Sovegetarianismisreallyonevenstrongergroundthanmost
otherboycottsor protests. Thepersonwhoboycotts South
Africanproduceinorder to bringdownapartheidachieves
nothingunlesstheboycottsucceedsinforcingwhiteSouth
Africanstomodifytheirpolicies(thoughtheeffortmayhave
been well worth making, whatever the outcome); but
vegetariansknowthattheydo,bytheiractions,contributetoa
reductioninthesufferingandslaughterofanimals,whether
ornottheylivetoseetheireffortssparkoffamassboycottof
meat and an end to cruelty in farming.
Inaddition toallthis, becominga vegetarianhasaspecial
significance because the vegetarian is a practical, living
refutationofacommon,yetutterlyfalse,defenseoffactory
farmingmethods.Itissometimessaidthatthesemethodsare
neededtofeedtheworld’ssoaring population.Becausethe
truth here is so important—important enough, in fact, to
amounttoaconvincingcaseforvegetarianismthatisquite
independentof the questionof animalwelfare that I have
emphasizedinthisbook—Ishalldigressbrieflytodiscussthe
fundamentals of food production.
Atthismoment,millionsofpeopleinmanypartsoftheworld
do not get enough to eat. Millions more get a sufficient
quantity,buttheydonotgettherightkindoffood;mostly,
theydonotgetenoughprotein.Thequestionis,doesraising
foodbythemethodspracticedintheaffluentnationsmakea
contribution to the solution of the hunger problem?
Every animalhas to eat in order to grow to the sizeand
weightatwhichitisconsideredreadyforhumanbeingsto
eat.Ifa calf,say,grazeson roughpasturelandthatgrows
onlygrassandcouldnotbe plantedwithcornoranyother