vegetarianism Vs the Non-vegentarianism

Alright so we have been flirting the diplomatic waters for some time and in the midst of it all, I realized how productively I waste time here , often sneaking during the work hour. But in all it's been a lovely experience and enriching to exchange so many opinions. So Kudos everyone.

Human beings were hunter gatherers first. Early humans relied heavily on meat supplemented by gathered berries. Agriculture and pure vegetarianism came later. By nature humans are carnivores/omnivores in the food chain. Biologically our bodies are designed to consume and digest meat. Unlike many pure herbivores we are unable to digest many plant celluloses. Meat supplemented with plenty of fruits and vegetables for other nutrients is an ideal lifestyle for humans. Meat is desirable due to high protein and iron content. However, vegetarian diets can provide these through pulses, grains, beans, milk, spinach etc.

The cons of meat consumption in the modern era are

- Overconsumption

- Factory farming and inhumane practices

- Inherent pain and suffering to animals for our needs

- Issues with high cholesterol, blood pressure and heart disease due to consumption of fatty meat or excessive consumption

- Tendency to lack healthy intake of fruits and vegetables

- Susceptibility to salmonella, swine disease, mad cow, and other such animal borne diseases

- The challenge of GMO and other technologies to increase production

The cons of vegetarianism in the modern era are

- Overconsumption

- Tendency to lack healthy intake of iron and protein

- Unsustainable farming practices that deplete land quality and cause erosion

- Economic challenges of rural agrarian economies

- Chemicals and pesticides used to in agriculture leech into soils, ground water systems and affect ecosystems

- The challenge of GMO and other technologies to increase production

- Plants are also living and do suffer pain, albeit differently from animals (this point can be disputed)

I'm sure there are more, this is by no means exhaustive. I think no matter what diet we follow philosophically, we humans put a burden on earth. We should have the freedom to choose our diets. As far as possible one should try to ensure their meat and vegetables comes from sustainable sources that is humane and has minimal impact on the environment. Unfortunately, this is accessible only to the elite right now due to cost constraints. Lower income people have no choice but to eat what is obtained most cheaply. Some people are not even in a position to choose vegetarian or non vegetarian - they eat what they get.

Brilliant as usual Hades!

Genie - I would say we are omnivores. We have neither full fledged carnivore or herbivore traits. Our diet is to be a mix in between.

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

Genie - I would say we are omnivores. We have neither full fledged carnivore or herbivore traits. Our diet is to be a mix in between.

Originally posted by: charminggenie

But what does omnivores means -what is the percentage divide? It cannot be 50% for both. I just feel calling humans omnivores is a good compromise , not an answer.

But yeah I get what you say, our eating habits have become more acclimatized with evolution , need and desire. So we may have picked on either because of our experience.

I find it fascinating that for a race which prides on being most evolved and intelligent we are the most ambiguous about our eating habits.

To be honest I don't know the divide. I've seen healthy to unhealthy extremes in pure vegetarians as well as carnivores. Rather than meat vs. veggies the divide of our diet should be proteins, fats, carbs, nutrients per healthy recommended doses (which also keeps changing with each study 😆)

We pride ourselves on being most evolved - but most humans cannot survive wilderness on our own. The cockroach survived what killed the dinosaurs and will survive our nuclear winter as well. So who's the real boss? Who's really evolved for life on earth?

We pride ourselves on being most intelligent - but our dogs and cats understand what we say, but we don't get what they say. Most animals run upland before a tsunami or start running first in case of forest fires - but we are the last to realize imminent danger. Who's really intelligent?

I think we humans have just nicely deluded ourselves into believing we are special.

Ninja Ranger🤗

chicken mutton fish beef pork squid turkey prawn I ate em all!

Non Veg FTW

i'll speak in my case