Meat of any sort should be a delicacy, not a staple. Let's skip past the animal cruelty because we all know it's happening. We are in the beginning stages of a mass extinction event, and we badly need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock are responsible for 14.5% of greenhouse gasses. Fossil fuel is obviously the biggest issue, but so, so many parts of our life depend on it so that's gonna take some time. It would be much, much easier to phase out cow and chicken plants, transition those workers to farming, and start building up a system for a more plant based diet. Would it be hard? Of course. Is it necessary? Yeah. Nevermind that 39% of the world is overweight. 13% of the world is obese. The *WORLD*. We need some fruits and veggies y'all. There will undoubtedly be folks who try to point out that you can live a perfectly healthy life eating meat. You're right. But our planet can't stay healthy with 989 million cows each burping 200lbs of methane every year. Others will say "If I want meat, I have a right to eat it!". Of course you do. But now it's going to be $50/pound. You'll eat it on your birthday, instead of having it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. In a nutshell: We would all be healthier people living on a healthier planet if we shut down all major livestock production.