why do people eat animal flesh?

I'm just wondering what you think cows, and other live stock eat.

They eat farmed grains, grasses, and vegetables. And They eat A LOT more than humans.

Example: In America we have 75 million acres of soybeans, 98% of those beans go to feed live stock.

The vast majority of all american cropland goes to feed livestock.

 

I’m not sure about a lot of other places but by where I live in the western U.S. most cattle are grazed on the land and eat grass. Then they are rotated around so the land can recover and stay in a healthy condition.
In the middle of winter and at feedlots before being processed cattle eat grain and hay that has been grown but that is usually a small fraction of their lives.

most of these statistics that are brought up by vegetarians to make the meat industry look bad are very warped and one sided…But I am not going to waste my time coping and pasting warped and skewed statistics.

Just look at down to earth Reality you import avocados and rice grown in tropical clearcuts to North America or Eroupe all winter and it is NOT less destructive then eating local produced hamburgers.

I think eating local is the least destructive way to live and importing a “green” diet all year in a northern climate is much more destructive then eating local meats.

Import diets are destroying the world it is all dependant on oil.. so as soon as the troops leave Iraq no more imported vegetarian diet for 99% of vegitrians in northern climates..

 

you live in an area where cows are grazing in fields, i live in a town where every field of corn is uneatable by humans...

As far as statistics go I'm not a fan as i can not see where the numbers are coming from. but it helped illustrate my point. The point is there is much more money in farming for animals then there is farming for humans.

As fas as avocados go, i know more meat eaters that eat them then vegetarians, whats your point here. I'm a vegan and i personally dislike the taste of avocados.

I do have to agree with you on the importing though. Local is totally the best way to go for any product.

 

I have had these discussions with people before and they claim that in big cities with mass amounts of people that growing beans is most space and cost effective then meat. So I have to admit in a lot of parts of the world beans might be better then meat.

Where I live in the western U.S. cow graze in half of the fields and all over public land they eat grass that grows back every year and share environments with native animals. So for me I see eating meat as a much less destructive food source then grown protein sources.

In the old days before cheap gas when people used to chose places to live they would also consider what types of food was available there.

I guess a lot of it is where you live.

 

One of the nice things with beans is of course they do well in otherwise poor and depleated soil (for the most part) , returning a natural source of nitrogen to the earth and eventually add organic hummus if left alone which would eventually help that soil support a more diverse range of crops.

I just dont get why it's got to be an argument, both sides have valid points, both industries factory farming either meat's or mono-cropping vegtables are poisoning our earth and our food chains with pestecides, antibiotics, growth hormones and GMO's or Clones. Not to mention the further clearing of Forests for the sake of feeding an ever increasing population. It's like one side of the coin screaming at the other that money is the root of all evil really.

 

its an old lore, same reason why really back in the day, some people drank the blood of their dead relatives because they thought it was their life force

scientifically its redundant

...however some people eat meat (its preference) and if your a vegan kudos to you

...but i eat meat because im terrible at keeping committments

 

I was watching a nature documentary the other day, some elephants were eating the mud from the bottom of a waterhole ... for the minerals in it, and then these warthog things came along and ate the elephant shit.

... just some alternative ideas there

 

I eat meat because it is yang. Heat. Especially in fall and winter. Meat is good for you. In the spring and fall, it's best to lay off a bit.

And it fucking tastes great. My system likes meat. Maybe yours doesn't. Maybe I'm no better than a chimp. Maybe you're as good as a bonobo.

 

meat is extremely inefficient. " Studies on world food security estimate that an affluent diet containing meat requires up to 3 times as many resources as a vegetarian diet"
cattle causes so much environmental damage by over grazing, soil erosion, desertification and tropical deforestation to make room for ranches.
-OUR MEAT BASED DIET IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO WORLD HUNGER
-Production of meat causes more green house gases (18%) than the entire world's transportation system (13.5%)
-A THIRD OF THE WORLD'S LAND SUITABLE FOR GROWING CROPS IS USED TO PRODUCE FARM FEED FOR ANIMALS
-FARMED ANIMAL PRODUCTION ACCOUNTS FOR 70% OF ALL AGRICULTURAL LAND USE WHICH IS 30% OF THE EARTHS ENTIRE LAND SURFACE
-IT TAKES 8kg OF GRAIN TO PRODUCE 1kg OF MEAT

well there are some reasons other than the simple animal cruelty/suffering and all the cliche vegitarian reasons. so maybe this will give some of you carnivores a different perspective.

a vegitarian diet using imported foods isnt necessarily "green" either. Buying local, even if its not organic, is better than buying organic from brazil or something. Ideally organic, local fruits and veggies is the way to go but you just have to gauge the environmental impact of the food by yourself.

 

your argument would be much better received if you could actually spell vegetarian,,..

 

Hear, hear! If only people would use their mind about their food, instead of just quit eating meat and believe by only checking the ingredients that they're saving the world..

 

Correct me if im wrong, but has anyone brought up the protein argument? I would gladly stop eating meat if it wasnt so hard to just eat one type of organic protein like soy. With meat, you get diversity and you become far less discouraged to find your source of protein. Humans are pretty much made out of water and protein.

If i choose to become a vegatarian, do you guys completely cut off your protein source? or do you just drink a giant glass of soy milk everyday?

 

I personally get my protein from Beans, Sprouts, Rice, Hemp, Quinoa, Peanuts, Tree nuts, Soy, and Grains.

Its a bad idea to have a soy based vegetarian diet. Too much soy can be a problem. Having a balanced diet is always the best decision in any diet.
For me, soy once a week is enough soy. And even then its a fermented soy like tempeh.

I get the right amount of protein for my lifestyle. Excess protein has been linked various ailments.

 

i eat meat for the following reasons.
1. it has nutriants that plants don't
2. it's in my religeon
3. it tastes good
4. it is easily accessable
5. encourages growth
6. traditon

i just want to say in point #5 when i say encourages growth i dont mean the crap they put in it. studies have shown that even free range organic meat encourages growth and although i eat WAY more veggies than meat i don't think i could stick with an all veggie diet

 

haha whoops i didnt realize i was misspelling it haa

^There is not one nutrient in meat that you cant get from plant sources. the only thing i can think of is omega 3s, which are found in fish. You can take a supplement of cod liver oil or fish oil capsules to get it though. Other than that you can get every nutrient from plants, and will actually live a healthier life without the meat....especially if the meat you are eating is not horomone free, antibiotic free and free range

 

You have to kill the fish to get the oil... Why not just eat the fish itself?

 

You can get omega 3 from algae, hemp, flax, canola, walnuts....

 

I eat meat because its a quick protein fix. animals eat each-other, I am an animal, so i do it. everyone has there time to die, like i will eventually.

 

i eat venison because i enjoy deer hunting and i don't kill anything that i won't eat. the deer might die in a horrific traffic accident as well as the occupants in the vehicle so in retrospect i might just be saving a humans life by killing a deer. venison's very healthy for a person also. i can see why a person who doesn't eat meat would be grossed out by omnivores, but i just don't have that mind set. i don't eat animals because i think that they will give me super animal strength or characteristics. if that were the case i'd start eating a lot more cows because i would love to have a nice set of utters oh yeah!