10 Ways to Be Ethical without Being Vegan

So you have just watched Dominion or Earthlings or some other documentary that shows the truth behind animal agriculture and were left horrified by the cruelty in the meat, dairy, egg, and wool industries. But for whatever reason, you can't go vegan. Perhaps you don't want to give up bacon or cheese, or whatever your favorite food happens to be. Or maybe you're worried about how difficult it will be to find sources of b12 on a vegan diet. Or maybe your body actually requires you to eat meat. Whatever the case may be, don't fret! Here are some ways you can be ethical without going vegan.

Eat meat from animals that died of natural causes

This might seem an unusual thing to do, but there is actually a restaurant in the Netherlands that sells the meat of animals considered to be pests, that died of natural causes. It’s called Keuken van het Ongewenste Dier, which translates to "The Kitchen of the Unwanted Animal". Ironic, I know - a kitchen that actually serves pests as food instead of trying its best to keep them away from the food! The KvhOD works together with various professionals. The Smallest Soup Factory draws broth from the carcasses of wild geese; which is then cooked at the Regional Training Center (ROC) in Amsterdam. The final croquettes are made by the Oma Bobs croquette factory using only organic products. The breasts of the goose are smoked by Frank's Smokehouse. For dinners, including the Large Pest Animal Dinner, they work together with various restaurants and professional chefs.

Source: http://dekeukenvanhetongewenstdier.nl/

Eat cheese made from human breast milk

You can have cheese made from the milk of someone who is capable of milking herself! That's right, cheese made from real milk, without any cruelty involved! Again, this may seem an unusual thing to do, but "human cheese" is actually served in some places. But it is not for the squeamish. New York chef and restaurant owner Daniel Angererer received backlash in 2010 after he served up the taboo - cheese made with his wife’s breast milk. His “human cheese” was criticized, with some even calling it cannibalistic. After all, there is something inherently off-putting about eating something that came from another human being. But, there is nothing unethical about it, so animal lovers who do not want to give up cheese can rejoice! One adventurous reporter, after overcoming her initial repulsion, ate a bite-sized portion of the cheese and described it as "strangely soft, bouncy, like panna cotta". The New York Health Department has since forbidden him from serving dishes made with his wife's milk, but others still produce the "human cheese".

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/131202-human-cheese-food-biology-weird-gastronomy

Eat roadkill

While you may not feel comfortable about something that was violently killed, regardless of whether the killing was intentional or not, there is nothing unethical about eating roadkill, since you are not causing any harm in this scenario or increasing the demand for meat by eating it. Perhaps you would not feel comfortable about taking advantage of this violence, but if you don't, the birds are gonna get it. What difference does it make to the dead animal who gets to it first?  This, much like the 2 aforementioned options on this list, may seem an unusual thing to do, but isn't. In fact, it is actually common enough to have a name for it: roadkill cuisine. It is a practice engaged in by a small subculture in America,  southern Canada, the United Kingdom, and other Western countries. Fresh kill is preferred and parasites are a concern, so the kill is typically well-cooked. The practice of eating roadkill is legal and even encouraged in some jurisdictions, while it is tightly controlled or restricted in other areas. Roadkill cuisine is often mocked in pop culture, where it is associated with stereotypes of rednecks and uncouth persons.

Source: https://www.thestreet.com/lifestyle/food-and-drink/roadkill-cuisine-can-you-eat-that-14939703

Eat lab-grown meat

While lab-grown meat, also known as cultured meat, is made using the cell of an animal, it does not harm the animal in any way, making it not only ethical but kinder than some other ethical options such as raising and slaughtering your own meat or hunting your own meat since the animal does not have to die for it. The only downside is that it is expensive. In 2013, Mark Post created a hamburger patty made from tissue grown outside of an animal. Since then, other cultured meat prototypes have gained publicity. SuperMeat opened a farm-to-fork restaurant called “The Chicken” in Tel Aviv to see how its consumers would react to the “chicken” burger. The world’s first commercial sale of lab-grown meat occurred in December 2020 at a Singapore restaurant called 1880, where lab-grown meat manufactured by the US firm Eat Just was sold.

Source: https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/thenow/what-is-labgrown-meat/1/

Eat a human placenta

Normally when we think of ethical cannibalism, we think of edge cases, like that guy who lost his foot in a motorcycle accident, cooked his dismembered foot, and served it to his friends. Animal placentas are a delicacy in many countries, but they are unethical since they are a byproduct of the meat industry. A human placenta involves no cruelty. Unlike cheese made from human breast milk, it is not something that can be legally sold, so the only way to obtain it both legally and ethically is if a wife or a female friend has just given birth. You can cook up her placenta and eat it. Women only form placentas after giving birth, so, unlike the other options on this list, it is not something you can regularly do, at least not legally. It is illegal to sell human organs, even if it is your own, so a mother cannot legally sell her placenta.

Sources: https://www.vice.com/en/article/gykmn7/legal-ethical-cannibalism-human-meat-tacos-reddit-wtf, https://birthtissuerecovery.com/placenta-donation-faqs/

Get your meat directly from the farm

If you live in a rural area, you can get meat directly from the farm. Farmers love their animals, and when the slaughter is done by the farmer themselves, you can guarantee that it was done humanely. Animals are shot in the stem of their brains with a bullet, causing an instant, painless death. The farmer makes sure the animal being killed doesn’t see it coming. They will often shoot a cow while it’s grazing. They will generally make sure that the cow is surrounded by its peers when it dies. They will do their best to make the process comfortable and stress-free for the animal. If you still have any concerns, feel free to ask the farmer if the calves were ever castrated without painkillers, how the cows were branded, if the cows are ever artificially inseminated, or any other ethical concerns you may have.

Source: https://awionline.org/content/5-ways-you-can-help-farm-animals, https://www.grandin.com/ritual/euthanasia.slaughter.livestock.html

Raise and slaughter your own meat

If you raise and slaughter your own animals, you can guarantee that the animal you are eating lived a good life and died without suffering. I would not recommend this option unless you already have experience in slaughtering animals humanely. It requires skill. If you're thinking of raising and slaughtering pigs, you should also note that pigs, having the intelligence of a 5-year-old human, are not as easy to slaughter without causing fear and stress as a cow, chicken, duck, goat, sheep, or turkey. Basically what I'm saying is this option is only ethical if you know what you're doing.

Source: https://homesteadingfamily.com/how-to-raise-a-years-worth-of-meat/

Keep your own backyard cow, goat, or sheep for milk

There is nothing inherently wrong with milking an animal. You can keep a cow or a goat in your backyard for milk. For more than one ethical non-vegan product, keep a sheep in your backyard. Keeping a pet sheep will allow you to have both ethical milk and ethical wool. Please keep in mind that if the cow, goat, or sheep does not have an udder, she will not be able to produce milk. Please keep in mind that if a cow is your dairy pet of choice, you will have to separate her from her baby to keep the baby from getting crushed by its mother. You will also have to let the mother cow visit the baby to make the process less stressful for her. That is why I recommend a goat or sheep - goats and sheep also cannot produce milk without having a baby first, but since these animals are small, they are less dangerous than cows and therefore don't need to be separated from their babies.

Sources: https://rurallivingtoday.com/livestock/review-backyard-cow-introductory-guide-family-cow/,  https://backyardgoats.iamcountryside.com/ownership/how-to-raise-goats-in-your-backyard/, https://familyfarmlivestock.com/small-acreage-sheep-raising-will-it-work/, https://animalagalliance.org/separating-cows-and-calves-the-real-story/

Keep your own backyard hens for eggs

You can keep some rescue hens in your backyard and take their eggs. I say rescue hens since if you get a bunch of live chicks you saw for sale at the local farmer’s market, it is likely that they got those from a hatchery, and in all hatcheries, the male chicks are ground up alive or gassed. As long as there’s no rooster around, all the eggs produced by a hen are infertile, so even if you are pro-life, you should have no moral objections to this. There is nothing inherently wrong with taking eggs.

Sources: https://animalequality.org/news/ban-chick-culling/

Hunt your own meat

You can hunt your own meat. Please keep in mind that killing animals humanely requires skill and animals can still suffer after being shot if the bullet is not placed properly. I would imagine that it is more difficult than buying meat from the store, but it is worth it to know that the animal you are eating lived a good life and died a quick death. Please make sure, though, that the animal you are killing is not a mother or a baby. Female animals form strong bonds with their babies, so killing a mother or a baby would cause a lot of grief and would therefore not be an ethical thing to do.

https://www.petakids.com/animal-facts/deer/