Some of us don't need to count on our fingersIt's a secondary unit of measure since 1965 but an accommodation in 1995 was made for those that still didn't understand counting in 10.
Some of us don't need to count on our fingersIt's a secondary unit of measure since 1965 but an accommodation in 1995 was made for those that still didn't understand counting in 10.
As a vegetarian of 28 years who eats vegan wherever possible and has sympathy for vegans, I would say that although human beings have eaten meat for thousands of years, there are plenty of people who have been vegetarian or vegan for a long time and are perfectly healthy, and biologically we are more like herbivorous than carnivorous animals. If we were meant to be carnivores, we would have claws to catch our prey! Eating meat is just a habit, not a necessity, and vegetarians have existed throughout history. From a health point of view, a vegetarian or vegan diet has many advantages compared to a meat-based diet: less saturated fat, less risk of cancer and heart disease, for example.
That said, as with any type of diet you need to make sure that you eat a good varied and balanced diet to ensure that you get all the nutrients that you need. In theory, there shouldn't be any nutrients that the human body needs that are only found in meat and fish. In practice, though, I guess everybody's body is different, and maybe some people's bodies find it harder to adjust to a plant-based diet or absorb nutrients such as protein and iron from plant-based sources.
If you want to go down that route, why are out eyes not on the sides of our heads like pretty much all herbivores?
No. Because those cattle eat plants. Typically soya beans, cereals etc which it would be more efficient and cheaper to just feed directly to humans.Cattle must be easier to rear in the quantities needed for an expanding population than having to rely purely on plant based foods.
Along with aviation, meat is something that should be rationed. Everybody (globally) gets an equal allocation, and if you don't want yours you can sell it to people who want more.
Along with aviation, meat is something that should be rationed. Everybody (globally) gets an equal allocation, and if you don't want yours you can sell it to people who want more.
Well actually I've already thought of how to implement the aviation one, and actually have a meeting scheduled with a think tank to discuss it in the next few weeks.
Governments push small incremental change because most people accept that and it makes it look like progress is being made. But actually governments need to explain to people that massive change is needed, right now and have the balls to follow through.
Something like 90% of the population of India is vegetarian so to say people need to eat meat to stay healthy is a nonsense.
Well actually I've already thought of how to implement the aviation one, and actually have a meeting scheduled with a think tank to discuss it in the next few weeks.
For aviation it's almost trivial to implement, because everyone on an international flight has a uniquely numbered passport... The industry says it's too difficult or not feasible - which is nonsense but masks their real concern that it will massively reduce demand, but then that's the point! The industry will have to adapt, focusing on service again perhaps rather than a race to the bottom on price and putting ever more bums on seats to make the wafer thin margins work.
Food is more difficult but could be done with a bit of thought.
Unfortunately, I think we are several decades beyond the point where small incremental changes can make a meaningful contribution. Very rapid and very significant changes to how the world economy works, how we feed ourselves and how we manage resources are required.
Governments push small incremental change because most people accept that and it makes it look like progress is being made. But actually governments need to explain to people that massive change is needed, right now and have the balls to follow through.
Depends what you mean by healthy I suppose. Given the level of clinical obesity in this country, I doubt 90% of the the population of the UK is healthy.Are 90% of the population of India healthy?
To bring it back on topic, reforestation is both pointless if humanity continues to destroy natural forest, and incompatible with the maintenance of western meat consumption and the rest of the world catching up with that consumption. A major driver for the deforestation of the Amazon, for example, is the cattle ranching industry and soya industry to feed those cattle.But governments should be focusing on the big issues, moving the wheels away from legacy forms of energy consumption, storage & distribution. They should be pushing infrastructure that allows & encourages more public transport, helping industries involved in technologies to reduce our energy footprints without adversely affecting lifestyles, stopping building on green spaces, making better use of already urbanised ones, promoting widespread re-forestation in our own countries and beyond, and most of all educating people on how to make their bit of a difference count, and not just force the onus and blame onto them.
To bring it back on topic, reforestation is both pointless if humanity continues to destroy natural forest, and incompatible with the maintenance of western meat consumption and the rest of the world catching up with that consumption. A major driver for the deforestation of the Amazon, for example, is the cattle ranching industry and soya industry to feed those cattle.
And I believe that adverse effects on lifestyles (if that is what reduction of meat eating constitutes) is necessary. Messing about with incrementalism and small behavioural changes will achieve nothing.
Is veganism a fad? No and I would expect (and hope) for our planet's sake that the trend away from consuming meat continues. If the reason for the question is that you hoped it was a fad and would 'go away', I think you might be disappointed.
I can't find the source right now but I read that there are more people in the world that don't eat meat, than do. Many of these billions of people will likely be more healthy that you or I
Convincing us that we're big meat eaters by nature is also stretching the truth slightly otherwise we would have evolved differently and not needed to invent tools and weapons to catch and eat anything much bigger that a rat! Having said this, we are not unlike bears and are mixed-diet omnivores yet not designed to eat a slab of red-meat daily. Our diet is 'designed' for our species and should be nothing like the 21c western diet that we might somehow imagine is 'normal'.
On the flip side, our genetics will not have evolved very much since the time we were hunter-gatherers and our biology is not well adapted to cereal/wheat based grains. (Ref The Real Meal Revolution by Noakes, Proudfoot & Creed if interested further)
I also hate to disappoint those that might like the narrative that not eating meat makes you unhealthy There are many athletes and people at the pinnacle of their sport that don't consume meat. I'm most certainly not one of these people but at a point in my life where I eat the least meat and dairy that I have ever done, feels like the point where I'm also the most healthy in body & mind. Don't dis if you haven't tried it I would suggest.
As individuals caught up in the consumer led capitalist society we're part of, it's difficult to do everything right for ourselves and our environment yet there are what I considered three simple things which have been straightforward to reduce my carbon footprint in recent years. I don't for one minute preach to anyone to do likewise but it's a fact that our planet is 'challenged' and as someone who has children, I care that I do what I can, even if nobody else does.
I believe the fourth but slightly difficult one for me since I have three grown up children, is to bring less children into the world! If I knew 40 years ago what I know now would I have made different choices in the past - yes, most definitely.
- Stop taking flights and reduce my annual mileage in family car
- Eat less red meat & dairy
- Make clothes and material goods last til they're worn out
Why do some vegetarians/vegans like to use the black and white categorisations of Herbivores and Carnivores? It just shows a lack of awareness about the spectrum of diets across the animal world. There are examples of omnivorous animals in birds, mammals and reptiles, - so have they just acquired a habit for eating meat? However much you might respect animals, their sanctity of life and their freedom to live as they see fit, they are just part of the food chain, firstly as living food for other animals or secondly as dead and decomposing food for others. The latter includes nearly all humans who aren't cremated by other humans and in some unfortuante circumstances, the former can include humans. It is the way of the world. Why pretend otherwise by ignoring the existence of omnivores in the natural world?As a vegetarian of 28 years who eats vegan wherever possible and has sympathy for vegans, I would say that although human beings have eaten meat for thousands of years, there are plenty of people who have been vegetarian or vegan for a long time and are perfectly healthy, and biologically we are more like herbivorous than carnivorous animals. If we were meant to be carnivores, we would have claws to catch our prey! Eating meat is just a habit, not a necessity, and vegetarians have existed throughout history. From a health point of view, a vegetarian or vegan diet has many advantages compared to a meat-based diet: less saturated fat, less risk of cancer and heart disease, for example. ...
Apparently in the developed world we eat much more meat than we ever used to as a species. Continuing this process is warping the planet. We are now apex predators with a little something else. The natural world isn't balancing out after we have our fill as we do it on an industrial scale.Why do some vegetarians/vegans like to use the black and white categorisations of Herbivores and Carnivores? It just shows a lack of awareness about the spectrum of diets across the animal world. There are examples of omnivorous animals in birds, mammals and reptiles, - so have they just acquired a habit for eating meat? However much you might respect animals, their sanctity of life and their freedom to live as they see fit, they are just part of the food chain, firstly as living food for other animals or secondly as dead and decomposing food for others. The latter includes nearly all humans who aren't cremated by other humans and in some unfortuante circumstances, the former can include humans. It is the way of the world. Why pretend otherwise by ignoring the existence of omnivores in the natural world?
Nevertheless, humans as a species are still omnivores, not carnivores. All humans as a species are omnivores. Failing to acknowledge that undermines any argument to decry a diet that includes animal products.Apparently in the developed world we eat much more meat than we ever used to as a species. Continuing this process is warping the planet. We are now apex predators with a little something else. The natural world isn't balancing out after we have our fill as we do it on an industrial scale.
Why do some vegetarians/vegans like to use the black and white categorisations of Herbivores and Carnivores? It just shows a lack of awareness about the spectrum of diets across the animal world. There are examples of omnivorous animals in birds, mammals and reptiles, - so have they just acquired a habit for eating meat? However much you might respect animals, their sanctity of life and their freedom to live as they see fit, they are just part of the food chain, firstly as living food for other animals or secondly as dead and decomposing food for others. The latter includes nearly all humans who aren't cremated by other humans and in some unfortuante circumstances, the former can include humans. It is the way of the world. Why pretend otherwise by ignoring the existence of omnivores in the natural world?
Apparently in the developed world we eat much more meat than we ever used to as a species. Continuing this process is warping the planet. We are now apex predators with a little something else. The natural world isn't balancing out after we have our fill as we do it on an industrial scale.
worth adding that most people in the western world cannot claim to be carnivores as such because they don't kill animals but rely on animals killed and processed by others (carrion eaters). Like bears and dogs, humans will have evolved to eat carrion or flesh that has already died or been killed, most of us are doing this when we consume meat in our diets.Nevertheless, humans as a species are still omnivores, not carnivores. All humans as a species are omnivores. Failing to acknowledge that undermines any argument to decry a diet that includes animal products.
This. End of thread.Unfortunately, the correct answer to which is healthier, an omnivorous, vegetarian, or vegan diet is nobody really knows.
Not really, - the thread title is: "Is Veganism a fad". The answer to that lies somwhere between: to many vegans, their attachment to a vegan'ish diet is a fad, to no, it is a diet not relying on animal products rooted in a culture where animals aren't available or suitable for food. To add to the sometimes fad'ish following and preaching by it's adherants, veganism has sometimes been adopted as a religious doctrine by some geographical cultures.This. End of thread.
The word "carnivore" derives from Latin elements for "meat" and "eat" (we use the similarly derived words "devour" and "voracious") so meat eaters are carnivores in every sense.worth adding that most people in the western world cannot claim to be carnivores as such because they don't kill animals but rely on animals killed and processed by others (carrion eaters). Like bears and dogs, humans will have evolved to eat carrion or flesh that has already died or been killed, most of us are doing this when we consume meat in our diets.
Either way, human beings as a species are Omnivores, which of course means they can eat meat, (including poultry, fish and insects*) as well as fruit, vegetables and funghi. The fact that some may choose to not eat meat doesn't make them a different species however much they might claim. There are a few cultures in the human race that don't eat anything but vegetable products, occasionally because there isn't access to suitable meat, and sometimes through choice. Much more rare are humans who eat only meat or fish which is typically those living in a polar climate where little can grow and sometimes there isn't anything suitable for humans so they must rely on eating animals that survive on vegetable products.The word "carnivore" derives from Latin elements for "meat" and "eat" (we use the similarly derived words "devour" and "voracious") so meat eaters are carnivores in every sense.
Agreed and I'm both a (selective) carnivore through choice and an omnivore through species. What carnivore doesn't imply is a need to kill the animal yourself before eating it.Either way, human beings as a species are Omnivores...
But the "depends" answer was giving about 100 posts ago.Not really, - the thread title is: "Is Veganism a fad".