I talked about health in my last post and I wanted to continue on that path by addressing something that is a popular dietary trend. Vegetarians and Vegans. I have less a problem with the former, but the latter are almost always smug, moralizing cunts. I will only be looking at a couple aspects of this for now. This issue is much larger than I can fit into one post. I will be as charitable as I can here, because ultimately I agree with one or two of the major claims of vegans, I just think that the holier than thou attitude is not only shitty but also suffers from some glaring internal inconsistencies.
I am posting this link here for you, reader, as I will be calling back to it a lot. Please take a minute to read over it if you want, it has good/balanced information on vegetarianism.
The first point I will agree with vegans on is health. Yes, Vegan Diets are healthy. You get a lot of reduced risk in health problems like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. The problem with this is that no studies have been conclusive in terms of pointing directly to vegetarianism and not other lifestyle choices that are more common in vegetarians and vegans which may sway the results. Reduction in the consumption of bad cholesterol and fat surely helps, but exercise helps mitigate the effects of these as well, so pointing at one thing and shouting "this is the solution" is a bit premature.
There are some deficits in nutrition that vegans and vegetarians get in terms of protein, vitamin b12, omega-3 fatty acids, and iron. Protein can be gained from a variety of plant based products, so as long as you aim for variety in your diet you'll be fine. B12 and omega-3s are something only found in animal based products, so you will need to take supplements to make sure that your intake of them is sufficient. Zinc and iron are found in plants but due to phytic acid they have a harder time being absorbed. Iron is more readily absorbed via meat products, although zinc levels in vegans appear to be sufficient.
Humans have evolved for thousands of years as omnivores, cutting out any section of our diet will have some effect on nutrient intake. With health and exercise though, I believe that eating some meat along with more fruits and vegetables would probably be just as healthy. I am not advocating a meat only diet, or even a diet heavy in meat, health problems like colon cancer are associated with diets heavy in meat products. I am just saying that cutting it out completely might produce problems with your health as well. The world is not black and white, you need to find a healthy balance.
Cruelty is also a major point that vegetarians and vegans make. Meat is obtained by killing large amounts of animals who may or may not be raised on farms that treat the animals badly. I am sure that most of you will have seen PETA's videos of people beating pigs and keeping chickens in tiny, suffocating cages. This is, of course, fucking horrible. Nothing deserves to be treated like that. By eating meat you tacitly consent to this treatment. The only possible solution is to stop eating meat, right? Well, you could also buy your meat from local farms and farmer's markets where you can be a little more sure that the farmer treats their animals well. Of course you cannot be completely sure of that so it is still a danger. What if you raised the animals yourself, and distributed it yourself. This is also a solution, though a little more costly at first and time intensive, but it still works. Of course you can fix this all with heavier regulations which actually get enforced. I am sure that you, the reader, will also have some ideas. My point is that there are other options to animal cruelty. Hell, teach empathy to the farmers, that could help.
If you, as a vegan or vegetarian say, "well killing the animal at all is murder". Or "taking the animal's other products is also a form of slavery that takes advantage of an animal to make your life easier, you cruel sadistic fucker, you". My response is that you are closed minded and are only trying to justify your smug superiority. If an animal dies what happens to it? The meat gets eaten, whether by us or by other animals. This is the way of nature. All things die and are consumed. Life consumes life. Energy doesn't come from nowhere, it needs matter (and vice-versa). But sure, I will concede that taking the life of an animal prior to it dying of natural causes could constitute murder.
But what of plants? We have selectively bred them to be better for us as humans since the beginning of agriculture. Bananas in the wild are short brown-green sacks filled with more seeds than flesh. We bred the ones that displayed attributes that made them better for us, the consumer. We do this with everything we grow, even organic fruits and vegetables. Genetically modified foods, by the way, just use a more direct process, though I do think it needs more research and oversight before we mass distribute them. Do we wait till plants are dead to eat them? No, we cut them down in their prime and eat them while they die slowly (most plants are only edible while they still have living parts). Very humane. Where do you get your vegetables? Do you grow them yourself? Or are they grown on a farm that uses migrant workers (a position shockingly close to slavery)? How do you know for sure?
"But plants are different from animals, animals can feel!" Well, plants can feel too. Just because something doesn't have a face, and is therefore harder to empathize with, doesn't mean that they don't feel. Maybe they just communicate on a different level. That link shows that trees communicate with other trees when they are attacked by insects. This communication lets other trees know that they need to protect themselves. We are just starting to recognize the cognitive nature of plants. Making the argument that we should try to not cause harm is good. I agree. If you want to eat meat, make sure that it isn't tortured first. But don't get all high and mighty with others and say, "well I am not causing pain via my diet, and as such, it is superior to yours." Maybe think on the fact that we might just not understand what we are doing yet.
If eating meat is wrong, why don't we try to stop animals from doing it? Would you stop a lion from eating a gazelle and try to introduce it to the caesar salad? No? Is it because they are animals and it is within their nature to do so? Well, surprise motherfucker, humans are animals. We exist within nature, and thus, within the systems that evolved on our planet. You might say that because we have a better understanding of the impact of our actions that we should try to act differently and I agree. But until we have the technology that allows us to live with no negative impact on our environs anything we do kills something. It sucks, but is an unfortunate byproduct of existence that should ultimately fuel more efforts to learn and do more science.
The best solution I can see at this point in technology is that we need to try to not be dicks. Understand that some farms treat animals like a commodity and don't support the ones that do. Do some research! Buy from local farmers that you know. Grow plants/raise animals yourself. Everyone: Act the way you think is the best, and don't foist your inevitably stupid, shitty, opinions on others as the only possible way to live.
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