Meat in the context of "Processed meat"

Human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings. A person who practices cannibalism is called a cannibal. The meaning of "cannibalism" has been extended into zoology to describe animals consuming parts of individuals of the same species as food.

Anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals, and Homo antecessor are known to have practised cannibalism to some extent in the Pleistocene. Cannibalism was occasionally practised in Egypt during ancient and Roman times, as well as later during severe famines. The Island Caribs of the Lesser Antilles, whose name is the origin of the word cannibal, acquired a long-standing reputation as eaters of human flesh, reconfirmed when their legends were recorded in the 17th century. Some controversy exists over the accuracy of these legends and the prevalence of actual cannibalism in the culture.

Lamb and mutton, collectively sheep meat (or sheepmeat) is one of the most common meats around the world, taken meat from the domestic sheep, Ovis aries, and generally divided into lamb, from sheep in their first year, hogget, from sheep in their second, and mutton, from older sheep.

In South Asian and Caribbean cuisine, "mutton" often means goat meat. At various times and places, "mutton" or "goat mutton" has occasionally been used to mean goat meat.

Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starting with the Neolithic Revolution when animals were first domesticated, from around 13,000 BC onwards, predating farming of the first crops. During the period of ancient societies like ancient Egypt, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs were being raised on farms.

Major changes took place in the Columbian exchange, when Old World livestock were brought to the New World, and then in the British Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century, when livestock breeds like the Dishley Longhorn cattle and Lincoln Longwool sheep were rapidly improved by agriculturalists, such as Robert Bakewell, to yield more meat, milk, and wool. A wide range of other species, such as horse, water buffalo, llama, rabbit, and guinea pig, are used as livestock in some parts of the world. Insect farming, as well as aquaculture of fish, molluscs, and crustaceans, is widespread.

Sushi (すし, 寿司, 鮨, 鮓; pronounced [sɯɕiꜜ] or [sɯꜜɕi] ) is a traditional Japanese dish made with vinegared rice (鮨飯, sushi-meshi), typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of ingredients (ねた, neta), such as seafood, vegetables, or meat; raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi has numerous styles and presentations, the current defining component is the vinegared rice, also known as shari (しゃり), or sumeshi (酢飯).

The modern form of sushi is believed to have been created by Hanaya Yohei, who invented nigiri-zushi, the most commonly recognized type today, in which seafood is placed on hand-pressed, vinegared rice. This innovation occurred around 1824 in the Edo period (1603–1867). It was the fast food of the chōnin class in the Edo period.

Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, etc.), for recreation/taxidermy (see trophy hunting), although it may also be done for resourceful reasons such as removing predators dangerous to humans or domestic animals (e.g. wolf hunting), to eliminate pests and nuisance animals that damage crops/livestock/poultry or spread diseases (see varminting), for trade/tourism (see safari), or for ecological conservation against overpopulation and invasive species (commonly called a cull).

Recreationally hunted species are generally referred to as the game, and are usually mammals and birds. A person participating in a hunt is a hunter or (less commonly) huntsman; a natural area used for hunting is called a game reserve; and an experienced hunter who helps organise a hunt and/or manage the game reserve is also known as a gamekeeper.

Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a steady supply of resources, such as meat, milk, or labor. The process is gradual and geographically diffuse, based on trial and error. Domestication affected genes for behavior in animals, making them less aggressive. In plants, domestication affected genes for morphology, such as increasing seed size and stopping the shattering of cereal seedheads. Such changes both make domesticated organisms easier to handle and reduce their ability to survive in the wild.

The first animal to be domesticated by humans was the dog, as a commensal, at least 15,000 years ago. Other animals, including goats, sheep, and cows, were domesticated around 11,000 years ago. Among birds, the chicken was first domesticated in East Asia, seemingly for cockfighting, some 7,000 years ago. The horse came under domestication around 5,500 years ago in central Asia as a working animal. Among invertebrates, the silkworm and the western honey bee were domesticated over 5,000 years ago for silk and honey, respectively.

Livestock are the domesticated animals that are raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified animal products for human consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals which are raised for consumption, and sometimes used to refer solely to farmed ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, and goats. Livestock production are mainly a source for farm work and human consumption.

The breeding, maintenance, slaughter and general subjugation of livestock called animal husbandry, is a part of modern agriculture and has been practiced in many cultures since humanity's transition to farming from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animal husbandry practices have varied widely across cultures and periods. It continues to play a major economic and cultural role in numerous communities.

Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and farming methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale in production, the creation of new markets for consumption, the application of patent protection to genetic information, and global trade. These methods are widespread in developed nations and increasingly prevalent worldwide. Most of the meat, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetables available in supermarkets are produced in this way.

Conversations regarding the ethics of eating meat are focused on whether or not it is moral to eat non-human animals. People who abstain from eating meat are generally known as "vegetarians" and people who avoid all animal by-products are known as “vegans”. They avoid meat for a variety of reasons, including taste preference, animal welfare, ethical reasons, religion, the environmental impact of meat production (environmental vegetarianism), health considerations, and antimicrobial resistance. Individuals who promote meat consumption do so for a number of reasons, such as health, cultural traditions, religious beliefs, and scientific arguments that support the practice. The majority of the world’s health and dietetics associations state that a well-planned vegetarian or vegan diet can be nutritionally adequate for all stages of life.

A common argument used in the animal rights movement is the argument from marginal cases, asserting that non-human animals should have the moral status similar to that of marginal case human beings such as human infants, the senile, the comatose, and the cognitively disabled. Proponents argue that there are no morally relevant traits that these marginal humans possess that animals lack.