ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I argue that most animals in intensive systems have lives characterized by low-level stress that’s punctuated by acute pain. There are others who have argued for this conclusion in great detail, so I won’t provide an exhaustive catalog of the ways in which animals are harmed in modern farms. Instead, I’ll just draw attention to a few representative cases. My aim in this book is to defend the thesis that it’s morally permissible to eat the bodies and byproducts of animals who have had lives like this. I’m not claiming that it’s good to do it. Indeed, I think it’s usually bad. But if you’re going to defend bad behavior, then you should be frank about the costs that such behavior imposes. That’s the project here.
