Explaining Carnism
Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. Carnism is essentially the opposite of veganism; “carn” means “flesh” or “of the flesh” and “ism” denotes a belief system. Most people view eating animals as a given, rather than a choice; in meat-eating cultures around the world people typically don’t think about why they find the flesh of some animals disgusting and the flesh of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any animals at all. But when eating animals is not a necessity for survival, as is the case in much of the world today, it is a choice - and choices always stem from beliefs.
The primary defense of carnism is denial: if we deny there is a problem in the first place, then we don’t have to do anything about it.
For someone to be able to think about eating animals, come to the conclusion that doing so is essentially wrong and harmful, but still continue to consume them speaks of a terrible disconnect between the acknowledgement of the issue and the actual life of the animal. It speaks of an understanding between cause and effect, but a disconnect between being part of the cause and not seeing the effect.
If you are interested in learning more, please take the time to listen and watch this video.
www.carnism.org/carnism-presentation-video
Sources:
https://runvegan.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/the-great-disconnect/