> If the animal is free from suffering, including lacking awareness of what's happening during the killing
How do you measure this? How do you know for certain that what you're eating had no idea it was about to die when it did?
How do you know animals don't experience existential suffering, similar to how humans experience it? Why do you believe that humans are in control of their livestock's emotional state, even when they provide the best environment for them?
You can't know. You can know what acute suffering looks like and try to avoid it.
You can observe animal behavior and say, "They appear not to be suffering from existential dread beyond what they would in the wild", you may be able to measure cortisol levels in the meat. But you'll never know for sure.
How do you measure this? How do you know for certain that what you're eating had no idea it was about to die when it did?
How do you know animals don't experience existential suffering, similar to how humans experience it? Why do you believe that humans are in control of their livestock's emotional state, even when they provide the best environment for them?