Do you think the world will eventually go mostly vegetarian?!
2. Although we are made for meat eating and built for hunting, we don't need meat to survive.
3. Animal products are terribly unsustainable. If the world's population continues to grow at the current rate, grain used for feeding cattle will have to be diverted to directly feeding people or else we will have famine on our hands. We usually prefer not to die, even if it does mean giving up steak.
So, do you think that the world will eventually go mostly vegetarian, or use very little meat, due to the issues with environmental sustainability and the continuing trend in eating less meat?
Answers:
I can't see it. Our technology and population has exceeded our evolution. We are still operating on the levels of small communal subunits in terms of how we think about each other and the way we use our environments, even though the reality is the food you eat today may have come from halfway around the world. That means it brought water, nitrogen, phosphorus and other minerals with it, which at every time in history until this past century would have stayed right there in that ecosystem. It is not in our mindset to comprehend how something we eat may be affecting events in far off lands. So I think the majority of people will never grasp the fact that we are sliding down a slope towards famines and wars over food and water unless we can slow down population growth.
A major problem with the situation is that altruistic behaviour evolved as a way of helping our small social groups to succeed, which in turn allowed our offspring a better chance to develop. If our ancestors were selfish and the group suffered, they didn't benefit because they needed the group to help raise their children. This is not the case today, we don't need each other and so the benefits of ethical, compassionate and altruistic behaviours are hard to see in our lives.
For these reason I can't see people making selfless choices for the sake of our environments. I hope that many more people will go veg, but it won't surprise me if they don't unless it appeals to their selfish side. How do we convince a selfish person to act selflessly? I don't think you can...
vegan biologist
You're completely wrong on the first point, meat for most of humans recorded history was a luxury & not consumed in daily proportions as we see it nowdays.
Other than that valid enough points than can be argued though obviously as a vegetarian myself i think they are 100% valid
Way i see it there are 3 paths in the future
1) in vitro meat
2) we all go vegetarian
3) biotechnology cloning etc of some sort, is able to be produced with less resources than growing animals for food. Though the ethics would be blown up like crazy over such practices
vegetarian
If we don't, I just hope we eat less meat. meat production is highly energy dependent and energy is getting more and more precious. unless we rethink our food priorities, things like water and energy will be in short supply. there are more sustainable ways to operate. From an environmental stand point :)
We can dream eiro cant we ? lol I gave up steak and more and I didnt die so I think that little worry of theirs is mute , wouldnt you say ? As long as there are great people like you setting a great example we'll at least get there partially.
and no our teeth are not designed for meat eating , thats been proven . We lack the tearing incisors meat eaters have.
I think their will be a lot more people trying to become vegetarians in the coming years. When I first started I was amazed how good food tasted.
It's depressing to see so many fat people at the grocery. They wonder why they are fat yet - but have a couple blocks of cheese, soda, and a industrial pack of JTM hamburgers. duh!
Nope. The only way is in crisis situation. Theres tons of people and familys that LOVE meat. Theres no way everyone is going to stop eating it.
And theres no way the meat industries are going to shut down, unless there is a crisis of some sort.
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." -Einstein
Probably eventually, but only because of point 3. Not for awhile though.
If they do, I don't think it will be for a long long time.
Patient Vegan
i think more people will but i don't expect everyone will.
1. Yeah, actually it was at about 10% at this point. We've actually been eating more meat since the late 40s when refrigerators and meat became more affordable, and then the economic boom in the 50s happened.
2. If you look at your hand, I think it'll be easier to pick an apple than kill an animal (not that you'd want to, of course). I agree, we don't need meat to survive. In fact, I'll go one step further and say we're herbivores. :)
3. I agree with the first part, but there are a ton of ignorant and selfish people in the world that will not want to give up their steaks unfortunately. Some people just don't understand that they're doing something very, very wrong.
Because I'm an idealist, I think that the world will change. Maybe not in our lifetime, but there will be more and more vegetarians out there making a difference. And eventually the majority of the populations will realize that eating meat is causing a lot of the world's suffering. Some won't care, but some people will make the change and turn to a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.
Vegan
I am not a vegetarian but have been thinking of becoming one for a while now. It is healthier and eventually I do believe people will start becoming vegetarian but I think that we might go to fish there are more fish and they reproduce and grow quicker than cows and are a lot healthier too.
I don't eat red meat
We will never give up meat.
There was a movie from 1973; "Soylent Green" that deals with an expanding population and lack of food.
Watch it if you can locate it. It will send shivers up your spine.
I won't give the plot away.
I highly doubt it. I think that the human species will undergo an extreme population reduction (if not extinction) before that happens.
And no, I don't think it will be caused by meat consumption.
nope i would rather die of a famine with a hamburger in my colon that live eating vegetarian meals
No you are wrong over the years people have been eating more meat now that it is produced cheaper. It used to be two hundred years ago people only ate meat 1-2 times a week unless they were wealthy. This is why gelatin deserts back then were considered so fancy because it showed that you were wealthy enough meat to make the gelatin. And in developing countries animals are being given by charities like heifer international so people can substain a living in many areas of the world you cannot grow crops like the plains of Africa where only scrub brush grows, but the animals can eat it and provide milk and offspring to sell for meat.
If you think a person's life is worth more than an animal donate, if you don't you are a sad lonely person who no one likes so you have to turn to animals.
http://www.heifer.org/