CAFOs, cage-free, natural, inhumane treatment, “Animal Care Certified”, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), live scalding, infectious diseases, hormones. You may have heard these terms in the context of factory farming, which is large-scale meat production from animals kept in the minimal conditions required for maximal production and profit. This involves atrocities such as confinement in cages where animals cannot turn around, debeaking poultry, and raising livestock indoors or in feedlots, not pastures. Mari Patis discussed this in her recent Odyssey article “CAFOs: The Issues with Modern Meat.”

This issue may seem rather inconsequential and difficult for any individual to solve. However, if we look down at the grilled chicken on our plates, the burger we just ordered, or the eggs we eat every morning, we come face to face with a solution we individuals have the power to implement. Your food choices make the difference.

Let me introduce you to the “conscientious omnivore” (CO) diet, which reduces the frequency of meat consumption, limiting it to only meat produced ethically. To many people, “reduced meat consumption” essentially means becoming a vegetarian or vegan. This is too extreme and difficult for people who view meat as a significant part of their meals. However, a CO diet is a practical way for consumers to reduce meat consumption without giving it up completely, and thereby decrease the demand on factory farms.

Unfortunately, CO diets are not looked upon favorably from all sides. Social psychologist Hank Rothgerber has compared vegetarians and COs and discovered that COs are more likely to cheat on their diets and not hide their dietary preferences than are vegetarians. He argues that because “diet guidelines are different from CO to CO”, COs do not adhere to their diets as closely as vegetarians. That being said, isn't it more effective to mostly adhere to a CO diet, rather than consider a vegetarian diet but decide against it because of its extremity?

So, if a CO diet is less extreme than a vegetarian or vegan diet and still influential in solving the problem of factory farming, why do we not meet more COs? Research from Deakin University shows that a lack of information about reduced meat or mostly plant-based diets is the largest barrier to changing eating habits. Also, studies conducted by Rothgerber and University of Lisbon researchers pointed out that unwillingness to eliminate or reduce meat consumption is stronger among male consumers than females, a phenomena likely linked to masculinity.

However, such barriers can be overcome. Nutritionist Jennie Macdiarmid et al. discovered that consumers can quite easily have nutritionally balanced diets without completely eliminating meat or dairy products and reducing GHGE of consumed products by 36 percent. Vitamin deficiencies are possible with reducing meat consumption, so Macdiarmid et al. include sample menus in their study. It is possible to eat less meat, especially factory farmed meat, without having nutritional deficiencies or being too strict.

Men who feel more masculine when they eat meat may think less meat equals less protein, resulting in smaller muscles. CO diets offer sufficient protein sources and still include meat intake. In other words, you can be a part of the solution and eat your meat too.

Although factory farming is a multi-faceted problem that requires numerous solutions, changing our diets can play a significant role in taming this beast of a problem. Leaving factory farming to solve itself will only increase its deleterious impact—GHGE and infectious disease risks for animals and humans will continue climbing. It will inevitably hurt us humans.

So, as consumers who create the demands that drive food producers, let us use our power responsibly and do our part to solve this issue. It is time to think critically about how we view, choose, and eat meat.