> They said that more people could be fed using less land if individuals cut down on eating meat.
This.
These articles are not calling for full vegetarianism/veganism. This is really quite doable. You really don't need meat with every single meal.
Instead of eating meat with every meal, I try to limit chicken/salmon to once or twice a day, and red meat to once or twice a week. I feel better too. I don't recommend eating those nasty vegan patties... they are so processed. If you're able to grow a victory garden [0] and/or focus on eating more fresh fruits and vegetables - it's better for the environment and your health.
> You really don't need meat with every single meal.
That is some weird BS. I definitely don't need meat every single meal but I need animal every single meal - meat or liver or eggs or milk or whatever, AND meat every single day.
Given that plants are more often evil then not (think allergy, natural pesticides etc), I don't really want to trade my health and fight the nature of this universe we live in for the dubious potential benefit on climate change.
I very much doubt its better for environment. There are so many contra arguments that I don't need to repeat those here.
In what sense do you mean you "need animal every single meal"? "Need" as in "want really bad, can't live without it", or "need" as in "my body won't function properly without it"?
Also, can you give some examples of the contra-arguments you mentioned?
In a sense that I need to feel great and healthy. I can live without anything basically, can live on supplements in extreme but do I want to ? No.
Judging from the extreme levels of body logging in previous 10 years, and from the fact that I had some sort of trouble always prior to eating animals as main thing, I can say with confidence that all my metrics improved - I have better labs, fitness and health today then when I was 20 years younger.
I eat 4 eggs and bacon every breakfast in last 10 years.
Example of contra-arguments: killing animals that don't care about your farm or work (lots of small animals, but some are basically extinct like orangutans cuz of palm oil stuff), poisoning environment with monoculture and Roundup, taxing the healthcare system and other people because you can't really live on plants without multiple deficiencies and so on...
You can't really fight the universe, that is the main point. You are not made to eat plants, our digestive structure and acid barrier tells that story for sure. Of course, we are all biochemically unique so I totally understand that there are incompatible people but those are exceptions and rules are pretty clear.
I am against animal suffering but animals eating other animals and plants being just another living creature and not divine intervention to provide food for other living creatures is how this universe functions.
OK, let me rephrase - we are not made to eat plants completely or even dominantly. pH of our acid barrier is consistent with this among other thing.
BTW, Vegetarian Resource Group doesn't sound like conflict of interest at all... :S
Anyway, no amount of authority will beat my personal experience. I ate plants, a lot, for decades. Now I don't that much (only some vegetables and nuts). I feel and look much better in previous decade (so not placebo). Period for me. YMMV.
It's always worth remembering that you can have an impact and still eat red meat. Cutting out meat on two or three days a week makes an impact. Most of my non-veggie friends treat meat like a treat, and only eat it on weekends.
Shouldn't this be more about having a diet based on local foods rather than just be vegetarian/vegan? I'm saying this after seeing a couple of documentaries on german tv where they were showing the impact of almond and avocado "crops" in North and South America. It's crazy how much water and terrain needs to be used and de-forested for these things, I know avocado is seen as a super-food and everybody is crazy bout it now, same with almond milk/drinks, but still, looking at a lot of the vegan options that we have here, you look in your plate and see that more than half of the ingredients from a whatever bowl or vegan lunch are brought to you half way around the globe from a country where they destroyed forests and natural environments just so you can enjoy these things.
No, it shouldn't. The majority of the deforestation happening now (e.g. in Brazil) is to raise cattle, or to produce feed such as soybeans for farmed animals; the water for almonds and avocado trees pales in comparison to these activities, as do food miles.
A vegan diet saves much more than a carnist one does, even if it's more local; here in Europe, we have sheep deserts (e.g. Iceland, much of UK) that can be rewilded if more people adopt a vegan diet.
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[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 19.3 ms ] threadThe amount of food and water needed to produce 1kg of beef meat is just insane
Eat poultry or fish instead
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio
>Cattle is the worst at something like 15:1. Aquaculture, specifically tilapia and catfish, is good at under 2:1
Cattle is sometimes bred extensively on land not suited for agriculture and the only way to turn grass into food. It's not all bad.
This.
These articles are not calling for full vegetarianism/veganism. This is really quite doable. You really don't need meat with every single meal.
Instead of eating meat with every meal, I try to limit chicken/salmon to once or twice a day, and red meat to once or twice a week. I feel better too. I don't recommend eating those nasty vegan patties... they are so processed. If you're able to grow a victory garden [0] and/or focus on eating more fresh fruits and vegetables - it's better for the environment and your health.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden
That is some weird BS. I definitely don't need meat every single meal but I need animal every single meal - meat or liver or eggs or milk or whatever, AND meat every single day.
Given that plants are more often evil then not (think allergy, natural pesticides etc), I don't really want to trade my health and fight the nature of this universe we live in for the dubious potential benefit on climate change.
I very much doubt its better for environment. There are so many contra arguments that I don't need to repeat those here.
Also, can you give some examples of the contra-arguments you mentioned?
Thanks
Judging from the extreme levels of body logging in previous 10 years, and from the fact that I had some sort of trouble always prior to eating animals as main thing, I can say with confidence that all my metrics improved - I have better labs, fitness and health today then when I was 20 years younger.
I eat 4 eggs and bacon every breakfast in last 10 years.
Example of contra-arguments: killing animals that don't care about your farm or work (lots of small animals, but some are basically extinct like orangutans cuz of palm oil stuff), poisoning environment with monoculture and Roundup, taxing the healthcare system and other people because you can't really live on plants without multiple deficiencies and so on...
You can't really fight the universe, that is the main point. You are not made to eat plants, our digestive structure and acid barrier tells that story for sure. Of course, we are all biochemically unique so I totally understand that there are incompatible people but those are exceptions and rules are pretty clear.
I am against animal suffering but animals eating other animals and plants being just another living creature and not divine intervention to provide food for other living creatures is how this universe functions.
This is completely false, please stop. We're omnivores:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/12/23/how-humans-evo...
McArdle, John. "Humans are Omnivores". Vegetarian Resource Group. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
Robert E. C. Wildman; Denis M. Medeiros (2000). Advanced Human Nutrition. CRC Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0849385667. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
Robert Mari Womack (2010). The Anthropology of Health and Healing. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 243. ISBN 978-0759110441. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
BTW, Vegetarian Resource Group doesn't sound like conflict of interest at all... :S
Anyway, no amount of authority will beat my personal experience. I ate plants, a lot, for decades. Now I don't that much (only some vegetables and nuts). I feel and look much better in previous decade (so not placebo). Period for me. YMMV.
A vegan diet saves much more than a carnist one does, even if it's more local; here in Europe, we have sheep deserts (e.g. Iceland, much of UK) that can be rewilded if more people adopt a vegan diet.