A time for change

1780: 

There could be many reasons for eating meat, caging animals and experimenting on them. An exploitative approach to animals is certainly advantageous to humans – the protein source is cheap and plentiful. Things are easier all round when you’re the dominant species, and it all makes sense especially to the urban consumer who knows very little about animals. It's only in the past fifty years (a mere pinprick of time) that we city dwellers have come to know the extent of the cruelty involving ‘food’ animals, bringing the more sensitive of us to our senses and to boycott the whole business. But there’s always been some sort of ‘knowing’, evidently not enough to establish anything like 'vegan principle' into one's daily life. It’s a bit like pollution and starvation - these problems have always been there, and we've learnt to live with our guilt about them.

Humans have dominated their environment, including the animals, for two million years, and only recently has the damage escalated to the point where it is unignorable. And now, with so much evidence of the success of plant-based diets, there’s a chance for things to change. The transition need only take as much time as needed to realise what our species has done and take the appropriate measures. Eventually everyone must surely say, “This has gone far enough!!” and take the personal step to become completely herbivorous and adopt a wholly non-exploitative attitude.

But it seems that, at present, omnivores aren’t ill enough or guilt-ridden enough to change. The collective consciousness is still too rigid to allow people to believe they are safe enough to explore new possibilities on their own; always wanting others to come across first.

Is such a major change viewed as a risk or an adventure? Is the change of attitude and diet something we will bring about in a state of enlightenment or in a mood of reluctance? Is it possible to convince people to give up what they’re used to for what, as yet, they don’t know exists?