I want realistic views and opinions. No idiots allowed.What is SO BAD about eating meat?

Question

Ok. Convince me whats so bad about eating meat. Tell me why people decide to go hardcore vegan and the majority of them mock people who eat meat. Give me realistic opinions. No stupid analogies that are off the subject, no twenty-two page blogs about why meat is bad or animals are tortured. I want realistic philosophies, honest (but not idiotic) opinions, and something besides generalizations and judgement. Go ahead. Convince me. What the hell is wrong with meat? Also, please DO NOT drag religion into this. I frankly don't give a damn about your (or any one else's) religious views on the subject.

"'animals were put here for me to eat, look at my teeth, they were built for it' (to which I respond, 'your hands are built well for choking people to death, why don't you ever use them for that?')."
Perfect example of the analogies I spoke of. >.>

I must say, so far I'm very impressed by all of your answers. You've opened my eyes a bit. Choosing a best answer for this will be very very difficult. =/
One thing's for sure though, it won't be kitkat. "Here to cause trouble..."
You couldn't be more accurate, thanks for noticing. Care to actually answer the question now?

Ok, I'm going to end this and choose a best answer now. If I don't pick yours PLEASE don't be offended. Every answer here is exceptional (excluding a couple >.>). I personally thank you for taking the time to write such wonderful responses (a few rather lengthy ;P).

Answer 1

Nothing, it's not bad for you, the animals themselves usually or the environment.

There are many benefits to a diet containing meat. Many vegetarians claim that meat is unhealthy. This is a blatant fallacy.
It is well established that eating meat improves the quality of nutrition, strengthens the immune system, promotes normal growth and development, is beneficial for day-to-day health, energy and well-being, and helps ensure optimal learning and academic performance.
A long term study found that children who eat more meat are less likely to have deficiencies than those who eat little or no meat. Kids who don’t eat meat — and especially if they restrict other foods, as many girls are doing — are more likely to feel tired, apathetic, unable to concentrate, are sick more often, more frequently depressed, and are the most likely to be malnourished and have stunted growth. Meat and other animal-source foods are the building blocks of healthy growth that have made America’s and Europe's youngsters the tallest, strongest and healthiest in the world.
Meat is an important source of quality nutrients, heme iron, protein, zinc and B-complex vitamins. It provides high-quality protein important for kids’ healthy growth and development.
The iron in meat (heme iron) is of high quality and well absorbed by the body, unlike nonheme iron from plants which is not well absorbed. More than 90 percent of iron consumed may be wasted when taken without some heme iron from animal sources. Substances found to inhibit nonheme iron absorption include phytates in cereals, nuts and legumes, and polyphenolics in vegetables. Symptoms of iron deficiency include fatigue, headache, irritability and decreased work performance. For young children, it can lead to impairment in general intelligence, language, motor performance and school readiness. Girls especially need iron after puberty due to blood losses, or if pregnant. Yet studies show 75 percent of teenage girls get less iron than recommended.
Meat, poultry and eggs are also good sources of absorbable zinc, a trace mineral vital for strengthening the immune system and normal growth. Deficiencies link to decreased attention, poorer problem solving and short-term memory, weakened immune system, and the inability to fight infection. While nuts and legumes contain zinc, plant fibre contains phytates that bind it into a nonabsorbable compound.
Found almost exclusively in animal products, Vitamin B12 is necessary for forming new cells. A deficiency can cause anaemia and permanent nerve damage and paralysis. The Vitimin B12 in plants isn't even bioavailable, meaning our body can't use it.
Why not buy food supplements to replace missing vitamins and minerals? Some people believe they can fill those gaps with pills, but they may be fooling themselves. Research consistently shows that real foods in a balanced diet are far superior to trying to make up deficiencies with supplements.

No sensible vegans can contest that we were deigned to eat meat. Even most vegan scientists agree that human's are designed to eat meat, that is not in question.
That we do not have claws, talons, or incisors to hunt proves nothing. When early hominids ate meat they scavenged it, as vultures do, using their fingers to get the sinews and meat other animals couldn't. It was only after that that they began to hunt the meat themselves, and only much later they began to cook it. It is interesting that even now if someone was brought up eating raw meat he would have no problem with it.
The last few million years of human evolution have revolved completely around tools. We used advanced stone tools long before we began to hunt our own meat, and as such there was no need for evolution to bestow us with large claws or teeth to kill prey.

Simple research into human biology reveals how we are meant to eat meat. For one thing, our body produces hydrochloric acid and meat splitting enzymes that herbivores don't produce and are solely used for the digestion of meat. There are adaptations to our teeth (not incisors, rather the size of the jaw), stomach and intestines which have made a human being very adept at meat digestion. There is nothing wrong with the way our body digests meat, and we are so adept at eating it no scientists are of any doubt we've evolved to eat it.

In contrast, there are many reasons we aren't naturally herbivores. We cannot naturally get all the nutrients we need without animal products naturally. Vitamin B12 cannot be got, even now, without animal products or supplements, and a lack of it can cause anaemia and impending death. 60% of vegans even now have some level of B12 deficiency, as opposed to no meat eaters, which says something about how well adapted we are to a vegan diet.
All other nutriets can be got natually. That owes to that vegtables can now be sold all year round, even out of season, and can be flown into the country from all over the world. In bygone times people could only eat the relatively small range of plants that grew in their ecosytem, and only when they were in season. Thus many more nutrients would have been unavailable and still more unavaillable for most of he year. Until very recently it would have been impossible for a vegan human to live naturally without dying very quickly.

Now, meat makes up for all these lost nutrients very nicely, and it really shows how we aren't naturally vegans, as until very recently it was impossible to live like that.

Vegetarianism actually isn't that good for the animals. If enough people went veggie to actually affect the industry at all, and the demand for meat decreased, it would mean animals which were surplus to requirement. You're kidding yourself if you think that would mean they'd live happily ever after, as they couldn't be sold no one would want to keep them, and they'd still be slaughtered.
Think about it, the second farmers couldn't sell their livestock, the second they couldn't make a profit, they wouldn't keep them any more. Keeping animals isn't cheap, and to keep them, without profit, would be hugely expensive to any farmer. How many do you reckon would be prepared to make that kind of loss?
Now, what'd happen then? Maybe a few wild pigs or goats would stay alive, but for the most part it would be impossible to release them into the wild. The vast majority would have to be slaughtered.

I quote "If no one were allowed to farm animals, farms would grow crops instead. The first thing to go would be all the animals. Once the rural landscape were rid of cattle, sheep, and the like, fields would get larger, for the convenience of the combine harvesters, and hedgerows would go. Wild animals like rabbits would now be a more major pest. No farmer would want animals eating the plants, and so the war on such animals would intensify. Grown in the fields would be domesticate species of food crops, and so the number of plant species would decline."

Domestication is one of the best things that can happen to animals. If the golden eagle tasted any good you can bet your life it wouldn't be nearly extinct.

I quote "In the wild, a sheep would have to look for food, compete for it, jockey for position in the herd, look out for predators, guard its offspring, and it one day would die because of some accident, perhaps a fall, some nasty illness, or it would become weak and have its throat ripped out by the local predators. By striking contrast, the life of a farmed sheep is rather different. A farmed sheep has complete protection from predators; all the food of exactly its favourite kind at its feet all day every day, for which it does not have to compete; no competition for mates; no need to guard offspring; free health care; free haircuts; it is very unlikely to die in childbirth, and unlikely to die a nasty death. True, half a ewe’s offspring are taken away and killed. However, in the wild, a ewe would lose most of its offspring anyway, and in nastier circumstances. By the standards of the natural wild, a sheep’s life is about as cushy as a life could possibly be."

This is true, animals in the wild invariably die violent deaths. the closest an animal will get to dying of old age is being picked by a predator because it it old and therefore an easier to target. Farmed animals invariably lead happier, healthier, less stressful lives than those in the wild.

And there's more, but this a huge subject, and I already think this answer is way too long.

Answer 2

I don't think anyone will convince you or should even attempt to, because you seem to have already decided for yourself.

Some people don't eat meat because they would rather not have an animal killed just so they could eat, especially when it is entirely possible to live without it. Basically all animals want to live, otherwise they wouldn't try to stay alive if they are in danger. So it is compassionate to not kill if it is unnecessary (humans have a failing in this regard, something that is demonstrated regularly in the news). Also, where do people draw the line when it comes to this. Some people say they will "eat anything." Is that really true, because at this moment, someone is having a horse steak, a cat burger, or dog soup. So the question becomes, where do you draw the line. People who choose not to eat meat will just draw the line at no animals showing compassion for all of them. If you look at the world (with all its wars and strife), you will see that is a value that is lacking.

Answer 3

The main reason I chose to become a vegetarian is because of the way the animals are treated as they are being raised for slaughter. It's really horrible, and I feel that if more people knew what happened on factory farms, the percentage of vegetarians would be much higher.
In addition, I feel that avoiding meat is healthier. I know that since I stopped eating meat I feel much better.
I don't condemn those that eat meat though..I ate meat for most of my life, so I can't say anything.
I would just encourage people to look at the facts-if you can look at what these animals lives are like and still eat meat, then fine..
I hope this makes sense!

Answer 4

i'm an omnivore. but from what i understand..

some vegans believe that by not eating meat products and using their skin [cloth, leather, etc..] that they are allowing less animals to die. while this isn't necessarily true, this is seen on the whole as 'less demand for animals', many of which are "farmed" (grown, and never allowed to live a natural life. some see it better as never existing than to be born for the purpose of slaughter)

others simply get sick at the thought of eating meat, the same way that i could not eat seafood.
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now that i'm done answering the indirect question, onto your question.

while meat is better for your teeth than many plantforms, it carries fats that are unnecessary. sugars and proteins, if you eat enough, will be compounded to fat when there are enough, so there's no need for that fat, even if it tends to make people look more attractive (as opposed to bone skinny, which some vegans are. of course, this doesn't apply to all vegans.)

while it is true that as omnivores, we are also hunters, having as much control over the world as we do, we are no longer "just part of the food chain". we now manipulate and own that chain. i'm all for saving endangered species, moreso than you could possibly know, but some species are meant to die out, to let the strong survive. my only opposition [to my own arguement!] is that we also cause some of that very strife that threatens that animal. a good part of that is breeding animals soley to feed and clothe people. no other purpose. as such, the animals may seem as robots or plants to the 'farmers' and will not be treated as common animals might have

Answer 5

Listen, there are very few vegetarians that advertise it with megaphones, and there are even fewer that constantly bash meat eaters. Most vegetarians are located in India and it's not even something they think about, their diet just doesn't require meat because they have such a diverse array of foods. If vegetarians and vegans all hated meat eaters, they would hate the vast majority of the planet, because pretty much everyone eats meat.

We're never going to stop people from eating meat, unless an industry is created that creates meat out of animal stem cells (and even then you'd have a bunch of hicks running around the woods with shotguns waiving around copies of the Constitution), but I'd like there to be more vegetarians. Everyone is trying to lose weight these days, and then they go home and stuff 5 pounds of meat down their gullet. I just want to reduce the number of animals getting killed. I'm against any type of harm done to animals, and it's inhumane to feel otherwise (if the idea of animals getting slaughtered doesn't make you uneasy, you're a screwed up person). Most meat eaters are cool (most of my friends eat meat) and that's because they don't brag about it, or say things like "animals were put here for me to eat, look at my teeth, they were built for it" (to which I respond, "your hands are built well for choking people to death, why don't you ever use them for that?"). Instead, they say, "yeah, I don't like the idea of it, but I just don't have the willpower to quit eating meat. But I don't eat THAT much." And that's cool with me.

Answer 6

Most meat comes in 60/40 so it's unhealthy. 90/10 is best. And every now and then you'll find meat factories that are mean to animals and don't take their time. I'm not saying all are like that, but some are. I'm not vegan but I know where vegans come from. Eating eggs to me is like abortion, since I'm pro-choice I believe eggs aren't chickens so I eat them. And some milk factories are bad because they are small and the cows get used often. Plus a momma cow has to have a baby to make the milk, so they usually get them pregnant after their first birthday and then on until its impossible to reproduce for milk.

I don't think a person can have religious view points on vegetarianism and veganism.

I'm not saying all animals are abused and tortured, but some are, and thats not right.

You sound sorta angry, I hope this didn't make you mad. And I'm sorry if anyone is a grumpy veg on here, sometimes we get that way.

Answer 7

Honest and realistic: it's kind of disgusting. Maybe it has an appealing taste; I honestly don't know, but, boy, does it ever look and smell lousy.

What I've never understood is how people draw the line between "meat -- food" and "meat -- not food."

Most parts of a pig = food
Your dog = not food
Roadkill = not food
Veal = delicious
Kittens = oh that's terrible
Human flesh = oh good god how could you even say that?

They all look like "meat" to me.

From what I can see of it, the texture is similar to my own body. Yuk.

I have no issues with people who do eat it, and do not lose a lot of sleep over slaughterhouses (actually, the bad working conditions for the people who work there worry me more), but -- you wanted to know why somebody might find it a bad idea to eat it, and that's one reason.

Answer 8

Imagine a dead cow. Or a dead fish. No, really. Close your eyes and imagine it, as vividly as you can - lying there, the empty eye staring at you...

Gross, huh?

WHY would you want to cut bits off of that and eat it?


I do believe in not contributing to the killing of animals, and I understand all the environmental reasons (raising meat is basically a waste of plant food and water that could have feed many more humans than the resulting animals can, and it causes even more CO2 to be released into the atmosphere), but personally, my main reason for being a vegetarian is that I find the thought of eating an animal carcass incredibly disgusting.

(I wasn't always, by the way - but when I still ate meat, I could never think about what it really was, and even back then I found raw meat gross. And one day, I just couldn't ignore the mental image of dead animal carcasses anymore when trying to eat meat.)

P.S.: Here's a website with 50 reasons to be a vegetarian. You might find some of them interesting:
http://www.lumenfds.com/50rea.htm

Answer 9

This is my view on meat eating, even though I haven't abided by it yet...I have weak discipline:

I think humans are NATURALLY omnivorous. This is shown through our digestive systems and teeth. Though we don't exactly have the razor sharp and special salivas that carnivores have, we don't have the 300 mile long intestines, numerous stomachs, and flat gnashing teeth that most herbivores have. We have semi sharp teeth, but we also have flat-like rows of teeth. We also have a digestive system that scientist liken to something between a carnivore and an herbivore.

Paleolithic diets consisted roughly of 1/3 meat and 2/3 vegetation. Humans haven't evolved much either in the past 10000 years genetically either. So basically, we still have the intolerances, the digestive tendencies, and the chemical makeup of our ancestors millenia ago. And back then, meat was more of a prize, the center of a great feast, something that was consumed as a rarity...it wasn't consumed everyday on a regular basis...and it wasn't factory produced.

Basically, I believe that HIGH QUALITY meat (not the crap they pump out these days) should be eaten, but on a medium rare basis (no pun intended). It should be treated more as a dessert, a prize, a reward, rather than a major entity of our diet. When meat wasn't around back then, it was mostly fruits, nuts, roots, and vegetables.

When people go on a primarily vegetarian diet, the supplements they have to take are evident that they are missing some of the nutrients that they get from meat. They require MUCH more sustenance to maintain themselves and will end up consuming much more, therefore requiring more and more farms to keep up (forest destruction, etc.) I also believe, according to a theory, that humans were able to advance due to their meat supplements in their diet. Most herbivores spend their whole lives chewing, digesting, and foraging for food, mostly because more food has to be consumed in order to reach minimum nutrition with herbivores. So instead of spending all of our time searching for food, we spent our times advancing into civilization. Might be a far stretch, but you can see a little correlation.

By eating primarily animal products...well, look at the health epidemics in American today and you'll see what I mean. Science shows that energy capacities rapidly decrease as you go up the food chain. For example, let's say you have1 lb of beef with so many calories in it, the proportion of grass and feed given to the cow just to produce that 1 lb of beef probably has hundreds of times more caloric content. It is just more efficient.

There is a famous study called "the china study" showing that China's switch to a more western meat heavy diet is exponentially increasing diseases that were once rare like diabetes, colon cancer, heart disease, etc. Also there was a study of lifespans of southern french people and northern french people. Southern french diets consisted mostly of mediterranean items like fruits, vegetables, fish while the north consisted of meats, eggs, dairy, and animals fats. Northern french lifespans were considerably shorter.

In terms of philosophy, I think our meat eating habits represent something in our culture which is plaguing us: excess. We waste so much because of our consumer attitudes and we are essentially behaving like literal viruses, eating and destroying everything in our paths. I think it's ethically wrong to pursue and possess something in extraordinary amounts, especially if the amounts we possess or consume aren't necessary at all to maintaining a normal happy life but in the process is destroying the lives of others. We in essence are destroying others in our pursuit of pleasure.

I in no way condemn meat. I love meat. But I feel anything in excess and out of balance will ultimately be our downfall. I believe we weren't meant to eat the quantities of meat we eat today. SO in conclusion I propose something called "Eating to live", that is eating what is only necessary to maintain normal functions, and I believe the amount of meat we eat today is WAY out of proportion. I am on a crusade to significantly reduce the portions of meat in my diet, due to some health and family history issues. But also, I believe reducing meat consumption will make us appreciate meat much much more, and in the long run will sort out problems with health and environment. I believe also that buying very very high quality meat will ultimately result in me eating less anyways due to availability and cost, but I will always know that I'm eating something good and delicious.

Answer 10

I am an omnivore as all humans are.

Vegans are just morally opposed to killing sentient beings to sustain themselves.

Meat is what humans have evolved to eat. Unfortunately, we have screwed up our livestock by feeding cows corn (not their natural diet) and factory raising chickens and feeding all our life stock hormones and antibiotics cuz they get sick eating unnatural food.

To elaborate this point: If cows were raised on grass instead of corn, I would not need to supplement with CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) This has been shown to inhibit cancer cells and help maintain proper lean body mass. Also, I would probably not have to supplement with omega 3 fish oils. Grass fed cows have a much higher content in their meat/fat and corn fed hardly any. We all know about Omega 3 by now don't we?

I can only agree with the vegans that there is no need to raise our meat cruelly. I think healthy meat is better for us. They are 110% wrong that it is healthy to refrain from it. They get cancer and stroke and heart disease just like most people.

Healthy vegetarians because of just cutting out meat is a myth, they might be healthier in some respects because they follow other healthy lifestyle choices, such as exercise, not smoke, not drink, etc.

Corporate profits have ruined our meat supply with thier rush to market methods. We must insist they go back to natural methods and less cruel husbandry. As an example, animals should not see their fellow being slaughtered before them.

As for me, I would have no problem killing my own cow, pig or chicken. None at all.

Answer 11

I know a website that has some very informative and insightful information.
http://goveg.com/
watch the meet your meat video. It will break your heart. Also, look at some of the other stuff. It tells you health benefits, how it's good for the environment, and how it helps innocent creatures.
Thank you and have a nice day.