Brainwashed?

Question

Do you think people have been socially conditioned to think meat is the only source of protein and that milk is necessary for strong bones?

Answer 1

No for protein, yes for milk

Meat has been touted as the only complete protein for many years; yes I know it's not.

But look at the food pyramid; it shows meat, beans, fish and poultry at the same level. Even the one that I went to school with showed it that way. If I remember right the new pyramid shows 5 to 11 serving of grain; 3 to 5 of vegetables, 3 to 5 of fruits, and 2 to 3 of mean, beans, fish, nuts, poultry, 2 to 3 of milk yogurt cheese, and fat oils sweet, it just says use sparingly.

So the information is out there, most people chose if ignore it and eat what tastes good to them.

Also, the beef industry is very good at advertising meat. Think about it when was the last time you saw an ad that said celebrate with a thick juicy piece of carrot? Never, I’ve seen similar ads for steak though.

Now a lost of people in most parts of the world see eating meat as saying I made it. Poor people in most of the world don’t eat meat very often; so one of the first things they do as they move up the economic ladder is add meat to their diet. Happen in the US, too. Immigrants came over bringing their diet with them. Their diet contained some but not a lot of meat. I’ll use Italian food for example; spaghetti, pizza, ETC. didn’t have much if any meat in it, but as the Italians move up the economic ladder their recipes started to include more and more meat.

So what I think you’re seeing is a combination of good advertising on part of the beef industry, a function of society and its perceptions and peer pressure.

By perceptions, I mean that beans have gotten a bad rap, it causes a lot of gas, and people in polite society don’t fart. Peer pressure in the way of; you are a guest and how dare you not eat what I cooked for you.

So most people know that meat isn’t the only source of protein, but they prefer the taste of meat.

Now as for milk the dairy industry has been very good at tell people milk is a good source of Calcium. True as far as it goes, but a lot of adults are lactose intolerant. But, people know that babies need a lot of calcium and all they drink is milk so therefore milk is a good source of calcium. A little nudge from the dairy industry and milk become the only source of calcium. But people don’t ask where a cow gets their calcium. After all when was the last time you saw a cow drinking milk?

I could go on but I’ll stop now.

Of couse this is just my opinion.

Answer 2

Not for me. I tend to have an "it is what it is" view of things. I don't try to make excuses or rationalize my feelings or beliefs. Emotion taints truth way too much when you allow it to. For example, I want to distance myself from the JW organization so much that I'm willing to change ALL my beliefs. But that doesn't mean I'm instantly going to start believing in the trinity or believing in people having immortal souls. I still want truth, and I go by what evidence the Bible gives, because not everything is spelled out for us in in "black and white" in the scriptures. Like it or not, I still believe some of what the JWs taught me, at least until researching and studying the Bible more tells me otherwise. One thing I do have that JWs do not is the freedom to welcome other people's ideas and interpretations of the Bible. I don't feel I had to "deprogram" myself where that is concerned. This came naturally to me. I know that many have had a difficult time trying to deprogram, and I feel for them. I guess I should be thankful. For me it was like walking out into the sunshine and a cool breeze after being stuck inside a windowless building for a long, long time. I will never look back... 2 Corinthians 3:17 (LITV) "And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Answer 3

I totally believe that! The only reason people in general are so anti-veggie is because we've been taught to believe that only the old "food pyramid" diet is healthy. That and the old "My grandpappy's grandpappy ate bacon and eggs every day of his life and died at the ripe old age of 93". Ya know? I mean, if you really look into it with an open mind... you find out that different societies have very different beliefs as far as what is typically eaten by its people. Take for instance the cultures in which cows are sacred. We're (we being the USA) about as opposite from that as you can get. What we eat, and what we believe we should eat is almost entirely due to what culture we've been brought up in. There are many other issues in which this also applies such as gender roles (I just found out recently in a human sexuality class that many cultures recognize more than two genders!), clothing styles and much more.

If people would stop and think about WHY things "are the way they are", they would realize that a lot of what we take for granted as "proper" or "right" doesn't really make much sense at all!

Answer 4

Based on the question it appears you are saying that the powers up top in society have repeatedly tried to teach us that this is so. That meat is the only source of protein. This is not so.

What happened is that early in our development someone saw a carnivorous animal eat a not-so-carnivorous animal, and put together it might be a food source. They killed and ate something, and found out it was delicious. As more and more of us started realizing that cows taste much better than beans and nuts (except for Paris Hilton apparently, she seems to like the nuts), we just became conditioned to eat meat. It wasn't society, just happened.

As far as the milk, you do realize that the teat was designed to be pulled on (by the calf) and it doesn't hurt the cow. So what is the difference if we drink the milk or not.

Answer 5

Definitely.

The one thing I hate is when people say something like "but you need milk for strong bones". Why can't they just educate themselves? If they were really concerned about strong bones and protein, they'd know that there's multiple sources for that and much of what they believe are just lies based off of the industries' advertisements.

Answer 6

I don't think there is any room for debate around this question, The dairy industry has numerous campaigns inside schools to get kids to consume more dairy products. This is not hidden information, but common knowledge. It's very clear that the motive of such campaigns is to condition kids into using dairy products for life. Meat is often included in these campaigns because of the dairy industry’s reliance on the meat industry.

Answer 7

absolutely! it's ridiculous, there are so many other sources of protein out there besides meat that are actually good for you. same with milk and calcium. milk is meant for BABY COWS not humans, and especially not adult humans. mothers only produce milk when they become pregnant for a reason- to feed their young. there is no need for us to drink milk and thinking you have to eat meat to have a good diet is ignorant and selfish.

Answer 8

Pretty much. When I went vegetarian, a lot of people, particularly my family, had a fit--they all were very accustomed to eating meat, and thought I'd be horribly unhealthy, and of course be missing out on "real food".
When I went vegan, I kept it a little hush-hush, and I still really don't bring it up unless it is brought up, so to speak, because people often react in a very negative way.
We all just need to be more open minded.

Answer 9

No... most people have been raised to believe that milk and meat is necessary for human growth... and even when they hear the opposite, they aren't ready to believe it. I wouldn't call it brainwashing. There are people following a certain religions since birth and they have teachings that many of us don't necessarily agree with but to them it's important.

Answer 10

This is like me asking if PETA has brainwashed all of its members. Which i once said as a joke but i think might be becoming true. A person has the right to choose to eat meat or not meat is a good source of protein and milk is a good source of calcium but they are not the only sources. Dont you have anything better to do than question other peoples eating habits.