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Debate: Is eating meat ethical?

The Georgia Debate Union will host a series of debates kicking off on Monday with guest Bruce Friedrich, the vice president for policy of PETA. The topic for the debate will be “Is Eating Meat Desirable?” and will take place in Grand Hall D of the Tate Center.

Typically, the Georgia Debate Union engages in competitions with debate teams from other universities, but this series will be different. 

The debate is open to the public and its purpose is to engage students in the dialogue, said Ed Panetta, the director of debate.

 

 Two students, Will Mosley-Jensen and Josh McLaurin, will debate against Friedrich and psychology professor Janet Frick.

 Frick believes in fostering debate and discussion in her classes, and is a member of Speak Out for Species, an organization dedicated to defending animals from cruelty and exploitation through education and advocacy. 

“It’s a great forum to be thought-provoking rather than confrontational,” she said. “I want to give food for thought, some aspects of the argument people don’t usually think about.”

Frick said some elements of the argument for vegetarianism are universally accepted.

 “It’s hard to argue against the health and environmental benefits,” she said,

 For Friedrich, who has been a member of PETA for 20 years, his stance stems from society’s treatment of animals as nothing more than objects.

 “Animals are made of flesh, blood and bone,” he said. “They are more like us than unlike us.”

 He speaks out against the maltreatment and abuse of farm animals before the slaughter, and compares people who work in these fields to mercenaries.

 “Most people don’t want to see or think about what goes on in those places,” Friedrich said. “How many other things in our society do we consider unethical, yet we allow to occur?”

  He said he hopes a significant proportion of the crowd will come to the conclusion that eating meat is not the way to live.

 “But having the discussion process is success in itself,” Friedrich said.

When: Today 5 p.m.

Where: Tate Center Grand Hall D

Price: Free