10-07-2012, 12:58 AM
Man, you guys need some facts up in this joint, some logical fallacies going around.
So here's some quick corrections, in no particular order or anything;
A vegetarian diet lacks some of the vitamins and nutrients of a regular diet, which is even more true for a vegan diet. But those can be replaced by taking supplements, and a lot of vegetarian foods are already fortified with those vitamins. (for example a lot of cereals and fortified with B12 and iron)
A lot of the evidence for animal abuse and cruelty in the farming industry should be taken with a pinch of salt, there is a lot of fake and staged footage around, always remember that if it has an agenda it's propaganda, even if you agree with it.
(That's not to say these things never happen or that the meat industry is entire humane, just that you should always question anything presented as evidence one way or the other)
The animals we farm are chosen on a number of factors, mostly based on local culture. As an obvious example, in some countries it's entirely acceptable to eat dog, but in western society it isn't, it has almost nothing to do with how intelligent the animal is or even how domesticated they are.
Plants and animals are both living things, the distinction is that an animal is sentient, plants do not "think" or "feel". They don't have a brain or a central nervous system so they literally don't have the ability to do either.
On top of that, part of the natural life cycle of a lot of plants is for them to be eaten by animals, that's why berries and fruits tend to be in bright colours that stand out against green foliage.
One of the big arguments currently in favour of a vegetarian diet is the sustainability and yield of plants over animals, the basic idea being that animals have to eat so much food for us to farm them that it would be a better use of resources to cut the animal out of the equation entirely and just cultivate and harvest the plants that would have been used to feed that animal. It's a pretty solid argument, but it falls down pretty quickly when the reality of it is that, if it was just about a resource to food ratio, the most viable source of easily farmed and nutritious food would actually be insects.
I know that sounds crazy, but the fact is that in the western world our diet is unique in the fact that we don't eat insects. Grubs, spiders, beetles, scorpions, crickets, worms and more are all regular parts of their diet for millions of people around the world, which includes industrialised countries where they also farm plants and animals.
What might shock you is that not only are insects perfectly viable as a source of nutritional food, apparently they also taste good too, and they're so abundant all around the world that it's genuinely being seen as the most serious solution to famine.
Personally I think it's great, anything that could be used to increase the amount of food available and feed starving people is fantastic.
Just, y'know, I think I'd rather have a burger myself.
So here's some quick corrections, in no particular order or anything;
A vegetarian diet lacks some of the vitamins and nutrients of a regular diet, which is even more true for a vegan diet. But those can be replaced by taking supplements, and a lot of vegetarian foods are already fortified with those vitamins. (for example a lot of cereals and fortified with B12 and iron)
A lot of the evidence for animal abuse and cruelty in the farming industry should be taken with a pinch of salt, there is a lot of fake and staged footage around, always remember that if it has an agenda it's propaganda, even if you agree with it.
(That's not to say these things never happen or that the meat industry is entire humane, just that you should always question anything presented as evidence one way or the other)
The animals we farm are chosen on a number of factors, mostly based on local culture. As an obvious example, in some countries it's entirely acceptable to eat dog, but in western society it isn't, it has almost nothing to do with how intelligent the animal is or even how domesticated they are.
Plants and animals are both living things, the distinction is that an animal is sentient, plants do not "think" or "feel". They don't have a brain or a central nervous system so they literally don't have the ability to do either.
On top of that, part of the natural life cycle of a lot of plants is for them to be eaten by animals, that's why berries and fruits tend to be in bright colours that stand out against green foliage.
One of the big arguments currently in favour of a vegetarian diet is the sustainability and yield of plants over animals, the basic idea being that animals have to eat so much food for us to farm them that it would be a better use of resources to cut the animal out of the equation entirely and just cultivate and harvest the plants that would have been used to feed that animal. It's a pretty solid argument, but it falls down pretty quickly when the reality of it is that, if it was just about a resource to food ratio, the most viable source of easily farmed and nutritious food would actually be insects.
I know that sounds crazy, but the fact is that in the western world our diet is unique in the fact that we don't eat insects. Grubs, spiders, beetles, scorpions, crickets, worms and more are all regular parts of their diet for millions of people around the world, which includes industrialised countries where they also farm plants and animals.
What might shock you is that not only are insects perfectly viable as a source of nutritional food, apparently they also taste good too, and they're so abundant all around the world that it's genuinely being seen as the most serious solution to famine.
Personally I think it's great, anything that could be used to increase the amount of food available and feed starving people is fantastic.
Just, y'know, I think I'd rather have a burger myself.