--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We wouldn't have to speak so critically…" description: "\"We wouldn't have to speak so critically if businesses would stop feeding dead animals to live ones, putting non-food substances into food, tinkering wi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/donella-meadows-9060_animals_we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically_2160345.png" --- # We wouldn't have to speak so critically if businesses… ![“We wouldn't have to speak so critically if businesses would stop feeding dead animals to live ones, putting non-food substances into food, tinkering with genetic codes, and spraying the countryside with poisons.” quote by Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/donella-meadows-9060_animals_we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically_2160345.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/donella-meadows-9060_animals_we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically_2160345.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/donella-meadows-9060_animals_we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically_2160345.png) > “We wouldn't have to speak so critically if businesses would stop feeding dead animals to live ones, putting non-food substances into food, tinkering with genetic codes, and spraying the countryside with poisons.” [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human activity harms ecosystems, leading to toxic food and environmental degradation, which fuels conflict and harsh discourse. **In simple terms:** Human actions poison food and environment, causing conflict. Key Takeaway Reduce harmful practices, protect ecosystems. Themes environment ethics food safety conflict systems thinking Mood concerned urgent reflective Type critical analytical activist When to use this quote - policy making - consumer choices - corporate responsibility - public health campaigns Key Concepts ecology toxicology genetic engineering industrial agriculture Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals influence corporate food policies? - What systemic changes are needed to protect ecosystems? A Different Perspective Complex global supply chains make change difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Businesses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/businesses/) [Countryside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/countryside/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) ## Related quotes > [“We are busy feeding the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitta-xinindlu/we-are-busy-feeding-the-dead/) [Mitta Xinindlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitta-xinindlu/) > [“Stop feeding the ego food, then it will stop asking for more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-mccoy/stop-feeding-the-ego-food-then-it-will-stop-asking-for-more/) [Bert McCoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-mccoy/) > [If I was in charge of it, I'd stop feeding all of the nonsense, I'd starve all of it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/if-i-was-in-charge-of-it-i-d-stop-feeding-all-of-the-nonsense-i-d/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [“An obese ego is just about the heaviest thing you’ll ever carry. So maybe you should stop feeding it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/an-obese-ego-is-just-about-the-heaviest-thing-you-ll-ever-carry-so/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“Putting the brakes on is not an easy thing for a vamp to do. It's kind of like a shark trying to stop a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-grayson/putting-the-brakes-on-is-not-an-easy-thing-for-a-vamp-to-do-it-s-kind/) Jim Grayson > [Everytime you feed the flesh, you strenghten it. This is good if you are trying to build a good habit, but detrimental if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/everytime-you-feed-the-flesh-you-strenghten-it-this-is-good-if-you/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [I realized that I spent more time thinking about my problem clients than my great clients. I had to stop feeding the drama of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-st-john/i-realized-that-i-spent-more-time-thinking-about-my-problem-clients/) [Bonnie St. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-st-john/) > [An old friend of mine once told me, stop feeding the snake around your neck, one day it will grow strong enough to strangle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-georgsson/an-old-friend-of-mine-once-told-me-stop-feeding-the-snake-around-your/) [Johanna Georgsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-georgsson/) > [If you will stop feeding your feelings, then they will stop controlling you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/if-you-will-stop-feeding-your-feelings-then-they-will-stop/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [Stop feeding all of the bullshit, starve all of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/stop-feeding-all-of-the-bullshit-starve-all-of-it/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [“It was an old hunter in camp and the hunter shared tobacco with him and told him of the buffalo and the stands he’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/it-was-an-old-hunter-in-camp-and-the-hunter-shared-tobacco-with-him/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Fork: An instrument used chiefly for the purpose of putting dead animals into the mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/fork-an-instrument-used-chiefly-for-the-purpose-of-putting-dead/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“Half the people I know have dead animals in their freezers: reptiles, birds, mammals. Is that normal?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/half-the-people-i-know-have-dead-animals-in-their-freezers-reptiles/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [“I thought I could wait to tell you until everything was figured out,” she says. “I didn’t think you’d have any contact with actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-a-cole/i-thought-i-could-wait-to-tell-you-until-everything-was-figured-out/) [Olivia A. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-a-cole/) > [How many of those dead animals you see on the highway are suicides?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/how-many-of-those-dead-animals-you-see-on-the-highway-are-suicides/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) ## More by Donella Meadows > [Ending poverty calls for humility, honesty, freedom from ideology and refusal to accept cruel simplicities about anyone's human potential. It requires listening to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/ending-poverty-calls-for-humility-honesty-freedom-from-ideology-and/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany have detailed plans to cut their greenhouse emissions by 20 to 50 percent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/denmark-the-netherlands-and-germany-have-detailed-plans-to-cut-their/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [A grand jury hears only one side - that of the prosecutor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/a-grand-jury-hears-only-one-side-that-of-the-prosecutor/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [What Clinton did with Lewinsky was despicable but was no threat to the nation. That he lied about it repeatedly and to the public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/what-clinton-did-with-lewinsky-was-despicable-but-was-no-threat-to/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Why is our (US) government the only one in the civilized world with a stupid, short-term energy policy? Why do our elected officials consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/why-is-our-us-government-the-only-one-in-the-civilized-world-with-a/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Before they got vengeful, conservatives had some useful points to make about welfare. Government 'help' is too often guilt-assuaging gesture. It creates layers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/before-they-got-vengeful-conservatives-had-some-useful-points-to-make/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Social services, not wealth per se, seem to be the key to lower birth rates. The Chinese, although among the poorest peoples of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/social-services-not-wealth-per-se-seem-to-be-the-key-to-lower-birth/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [You should issue demerits for tree cutting or the destruction of humus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/you-should-issue-demerits-for-tree-cutting-or-the-destruction-of-humus/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [A good leader sets the right goals, gets things moving, and helps us to discover that we already know what to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/a-good-leader-sets-the-right-goals-gets-things-moving-and-helps-us-to/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [The latest scientific assessment has almost doubled the predicted rate of warming if no changes are made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/the-latest-scientific-assessment-has-almost-doubled-the-predicted/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Some call-in moderators are neutral and courteous. Then there's Rush Limbaugh, who is funny and pompous and a scapegoater and hatemonger. His popularity could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/some-call-in-moderators-are-neutral-and-courteous-then-there-s-rush/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Smart development builds on a region's own skills, resources and local businesses. Dumb growth invites a big corporation in, surrenders control and profits to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/smart-development-builds-on-a-region-s-own-skills-resources-and-local/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [Glaciers are almost gone from Glacier National Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/glaciers-are-almost-gone-from-glacier-national-park/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [I call the transformed world toward which we can move ‘sustainable,’ by which I mean a great deal more than a world that merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/i-call-the-transformed-world-toward-which-we-can-move-sustainable-by/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) > [We can't control systems or figure them out. But we can dance with them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/we-can-t-control-systems-or-figure-them-out-but-we-can-dance-with-them/) [Donella Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) [Explore all 75 Donella Meadows quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/) ## More Animals quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) [Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We wouldn't have to speak so critically if businesses would stop feeding dead animals to live ones, putting non-food substances into food, tinkering with genetic codes, and spraying the countryside with poisons.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donella Meadows" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically-if-businesses-would-stop/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically-if-businesses-would-stop/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/donella-meadows-9060_animals_we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically_2160345.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/donella-meadows-9060_animals_we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically_2160345.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/donella-meadows-9060_animals_we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically_2160345.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We wouldn't have to speak so critically if businesses would stop feeding dead animals to live ones, putting…” — Donella Meadows", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Donella Meadows", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donella-meadows/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We wouldn't have to speak so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically-if-businesses-would-stop/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donella-meadows/we-wouldn-t-have-to-speak-so-critically-if-businesses-would-stop/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```