As with other areas of personal life now viewed as having larger public relevance, meat has traditionally been regarded as a “private” issue, in this case one’s dietary choice—a matter of individual preference. The past few decades have witnessed some changes in popular attitudes toward meat, yet most people see no connections between meat and general social problems. And these problems are indeed plentiful: resource depletion, pollution, food shortages, deforestation, global warming, and disease. Worldwatch magazine has observed: “… as environmental science has advanced, it has become apparent that the human appetite for flesh is a driving force behind virtually every category of environmental damage, including the growing scarcity of fresh water, loss of biodiversity, spread of toxic wastes and disease, even the destabilization of countries.” This predicament is aggravated by the fivefold increase in global demand for meat in just the past four decades: with more than 6.2 billion humans on the planet, at least 90 percent consumers of meat, it takes no genius to see that the Earth’s capacity for renewal is rapidly being outstripped. The source of astronomical profits for agribusiness, meatpackers, grocers, and the fast-food industry—in fact a bulwark of the entire corporate system—meat is today a decisive factor in altering planetary life.

16. In the context in which it appears, “popular” most nearly means

A. widely appreciated
B. representative
C. humane
D. current
E. philosophical


17. The author of the passage suggests which of the following about the portrayal of meat consumption as “a matter of individual preference?”

A. The portrayal is a direct result of corporate greed.
B. If individuals form broader political groups, changes in meat consumption might become possible.
C. Popular attitudes toward meat consumption have effected a shift in most people’s perceptions of it.
D. The portrayal is antiquated and needs modification.
E. People should be free to consume meat, since eating it is a personal choice.