Ethics of Plant-Based Meat (Term Paper Sample)

Rebellyous Foods and Engineering the Future Student Name Institutional Affiliation Background Rebellyous is a food company that produces plant-based meat. Apart from being just a plant-based meat company, the company has various managerial and technical strategies to reduce the cost of meat and its carbon footprint (Wiklund, 2023). The case addresses the machine's ideology, planning, and design to boost food production, reduce production costs, and reduce carbon footprint. The idea of creating plant-based food is based on the protection of animals and animal rights. It is also based on the objective of producing enough food for the world (Wiklund, 2023). The first critical fundamental dilemma of using plant-based meat is the morality of treating plant-based food as “meat.” This creates the animal’s right to avoid using animals’ meat instead of plant meat. The morality of slaughtering animals for food is an ethical issue that has been in debate for many years. Stakeholders have the ethical responsibility to find cheaper and more effective ways of producing enough food for the world (Pickles, 2019). As explained in the case, plant-based meat production is sustainable and cheaper and will solve the world's food crisis. Ethical Dilemmas The first ethical issue is whether plant-based meat can be used to substitute real animal meat in terms of safety and nutrients. Plant-based meat also raises concern about the morality of avoiding eating animals based on animals’ rights. Plant-based meat is processed food, unlike animal meat, which is just prepared. This creates the ethical issue of whether the plant-based meat industry is designed for profit or the ethical responsibility of protecting animals (Cheney, 2021). Being processed food, plant-based meat might have a high carbon footprint since it is taken through industry. Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics is based on virtues. Moral conduct depends on whether the actions are inspired by good virtue. Virtuous, like honesty, justice, fairness, and even sustainability. Actions guided and done by a person following these good virtues are morally right. Plant-based meat aims to protect animals by avoiding animal meat. Animal rights are controversial, but keeping animals for meat is associated with high emissions. Fishing is a practice that involves various issues ranging from territorial disputes, hunting certain species of fish to extinction, and massive emissions associated with moving fish ships to various locations in the ocean. According to Pickles (2019), killing animals for food involves treating animals as a means to an end instead of an end in themselves. The argument is based on the animal's ability to feel pain, contribute to the ecosystem, and be self-conscious. The second argument involves an innovative way to produce food for the world (Cheney, 2021). This is based on reducing food costs, producing enough food, and making food available, for instance, to starving children in various parts of the world where there is a food shortage. Engineering Code of Conduct The engineering code of ethics for food scientists has moral obligations to uphold values and to cause no harm to people, the environment, or biodiversity. Food engineers are responsible for upholding the truth. In this case, the company is responsible for revealing the truth about the procedures and ingredients of making the plant-based food (Croney & Swanson, 2023). They are also responsible for creating no harm to the community and ensuring the sustainability of the production process and products. The production company and Christie Lagally are engineers responsible for eliminating harm through the production process and the products. Christie Lagally is responsible for the sustainability of the products. Engineers should also design for efficiency, solving existing problems and improving the Earth. The main argument is that Plant-based meat will help to reduce food shortage by making it cheaper, faster, and more sustainable to produce food and proteins in particular (Croney & Swanson, 2023). The first premise is that Plant-based meat will reduce dependence on animals for meat. This will reduce the wait time for mature animals reared for meat (He, Evans, Liu & Shao, 2020). A cow, for instance, takes over a year to mature, but production of Plant-based meat is instant. The second premise is that Plant-based meat has a low carbon footprint. It is manufactured instantly and is plant-based, meaning that at a point in the growth of plants, the process works to reduce carbon gases in the atmosphere (He, Evans, Liu & Shao, 2020...