People should make their own choices about the immorality ofeating meat, a Northern Illinois professor said Thursday night.
"It doesn't matter what I think, and it doesn't matter what theexperts think," Mylan Engel Jr. said. "You have to make your owndecisions."
In his lecture lecture, "Beyond Fast Food: Is VegetarianismMorally Required? You Decide," Engel described the horrors orfactory farming.
"Virtually all commercial animal agriculture causes animalsintense pain and suffering," Engel said. "Two hundred andninety-three animals are brutally slaughtered every second so thatwe can enjoy Happy Meals."
Factory farmers also add cement dust to cattle feed to promotefast, unnatural weight gain. Slaughterhouses perform castrationsand amputations on animals' beaks, toes and horns withoutanesthesia, Engle said.
Engle, the nephew of hog farmers, grew up in Alabama learning tohunt. He said that, as a child visiting his uncle's factory farm,he witnessed a piglet castration up close and decided he wasn'tgoing to support an industry he felt encouraged suffering.
"I looked inside and asked myself if I want to supportunnecessary pain," Engle said. "I don't support sweatshops - Idon't buy clothes made there - I'm not going to support thisindustry. It's impossible to eat meat without supporting factoryfarms."
The health risks of eating meat are evident and far outweigh thepleasure of taste, Engle said.
"We all know no one needs to eat meat to survive or be healthy,"Engle said. "One out of every two meat-eaters have heart attacks.One of every 100 vegans have heart attacks."
Engle argued that if humans have the right to life, animalsshould too.
He also said that it's impossible to be completely consistent.For example, Engle has used film and rubber car tires, which aremade from cows' stomach lining.
"Just because you can't do everything, doesn't mean youshouldn't do anything." Engle said. "If we take conscious steps, wecan reduce unnecessary suffering."
Engle's lecture was cosponsored by Freshman Connections and theDepartment of Philosophy.
Melinda Messineo, assistant director of Freshman Connections,said she was glad to see a good turnout for the event.
"I just wish we had more time for question anad answer,"Messineo said. "The program is strongest when people have theopportunity to debate the issues. I'm glad students were thinkingabout their own views and challenging the speaker."
Freshman Connections will feature guest lecture Eric Schlosser,author of "Fast Food Nation," at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at EmensAuditorium.
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