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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnism | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnism | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:43:54.055000+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Justification === Joy introduced the idea of the "Three Ns of Justification", writing that meat-eaters regard meat consumption as "normal, natural, and necessary". She argues that the "Three Ns" have been invoked to justify other ideologies, including slavery and denying women the right to vote, and are widely recognized as problematic only after the ideology they support has been dismantled. The argument holds that people are conditioned to believe that humans evolved to eat meat, that it is expected of them, and that they need it to survive or be strong. These beliefs are said to be reinforced by various institutions, including religion, family, and the media. Although scientists have shown that humans can get enough protein in their diets without eating meat, the belief that meat is required persists. Moreover, a 2022 study published in PNAS calls into question the impact of meat consumption on shaping the evolution of the human species. Building on Joy's work, psychologists conducted a series of studies in the United States and Australia, published in 2015, that found the great majority of meat-eaters' stated justifications for consuming meat were based on the "Four Ns" – "natural, normal, necessary, and nice". The arguments were that humans are omnivores (natural), that most people eat meat (normal), that Vegan diets are lacking in nutrients (necessary), and that meat tastes good (nice). Meat-eaters who endorsed these arguments more strongly reported less guilt about their dietary habits. They tended to objectify animals, have less moral concern for them and attribute less consciousness to them. They were also more supportive of social inequality and hierarchical ideologies, and less proud of their consumer choices. Helena Pedersen, in her review of Joy's original book, suggested Joy's theory was too broad and did not account for variation in people's beliefs and attitudes; for example, Pedersen argues that Joy's argument that people dissociate animal products from their animal origins cannot account for some hunters who make explicit connection between the two as a justification for consumption or for former Vegans who have changed their attitudes towards the consumption of animal products. Pedersen also says that Joy seems to present the consumption of animal-products as arising from ignorance of how they are produced, however Pedersen disagrees that people would simply change their consumption if they were more informed.
=== "Saved from slaughter" narratives ===
An illustration of dissonance reduction is the prominence given to "saved from slaughter" stories, in which the media focus on one animal that evaded slaughter, while ignoring the millions that did not. Joy wrote that this dichotomy is characteristic of carnism. Animals at the center of these narratives include Wilbur in Charlotte's Web (1952); the eponymous and fictional star of Babe (1995); Christopher Hogwood in Sy Montgomery's The Good, Good Pig (2006); the Tamworth Two; Emily the Cow and Cincinnati Freedom. The American National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is cited as another example. A 2012 study found that most media reporting on it celebrated the poultry industry while marginalizing the link between living animals and meat.
== Non-academic reception == Opinion pieces in The Huffington Post, The Statesman, and The Drum praised the idea, saying the term made it easier to discuss, and challenge, the practices of animal exploitation. An article in the beef industry outlet Drovers Cattle Network criticized the use of the term, saying it implied that eating animal foods was a "psychological sickness".
== See also == Food studies Moral psychology Non-vegetarianism Psychology of eating meat Speciesism Taboo food and drink Veganism List of vegan media
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Further reading == Castricano, Jodey, and Rasmus R. Simonsen, eds. (2016). Critical Perspectives on Veganism. Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. Kanerva, Minna (2021). The New Meatways and Sustainability. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag. Herzog, Hal (2010). Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat. New York: Harper Collins. Joy, Melanie (2015). "Beyond carnism and toward rational, authentic food choices", TEDx talk. Monteiro, Christopher A., Tamara D. Pfeiler, Marcus D. Patterson and Michael A. Milburn (2017). "The Carnism Inventory: Measuring the ideology of eating animals". Appetite 113: 51–62. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2017.02.011. Potts, Annie, ed. (2016). Meat Culture. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. Vialles, Noëlie (1994). Animal to Edible. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.