"If we aren't meant to eat animals, why are we omnivorous?"?!
Answers: We're omnivorous, and they are meat... why the whole vegan thing?
LOL, you chickened out!
We are meant to eat animals--our eyes are in the front of our head, that means we are carnivorous predators.
Of course we are meant to eat flesh. After all our anthropoid ancestors were hunter/gatherers. The whole vegan thing is bullshit!
many voices obtain many choices.
and our bodies have the right kind of teeth and we produce the necessary enzymes to digest meat and our eyes are in the front of our head like all meat eating predator animals simple answer
we evolved from omnivorous animals thats why
take that creationists!
good, question. I think its not a matter of "not being able" to eat meat, but rather "not being willing" to eat meat. Now excuse me, I'm going to have a bacon sandwich.
The way I see it, they can eat all the plants they want thinking they aren't harming animals, but they're stealing food from the animals they're trying to save. Good going...
Besides that, who's to say plants aren't aware of themselves?
In a "perfect" world we would not need to eat animals, but since that's not the case, they fill in our nutritional needs. People want to be vegan for a number of reasons, the worst of which is they don't want to be a part of animal butchering, while I don't like it either the very few veggie only people probably don't even have a 1% impact on that. The best reason, avoiding hormone treated animals, can be difficult because you don't know which companies do it. I would suggest studying up if you want to get into the veggie thing, or maybe just avoid the growth hormones in some meat.
I think the whole idea is that we're advanced enough that we shouldn't have to kill animals to sustain ourselves.
There's all sorts of things about humans that are like other animals... that's not a justification to act like one.
I eat meat. I will continue to do so until there's a suitable replacement.
But...we also have free will, so we can decide not to eat animals if we choose.
I personally like being an omnivore.
In my experience, most vegans and vegetarians don't avoid the meat because we aren't meant to eat it or even because it is wrong to eat it. The main reason I have come across is the way we go about raising and killing the animals. We raise them in tiny areas where they can't even move, so they have a crappy life, then we kill them. That's why freerange and/or hunting are often viewed as okay by vegetarians and vegans.
Where does the idea of "supposed to" come from?
Yes, we have the capability to eat meat. Yes, at one point it helped human evolution to do so. However... we know we can survive and actually be more healthy, on a vegetarian diet. Also, we have the capability to think and choose what to eat, and we can recognize the damage that animal farming causes to the environment.
You can feed 10 vegetarians on the acreage it takes to raise one cow. In a world where there are people starving to death, does it really make sense to eat meat?
As to the "they are meat" comment, they are no more meat than YOU are meat. They're animals.. So are you. They're mammals... So are you. They think, feel pain and have emotions, just like you. The idea that other beings exist for our _use_ is a western concept which has permeated through the world, and it's the same attitude as believing the Earth is only here _for our use_. Look where that's getting us...
Unfortunately people forget that stewardship goes hand in hand with use, and that we need to respect nature, as without it we will not surivive. We are not separate from nature. We are a part of it.
mckahlan_2004: When I say you can feed 10 vegetarians on the acreage it takes to raise one cow, I'm not talking about one meal for 10 people. I'm talking about food year round. One cow isn't going to provide food for 10 people, with all the required nutrients, even if it were just for one meal, either.
In a perfect world, I'd be able to be a carnivore.
Okay, so we have the teeth of an omnivore, too ... but some people just don't want to eat animals, birds, fish, or sealife ... and that is their RIGHT. Vegans don't eat ANY animal products, including fat, milk, cheese, yogurt. They claim they are healthier ... I'm an omnivore, so I don't know ... but I do believe that these people do have the RIGHT to be vegetarians or vegans if they want to. What they don't have is the right to badger those of us who eat meat to stop ... although many do try.
Personally, I hate plants and want to kill and devour as many of them as possible.
u evil flesh munching cruel people who r trying to force views will never survive judgement day.
Because people are very self-righteous...
Being a vegan is a "cause" that "enlightened" people can stand behind because it doesn't require any real "world-changing" effort. It's the easiest way to say you are "fighting" for the "rights" of something without actually sweating.
Yeah, lot of good that apple did for Eve, huh?
Which brings us to an interesting question... if eating the apple got Eve into so much misfortune, why do we say an apple a day keeps the doctor away?
Shouldn't it be: STAY AWAY FROM THOSE GOD DAMNED APPLES?
i'm practically a carnivore...not an omnivore. i rarely eat plants of any kind.
as my brother always says...mmm...charred animal flesh. yum.
meat and chocolate...what else do we need?
bb
wheres your proof we are omnivores?
the fact that we get diseases when we eat other animals raw. the fact that there is too much fat in animal flesh for our bodies, the fact we only have 4 canines out of 36 teeth. seems to me like the arguments are stacked against you.
I guess I'll be the first vegan to answer this, on the off chance this is a legitimate question. First of all, the statement "We're omnivorous, and they are meat" contains two inaccuracies. 1) They are not "meat" any more than we are. They are living, breathing, feeling creatures. 2) Whether or not humans are truly meant to be omnivorous is something that is still subject to much debate.
Yes, we have eyes facing forward, but so do other herbivores, including our closest relatives, the primates. This proves nothing. And to those that say our "canine" teeth are made for tearing flesh, try to bite the hind leg of a deer and see how much of a meal you can make out of that. Chances are, you couldn't even pierce the skin. Everything about our teeth suggests they were made for eating vegetables, tubers and grains.
People like to speak of humans as being at the top of the food chain and being "natural predators", but the fact remains that we do not have any of the abilities/attributes (large teeth, strong jaws, sharp claws, high speed/reflexes, ability to digest raw meat) that make a successful hunter.
The prevailing wisdom on the subject suggests that humans evolved over time to be able, as a last resort, to digest cooked meat during times of great hardship. We were not "designed" to eat meat originally, and it is not a necessity for us to do so now (with a few cultural exceptions).
If you like meat and want to eat it because it tastes good, then fine, enjoy. But everyone who answered should do a little research (rather than simply saying veganism is "bull****") before claiming we were "meant" to eat meat or we "need" meat. It simply isn't true.
I'm not sure what you are trying to get at...
In times of famine, vegetables and fruits were difficult to gather. When crops failed, vegetarian sources were extremely limited. People survived times of famine with hunted game - meat from other animals, fish, and even insects - in order to stay alive.
Americans in particular, when moving to the New World, traveling across the Plains, and moving into new places, hunted animals for food due to an absence of available fruits and vegetables. Many settlers starved in their first few years because of failed or destroyed crops, and depended on hunted animals to keep the rest of them alive until their cultivated crops produced enough to last all winter.
Most of our produce is grown on purpose and takes time to grow. A tomato, for example, takes at least 100 days to grow from a seed into ripened fruit - what do you eat from day 1-99?
Wise and capable people grew their gardens in the summer, and canned and prepared their harvest to last them through the hard winter all the way up the first harvest in early summer. It was a lot of food to save up for even 2 or 3 people, and sometimes the stored food went bad, so fresh meat in the form of wild animals kept them alive until vegetables and fruits could be ripened, harvested, and eaten.
Now that we do not produce our own food, we have the option of eating whatever we please. This includes people who choose to be vegans because the fruits and vegetables are available in the supermerket all year long and provide their source of food continually, and it's not a torture to collect their food. If they had to produce their own food, they would be the first to starve to death unless they were practiced in collecting local edible leaves, roots, tree bark, and flowers AND knew how to use them. Plus they would have to have at least five planted acres, AND be fantastic gardeners to produce enough food for themselves, let alone their vegan friends. Land is expensive, and it takes nearly one acre per person to provide enough food to last from the end of fall harvest to the beginning of early summer harvest.
It's so much easier to preach veganism when fruits and vegetables are plentiful, but if and when a natural disaster such as a severe hailstorm, freeze, huricane, tornado or earthquake hits their area, say bye-bye to your vegan friends, because in times of famine or trouble, food is food and keeps you alive until life is back in balance again, and this includes meat, dairy products, honey, and fish sometimes.
(Be glad we don't eat insects and grubs on a daily basis! But, if push comes to shove, and they are cooked real good...)
The human body may be designed to eat meat. I have no arguement nor interest in that because.....
There is no need to kill animals to live. You can thrive perfectly healthily on a vegetarian diet.
humans may have been designed to eat meat, but animals were certainly not designed to be caged up, mistreated, and killed in early life
I think we would be more likely to humour the "its natural, we're meant to do it" arguements if all meat-eaters went out and hunted thier own meat, ripped it apart by hand and ate it raw. Its illogical to claim "its natural" and them put animals through the artificial meat process.
The arguments against eating meat, and the evidence of how animals are treated is vast, but your question does sound like you haven't thought about it all all. Perhaps research it, and come back with some specific questions ?
I was "meant" to father a child at 11 years old, or so my body told me. Would that be right ? Of course not. We have brains to determine whats right and wrong, there is no need to rely on cave-man instinct.
Having read most of the meaty-answers I think not being associated with thier level of logic is a good enough reason to be veggie. Such cliched nonsense, can any of them think for themselves or do they all have to continuously repeat the standard meaty-knock-a-veggie comments ? If they have anything to say, great, lets hear it, but try to make yourself sound older than 12, or failing that, show that you have at least thought about it for more than a millisecond.
It goes beyond just what is edible.
It's a longevity thing. Humans until recent times died in their 40's usually. Didn't have to worry about cancer or heart disease. Or even food for health beyond simple survival.
We (in the US) also have had the luxury (mostly) of having plenty of food choices. That is not true for many others.
And while it's great to show concern for animals, and not treat them cruelly, it's a tough trend / habit / custom to buck to avoid meat and meat products completely.
Unfortunately, as the world human population continues to grow, there will be less and less room for other species.
First the endangered ones go, then the not so endangered ones.
Then, .....
That's just silly. We aren't omnivorous. The only reason we have incisors is so that we can peel the succulent bark off of trees, nip juicy buds off the branches and to bite our nails and toenails.
Those molars are proof we were meant to grind vegetable matter. And for some to think our appendix is vestigial, I have news for you: our appendix is making a come-back and is actually increasing in size and function...that's proof of our vegan existence.
Some people enjoy being dirty hippies...
We are meant to eat animals...but before Noah's time humans weren't supposed to.Thats why it was so easy for them to collect all the animals cuz they had no reason to fear humans.But after noah and his family came out god said they were allowed to eat the flesh of animals xcept for these rendered unclean(pigs etc) but since then God gave Peter a vision indicating that those things were no longer unclean.
MEAT GOOD, vegetarians wierd
I dont get the vegatarian thing. the animals are here for us to eat. I understand killing animals for fun and not eating them, just killing. Thats wrong to me.
If God didn't intend for us to eat animals why did He make them out of meat?
We are meant to eat animals!!! It says so in the bible!