Killing Animals For Food

selective color of Stop eating animals signage
Type: Vocabulary
Originally published on September 5, 2022 and last updated on May 8, 2023

The number of people around the world who eat animals is staggering. According to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans consume about 9 billion land animals and 1 billion sea animals per year. That’s more than 300 million land animals every day!

The idea that people eat meat because they don’t see the slaughter of animals is not a new one. Some people think we would have more respect for the animal and its life if we were involved in its death, and we might even be more likely to eat less meat overall because we would feel like we are taking part in something that causes suffering.

Instructions:
Go through the vocabulary below with your students and ask them to try and use this vocabaulry where possible when discussing the different conversation questions.

Useful Vocabulary

Try and use the following vocabulary when answering the question. Click to look up the definition in the dictionary

  • suffer (verb)
  • slaughter (verb)
  • take part in (phrase)
  • contribute (verb)
  • rethink (verb)
  • empathy (noun)

Conversation Questions

My Image
  • Would you still eat meat if you had to kill the animal yourself?
  • Have you ever killed an animal?
  • Do you think people would appreciate food more if they had to kill the animal themselves?
  • Do you think humans are omnivores?
  • What problems could there be if everyone started killing the animals they were eating?
  • What animals do you think would be the easiest to kill?
  • What animals do you think would be the most difficult to kill?
Gregory
This conversation topic was prepared by Gregory

Gregory is a qualified TEFL teacher who has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (ESL) for over a decade. He has taught in-person classes in Spain and to English learners around the world online.