ANOTHER anime I’ve been watching lately that may not be as popular as “Attack on Titan” is “The Promised Neverland”.
The plots of both are quite similar – humans are being cooped up in a little area because of a non-human threat. In the case of “The Promised Neverland”, they are demons. The difference is, the kids are there to be raised for food.
I can see where Kaiu Shiari, the author, got his inspiration for the story. The kids can be compared to the livestock we raise on farms. There is even the special “gourmet” part of the human body which is the brain, and “high quality” meat which are the ones that belong to intelligent children.
It makes you think about how it is for the cows, pigs, chickens, and sheep we raise for food. Sure, maybe they don’t think or feel exactly the same way humans do, but to some extent, they do experience fear and pain. Why do you think they panic when it’s time for them to be butchered?
This is one reason why vegetarianism and veganism are gaining popularity. People are starting to realize the cruelty of livestock farming. Give it 10 years and the majority of the human population may be herbivores.
There’s just one problem with that though, and it was also brought up in the anime. We NEED the protein from animals. The demons that didn’t have access to good quality human meat were sickly and had deformities.
Humans are natural omnivores. It is the result of thousands of years of evolution. To think we can suddenly change that isn’t wise. Those who are on plant-based diet need to exert extra effort to supplement the nutrients they can get from animals. These can be in the form of vitamins or various food items.
This kind of diet simply isn’t possible for many people, especially those that can barely eat three times a day. The one chicken given to them by a neighbor is a big and rare blessing. There will always be people who will need to eat meat.
Then again, sometimes humans abuse. You see this with illegal hunting and fishing, especially for those that enjoy “exotic” cuisine. This has caused the decline of the population of several species.
So, is there a way for us to manage this problem? Are humans cursed to be the greedy villains that only abuse other living things?
Well, we need to accept the fact that we exist. There may not be any special reason, we just do. Since we exist, we need nutrition. We need to eat other organisms to survive. It is a cycle that exists naturally.
However, since humans are a more intelligent species, we can discipline ourselves to not eat too much. I think lessening the amount of meat we eat can already make a big impact on the demand in the market. We don´t need to totally erase it from our diet, but at least keep it to a minimum. Don’t waste any parts of the animal and keep your meat servings to one in a meal if possible.
You’ve seen it in movies and the practices of indigenous peoples; they treat the slain animal with respect. It is not just another slab of meat that runs on a factory ramp, but a once-living thing that had to be killed to provide nutrition.
All of our choices have consequences, whether it is to the environment or to those that make a living in livestock farming. This can cause moral dilemmas and bring us against each other. I think learning how to control ourselves is the best way to keep balance on both sides. Eating meat is not a sin, but eating too much to the point that it’s destructive, that’s another story./PN
