I guess I'm just thinking of a few anecdotal experiences I've had. When a parent tells a child they have to eat the meat for protein to grow up big and strong and in rare cases yells at the child to eat a hamburger, it profoundly bothers me because it's not true. Knowing that people can easily get enough protein without ever eating an animal, for parents to do and say things like this amounts to brainwashing from my perspective.I've never met anyone who thought that. (about having to eat it every day)
I only eat meat when I feel like it or I'm hungry for something specific that HAPPENS to have meat in it.
I just eat based on whatever I'm feeling at that moment, meat or no meat. xD
It would make me very happy to know that people are eating less meat from a health and environmental perspective. From both of these perspectives stopping all meat consumption is unnecessary. If a person fishes and hunts their own meat as part of a well-rounded diet, I do believe they are just as healthy and environmentally friendly as a vegetarian. The health issues related with meat consumption are mainly due to excessive consumption as well as the fact that meat is often prepared in unhealthy ways such as fried chicken. However, from the animal rights perspective eating meat is just immoral and therefore a person would have to give up meat entirely.Yes, People can eat LESS meat, but that doesn't mean they should stop eating it altogether. They just need to balance their diets.
I don't mean that vegetarians stop other people from eating meat, but rather that vegetarians inspire or convince others to eat less meat or give up meat entirely. I have certainly noticed my example of vegetarianism making a difference in other people's choices of diet and have had multiple family members tell me that they eat less meat now because of me. I don't really think we are disagreeing here though since you said "much difference" which accepts that there is a difference made (although very small).I disagree. Simply because there are a vast amount of those who are not vegetarians out there that, by free will as you said, will still continue their meat eating. And no vegetarian can stop others from, eating what they like.
Now, if there was a law though, that limited the cows raised or something, then you might have a chance to put it in place, and THAT might have an effect. But a single individual cutting it out from their diet entirely isn't going to make that much difference.
I think for me it comes down to a few reasons. First I do believe it's wrong to kill an animal unless it's necessary, and in my circumstances it is unnecessary. I also find it easier to not eat any meat than to eat meat infrequently if that makes sense. I would feel funny eating any meat at all at this point.And by the way, (as explained earlier), you can eat meat without it contributing to farmed animals and it would be environmentally friendly, so I'm kind of confused as to why then, one such as yourself would still ban yourself from all meat... couldn't you just eat meat that was not off of a farmed animal?
It would depend on what is available in the wild area that you are talking about. A vegan can get sufficient amounts of any nutrient except Vitamin B12 without eating some form of supplement or technologically altered food (such as fortified cereals). If you allow yourself to eat eggs or milk in the wild, then it would be unnecessary to eat meat. If you can't find any kind of egg or any mammal to milk in this hypothetical scenario, then you would have to eat some meat eventually to restore your body's stores of Vitamin B12. However to be fair in most places in the world today, there is absolutely no necessity to ever eat an animal. The scenario of the wild doesn't apply to me or most people in the world (although there certainly are plenty of people this would apply to). As for the omnivore debate that is just purely semantics. It depends if we define omnivore as "capable of deriving energy from animals and plants" or "eating both animals and plants." In the former definition all humans are omnivores because they can eat animals and plants, and in the latter definition vegetarians are not omnivores because their choice not to eat animals places them in the different category of herbivores. Also I do take back what I said because I incorrectly assumed the word omnivore only had the definition of eating both animals and plants. I still say that "humans need both meat and plants" is false except in much more narrowly defined circumstances. The omnivore thing depends on how you look at it.I don't see how it's false.
Maybe it can be survivable in a world with supplements, pills, and what technology we now have... But I'm talking in a wild sense.
If you were stranded in an uninhabited place, you would need meat and plants BOTH.
And no way is it false that we are omnivores by nature. We were born that way. We are primates, and all primates are omnivores. By Nature. They eat bugs, they eat fruit, and, there are probably a ton of stuff they eat that I don't know about, but I DO know they eat both. It's not really a choice. However, it is a choice to ban yourself from eating a food.
Meat tends to be the most protein-dense food, but most Americans eat more protein than necessary. Many plant-based foods are protein-rich such as beans, nuts, and certain types of grains. There is a concern about the quality of protein because some plant foods do not have all the essential amino acids, but eating a varied diet provides all of them. Also I can create the argument that getting protein from meat is inferior compared to certain plant sources such as soy or quinoa which not only are rich in complete proteins but also provide fiber and other nutrients without any cholesterol and have low amounts of saturated fat. In my own experience protein is not a concern at all. Nutrition is a hobby of mine so sometimes I keep a food journal, and I've had days were I've eaten 250% of the recommended amount of protein in a day. It's certainly possible to deprive yourself of protein, but you'd have to be pretty ignorant to do so.Anyway, I know you need protein in your diet, and the best way to get it is eating meat. And, If I recall, nuts and stuff DO have protein, but not enough. (unless you eat a LOT of it) And, without technology, there are no supplements.
It's just a combination of a bunch factors I've talked about. I find it easier for me to eat healthy by cutting out meat entirely, from an environmental perspective it goes against my conscience to ever purchase meat, and out of respect for animals it goes against my morals to ever eat an animal. Another reason that I never thought of until I researched vegetarianism is economics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_vegetarianism. A related idea I heard (I don't know if it's true or not, but it certainly sounded believable) is that when you consider all the tons of crops that are fed to animals that are mass bred for slaughter, all those crops could feed the poorer countries of the world several times over but instead we feed them to animals so that we can have them to eat. Another reason people become vegetarian is religion. I read on Wikipedia that Mahayana Buddhists are encouraged to be vegetarians in order to develop compassion. While this certainly was not on mind in my decision to become vegetarian, now I can relate to it. When you develop respect for animals by not eating them, you become less selfish and develop a greater sense of empathy for other living things, and this ultimately makes you a better person because you also gain a greater desire and ability to empathize with other people.Fair enough, But I don't think you ever told me what your example/thoughts on an example of a good reason. I'd like to hear it.
(I mean, I might even agree you do have a good reason, based on what that reason is)
Unless that was the whole "Environmental" approach. In which, I thought we have already agreed that one can still eat meat, while still being environmentally friendly. (ex: hunting)
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