There are seldom more contentious exchanges than when vegetarians and meat eaters face off. It’s important to consider what humans traditionally consumed over hundreds of thousands of years until very recently. Modern “wisdom” is that meat is evil and as humans we should know better than to eat our “friends”. After presenting compelling independent thinking expert evidence refuting the benefits of shunning meat, I have had otherwise perfectly intelligent people tell me,” I don’t care if it’s better for me, I’m not eating meat!”
Wow...
They argue that farming produces tons of pollution, our bodies aren’t designed to eat animals, we’ll be slimmer, live longer, and the world would be a better place because shunning meat is spiritually correct. We are, after all, the smarter, more evolved animal, aren’t we?
“Whether something is repugnant is highly individual. Some Hindus who will not eat animal foods readily drink their own urine for the sake of health…That most prey are eaten while they are still alive testifies to the heartlessness of nature compared to slaughterhouses, where death is generally quick and painless.” (1)
“The belief that all life is sacred can lead to absurdities such as allowing mosquitoes to spread malaria, or vipers to run loose on one’s premises…The natural world reveals hierarchies in the food chain, the dominance of certain species over others. And most creatures in the wild die (usually the victim of a predator) long before they have reached the genetic limit on their longevity.” (2)
There is a rhythm to life that seems lost in the current quest for political correctness. Feed lots and conventional farming are abominations against nature with their drug, pesticide and chemical applications. What animals eat and plants are treated with, we eat. Sustainable farming values its land, animals and plants as the Creator intended, tending these life-giving commodities with reverence. Saturated fats and animal proteins are what we evolved on over millennia. Our cell walls are comprised of 50% cholesterol and so is mother’s milk. Human intestinal tracts are closer in length to those of carnivores than ruminants and we don’t chew cud. Consuming too many carbohydrates and grains promote the release of insulin, whose sole function is to clear the blood of excess carbs, storing it as fat. All of us differ genetically and should eat accordingly. Some of us fare better with more meat, but none of us will thrive by strictly eating plants.
The Asian cultures don’t (and never have) consume large amounts of soy, nor have they thrived on it; they know soy can’t be digested unless it is fermented. It was used as a last ditch protein source during times of famine. Soy products, like miso and tempeh are utilized as condiments in small amounts. A single glass of soy milk has powerful estrogen-like chemicals equivalent to five birth control pills. Think about that! Unless it is specifically labeled as “certified organic”, conventionally farmed soy is a GMO commodity often crossed with the Brazil nut to increase the protein value (which, by the way, the body can’t utilize because soy can’t be digested). Any parent with a child who is allergic to nuts might find that little snippet a bit alarming.
How much fuel and water, which are finite resources, would be pillaged raising all that genetically modified soy, wheat and corn? What about the resultant emissions? How many small animals, birds and bugs are scared witless, then left to suffer and die when those fields are plowed under? How fertile would our topsoil be? Plants have a life force too. How do they feel when we rip them out of the ground by their roots? Would that feel like our hair being torn out? Do they scream?
And if robust longevity is what you are seeking by embracing vegetarianism, consider this:
“It is usually claimed that meat-eating peoples have a short life span, but the Aborigines of Australia, who traditionally eat a diet rich in animal products, are known for their longevity (at least before colonization by Europeans). Within Aboriginal society, there is a special caste of the elderly. Obviously, if no old people existed, no such group would have existed. In his book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”, Dr. Price has numerous photographs of elderly native peoples from around the world. Explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported great longevity among the Inuit (again, before colonization).
