Food Quote by Brian Luke
““Today farmers shift responsibility for their exploitation of animals to the general public, by speaking of 'consumer demand' for meat as if this technical term referred to an inexorable mass insistence rather than the conditional fact that under present circumstances people will buy a certain amount of meat at a given price. The individual meat-eater, conversely, may defer personal responsibility for animal slaughter by reasoning that a national market is insensitive to one individual's choices, so my becoming vegetarian will not in fact affect production levels--that is, the number of animals killed. While the farmer is 'only giving the people what they want,' the meat-eater figures 'they'll be slaughtered anyway,' so no one is responsible.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: Animal Ethics and Consumer Responsibility, 2020
People blame market forces for animal slaughter, avoiding personal accountability for meat consumption.
In simple terms: Blaming the market lets individuals dodge responsibility for animal deaths.
Key Takeaway
Recognize personal impact of dietary choices.
Themes
responsibility
ethics
consumer behavior
animal rights
market dynamics
Mood
reflective
critical
concerned
Type
analytical
ethical
When to use this quote
- dietary choices
- activism
- policy advocacy
- education campaigns
Key Concepts
moral philosophy
psychology of denial
systems thinking
Questions to Reflect On
- How can personal dietary changes influence market demand?
- What policies could align consumer demand with animal welfare?
A Different Perspective
Individual choices alone may not shift large-scale production without systemic change.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
