Going vegi

Subject: RE: Going vegi
From: Sooz
Date: 24 Nov 04 - 02:01 PM

Les, it would be more practical for all omnivores to eat less meat (everyone in the west eats much more than they need simply because they can afford to) and more veg. There would be a lot of health benefits as well as environmental ones.

If huge numbers of people turned veggie, the there could be sustainability problems as protein rich legume crops do not grow well in cooler climates (and sheep and cows do).

I'll stick to the luxury of my veggie diet though, if you don't mind.

Subject: RE: Going vegi
From: el_punkoid_nouveau
Date: 24 Nov 04 - 03:19 PM

If we all stop eating meat, what do you think would happen to all the pigs, non-dairy cattle and other stock bred purely for their meat?

You wouldn't say many of them on farms, for sure - a farm is a business, just like any other, and has to make a profit.

Twenty years ago, when I worked on dairy farms in Northamptonshire, I passed three herds at least on my way from home to work - perhaps two miles. There are now ten herds in the whole county. What has happened to the livestock - they haven't just merged!

This may seem like a half-arsed argument for keeping on eating meat, but the point is that without meat eaters amny varieties of these animals would now be extinct.

epn

Subject: RE: Going vegi
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 25 Nov 04 - 01:34 AM

Yo jOhn, my cat Stan is not a vegetarian either, it's his job to deal with mice. My pet spiders deal with insects etc.

eric

Subject: RE: Going vegi
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 25 Nov 04 - 03:10 PM

You say it all for me Sooz.

Much of western Europe is grain desert to feed cattle. Eat the grain (+ other stuff and some meat) and support the growth of wilderness and its associated diversity...... bring back the Boar et al.

Subject: RE: Going vegi
From: CarolC
Date: 25 Nov 04 - 03:35 PM

if you go to a vegetarians house for a meal they will only serve you vegetables

This is not necessarily a bad thing. If you came to my house for a meal and I served you some meat, it might kill you. I stopped eating meat before I learned how to cook. I don't even know how to buy meat, much less cook it.

I ask the veggies to answer the question:

In terms if habitat sustainibility, which would you prefer; half of us omnivores to become vegi or all of us omnivores to eat a quarter as much meat?

I don't think it's up to me to decide what others eat, but it would seem to make more sense for many people to eat less meat than for half of the meat eaters to be forced to stop eating meat altogether.

This may seem like a half-arsed argument for keeping on eating meat, but the point is that without meat eaters amny varieties of these animals would now be extinct.

These animals wouldn't exist in their current form had they not been bred for the purpose of meat production. I don't see why their going extinct would have any discernable negative impact on the ecology of the world.

Subject: RE: Going vegi
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 25 Nov 04 - 05:17 PM

And to repeat something that was said months ago on another thread....

The Atkins diet is not made up entirely of meat. If you skip the 2 week induction, there is a high proportion of vegetable matter.... much higher than many folk eat that think they are on a 'balanced' diet.

The Atkins diet was NOT written by someone with a vested interest in meat production. It was written by someone with a vested interest in keeping his patients out of the morgue.

LTS

Subject: RE: Going vegi
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 25 Nov 04 - 06:29 PM

'In terms if habitat sustainibility, which would you prefer; half of us omnivores to become vegi or all of us omnivores to eat a quarter as much meat?

I don't think it's up to me to decide what others eat, but it would seem to make more sense for many people to eat less meat than for half of the meat eaters to be forced to stop eating meat altogether.'

Thanks Carol lets do more of that and sing a few songs, play a few tunes and step them old dances in a more sustainable world.

Oh god I sound like a vicar. (What does vicarious really mean?)