Eating Meat

Genesis 1:29-30
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all  the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.”

Mmm! As I write this, I have to pause to munch on a bacon sandwich.

There has been a lot of information on social media and elsewhere lately, advocating a vegan diet. Part-time vegan diets appear to be all the rage, where people are encouraged to eat vegan for January every year, or perhaps have a meat-free Monday. The reasons suggested are sometimes for health benefits, but more often are couched in moral terms. Aside from those for whom the killing of animals is problematic, the issues of climate change morality are raised. One commentator opined that “established vegans had a dietary carbon footprint that was 34 per cent lower than that of meat eaters”, with the clear implication that this was a Good Thing!

Even given that the concept of a carbon footprint has taken on mythical proportions, a well-managed diverse farm grows better crops by plowing cattle manure into its soil. And the suggestion that the carbon dioxide produced by cattle all goes into the atmosphere is also wrong, as some of it is taken up by the grass in the pasture.

It is clear that God originally created us to eat only plants, as we are told in Genesis 1:29-30. However, I suspect that mutations after the Fall led to our need for more protein, culminating in God giving us permission to eat meat after the Flood. The New Testament gives us complete freedom to eat more or less what we like. So back to my bacon…

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for Your gracious provision for us, such as food and resources. We pray that we will not take these for granted and that You will provide for those without these resources. Amen.

Author: Paul F. Taylor

Ref: Thompson, H. (2019), Going vegan for January? Find out how much difference it really makes, < https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24532630-500-going-vegan-for-january-find-out-how-much-difference-it-really-makes/ >, accessed 12/31/2019. Image: Shutterstock, licensed to author.

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