We aren't really talking about meat, we are talking about life and death. So, the question is l, "which life and death provides the least suffering?" Can we just accept that death is coming for every creature on this planet? Are we going to insert human criteria of what suffering is on animals? How are we measuring "happiness?"

If life is so precious, and we don't want to kill these animals then isn't the giving of life precious too? There's no doubt that a tremendous amount of "life" is given by people that raise livestock. Many of these "sentient" beings would have never been brought into sentience in the first place, the joys of their lives, the happiness that they have would have never been had, had it not been for us consuming their cheese, eggs and eventually their meat. My consumption of animal products creates life.

Now, the question is what type of life does it create? If I'm consuming products that are factory farmed, where chickens are kept in pens where they can't move and their beaks are cut off and they are pumped full of hormones, well I will not even try to argue that that is a life worth creating. However, and I have mentioned this before, I have a cousin that owns what she calls a "moreganic" farm. The criteria that they set forth is far more stringent than "organic." In regards to their livestock, they raise chickens and I daresay that no chickens will ever be loved more. Do they harvest their eggs? Yes, they do and they sell them at a farmers market. Do they eventually eat the chickens? Yes, they do. But, would that chicken have died anyway? Yes. Would that chicken have lived had they not had their farm? No. So, was the life that this chicken lived worth creating? Well, I happen to have interviewed one of their hens:

Me: thanks for doing this chicken, I appreciate it.

Hen: sure, no problem Steve glad to help bridge the divide

Me: so how do you feel about my cousin taking your eggs and selling them?

Hen: yeah, I thought you might ask that. Well, to be really frank, I'm a chicken and I honestly don't give a shit nor do I have any understanding of what is occurring. However I am good at laying eggs

Me: thanks for the candor. Are you glad you exist?

Hen: again Steve, I really have no understanding of the question however, I will say that I like to run around in the yard and peck at the earth and sometimes, in June, the sun shines just right through my large, warm and cozy henhouse so that the light bounces against the wall and I swear it looks like a Picasso light drawing.

Me: how do you feel about your inevitable death at the hands of your captors?

Hen: They're not my captors, they keep me safe from the fox and the Hawk, they love me and would never hurt m....... Baaawk"!!

Me: Hi cousin, that hen didn't even see you coming. You snapped its neck so quickly. It thrashed once and now almost seems to have a smile on its beak. Oh look at the sun break through the henhouse... She was right about that.