I’m an omnivore, and I like to eat meat. Before I engage with the meat vs vegetarianism debate, I’d like to address some of the “facts” raised by the pro-meaties.
Like Telpe’s suggestion that we are evolved to be meat eaters. If this was the case, we would be happy to consume raw meat. This is patently not the case, instead, we have adapted flesh in order to make it edible. This is known as cooking.
Plants are not sentient. Eating plants is not akin to eating meat.
[quote=“Exquire”]Telling me that I’m hurting plants’ feelings is clearly a last resort, especially since you no longer have a suggested action other than certain death.
I am open to having my mind changed on this. But I haven’t seen a good argument against vegetarianism yet.[/quote]
It’s simple. There isn’t one. You can live a healthy and happy life without ever eating meat. No argument from this quarter, even though I am a hardcore omnivore. You have the right to be vegetarian if you want, and I’m more than pleased to support that choice when you dine at my place.
BTW, anyone who thinks tofu doesn’t taste great just doesn’t know how to cook it properly.
But, I do disagree with your assertion that, in the future, everyone will be a vegetarian. The progressive movements you list (slavery, spousal abuse etc), are different from animal exploitation in one very distinct respect: it is human vs human. And humans are very good at engineering social change. Animals are unable to mount such a campaign, and must rely on proxy human campaigns instead.
These campaigns (no animal cosmetics testing, antivivisection, save the whales, anti fur etc) rely on promoting the cruelty of the animal exploitation. But does it follow that eating meat necessarily involves cruelty ? Sure, our farming practices suck in lots of different ways, but I believe we could have an industry where animals are treated well and killed humanely.
Another reason that the future won’t be vegetarian is that people like the taste of meat. They will find ways to get, even if social sanction prevents them. For example, Tibetan Buddhists will not kill an animal for food. But they will happily engage a (non-Buddhist) butcher from a neighbouring village, whereupon they may prepare, cook and eat the meat.
What is more likely is that future generations look back on the the Age of Greed as being a symptom of capitalist aggression. They will marvel at the cruetly, shortsightedness and sheer hubris of our society.
Reminds me:
All consumers of kai moana, please take care to learn about the large-scale abuses of the fishing industry. They are destroying fragile, unexplored ecosystems with their vile method of bottom-trawling.
Also, they seem hellbent on killing off the large marine predators, a practice that would not be tolerated if it were practiced on land-based predators (lions, tigers, bears etc). Every time you open a can of tuna, you’re voting them off the planet. Just don’t do it.
If you want to have a small footprint when it comes to eating seafood, check out this seafood guide.
