A question for meat eaters-no bashing please, just honest opinions?

Question

I am going to try to ask this in a way that doesnt offend anyone, and I am not putting people who eat meat down in any way at all. I have been doing alot of research lately, and would like some honest opinions about what I have learned. Putting the whole animal cruelty issue aside, I have been reading about the impact the meat industry has on our environment in several ways. First, there is the obvious issue of animal waste causing polution and global warming, as well as runnoff issues rendering alot of land useless for growing crops. 80 percent of fresh water resources are used in the farming and slaughter of animals, where as crop farming uses a less than 10 percent. The grains that are fed to cattle each year, could feed 800 million people a year. It costs more to purchase a pint of raspberries than to purchase a pound of beef, because the govenment subsidizes meat farmers, but not fruit or vegetable farmers. How long can we sustain ourselves with resources if this keeps up?

Another issue I have is that because meat is so unsanitary, it is injected with antimicrobials containing bleach and peroxide, and chicken is "enhanced" with "broths" that contain wheat and soy, which many people are allergic to, including myself. The question, is meat worth all of this?

Answer 1

I was a vegetarian for 12 years and a vegan for the last 4. Many of the reasons I had were those listed above. During my pregnancy I smelled the venison my husband was cooking and I HAD to have it. I have been a carnivore ever since. There are responsible meat-eating practices. I eat free-range and untreated meat products. They are available. Check out Niman farms and search around. It's true that mass-market meat is unhealthy and detrimental to the environment. Oddly enough, I still don't used dairy products, as I think they are even more unhealthy for me and my particular chemistry.

Answer 2

Okay, here's the straight skinny. You are correct in that there well may be more efficient means of feeding the world, but for every fault you find with meat consumption, there is a counter-argument. You would have us produce more grains and other starch-bearing foods, yet starch is the downfall of the millions of diabetics around the world.

In addition, if you are sensitive to the starchy ingredients sometimes used in fowl, you will also be as sensitive to other starches as I, one of those millions of diabetics, am. You've really got some serious dietary restrictions - are you phenylketonuric, perhaps?

And for many of the world's peoples, meat is a cultural and religious imperative, and religious people are notorious for holding their faith above the considerations you mention regarding the inefficiency and environmental degradation brought on by meat production. I'm sure you understand the hostility you'll encounter through challenging those beliefs.

So here's the reality: yes, the world might well be better off in the long run to consume considerably less meat: but it ain't gonna happen. So why don't you expend your energy helping us make the process at least more efficient and less polluting? That would seem to be the only way by which you have any chance at success...

Answer 3

I am a meat eater and always will be... the meat industry also provides a lot of jobs that this country needs to stay afloat. i know many people who live off there job in the meat industry and couldn't make it with out that... growing crops isn't as easy as it might seem. Ive lived on a farm in Kansas most of my live and between the repairs and normal spending a bushel of grain don't bring in much money. either your really rich at being a farmer or your flat broke. my father took up raising cattle to make some money. so the meat industry is good for the economy. of course its going to use more water because the amount of crop land is depleting because the ground is no longer "good crop land" so there is less land to water and many crops out here in Kansas are dry land crops. meaning that the only water they get come from rain.

plus by not eating meat you are messing out on most of the nutrients that the body need you really have to keep an eye on your nutrition levels when you don't eat meat.

Answer 4

It's interesting to see how meat production affects our environment and our government. Unfortunately, we're not getting the whole story here. For example, you say the grain fed to cattle could feed 800 million people each year. Are you sure? Many cattle (and chickens) are corn-fed, and the corn used to feed them is not fit for human consumption, so I have to wonder if that's true. Also, assuming it is true, how many cattle are fed with that grain and how much meat is produced? How many people can be fed with that beef? Let's dig a little deeper: How many jobs would be lost in the U.S. and abroad if we abandoned raising cattle and chickens? Would fruit and vegetable farming be able to provide the HUGE amount of extra food needed to feed the American people, let alone the entire world? How do we know that the people who need the food would get it if we used the grain resources to feed cattle to feed the hungry? It's no secret that aid to third-world countries rarely gets where it needs to because the governments are so corrupt. BOTTOM LINE: I'm not so sure that the problems presented by raising meat for human consumption are as dire or as dooming as you would have us believe. It DOES serve a legitimate purpose, and doing away with meat altogether may cause more problems than it would solve.

Answer 5

If you like it it is, if you don't that's no problem either, I don't like what they are doing to meat and I would prefer to buy it without additives, but they are also doing some strange things to vegetables and fruits so you do have to be careful with anything you don't grow yourself.
Humans are omnivorous with the ability to chew and digest meat and vegetables and grain, if we weren't meant to eat everything, we wouldn't be equipped for it.
I know the apple farmers and onion farmers here get some subsidies, but the wheat and corn growers make the most out of the gov.
Some of our resources are renewable, but the gas that goes into modern grain farming isn't.
Even if it were possible to get all the nutritional things we needed from a pill only a very few people would do that, we have come to see food as a sociable, and enjoyable time.

Answer 6

Read the book "The China Study" and you'll figure out your answer. If such catastrophic disaster were inevitable because of meat eating, and if such a majority of people are unable to sacrifice something as insignificant as eating a steak to have a fleeting moment of pleasure in order to do some good in the far run, then you just shouldn't worry about saving the world, just concentrate on keeping yourself healthy and living a happy life. Sometimes people have good intentions but the conflicting forces are just way too strong. Some people just never change.

I like meat also btw...

Answer 7

No offense taken. Nothing like a good cut of prime rib or a tasty broiled rib-eyed steak. I love those Nations Giant burgers also. I think that our cave man ancestors were able to get that extra brain growth from the nutrients in red meat. You make a sensible and logical point. The world is driven by big business and not science, though we eventually turn to science to save us. It is a frustrating situation, the oil industry is also a cruel reality of life today. We still have wars, famine and genocide. We compete for almost everything in our everyday lives and we will keep using our resources till a profit can no longer be made from them. We are truly doomed by our own appetites and it will be our future population that will have to pay the price.

Answer 8

animal waste causing pollution hmmm doesn't human waste cause more pollution then animals? the reason y people go hungry isn't because we use grain to fed cattle its because they have no money to buy food. The resources of fresh water....There is no such thing as fresh water these days, it all goes through chemical treated water treatment centers. You don't even want me to go there on the costs of stuff. So eating meat is not damaging the planet.

Answer 9

Your asking meat eaters why and how. I'm a meat eater and if you want my honest response, I don't care about anything you mentioned. Not to be mean but truthful. I love beef, pork, chicken, venison, bear, rabbit, and fish. I don't care how they get it or what other ways could be used to conserve food or help the ozone layer. I'm not gonna get a best answer for this but I can only imagine 90% of meat eaters didn't know the facts you just wrote nor did they ever care to bother.

Answer 10

I love eating meat,however a vegetarian diet is not only healthy but it is sanitary and a good idea.I personally cannot go vegan-it's way too hard when you grow up eating it your whole life..Meat would be more healthy if people wouldn't inject all of the horrible crap into it and the hormones as well.