Wouldn't it be better if meat-eaters could just admit...?!
Answers: that eating meat outside of necessity is simply a habit humans have developed? I don't think eating meat needs to be justified with excuses about teeth, etc. We didn't evolve to eat meat- we adapted to it in times when it was necessary for survival. We can survive perfectly fine without meat when other food is available; therefore, it isn't necessary, and is mainly consumed out of habit/desire.
Some animals eat meat. Some animals eat plants. Some animals eat both. But, only 1 animal whines and complains about what the other animals are eating if it's not the same as them.
To answer your question: no. Since your question is simply opinion, not fact, you're simply asking that everyone agree with your opinion. Not too full of yourself are you?
Vegetarians are so hung up on people eating meat. What about all the animals which eat meat? They don't kill other animals humanely like people do, they rip them to shreds. Why don't you make lions and tigers eat broccoli and asparagus. Once you get them all converted you can work on humans.
they can admit it but that won't stop them from eating what they want
have you ever seen a carrot stuck with electic probe respond to diffrent sounds ? i have ! would this stop u from eating a carrot ?
I eat meat because I like it and I can't take the iron capsules that I need (they make me throw up)
But I don't eat anything like battery chicken because of the way the chicken was treated
Don't worry yourself about what others eat. You are no better, they are no worse. Its also an evolved human habit to be judgemental. No other animal is. Have a happy tofu Christmas
Top of the food chain Piglet.
Meat is good.
Sleep is good.
Sex is good.
Vegetables are okay.
Fruits are okay.
Exercise is okay.
Why can't we all just get along. I'll eat my bacon chili cheeseburger while driving, you eat your wheatgrass alfalfa fallafel while riding a bike.
Who cares?
I do not think it matters. My Path is not theirs.
I do believe there will come a time when the Veggie/Vegan plant based diet is Touted as the BEST for all; Health wise, Humanity wise, Earth wise. But until that happens I will not worry about those who will not be enlightened & I will continue gently reach out to those who are seeking.
Aggression in your face style will not change anyones mind, sometimes in fact entrenches them more.
Slainté(to your health)
Meat provides nutrients not found in other food sources, or not absorbed as well.
You simply cannot get Vitamin B-12 without eating animal products, or a supplement (but our bodies don't use supplements well, and b-12 supplements are made out of animals!).
Also, non-heme iron (iron that comes from plant sources, cast-iron skillets, fortified cereals, supplements etc.) is not used or absorbed by the body efficiently, leading to anemia. This can be helped a little bit by consuming vitamin C WITH the non-heme iron, but not at separate meals. Heme iron (from meat sources) absorbs and is utilized easily by the body.
There are also problems with essential fatty acids and DHA, where our bodies can get EFAs from sources like flax seed oil, but out bodies are so inefficient at producing DHA that it is far better to eat cold water fish (which has already consumed fatty acids and produced DHA) to meet our bodies needs for DHA (which is used in the brain and eyes - absolutely essential for fetal development).
Children should not be placed and vegetarian or vegan diets because they simply eat too much fiber from plant sources and get full before they can get enough nutrients in their bodies.
Our bodies work better on real food than on supplements because they are spaced out through the day, allowing for better absorption, and are in forms better recognized by the body.
I have a lot of vegetarian friends and I eat vegetarian food sometimes. We can't stop the meat-eating, but we can improve the circumstances, the transports etc. and make it more comfortable for the animals. That's where the commitment should be, because it's something we can do about.
I agree with Celtic Tejas, "their path is not mine". I don't think it's good diplomacy for one side to badmouth or judge the other, either. See how upset we become when omnivoures post in here saying "but isn't meat good!" or "meat is healthy!". Consider how your attempt to guilt omnis might make them react...' you catch more flies with honey', goes the quote. Or should I say agave nectar...? :)
Eating any food outside of necessity is just a habit humans have developed; most animals will only go out to seek food if they are hungry or to feed their young, they don't have problems with overeating or eating when they aren't hungry. Animals that eat outside of necessity have constant access to food, where food might always be available or they are manipulated to overeat (like pets, laboratory test animals or us humans).
I totally agree. Just look at the answers you received. That guy saying "eat your wheatgrass falafel while riding a bike" is your typical meat-eater stereotype. They don't CARE. They don't care about the animals, they don't care about the environment ("drive vs bike"), hell, he actually used the phrase "I don't care". Well dude, I'm breathing the same air you do, and your SUV is poisoning it, so you had better care, like it or not. The same goes for meat, but in different ways. Most veg*ns are actually nice enough to not judge your meat consumption if you do other things for the environment, but when you start poking fun at our lifestyles, and coming up with specious reasons for eating dead animals, then you had better face the music.
Much as I would LIKE people to curtail their meat consumption, I never tell them to because it would be rude. I have lots of carnivorous friends and I haven't even suggested that they change. But if they goad me into an argument, then you bet I will tell it to them like it is. It's like politics y' know? 99% of the time, it's usually an omni who starts off the argument, and then they expect us to keep quiet.
Lacey,
I did not thumb you down, but I would like to address your answer. While you mentioned the advantages of meat and dairy (which I don't dispute), none of those are deal-breakers for those wishing to go veg*n for ethical reasons. I don't have anemia, so my inefficient body must be doing something right. Yes, I do consume vitamin C with meals and all that, and I hope that all aspiring veg*ns do so too. If they don't, I would prefer that they be educated on the proper diet to follow, rather than a blanket "eat meat!". I would rather not kill a marine animal just to get a more efficient source of omega-3s.
Even veg*ns (right down to Ingrid Newkirk, LOL) value human life (at least their own) above animals, but human convenience is not necessarily above an animal's life.
By the way, I do believe B-12 can now be manufactured artificially using yeast.
Oh and lastly, overconsumption of fiber is the LAST thing American kids need to worry about. Too much protein and too little fiber is the typical American diet. Even the USDA agrees with me.
your so right I'm meat eater. But I still know that your right.
I just refer to them as omnivores.
I don't really have a problem with people eating meat; I have a problem with people treating animals badly.
Get organic local milk, free-range eggs, and humanely slaughtered meat. The fact that we eat animals doesn't justify being assh*les to them.
I have a friend who's a vegan because of the way animals are treated. She has a friend who raises chickens and cows; since the animals are treated right, she'll have scrambled eggs at that friend's house.
Humans are designed to eat meat, but we can also get on fine without it.
I don't like this us-versus-them attitude, though. I only switched sides recently but for me, being a vegetarian is just a matter of what I eat, not a part of my identity. I prefer to walk, bike, or take public transportation mainly because it's cheaper. If I'm just getting a quart of milk at the grocery store, I'll stick it in my backpack if there's room because it's more convenient.
If you want to get people to become vegetarians, you have to point out what's good about being a vegetarian, not what's bad about eating meat.
First, adaptability is a part of the whole evolutionary process. When people adapted meat eating to survive, that became the EVOLUTION of man's dietary abilities from herbivore to omnivore. Humans evolved into omnivores by adapting to meat eating as a means of survival. The two are intertwined not contradictory. You cannot regress evolution meaning you cannot re evolve into hebivores no more than humans can re evolve into apes. At least not in a few hundred or even a thousand years. Justification with facts (teeth, digestive systems etc) are not mere "excuses but arguments based on solid scientific evidence. Certainly more credible than anecdotal and philosophical arguments specifically based on the ethical and emotional impact of modern farming methods (cruelty farms, battery cages, hormones injections, machine milking etc).
Meat eating a habit simply developed? True, but so is everything that man does outside of his autonomic activities. Why do you do the things you do? You CHOSE to be a vegetarian. And the reasons for becoming one are as varied as the fingerprints of each individual. You did not follow some invisible instinct to become one. You made it a conscious thought based on your own experiences and perceptions. That is what developing habits mean. You chose and did it often enough that it becamea habit. We can perfectly survive eating meat as we can eating vegetables. You are confusing your ability and luxury to choose with biological and physiological necessity. The majority of people in this planet are omnivores by choice and or by necessity and survice quite well. Some choose to be exclusive hebivores and survive quite well too. If there is any habit here, it is the habit of choosing to do what is needed to survive. That ability to adapt to almost every imaginable environement is what we have evolved into. That is what we should admit. Not just meat eaters but plant eaters as well.
You're right! I'm not a vegetarian, but I am a Christian, and I don't believe that we started out eating all those animals God made. There was an entire garden of food for the picking for Adam and Eve, and it wasn't until after the fall that things changed.
Scientific evidence supports this.
Someone mentioned dairy consumption. Now, I love dairy and have recently considered the idea that I may have an allergy as do the majority of humans. I don't have violent reactions to it, but I've begun to wonder about things I've dismissed as "sinus" problems. Anyway with that said, there is very little nutritional value to be had for a human being in cow's milk. We can't absorb the calcium, and even if they do add vitamen D, our bodies can't absorb that either - it's synthetic, and honestly vitamen D isn't really a vitamen at all so much as something our body makes for itself in a biological process having to do with the sun among other things.
The idea that people will argue points without even doing the *true* research is absurd. I personally eat meat 'cuz I like it. Research proves I don't need it, and I don't need dairy. There's plenty of protein in tons of other foods - it's really a much healthier lifestyle choice.
I agree. I think it's assholish (not to mention ignorant, naive, and immature) for people to be like MMMMMBLOODYSTEAKBLAHBLAHBLAHI'MADUMBASS because they feel we're insulting them. Just be real about it and don't try say "we NEED to eat meat.." clearly we don't. You want to. That's it. Whatever. I don't look down on people for eating meat. I may look down on them for being a flaming moron about it though.
Born-Again: your friend isn't vegan.
The only excuse is poverty or starvation.
Everything else is just personal preference.
You have your facts wrong, in the wild we evolved to eat meat, the fact we can digest it shows that. Did you know at one time there were at least two pre-human type creatures living almost side by side, one ate meat the other didn’t, the one that ate meat survived, evolved into man the other dead ended, that is died out. In fact without meat, and fat there wouldn't be humans as we know them. Without the extra fat and protein we would not have developed the size brain that we have now.
But the way adaptation is part of evolution.
Now to your last point, yes we can survive perfectly if without meat, but you have to be careful to eat the well balanced diet, making sure you get a complete protein. It is also only because of the fact we have access to much greater variety of plants than any of our ancestors had that you can be a vegetarian. Places were vegetarianism has a long history you see a great variety of plants and the traditions need to ensure healthy lifestyle. It’s a history that we in the United State don’t have.
Basically, we needed to eat meat to develop the big brains, to develop a society that grew many different plants, to develop the way and means to transport that food, so that you and other don’t have to eat meat if you choose.
You're absolutely correct but the meat eaters most won't ever do so I'm sure they fear to do that would threaten their meat eating habits!
Oh well to bad for you. Meat taste good!
FEED THE MEAT MONKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll eat what I want and you can do the same but don't you dare look down you nose at me and claim I'm wrong in eating the diet that i wish to eat, and No I don't think it would be better for humans to consume only a meatless diet.
Merry cabbage dinner Christmas to you.
veggie,s are bad for you!! Stop eating them!! meat is good for you!! eat more of it!!