{"id":499799,"date":"2026-05-24T00:53:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T00:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/499799\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T00:53:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T00:53:38","slug":"what-is-the-meat-paradox-why-we-dont-want-animals-harmed-but-wont-stop-eating-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/499799\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the \u201cmeat paradox\u201d? Why we don\u2019t want animals harmed but won\u2019t stop eating them."},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"duet--article--unordered-list _1agbrixi _739u100 xkp0cg1 _1lbxzst7\">\n<li class=\"_739u101\">Many people live with an uncomfortable contradiction: They like animals and don\u2019t want to see them harmed, yet they also enjoy eating meat, milk, and eggs. <\/li>\n<li class=\"_739u101\">Psychology researchers call this the \u201cmeat paradox, \u201d and have found that people deploy a range of creative strategies to try to resolve the uncomfortable cognitive dissonance it causes. <\/li>\n<li class=\"_739u101\">The meat paradox has made it incredibly difficult to make progress on the factory farming problem, which harms hundreds of billions of animals around the globe each year.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_739u101\">But some research-backed interventions to disarm the meat paradox seem promising. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Of all the hot-button social issues in America, there\u2019s one that often flies under the radar but can unleash a torrent of strong feelings \u2014 swirling with apparent contradictions \u2014 when it surfaces: meat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Case in point: Last month, the popstar Billie Eilish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/487818\/billie-eilish-animal-rights-vegan-political-leftists\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">argued<\/a> that you can\u2019t say you love animals and eat them. Her comments made sense, though they set off a heated, weeks-long debate among X and Instagram users, who responded with a flood of strange justifications for eating meat, despite the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/24079424\/factory-farming-facts-meat-usda-agriculture-census\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terrible treatment of farmed animals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">The spat vividly illustrated a psychological phenomenon called the \u201cmeat paradox\u201d: the <a href=\"https:\/\/compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/epdf\/10.1111\/spc3.12592?saml_referrer=\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cognitive dissonance<\/a> and deep discomfort people feel when their behavior of eating meat and other animal products clashes with their fondness for animals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">This paradox has proved an exceedingly difficult hurdle to overcome in encouraging people to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/417717\/meat-reduction-vegetarian-research\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">change how they eat \u2014<\/a> and even for having productive conversations about meat without things quickly getting heated (as they did for Eilish). But some research also suggests there are ways out of the meat paradox, which could help relieve the psychological strain for people, as well as the suffering of animals in factory farms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How we really feel about eating animals: It\u2019s complicated<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Two recent polls reveal just how confusing American attitudes about animal products are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">The vast majority of respondents to this survey, which was conducted by the animal welfare research group Faunalytics, consider these practices \u201csomewhat unacceptable\u201d or \u201cvery unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1j8uwx1\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/l20za-americans-are-overwhelmingly-opposed-to-standard-animal-farming-practices-span-.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"968\" data-pswp-width=\"1240\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"A bar chart showing that \u201cAmericans are overwhelmingly opposed to standard animal farming practices\u201d\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"mvmjsc0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/l20za-americans-are-overwhelmingly-opposed-to-standard-animal-farming-practices-span-.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/religion\/2026\/03\/19\/what-do-americans-consider-immoral\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">separate poll<\/a> of more than 12,000 US adults, conducted by the Pew Research Center, asked respondents about whether they find a range of behaviors immoral. Those issues covered adultery, gambling, having an abortion, and eating meat. More than almost any other issue in the survey, respondents considered eating meat \u201cnot a moral issue.\u201d It ranked as close to the most \u201cmorally acceptable\u201d behavior offered, on par with using IVF.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1j8uwx1\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/VNqOd-most-americans-disapprove-of-standard-meat-industry-practices-yet-find-eating-meat-morally-acceptable-or-not-a-moral-issue-.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"1078\" data-pswp-width=\"1240\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"A bar chart showing that \u201cMost Americans disapprove of standard meat industry practices, yet find eating meat morally acceptable or not a moral issue\u201d\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"mvmjsc0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/VNqOd-most-americans-disapprove-of-standard-meat-industry-practices-yet-find-eating-meat-morally-acc.jpeg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">These numbers seem to show just how deep in the meat paradox we are. And that doesn\u2019t surprise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bellarmine.edu\/directory\/hank_rothgerber.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hank Rothgerber<\/a> one bit. He\u2019s a professor at Bellarmine University who studies the psychology of meat consumption. Rothgerber and other psychologists have conducted dozens of studies that have uncovered the cognitive dissonance people feel when confronted with the fact that their behavior \u2014 like eating meat \u2014 clashes with their beliefs, such as that animals shouldn\u2019t be harmed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">One possible explanation for this disconnect, he told me, is simple ignorance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspca.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2023_supermarket_scorecard_survey_memo_0.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Most people, it seems, truly don\u2019t know<\/a> that the cruel practices asked about in these surveys are quite standard on US factory farms \u2014 and that nearly all animal products come from factory farms. And so, when people are asked if eating meat is morally wrong, \u201cwhat\u2019s being done to the animals is not coming to their mind,\u201d Rothgerber said.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1j8uwx1\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/vOzFd-nearly-all-animals-raised-for-food-in-the-us-are-raised-on-factory-farms-.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"1126\" data-pswp-width=\"1240\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"A bar chart showing that \u201cNearly all animals raised for food in the US are raised on factory farms\u201d\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"mvmjsc0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/vOzFd-nearly-all-animals-raised-for-food-in-the-us-are-raised-on-factory-farms-.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">But chalking it up to mere ignorance suggests that \u201cif you just inform people, enlighten them, then everything will be okay, right?\u201d he said. Not quite. \u201cI think the deeper issue with it is that the ignorance is motivated \u2014 basically, willful ignorance. People don\u2019t want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Rothgerber and other psychology researchers consider willful ignorance, or avoidance, a strategy some people deploy to resolve their feelings of cognitive dissonance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">In a 2017 <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.co.za\/doi\/10.10520\/EJC-b6f8b8805\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">study,<\/a> one-third of respondents chose to look at a blank screen instead of a picture showing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/488637\/pigs-gestation-crates-farm-bill-congress\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pregnant pigs housed in tiny crates<\/a> (a pervasive practice in factory farming), with some participants explaining their choice as wanting to avoid feelings of guilt. In another <a href=\"http:\/\/centmapress.ilb.uni-bonn.de\/ojs\/index.php\/proceedings\/article\/viewFile\/2406\/1306\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">study<\/a>, some people said that learning about pig farming could contradict their views on animal welfare or force them to change their meat consumption.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">There are several other strategies people use to alleviate the discomfort of living with the meat paradox. One is lowering the moral status of animals. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psy.uq.edu.au\/~uqbbast1\/Loughnan%20et%20al%20Appetite%202010.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">clever 2010 study<\/a>, participants were randomly given either cashews or beef jerky to snack on while filling out a short questionnaire about what they thought of the snacks. Then, the researchers asked a number of follow-up questions, including how much moral consideration cows deserve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Participants who had been randomly assigned to eat the beef jerky, \u201cviewed the cow as significantly less deserving of moral concern\u201d and with a lower capacity to suffer than did participants who ate the cashews, the researchers reported. This experiment suggested that rather than people\u2019s thoughts and values driving their actions, it might often be reversed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Researchers have also found that some people work to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S019566631930724X?ref=pdf_download&amp;fr=RR-2&amp;rr=9faad39ea82e45a9\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dissociate meat from its animal origins<\/a>, or actively try not to think of animals when eating meat. Others try to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0195666317305329\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">neutralize their discomfort<\/a> via ideas that either avoid the problem of animal suffering or absolve them of their complicity, for example, asserting that eating meat is their right, that they only eat free-range meat, or that they hardly eat any meat at all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">The meat paradox puts animal advocates in an extremely difficult position. No one seems to like the cruelty involved in meat, milk, and egg production, yet they like what it produces: cheap animal products. A lot of people feel guilty about what it takes to produce those items, but respond with defensiveness, evasion, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/487818\/billie-eilish-animal-rights-vegan-political-leftists\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">arguments that don\u2019t stand up to scrutiny<\/a> when asked to consider not consuming them.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1j8uwx1\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1041334402.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0.062421972534324,100,99.875156054931\" data-pswp-height=\"2666.6666666666674\" data-pswp-width=\"4000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"mvmjsc0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1041334402.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pigs at a large farm in North Carolina. Callaghan O\u2019Hare\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1j8uwx1\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2203441114.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0.38736883397078,100,99.225262332058\" data-pswp-height=\"3372.6666666666665\" data-pswp-width=\"5059\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"mvmjsc0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2203441114.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A large chicken meat farm in Virginia. Jim West\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">This has <a href=\"https:\/\/ojs.library.queensu.ca\/index.php\/onehealthinnovation\/article\/view\/19203\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">led some academics to consider<\/a> the problem of factory farming and animal welfare a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ac4d.com\/wicked-problems\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cwicked problem,\u201d<\/a> what\u2019s been defined as \u201ca complex, multifaceted issue that lacks a single, definitive solution due to the interconnectedness of its components.\u201d Other such wicked problems include climate change, economic inequality, and global health. And many, many tactics to reduce global meat consumption have failed to move the needle. But a few, backed by new research and results, could work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to escape the meat paradox<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">One way to address the meat paradox is to accept its durability and try to work around it by changing conditions on farms, rather than trying to persuade people to eat less meat.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1j8uwx1\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275296024.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"3413\" data-pswp-width=\"5120\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"A number of chickens in a metal wire cage\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"mvmjsc0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275296024.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Animal advocates demonstrate in Parliament Square against the continued use of cages for egg-laying hens in the UK . Kristian Buus\/In Pictures via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">For example, a lot of anti-factory farming activists work to make meat and eggs less cruel by lobbying for corporations and governments to ban the very worst farming practices. This has proven quite effective. For example, almost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/481729\/cage-free-eggs-grocery-ahold-delhaize\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">half of the US egg supply<\/a> now comes from cage-free farms as a result of a number of state laws and corporate animal welfare policies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Such bans don\u2019t result in humane conditions, but they\u2019re certainly an improvement. And the fact that most people support these measures when they can vote on them shows how we\u2019re much more open to changes in animal welfare when we\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/2022\/10\/25\/23412945\/farm-animal-welfare-humane-meat-eggs-vote\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">acting as voters instead of consumers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">This approach has its limits, though, because there are dozens of cruel practices to potentially ban in meat, milk, and egg production, and the companies that make up these industries lobby aggressively against such measures, making them difficult to change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">But outside of avoiding the meat paradox altogether, there are two promising approaches to helping people change their behaviors and are far less likely to cause them to put up defenses. The first involves changing people\u2019s food environments, such as making plant-based meals the <a href=\"https:\/\/morethanmeatstheeye.substack.com\/p\/plant-based-defaults-are-the-most\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">default main dish at university and hospital cafeterias<\/a> (as opposed to merely an option off to the side), making plant-based milk the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.bluebottlecoffee.com\/posts\/oat-milk-by-default\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">default milk at coffee shops<\/a> (so you have to request cow\u2019s milk if you want it), or working to make plant-based meat and milk products <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nectar.org\/news\/vox-massive-blind-taste-test\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">taste better and cost less<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1j8uwx1\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1183778264.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"3878\" data-pswp-width=\"5570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"A grocery store shelf filled with plant-based meat products.\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"mvmjsc0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1183778264.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many animal advocates believe that making plant-based meat and milk products taste better and cost less can help people eat less animal meat without missing it. Angela Weiss\/AFP<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Some research suggests that gently confronting people about animal welfare as they decide what to eat can also be effective. For example, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0272494422001165\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2022 study<\/a> conducted at a Dutch zoo\u2019s cafeteria found that posting the question \u201cDo you consider animal welfare to be important?\u201d above a veggie burger menu item doubled its sales.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0272494426000897\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new study<\/a> conducted at a university cafeteria in the UK, researchers put a photo of an animal next to a menu item that used their meat \u2014 pigs, chickens, fish, and cows \u2014 and the odds of diners instead choosing a vegetarian meal increased.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">\u201cLinking meat to its animal source can produce measurable behavioral changes,\u201d the researchers wrote. In other words, this short circuits the meat paradox by making it all but impossible to dissociate meat from animals. Small nudges like this may seem to produce small results. The group that was exposed to menus with pictures of animals ate 3.2 percent less meat. A modest effect, but scaled up by cafeteria directors and restaurant owners across the globe, that one change alone could prevent billions of animals from being factory-farmed for meat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">The second approach involves deeply engaging with people on the issue. Three interventions that have proven effective in getting people to reduce their meat consumption, at least in the short term, include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/417717\/meat-reduction-vegetarian-research\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">watching a segment from the animal rights documentary Dominion<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/10.1287\/mnsc.2025.01176\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wearing a VR headset<\/a> that puts people <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X11LIG7P3ME\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">inside a pig factory farm<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s13164-021-00583-0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">taking a course on the ethics of eating meat<\/a>. But such involved interventions would be difficult to roll out on a mass scale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">Many <a href=\"https:\/\/veganstrategist.org\/veganworld\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">animal<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=animal+advocate+matt+ball+book&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">advocates<\/a> have also <a href=\"https:\/\/carnism.org\/book\/beyond-beliefs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">written<\/a> about how to better approach these charged issues so as to have more productive and healthy conversations. One of them is Bj\u00f6rn \u00d3lafsson, who recently <a href=\"https:\/\/morethanmeatstheeye.substack.com\/p\/cognitive-dissonance\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a> about the Billie Eilish dustup and included a counterintuitive recommendation: When all else fails, change what you\u2019re asking of people. For example, instead of trying to persuade someone to eat less meat who really doesn\u2019t want to, that person could help instead by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/458607\/meat-moral-offsets-factory-farming-dwarkesh-patel-podcast\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">making a donation<\/a> to the very underfunded anti-factory farming movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1agbrixi lg8ac51 lg8ac50 xkp0cg1\">It\u2019ll take a lot more clever interventions and tactics like these \u2014 and people willing to implement them \u2014 as well as more robust government and corporate policies to make factory farming a thing of the past. But, along the way, more of us might find our way out of the uncomfortable meat paradox \u2014 for good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1tzd3in1\">You\u2019ve read 1 article in the last month<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1tzd3in4\">Here at Vox, we&#8217;re unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you \u2014 threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1tzd3in4\">Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1tzd3in4\">We rely on readers like you \u2014 join us.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Swati Sharma\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"59\" height=\"69\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779584018_91_image.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"_1tzd3in8\">Swati Sharma<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1tzd3in9\">Vox Editor-in-Chief<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many people live with an uncomfortable contradiction: They like animals and don\u2019t want to see them harmed, yet&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[269],"tags":[4232,18,440,4863,19,17,133,76706],"class_list":["post-499799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-animal-welfare","tag-eire","tag-environment","tag-future-perfect","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-the-future-of-meat"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116626824602360843","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}