Easy On The Meat

Just in response to Tamsin - I can't help but point out that, in a strange way, you are making the point against yourself. You say that, if we didn't eat livestock, they would just "be there, doing nothing". On a small scale, that would be true - there are always going to be isolated populations of wild pigs, sheep and cows in various parts of the world. But, as you yourself pointed out, most livestock is bred purely for human consumption. Thus if there was no demand for meat, the animals would not be here - which in turn would lower emissions from the animals themselves and from the farming processes. So the idea that we'd be overrun by farm animals is nothing but ludicrous. I'm a meat-eater myself and totally agree with the idea that removing meat entirely from your diet is not particularly healthy - and yes, human beings are a natural part of the carnivorous food chain. But I think the suggestion being made by this site is not that we should all go vegetarian, it's that we don't need to eat so much meat. There is plenty of historical and anthropological evidence to show that human beings evolved with a varied diet in which meat played a vital but, in terms of volume consumed, small part. You don't need to eat meat two or three times a day to be healthy. I'm not a nutritionist, but from what I've read even a couple of servings of meat each week is sufficient (assuming that you get protein and fat from other foodstuffs). And, honestly, if everyone in the world only ate meat twice a week - and if people made an effort to eat all parts of the animal carcasses, rather than wasting huge amounts of food just to get at the prime cuts - then yes, there would be a beneficial ecological effect.

Woah Stephanie! You can't say eating animals is wrong. If we didn't we would have too many on the planet. What else are they there for? It's like how we breed horses to ride them. Without eating cows, pigs, sheep, chickens etc, they would just be there doing nothing, over-populating like the rest of us. And anyway, if lions can eat gazelles, or birds can eat snails, why can't we eat meat? It's part of the food chain. So get your facts right before you start telling people what's wrong and right.

I don't like eating meat. Next month i'm going vegetarian with high hopes of going vegan by the end of the year.

I don't mean to be harsh or rude, but some of these comments are ridiculous! "Still eat some chicken and fish though, I'm a rather fussy vegetarian." WOW, okay here's the news flash: meat=nonvegetarian; no meat=vegetarian. Becoming a "raw foodist" does not mean your vegan. Isn't this ridiculous! LOL

My family is greek, so I have been brought up to eat meat almost by default. I love vegetables, but I also love meat. Sorry if you don't like that! But my new years resolution is not to order meat by default whenever I eat out (exception for fish) and I am enjoying the different ways of cooking veges so far very much!

i agree with andyh, it's not fair that people get judged for eating chicken & fish. seriously. not cool. besides, how do you know how much chicken & fish people eat? i only eat some every now & then anyways. and stephanie, if you read my comment carefully, you'd see that i want to become a raw foodist (which is, essentially, vegan). i can't just snap my fingers & make it happen though - it's a process.

Hmmm, well that's a fair point of view generally Stephanie, but however you feel morally, in terms of GHG impact, not all animals are created equal

I am very tired of people celebrating how great they are for not eating red meat when they continue to eat chickens and fish. Get a grip. Eating any animal is wrong. There is no argument. Go green, go vegan.

I haven't eaten red meat since I was 12! (I'm 20 now) Still eat some chicken and fish though, I'm a rather fussy vegetarian =/ What I REALLY wanna do is to become a raw foodist.....

I can't eat meat anymore, not after the videos i have seen of how cattle are slaughtered