“Necrovores”: Rethinking Our Language on Meat Eating

And why it matters

Puck magazine cover, Keppler & Schwarzmann (1906)

While researching for an article on Philip Wollen, a top banker turned animal rights activist, I came across an interview where Wollen referred to meat eaters as “necrovores”.

The term confused me at fist, but I now understand: he has a point!

Many meat eaters proudly call themselves “carnivores.” But they aren’t — and in this article, I’ll explain why.

What does “necrovore” mean?

Based on the most accessible definitions I found online, I would summarize it this way:

A necrovore is someone who eats dead flesh (for example, packaged or refrigerated meat), unlike a carnivore, who preys on live animals and consumes their raw flesh.

The term derives from Greek nekros, meaning “dead” and appears to have been coined by Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Why are meat eaters necrovores?

Most humans — even hunters — don’t eat freshly killed animal flesh.

As Paul Watson put it: “Humans do not eat like carnivores. Carnivores bring down living prey and eat it raw and most predators target the soft organs leaving much of the muscle for scavengers. Humans eat dead flesh and rarely eat the organs, preferring the muscle tissue. (…) We are closer in our eating habits to vultures and jackals than wolves and lions.”

The meat that people get in stores and restaurants may be weeks, months or even years old and is often bleached, chlorinated, dyed, injected with carbon monoxide gas or treated in some other way to cover up the decomposition process, which starts at the moment of death.

By the way… 👀

These tricks can make even rotten meat look fresh. Recent investigations have revealed that rotting meat has been “mixed in with fresh” and sold by unwitting supermarkets for years — potentially decades.

Considering the meat industry’s long history of lies and corruption, it is safe to assume that this is only the tip of the ice berg. According to reports, the world’s biggest meatpacker spent almost $250m to bribe more than 1,000 politicians and even bribed police inspectors to allow the sale of rotten meat.

Most people don’t know how rotten and corrupt the meat industry is and how much it harms us all. Share this post to help raise awareness! 👇

Benefits of calling meat eaters “necrovores”

• It reflects reality.
  Technically, most meat eaters are omnivores, given that they consume plant-based foods as well. But if you look at the meat side of their diet, they aren’t carnivores but — as explained above — more accurately described as necrovores. Assigning this label to them simply reflects reality.

• It exposes meat as what it is.
  Even when they “know” it, many meat eaters don’t truly realize that they are consuming the secretions and dismembered body parts of dead animals. The meat industry does everything to keep the gruesome reality of slaughterhouses out of people’s minds. The term “necrovore” is a reminder to be honest with ourselves and see meat as what it really is: the murdered carcass of an innocent animal.

• It disrupts.

  We live in a carnist world where extreme forms animal abuse are widely accepted and normalized. Many people claim to “love animals” and to be “against animal cruelty” but continue to pay for animals to be caged, tormented, mutilated, mercilessly killed, and dismembered. Using the term “necrovore” can stir irritation, raise questions, provide material for discussion — and shock people out of their complacency.

• It removes the false link to animals of prey.

  Some meat eaters like to compare themselves to predatory animals, such as lions. Humans have very little in common with lions. Lions need meat to survive. Humans don't. In fact, population studies have shown that we are healthier without animal products. The term “necrovore” draws a clear distinction between humans, who can choose whether to consume dead animals or not, and real carnivores, who don’t have that choice.

Is eating raw flesh better?

We know that packaged meat often contains poop, is sometimes glued with “meat glue”, may contain rat hair as well as a variety of diseases and pathogens, chemicals, heavy metals, and antibiotic residues.

“There is poop in basically all hamburger meat”
— Tom Philpott, researcher and food correspondent (2015)

Yet, none of the above implies that it’s better or healthier for humans to kill animals and consume them raw. In fact, eating raw meat brings a range of additional health risks. Also, it doesn’t remove any of the devastating impacts that meat consumption has on animals, humans, climate, and the environment.

So no — whether cooked or raw, eating dead animals is not a good idea.

Don’t wanna be a necrovore?

If you think “necrovore” sounds unsexy, that is because it IS. Our society still largely consists of necrovores. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Your plate doesn’t have to be a morgue, your stomach doesn’t have to be a graveyard.

Tens of millions of vegans show that we can lead a happy and healthy life without exploiting animals. Veganism is the fastest-growing lifestyle movement in history. Don’t wait any longer — become a part of it today! Here is how.

The mission ahead

Friends, this is just the beginning. My head is full of ideas.

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