Fresh Vegetable Recipes - Why do some vegetarians think that eating meat is bad for everyone?

Why do some vegetarians think that eating meat is bad for everyone?

I mean, what would you tell indeginous peoples' around the world that live in extremely cold climates? They need meat not only to for nourishment, but to sustain a fatty insulation on their bodies' to keep them warm. Aside from that, they need to kill animals to make clothing, and they certainly wouldn't let the meat to go to waste. Please, no answers about importing veggies to these regions, as it would be easier to feed all of Africa first. These people have been eating meat for thousands of years to survive. I think being a vegetarian or vegan is a great thing, but its not practical for everyone. Aside from that, there are still tribal cultures that exist in every climate that would perish without meat. Should they become vegetarians or vegans for moral reasons? Just wanted to promote an educational thread here, my question and ALL answers will hopefully teach people something. I am non-baised about the issue. It just comes up in a lot of conversations and I wanted to hear what the folks in this category would say. To me, Yahoo answers is about learning, not bashing or preaching. I've noticed that some people assume I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan. I haven't pointed that out. I am not posting for the sake of my "argumement" either. This is a common issue in my life and I wanted to post the core of the issue here so as not to be constantly interupted in mid-sentence. I will tell you this, I am non-extremist about anyting in my personal life. Whether I eat meat or not has nothing to do with the logic of a coomonly asked question that didn't originate with me. Who better to go to than the authorities and hear out their side. I have learned a lot from this thread, and as I have mentioned, I intended to promote an educational thread. It worked. Thanks to some of the answers, I am inclined to post similar questions regarding pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers, organic and free range issues, and moral issues about killing anything for various reasons. I am in this for education and awareness. I will place the Q's in the appropriate categories

Public Comments

ok wow moral reasons? i have never met a vegetarian who says eating meat is immoral... they don't eat meat because they are "crazy"
Most vegetarians would say yes. I think you have a very valid point, and agree with you. There is also the idea that different blood types need different types of food, and that type O blood requires meat to survive.
in a way they are not wrong.
It is because people have nothing better to do
Vegetarianism appeals to people who have nothing better to do than to get involved with your life and tell you how you "should" live. As stated in an earlier answer, if we weren't supposed to EAT animals, then WHY do they taste SO good when cooked or served fresh, in terms of sushi. :-P There is NO such thing as a veg recipe that tastes better than its non-veg equal. We are told in the FIRST Commandment that we are to put NO god before God. One COULD argue that this is what vegetarianism is. God, to some extent, doesn't care what you put down your throat. Then, there is the argument that most of these vegetarians subscribe to abortion too. So much for the innocent life of another human! His/her mother doesn't want him/her. So THAT life is worthless when compared to a tasty cow!
if god didnt mean us to eat animals, he wouldnt have made them out of meat!
i guess some vegetarians don't eat meat the fact that the animal contains blood and has life. but i learned in my biology class that some really important nutrients is found in animals only but anyway ......................... freedom of choice
Anyone one that is outside of this cirlce that society has called the"norm" is very opinionaited.....but they mostly have good opinions on only the things that have to ddo with them. Vegans are just trying to change the world one person at a time.....its obviously not working. But I say eat what you want and keep your opinions to yourself. Live and let live!!
There are "control freaks" in all factions of life. I am a vegetarian- but I do not give a hoot what anyone else eats or drinks or smokes or injects or swallows or says. Just please don't shove a slim jim up my nose.
the hormone that are been feed to the animals and just their peferrence
because they need a reason for hardly eating because they have no appetite because they are frekin' tripin' hippies :P
You may be right. But that does not invalidate the belief that the meat industry sucks and those of us who CAN do something about reducing the pain, cruelty, torture and death of animals should do so. I think more veggies would be inclined to agree with your point if more people posed it like you do. There are not many meat-eaters who come here and present a logical unbiased point. ( compare "did dit" to "pushmy e" repsonses above, many meateaters just cannot help themselves in this forum ) Being veggie is not practical for the whole world, i agree. But it is possible for 99.99999% of the world if they so choose. hee, hee fake veganconscript: If you are going to do things like quote me at least quote the words i type, where did i say "make a difference" ? You know very well that the 99.99999 is a generic term, its used by many normal people to suggest "most" or "the majority" or "nearly all". did you mis-interprete that for comic effect or something ?
You are right it's not practical. Humans consume meat out of necessity not as a matter of nature. Humans by nature are herbivores, we have a long and thin intestine designed to let plants pass through slowly to absorb their nutrients, carnivores (lions, tigers, hyenas, etc.) on the other hand have thick and short intestines that allows for the quick passage of meat. When herbivores consume meat it stays in the intestine a lot longer and can cause health problems, but out of necessity (climate change, wars, migration) humans started to eat meat.
I really don't know the answer, but I totally agree with your way of thinking.
I love meat! I am grateful God made cows so that I could enjoy a nice medium rare prime rib every once in a while! I really don't know why anyone would say eating meat is bad. It's in the Bible that we should eat it! Well, I guess if there are people who disagree, more prime rib for me!
I think some vegetarians realize that point, you just don't see them on here posting. The kind of people that post on here or stuff their opinions down your throat are oblivious to the fact that there are people out there who live differently than they do. Where I come from, you shoot deer in the winter to eat and survive. Otherwise, you have no meat, because a lot of families can't afford to buy a lot of meat. But, the pushy types of vegetarians don't understand that not everyone grows up with an organic food market at their disposal. They're just extremely self-centered.
the meat u buy from the supermarket or eat at the the restaurant isnt healthy. they have gone through processes which makes it unhealthy. the meat the indeginous eats is different. it doesnt go through any of the processes. so yea
Because meat is bad for you in certain ways say cows pigs and other things you eat where house pets! We would all be eating cats and dogs!
Your confusing Survival and modern life.. If I were an Eskimo My only choice really is Fish.. The Tribal cultures you refer to have no Factory farming.. They don't waste or abuse their animals. Most give ritual thanks to the spirits of the animals consumed... If you did not have any meat for 2 weeks would you starve to death? No you would thrive in the varied diet of a Vegan or Vegetarian. These tribal people you speak of might starve. Thats survival.. If you are staring at a Computer it is unlikely that you are in a survival situation.. I don't recall seeing in National Geographic to many huts and Igloos equiped with High Speed internet.. You have choices... Why is V and V Diet good for you lets see Here's 101 Reasons You An Individual in a Developed Nation should Be a Vegetarian PEOPLE # Every year in the UK we feed our livestock enough food to feed 250,000,000 people while in the world 30,000,000 people die of starvation # 20 vegetarians can live off the land required by one meat eater # Every 3 seconds a child dies of starvation somewhere in the world # If Americans reduced their meat consumption by 10% it would free 12,000,000 tons of grain - enough to feed 60,000,000 people (the population of Great Britain) # If all Americans became vegetarian, it would free enough grain to feed 600,000,000 people (the population of India) # Intensification in animal farming has displaced 1,000,000's of people from their traditional lands - eg. indigenous people in south & central america, native americans in north america & crofters in Great Britain - this is continuing today # People displaced from their lands into cities succumb to dietary deficiency, diseases, parasites & opportunistic diseases # In third world countries 1 in 10 babies die before their first birthday # The UK imports £46,000,000 worth of grain from third world countries to feed our livestock # Due to overgrazing 850,000,000 people live on land threatened by desertification & over 230,000,000 already live on land so severely desertified that they are unable to sustain their existence & face imminent starvation # 1,000,000,000 people in the west gorging on meat & dairy leave 1,000,000,000 to waste away & 3,500,000,000 teeter on the brink LAND # If they continue to clear American forests to raise cattle at the present rate, in 50 years there will be none left # 1 acre yields 165 lbs of beef or 20,000 lbs of potatoes # 8/10 of cultivated land in the UK is used to grow food for animals (14,732,000 hectares) # It takes 16lbs of high protein soya to produce 1 lb of beef # Since 1945 in the UK we have lost 95% of flower meadows, 50% of ancient woodlands, 40% of heathlands, 50% of wet lands & 224,000 km of hedgerows all due to animal farming # Pressure on land due to meat farming leads to soil erosion 6billion tons/year in the USA # If everyone went vegetarian upto 90% of land used for animal farming could be taken out of production & used to replant woodlands, leisure activities etc. # 25% of Central america's forests have been destroyed for cattle grazing since 1960 # Between 1966-1983 38% of the Amazon rain forest was destroyed for cattle grazing # 90% of cattle ranches established on cleared forest land go bankrupt in less than 8 years as the land becomes barren due to nutrient loss & overgrazing # Overgrazing by cattle is destroying the land & increasing desertification, nearly 430 million acres in the USA alone has suffered a 25-50% reduction in yield since first grazed # An inch of topsoil takes 200-1000 years to develop - yet in the USA they have lost around 1/3 of their prime topsoil in 200 years (around 7 inches) due to animal farming # Land will be lost due to rises in sea level due to global warming due to animal farming AIR # The destruction of the rainforest by cattle farmers is destroying the lungs of the planet & reducing the worlds capacity to replenish our oxygen supply # The 1,300,000,000 cattle in the world emit 60,000,000 tons of methane per year (methane is a greenhouse gas & leads to global warming) # Burning of forests, grasslands & agricultural waste associated with animal farming releases 50-100,000,000 tons of methane per year # Combining these figures, 25% of methane emissions are due to animal farming (not including the billions of sheep, pigs & poultry so the real figure is much higher) # Fertilizer used to grow crops to feed to animals releases nitrous oxide - thought to account for 6% of the greenhouse effect # Fertilizer, weedkiller & pesticides sprayed on crops enter the atmosphere creating a noxious carcinogenic cocktail # CFCs are released into the air from refrigeration units used to store decomposing flesh (meat), milk & butter - CFCs are destroy the ozone layer # Ammonia from animal urine also pollutes the atmosphere # CO2 is released by burning oil & petrol in lorries, ships, abattoirs, dairies, factories etc. associated with meat & dairy production # Emissions from large chemical plants which produce fertilizer, weedkiller & other agricultural chemicals are also poisoning our air WATER # 25 gallons of water to produce 1lb of wheat & 2500 gallons to produce 1lb of meat # UK farm animals produce 200,000,000 tonnes of slurry (liquid excrement) every year, the majority of which ends up in our rivers # Bloody waste water from abattoirs ends up in our rivers # In the USA every second humans produce 12,000 lbs of effluent while farmed animals produce 250,000 lbs # Nitrates & pesticides used on crops grown to feed livestock end up in our rivers # Meat & dairy farming uses 70 litres of water per day per animal in the UK or 159,250,000,000 litres per year in total # The water used to produce 10 lbs of steak is equivalent to the average consumption of water for an entire household for an entire year # Depletion of groundwater reserves to grow crops for animals & to supply abattoirs will lead to greater water shortages # Aquafers (stores of underground water) in the San Joaquin valley in the USA are being drained at the rate of 500,000,000,000 gallons/year to produce meat # 18% of all agricultural land in the world is irrigated & as global warming increases (partly due to animal farming) it will cost $200,000,000 to keep these systems going # The water used to produce a 1000 lb beef steer is enough to float a Destroyer battleship # The liquid waste from the various parts of the meat & dairy industry flow into the rivers & from there into the seas polluting them & encouraging huge algal blooms to grow EFFICIENCY # To produce 1calorie of energy from meat takes 60 calories of petrol, whereas growing grains & legumes to directly feed people produces 20 calories for each calorie of fuel used ( thats 1200 times more efficient) # Meat & dairy farming uses billions of gallons of oil to run tractors, fuel ships & lorries (to move animal feed & animals), pump billions of gallons of water to irrigate fields & run slaughterhouses, power refrigeration units to prevent the corpses from decomposing & to power sewage plants to clean up some of the pollution produced # Cattle convert only 6% of their energy intake (mainly grains & soya) into flesh, the remaining 94% is wasted as heat, movement (which is why they keep many animals in very close confinement), hair, bones, faeces etc # 1lb of beef takes 1 gallon of petrol to produce # A family of four eating beef for a year uses enough petrol to run a car for 6 months (obviously depending on how far you drive!) # If the full ecological cost of meat was passed onto the consumer - the price would be quadrupled (at least) # The EC spends œ100,000,000's to subsidise animal production resulting in lakes of unwanted milk & mountains of unwanted meat & butter. This money could be better spent encouraging organic fruit, vegetable & grain production # In the USA in 1979 145,000,000 tons of crops were fed to cattle resulting in only 21million tons of animal bodies - the cost of the wasted crops was $20,000,000,000 # Between 1950 & 1985 grain production in Europe & the USA increased massively but 2/3 was fed to animals # 70% of all grain is fed to animals # Eating vast quantities of animal flesh, eggs, milk & butter is a luxury that most of the planet can not afford ANIMALS # Fishing with drift (and other modern) nets weakens & destroys ecosystems by indiscriminately killing billions of sea creatures & disrupting the sea bed # Fishermen's nets kill 10 times as many other animals as the fish they are hoping to catch # Fish caught in nets die an agonising slow death of suffocation # Each year 15,000,000,000 land animals are slaughtered for food & an unknown but much larger number of sea creatures (including 1000's of dolphins caught accidentally) # Chickens are crammed into battery cages with upto 3 other birds, they are unable to even spread their wings & many can not even stand up # Unwanted male chicks (because they can't lay eggs) are gassed or pulped while their sisters go to the battery sheds # Chicks are debeaked without anaesthetic to prevent them injuring each other in the unnaturally confined conditions they are kept in - this is equivalent to having your fingernails pulled out without anaesthetic # Modern farming methods using growth hormones & artificial lighting mean that many chickens out grow their bones, resulting in fractured & broken legs # Sows are kept tethered in stalls 1.3 x 1 metre on concrete or slatted floors - they can not even turn around # Poultry raised for meat are kept in windowless broiler sheds, with around 20-30,000 in each shed, they live in an area of 10-20 cm square - fighting due to overcrowding is common & like battery hens they commonly suffer from supperating bed sores # Broilersheds are artificially lit 23 hours a day to produce rapid growth # Animals travel between farms & to slaughter in overcrowded transporters with no food or water - resulting in stress, injuries & deaths - legal requirements are widely ignored # 95% of poultry suffer injuries before being killed & 30% suffer broken bones # Problems with stunning practices mean that many animals have their throats slit while still conscious (around 6% of cattle or 200,000 per year) & are then dipped in tanks of scalding water (to loosen feathers, bristles etc.) again while fully conscious # 4000 animals die spurting their blood out every minute in a British slaughterhouse # Calf leather comes from animals killed at just 2 weeks old # Cows were fed on the ground up remains of other cows & sheep - the result is thought to be BSE (mad cow disease) in the USA cattle are fed partly on recycled plastic pellets # Cows only give milk for 10 months after they have a calf - so they are routinely artificially inseminated (ie. mechanically raped) to keep them pregnant & milking - their calves are taken away (usually at 12 hours old) for meat or export to veal crates # Cows would naturally live upto 20 years but are slaughtered after 5-7 years when their milk production begins to fall # In the UK animals are killed by first being stunned with electricity or a captive bolt gun (ie. a bolt is fired into their heads) before having their throats slit & being plunged into boiling water - all this happens on a production line with the animals being hung upside down from a moving conveyor belt - this is factory farming # "Animals are those unfortunate slaves & victims of the most brutal part of mankind" - John Stewart Mill (philosopher) # Veal calves are confined in stalls in the dark, unable to move & are fed on pigs blood , chocolate & dried milk (we are drinking the rich fresh milk of their mothers) # Cows naturally produce 5 litres of milk per day for their calves - under the intensified systems of modern farming they produce 25-40 litres per day - resulting in swollen & inflamed udders - at this rate they are soon worn out # Large areas of land are under monoculture to grow crops to feed to animals - these areas are wildlife deserts supporting fewer & fewer species. HEALTH # Vegetarians have a 20% lower rate of mortality from all causes (ie. they live longer & don't get sick as often) # Meat is full of traces of antibiotics, hormones, toxins produced by stress & pesticide residues that become concentrated from all the crops they have eaten # Fish contain heavy metals & other pollutants -many of which originated on farms # The world health organisation recommends a diet low in saturated fat, sugar, salt & with plenty of fibre - exactly what you get on a vegan/vegetarian diet # Farmed animals contain upto 50% saturated fat in their bodies # Vegetarians have 24% reduced risk of getting heart disease & Vegans a 57% reduction (heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK accounting for 50% of deaths) # Obesity is rare in vegetarians, obesity is related to many diseases # Vegans & vegetarians have lower blood pressure & cholesterol levels - high levels are associated with heart disease, strokes & kidney failure # Vegetarians have a 50% reduced risk of dying of diabetes # Vegetarians have a 40% reduced level of cancer than the general population thought to be because they have a higher intake of vitamins A,C & E # Vegetarians have a reduced risk of developing gall & kidney stones # 80% of food poisoning is due to infected meat (faeces, bacteria etc.) after all meat is decomposing flesh - most of the rest is due to salmonella in eggs # Osteoporosis due to calcium loss from bones is mainly due to the sulphur content in meat & casein protein in milk that cause calcium to be lost in the urine - the countries with the highest meat & dairy consumption are those with the highest levels of brittle bones # 50% of people do not have the enzyme to digest milk properly & milk allergy is related to asthma & eczema # Meat eaters have double the rate of Alzheimers disease as Vegans & Vegetarians - some people also think that Parkinsons disease is also linked to meat eating # Egg yolk is a dense concentration of saturated fat & the white is high in albumin protein associated with leaching calcium into your urine. Butter is 80% saturated fat, cream is 40% saturated fat & cheese is 25-40% saturated fat # Meat eaters are two and a half times more likely to get bowel cancer than Vegetarians # The cling film used to wrap meat in supermarkets & butchers contains chemicals linked to falling sperm counts in men # Chinese people (living mainly on a vegetarian diet) consume 20% more calories than Americans but Americans are 20% fatter # Of 2,100,000 deaths in the USA in 1987, 1,500,000 were related to diet (ie. meat & dairy)
Lots of veggie and vegan people disagree with the way that animals are farmed for human consumption more than they disagree with the act of eating an animal. These tribes don't farm animals in the same way, if at all. The animals are hunted and given a chance, that's the natural way of doing things. Animals in developed countries are pumped full of hormones and routinely taken for slaughter. Personally that's what I have a problem with.
Some people can't live and let live, but really if you lived in a virtual "Garden of Eden" and felt ten times better eating plants, why would you eat something that was suspect.
NO, they shouldn't. You should only become a vegetarian because you want to and are able to. I personally choose to be a vegetarian not for health reasons, but because it costs 10 times more resources to produce good m,eat to eat than it does to produce vegetables.
We vegans aren't interested in the logical, historicity of indigenous customs or the cogency of your argument. We only accept facts that support our preconceived notions. Like the list of crapola that Abel H has set out for you to consume and BELIEVE without hesitation and without noting where the citing is taken from. Or the statement of Michael H's that " 99.99999%" of the world COULD become veggie-heads and "make a difference". Let's see that would mean that you are arguing your point for .00001% of the world's population. At the time of this writing the Bureau of the Census puts the world population at 6.7 Billion. According to Michael H's stat that he likely pulled out of his nether parts, you are arguing according to Michael H's statistic for about 67,000 persons . .. that would include all the indigenous peoples, tribes, in the world based on Michael H's "statistic". So this is a fine example of the unthinking morons you are trying to "reason" with. Good luck! Speaking veganistically: We are interested in "control" of others as a manifestation of our OCD of food foraging and demonizing anyone who is not as morally upright as we are. So there!
I don't think it's bad for you to eat meat...well, maybe it is. I read an article that people who eat a lot of red meat get colon cancer. Also, there is a ton of anti-biotics and steroids in meat. Not to mention the bacteria that can be carried in meat if not cooked thoroughly enough. It's all pretty scary. And then there's the guy who was on Oprah who said he was a cattle rancher and that he'll never eat beef again because he saw cattle being fed cattle which some believe to be the cause of "mad cow" disease. When was the last time you heard of "mad soy" disease? or "mad tofu" disease? probably never and you probably never will...
some people just need to preach (I mean the veggies who try to push their beliefs on other people when I say this). People should have the right to choose however they want to eat without being preached to. But some people are just too closed-minded to new ideas and feel they should spout off about it wherever and whenever.
The Hunzas, an indigenous group of people cut off from the rest of the world in the Himalayas, live in a cold climate. Their diets contain little to no animal products. Everything is organic and they eat tons of apricots. The 90 year olds look anywhere between 30 and 40. And it's common that they live to 120 still working alongside the younger people as if they were the same age. Some people there have actually lived until 140. They are also the happiest people in the world. There are also indigenous communities in the Amazon (those innocent people modern meat industries are driving out and destroying) eat a mostly plant-based diet and do not suffer any of the "affluent" diseases that people here do. You can count Okinawans in with a group of people who have little to no animal products in their diets and also have the least amount of disease and live the longest. I, from personal experience - actually *trying* something before making a judgment - believe this. I used to be tired all the time, get sick at around twice a year, etc. I am now a ball of energy, haven't gotten sick at all since becoming vegan and no longer have asthma. My boyfriend, once an avid carnivore who used to try to challenge me, saw the benefits in me and gave up meat surprisingly. He now raves about how much better he feels and how much more energy he has. If you're so concerned about indigenous people, take this into consideration as well: *Intensification in animal farming has displaced 1,000,000's of people from their traditional lands - eg. indigenous people in south & central america, native americans in north america & crofters in Great Britain - this is continuing today. *People displaced from their lands into cities succumb to dietary deficiency, diseases, parasites & opportunistic diseases. *80% of the world’s hungry children live in countries which export food for your farmed animals. Not to mention, it's a little pointless to compare this culture with a culture who not only does everything naturally, but also doesn't have the luxury of the internet or picking a book up and reading. It's obvious many people here even take that one for granted. A good *start* would be The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. The truth is, it is unhealthy: Meat and dairy are the most contaminated stuff people put in their bodies. Milk has perchlorate, which is the scientific word for rocket fuel. Other than that, meat and dairy are full of antibiotics, pesticides, steroids, chemicals, industrial pollutants and hormones. Many animals are even given arsenic-laced drugs. Arsenic! And meat and dairy doesn’t even have fiber to bind these toxins and fats and help usher them out of the body. This absolutely has huge effects on the way your body is working. It absolutely has an effect on your organs, including the liver, which is important component in cleaning out the body, as well as an efficient metabolism. The FDA lists approximately 1,700 drugs approved for use in animal feed. Of these approved drugs, at least 300 include “weight gain” in their description. However, in their book Animal Factories, Jim Mason and Peter Singer disclose an estimate of 20,000 to 30,000 drugs actually being used. And our bodies were not designed for meat: http://veganjacks.blogspot.com/2007/06/comparative-anatomy.html Furthermore, what I don't get is people coming in here who have never tried it personally and with no intentions of doing so or learning about it, but only to challenge and insult. Why do people care so much about what other people choose to or not to put in their mouth? Do they feel threatened in some way? Do they not have anything better to do than worry about how someone else is eating? We veg*ns stay here and post our thoughts here - so by all means go to a place where you can post your love for meat. I know I'm not actively hunting down such a place to challenge or insult you. I aspire to more productive things in my life than to take an invested interest in another's business.
I've never been to a cold climate area so I can't speak for those people but I have been to countries where the major crops being grown are poppies us for opium and cannabis. People in these countries are starving yet the government in them are more concerned with making money for themselves. If the government changed their views and allowed more vegetable farming in those areas it would solve a lot of the famine problems around to world but until those in higher positions give up their greed their countries will continue to die. For example; Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Ethiopia, etc. Also, in regards to people claiming vegetarians and vegans "preach" yes we do in the vegetarian and vegan section of yahoo answers because we are the experts on vegetarianism and not meat eaters. If you want to preach about meat eating go somewhere else. Sorry, but that was in response to someone elses response.
i don't have a problem with with people out there that eat meat because it is their only option. i understand that people in polar climates need the animal's blubber and fur and i understand that people in africa are starving already, why would we want to take their meat away? but, i am disgusted when i think about all the people in america and europe eating meat when they don't have to. they have options where they live, but they choose to go to mcdonalds instead. that's sickening.