Is beef necessary?

Question

That the beef industry is not an asset to our health. Cattle create significant greenhouse gases with their methane due to their unique digestive process. Cattle are large mammals that are domestic and we have way too many, creating gas and wasting energy... If people just limited their beef intake, really. Think about hamburgers, beef is like a staple for Americans but totally unnecessary - there is fake meat if your into that, pork, chicken, etc, hell just eat less of it! It would be beneficial to our health too, people need to lose the weight.

Don't get me wrong i love steak but think about it!

i am definitely not talking about becoming vegetarians. i know we are meat eaters and i agree we do, but think about the whole world and how little meat other cultures eat. we'd still have meat, and steak would just be rarer. hamburgers are just getting our kids fat in America, there's no reason to spend millions on their production, then them being grossly overpriced and sold covered in grease.

Answer 1

It tastes good, that's my reason for beef.

Answer 2

Beef isn't as unhealthy as many people think! Also, there is a webiste that proves that many of these things that are so bad about beef are not true. I am an Animal Sciences major in college and I fully support the beef industry. I love the taste of beef and love the fact that I am supporting the almost 80,000 cattle producers around the world.

Also, I know that you personally said that you didn't want to be a vegetarians, but for those considering, yes you can survive on a vegetarian diet, but it would cost at least four times as much to get the essential amino acids and proteins you recieve from a diet that includes meat.

Answer 3

No, I don't believe beef is totally necessary to our health. Granted it does provides essential amino acids, these proteins can be obtained elsewhere. I don't eat beef, due to the fact that in the veterinary world, we see animals get slaughtered, so I chose to pass on eating beef or the like after witnessing slaughters. I now eat the fake stuff and survive just fine. The average production of gas from a cow is about 600L per day. However, only about 26% of this gas is actually methane. The remaining percentage is made mostly of CO2 and Nitrogen. In the grand scheme of things, eliminating cattle wouldn't make that much of an improvement in the greenhouse effect. There are far worse contributors that are man-made, not animal-made. Plus, you have to look at the fact that in many religions, cattle are considered sacred. So to answer your question, eliminating beef wouldn't save the world from global warming or obesity, and you would have ethical dilemmas in the areas of religion and animal rights.

Answer 4

Beef is not necessary, there are other meat-producing animals that are more cost-effective to raise (goats, chickens, etc) and are less destructive on the environment. As far as health is concerned, we really don't need to eat as much protein as we do. Meat is probably better used in our diets more as a "garnish" than the basis of our meals, not that I eat that way nearly as much as I should. However, there are other products that come from cattle such as leather, which I would really miss if we didn't have a good supply of. (I make leather items for re-enactors and living historians, as well as turned and scrimshawed cow horn powder horns). So my answer is no, beef/cattle are not necessary, but our society wants them, whether raising them is the best overall choice or not.

Answer 5

No, it's not necessary.

Red meat causes all kinds of mischief to the body.
The type of fat in red meat is not tolerated well in
the body. It has been found as the probable cause
of cancer of the Breasts, Prostate in men, Gout, and a whole lot of other problems. Clog the arteries.

For people who work very hard and don't store much
fat in their body, they are less likely to have these problems because they burn up the fat before it causes the problem. Try white meat, Chicken, Turkey, Fish.

I may be wrong but not far from it.

Answer 6

NO NO NO you already know the answer. you said it in your question. My wife and I are raising 2 vegetarian children. They are both healthy!!!!!! my wife has been a veg for almost 20 years. healthy kids?? yeah, there are lots of ways to get protein. my kids are healthier than most. Raising cattle is destroying our planet. you know this. people do this because they are greedy, or think that they have a god given right to kill, eat, consume,.......Gosh, don't you read the bible? god is going to destroy this planet and magically make a new one someday so the resources are ours for the taking, and we have dominion over animals so we can torture them and kill them and eat them because they also have no soles and dont go to heaven. NO, beef is not necessary, and neither is god. It took many years to believe that the Sun wasn't a god. Then it took many more to believe that the earth isn't flat. when people figure out that science is real and god isn't, it may be too late. good question. J. Sizz

Answer 7

The corn products used to sweeten foods are what makes us fat, not beef. Just like a baked potato is good for you, as long as you don't pile on the butter & sour cream, meat is a necessary part of our diets, just not in such large quantities/so fatty.

Excess is the problem

Answer 8

As a dietary element, no. But beef and other meats contain a balanced assortment of amino acids, some of which are essential to nutrition because they cannot be made by the human body. It is possible to obtain all the necessary amino acids from a purely non-meat diet, but vegetable sources vary widely in their content of specific amino acids. If you are not careful in your choice of vegetable foods, deficiency diseases are possible.
-- Robert A. Saunders, Lake Stevens, WA.

Answer 9

I do not think it is "necessary," but it is what we are accustom to.
If one was to have a child today and never give that child beef, the child would not miss it. So, to survive, I do not believe it is necessary. But, I love a good burger or steak every now and then and I believe it has it's benefits.

Answer 10

Everyone loves the feeling of nostalgia. Beef transports us right back to the caveman era - it will not go away until there are no more cattle to consume.

Answer 11

Beef is a great source of protein and real tasty, too... but I agree with you that too much can be bad. Eating less beef and more vegies is a very good diet and it can also help our planet. =)