In recent years, liberal-minded activists and politicians have taken significant steps to improve the rights of those within the African American and LGBTQ communities, women and many others. Besides further improvement upon the rights of these respective groups, some may wonder what another issue could be for the progressive movement to tackle. I believe the discussion needs to transcend the human condition, and hone in on the phenomenon of factory farming — a terrible process that encumbers the lives of millions of farm animals everyday.

While we sit back and debate the use of particular bathrooms or the sale of certain wedding cakes, millions of animals consisting mostly of cattle, chickens, pigs and turkeys are being held captive in unbearable living conditions where they are bred to die and harvested to eat. In 2015, 29 million cows, 115 million pigs and 232 million turkeys were slaughtered in the United States for the purposes of human consumption. Surpassing the death tolls of all mammals combined is the chicken, whose species’ astounding 8.8 billion deaths in 2015 undoubtedly gives it the distinction as the most abused animal on the planet.

I could go into great detail about the reprehensible methods associated with slaughterhouses, but I am not sure it would be news to anybody. The remarkable aspect about the issue of factory farming is that most people know it takes place and even recognize their active participation in it as customers. The most common answer you will hear from a defensive omnivore is that “meat tastes good.”

This is a perfectly reasonable answer: It does taste good! I am less interested in condemning those who eat meat than I am by our open disregard to the ethical implications from doing it. Part of this position relates to my own diet. Although I was a vegetarian for five years, I recently transitioned back after realizing there really is no karma-free way of being a vegetarian without sacrificing salutary needs. Vegetarians still consume eggs, milk, cheese, honey and other animal products, all of which are ethically indefensible, deriving from gruesome processes.

If meat is delicious, has numerous health benefits and is craved by over 300 million Americans, what could possibly be a separate option to factory farming in meeting the demands of so many people? Luckily, recent scientific developments have led to the creation of protein-packed alternative: synthetic meat. Although it has yet to hit the shelves, companies like Memphis Meats have made breakthrough discoveries regarding the proliferation of cells molecularly identical to those of the average piece of slaughtered meat.

In fact, Uma Valeti, cardiologist and CEO of Memphis Meats, argues that their synthetic meat tastes exactly the same as regular meat and is actually more natural relative to factory farmed meat due to its omission of antibiotics, which create immunities to disease among the animals and its exemption of growth hormones.

Hopefully, one day, it will be possible to produce and enjoy as much meat as possible without bemoaning the processes that allow us to eat it. With the introduction of companies such as Memphis Meats, I trust that this time will be sooner rather than later. Until then, the wide-scale slaughter of animals in factory farms seem a bit inescapable.

This does not mean we cannot make positive decisions regarding our dietary choices on our own. Instead of consuming the same turkey sandwich everyday, substitute it for an eggplant wrap or portobello mushroom burger. Rather than picking up that same package of Tyson chicken breasts that undoubtedly came from a factory farm, elect for the grass-fed beef where the cows were at least able to roam pastures freely prior to being prepared for consumption.

Decisions like these may not ethically cleanse our consciences completely, but at least they can help tip the scale for these poor animals until we reach a point in time when we can eradicate their suffering completely.

Brian Deinstadt is a junior double-majoring in political science and English.