‘Move away from ‘violent’ carnistic ideology’

There is a reason “Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows”, says Harvard-educated psychologist Dr Melanie Joy who has researched this contradictory behaviour for over two decades and penned a book with the same title.

Joy coined the term “carnism” to explain this “deeply entrenched” invisible ideology that conditions people to eat certain animals and not others. “This underlying belief system drives people to not see the irrationality of their behaviour and the pain it causes, despite it going against the core human values of compassion and justice,” she explained.

“New vegetarianism”

The growing awareness on “carnism” and the harmful effects of animal-based diets on human health, besides the suffering it causes animals, is pushing people to choose options that cause less suffering, she said.

Some entrepreneurs are shifting from ‘carnistic’ options to plant-based ones and billionaire investors are looking to put their funds into such ventures as consumers move away from meat-based diets. In Germany, for example, a company has developed vegan sausages as customers seek such products, Joy pointed out. “But there is a need for public policies that support such ventures and move away from subsidising the dairy and meat industries,” she said.

Nevertheless, today there is a readiness among people to change their lifestyles, Joy said, unlike the 1980s when she was researching the subject. Even her mother then thought that she may die in her 30s, because of the meat-free diet. Joy recalled that she had “sworn off meat” after being hospitalised after eating a contaminated hamburger. But today, her mother has shifted to a plant-based diet for health reasons, she said.

Unique position

India is in a unique position to handle this new vegetarianism, Joy told BusinessLine during a recent visit here.

Pointing out that meat and dairy consumption has gone up in India, Joy urged consumers to move away from the “violent” carnistic ideology towards more benign plant-based diets.

While such a discussion in India could get vitiated with political agendas creeping in, Joy agrees that there could be economic reasons too behind not being able to opt for a plant-based diet.

Spreading awareness on the violence in transportation, handling and killing involved to the making of meat and dairy products can encourage greater consumer participation in compassionate behaviour and choices, she said. The idea was in “shifting consciousness” to “take as many steps as you can in the right direction.”

The price of carnism

In meat-eating cultures, of the seven million animal species present, only a handful are classified edible, Joy said in an awareness talk. But the culture is so pervading that people are in denial, or justify it as “normal, natural and necessary,” she said. And this is further institutionalised.

Globally, 1.2 billion farmed animals are slaughtered every week, Joy said, adding, “In one week more farmed animals are killed than the total number of people killed in all wars in history.”

However, these animals are not visible to the public because 98 per cent of the meat, eggs and dairy industry are raised in factory farms, often window-less sheds that have little access to the outside world, she said. “We pay for our carnism with our health,” she said, as it leads to serious disease.

Joy founded the charitable organisation “Beyond Carnism” and is the eighth recipient of the Institute of Jainology's Ahimsa Award, which was previously awarded to Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

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