies was a pleasant place to live weather wise is now gripped by climate chaos. Reason? The Sheep export. Sheep grazing had turned a green land into a rapidly expanding desert. The health cost of meat is enormous. Heart disease, various forms of cancer, hypertension and more are caused by meat eating.

Lastly the cruelty involved in factory farms and killing of animals is leaving mankind in a moral vacuum. It leaves an unmovable cloud of despair over the human race. We are unable to have peace because we commit so much violence on animals. Future in generations will not be able to fathom our desire for animal flesh. would say meat should be removed altogether from human diet.

Nitin Mehta

21 April 2024