I respect ya'll...

Because hell, I know I wouldn't be able to go with out meat. That's just me. Yeah, I love fruit and veggies, but still I need meat.

But here are some points I have...

If we're not supposed to eat meat; why do other beings do?

And...

Plants are alive, why don't they have feelings?

I'm not trying to cause a fight, that's just what I have thought up. But like I said I respect you all.

 

I am glad you respect vegetairians. I respect meat eaters too. We all have our way of living and our beliefs and I think that is wonderful. I am in the process of beginning to go vegan. Its pretty hard. But I am lactose intolerant. I get really ill everytime I eat dairy and I hate taking that lactaid pill. Power to you brother Peace and Love.

 

no, im not going to start a fight But...... I must respond.


Yeah, I love fruit and veggies, but still I need meat.
If we don't need it, why do you? Which brings me to my next point.

If we're not supposed to eat meat; why do other beings do?
Most other species are not carnivorous, although many are, most of them aren't. A lot of them survive just by eating plants, i.e. species that are most like us (apes, monkeys...)
So then, to state my point with your logic, if we're supposed to eat meat, why don't other beings do?

Plants are alive, why don't they have feelings?
Because they don't have nervous systems, brains, sense, etc...

 

Because hell, I know I wouldn't be able to go with out meat. That's just me. Yeah, I love fruit and veggies, but still I need meat. You don't need meat... that's just habit and instinct developed over millions of years... If you had to actually physically kill them it may be a different story... I've hunted, I've fished, I've gutted, I've killed, and I've been to a meat processing plant. Trust me... I'm better off as a vegan.

But here are some points I have...

If we're not supposed to eat meat; why do other beings do? Because it's all in the mind.

And...

Plants are alive, why don't they have feelings? The inability of expression.

I'm not trying to cause a fight, that's just what I have thought up. But like I said I respect you all.

 

Once again I am glad you guys have your oppinions that is what makes this country great. Because we have the freedom of speech. My dad still eats meat and he respects me like I respect him.

 

We have what I like to call a "half-assed" freedom of speech... anything is better than nothing though.

 

To some point you need meat. It gives you good proten and such. And their are some people who don't eat meat and such, because they can't eat meat.

Oh, and I think I'm more addicted to meat because my mom is allergic to corn so like that limits a lot of food in my house, and so a lot of real meat (like you know what I'm saying?) is eaten here...

 

there are for more veggies than meats

so

lots of veggies = lots of protein

little meat = little protein.

and with veggies you get more variety too. back when I ate meat every week it was

"chicken, cow, chicken, cow, chicken, cow" And the occasional dead fish thrown in every few weeks.

 

So true...I've got my parents thinking about going veggie because everytime we eat out, I always get the weirdest and best meals (the ones you dont normally pick, but rock incredibly anyway).

 

LOL that's true for me too. Well sort of, they just comment then go back to their steak or whatever.

If we're not supposed to eat meat; why do other beings do?

Firstly not all other animals eat meat. Those that do have evolved to do so.
Carnivores (lions, wolves, next door's cats etc) have large sharp canine teeth, shorter guts, claws designed to rip into flesh.
Whilst herbivores (e.g our rabbits) obviously are designed diffrently; smaller blunter canines, longer digestive tracts, claws designed to deal with plants.
So whilst the cat gets chicken the rabbits get hay. As is their nature, there isn't really any connection.
I know enough about biology to explain anymore.

Plants are alive, why don't they have feelings?

They lack a central nervous system.

To some point you need meat. It gives you good proten and such.

If meat was necessary for my survival, then after 14 meat free months it would show. And of course I'm perfectly healthy.
There are plenty of other sources of protein, soya products, beans etc. They tend to be healtheir than meat too

And their are some people who don't eat meat and such, because they can't eat meat.

Quite right, I certainly can't. Of course it's purely mental, but even so.

Oh, and I think I'm more addicted to meat because my mom is allergic to corn so like that limits a lot of food in my house, and so a lot of real meat (like you know what I'm saying?) is eaten here...

Well my mother is allegic to all manner of things, but we get by. They are her problems not mine. I take responsiblity for myself and fix my own food, both very useful skills.

With some research and will power almost anything can be achieved.

 

yeah, exactly.

Also - yes it is true that some animals do eat meat - but animals also throw poo at each other, eat each other's lice and eat their meat raw. Chowing down on fresh zebra is a lot different from wandering into a Maccas and ordering a cheeseburger. In other word, I personally think we have developed a society that is different from that of the animals that do eat meat and as such what applies to them does not also apply to us. We have evolved things like compassion for instance, things that enable us to see meat not as a food group but as a thing that can feel pain.

Also - plants. The lack of a central nervous system probably makes it difficult to feel, well, anything really. However, on the off chance that perhaps they can feel as much pain as an animal - well, arguably veg*ism is still the way to go, as it's only hurting one branch of life - if we were to eat meat as well, we would not only be eating the animal but all the poor plants that fed it, thus creating a heap of uneccesary suffering.

hope that helps a bit, it's really nice to hear from someone who eats meat but doesn't feel the need to be an arse about it

 

is it about the pain or the 'life' that animals have that people object to? You can remove the pain of death. But there is 'life' to animals that plants certainly dont have.

 

Even if you assume that plants feel pain, this notion is not incompatible with vegetariansim. The problem only arises if you view vegetarianism as some sort of moral absolute, which I don't.

For me, it's about minimising suffering. Life involves cruelty and pain, and it's unavoidable that our actions will cause pain, suffering and death to other living things. When we drive, we kill bugs on the windscreen. When we walk, we tread insects underfoot. When we farm vegetables, animals will be killed by the plough. It's not, therefore, about eliminating suffering. Vegetarianism is simply about reducing the amount of suffering that we cause, as far as we personally feel is practical. Some people will still eat fish, because they don't feel able to give up meat entirely. Some people will go vegan because they want to avoid the cruelty of modern dairy farming. Others will go fruitarian so as to reduce the suffering of plants. None of these people are right or wrong, they're just taking a personal path down a road of reduced suffering to an extent that they feel personally capable of.

 

hrm maybe i didn gett across what i was asking clearly enough.


If you can kill an animal without it feeling pain, would you find it acceptable to eat that animal?

 

Nope. Nuhuh. No way

 

There is more to the picture than just animal cruelty, there is also the issue of environmental logistics. If every human being were to adopt a vegetarian diet there would be enough food to eliminate famine everywhere.

The amount of land needed to rear enough cattle to feed 1 person for a year would be able to feed anything from 5 people to 30 people for a year depending on the crop. This is because livestock also has to be fed a vegetarian diet; if we stop farming livestock the crop harvest will increase.

 

so it has less to do with the suffering, than the 'life' that is lost?

 

I've never attempted to weigh those considerations against each other in my own mind. For me, factory farming and the cruelty involved in the industry are compelling enough reasons not to eat meat. However, even were that not the case, I still value the life of the animal above my own need to satisfy my taste buds, and so I'd still abstain even were there no suffering involved. Some veggies see it differently, and for them it's only about the cruelty. I think it's a personal thing for each of us.

 

i said the same sorta bullshit you said. " i can never stop eating meat " blah blah. i even made fun of veg's with my mom sa ying thats going over board. but then i woke up one day and im vegan now. never say never. some day you might open your eyes.

 

I can sympathize when someone says, "I need my meat," especially when they are willing to admit that they are addicted to it. At least you're being honest. I would like to say that, as a Vegan, I find that I now eat a much greater variety of food than I did when I was a meat-eater, and I find that I enjoy my meals so much more now. I have tried so many new foods that I wouldn't have even considered in my pre-veg days, and even after more tahn a year and a halk of being Vegan, I still try at least three or four completely new foods every month. As an omni, I mostly rotated a dozen or so recipes over and over again. It was pretty darned boring in retrospect.

It is unnecessary for humans to eat meat, since a well-planned, plant-based diet meets all a human's nutritional requirements, with the exception of B-12, which has to be supplemented. At the outset, a well-planned, plant-based diet may seem to be a terrible inconvenience, but any well-balanced, healthy diet is going to be something of an inconvenience in today's fast food society. I make the vast majority of my meals from scratch, and I work 12 hour shifts, so I know that it is not only possible but, with some practice, not even difficult to successfully be a healthy Veg*n.

As for the suffering of plants, if you believe that plants have feelings, then perhaps you should look into fruitarianism. However, becoming a Vegan would be the next best thing, since 70% of the grain grown in the world is fed to food animals.