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global warming: factory farms part of the cause? |
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Nacht Queen of Darkness

Gender:  Joined: 25 Dec 2002 |
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:57 am Post subject: global warming: factory farms part of the cause? |
"It doesn't have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan," says Dr. Eshel, whose family raised beef cattle in Israel. "If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference."
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Meat Consumption & Global Warming
Most of us blame automotive and industrial emissions for global warming, and rightly so. But animal agriculture is an even bigger culprit. Livestock farming contributes carbon dioxide from burning forestland to create animal pastures and from combustion of fossil fuels to operate farm machinery, factory farms, transport vehicles, and slaughterhouses. It releases methane from the digestive tracts of cattle and nitrous oxide from animal waste cesspools.
According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent -- 18 percent -- than transport. Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO’s Livestock Information & Policy Branch and senior author of the report: “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”
With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tons in 1999/2001 to 465 million tons in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tons.
for more info:
http://www.biteglobalwarming.org/unreport.htm
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from the Christian Science Moniter:
Grazing: As meat consumption grows worldwide, cows, like these in a field near Riverside, Pa., are becoming a 'major player' in greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a recent report.
JIMMY MAY/AP
Humans' beef with livestock: a warmer planet
American meat eaters are responsible for 1.5 more tons of carbon dioxide per person than vegetarians every year.
By Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
As Congress begins to tackle the causes and cures of global warming, the action focuses on gas-guzzling vehicles and coal-fired power plants, not on lowly bovines.
Yet livestock are a major emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change. And as meat becomes a growing mainstay of human diet around the world, changing what we eat may prove as hard as changing what we drive.
It's not just the well-known and frequently joked-about flatulence and manure of grass-chewing cattle that's the problem, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Land-use changes, especially deforestation to expand pastures and to create arable land for feed crops, is a big part. So is the use of energy to produce fertilizers, to run the slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants, and to pump water.
"Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems," Henning Steinfeld, senior author of the report, said when the FAO findings were released in November.
Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, reports the FAO. This includes 9 percent of all CO2 emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide. Altogether, that's more than the emissions caused by transportation.
The latter two gases are particularly troubling – even though they represent far smaller concentrations in atmosphere than CO2, which remains the main global warming culprit. But methane has 23 times the global warming potential (GWP) of CO2 and nitrous oxide has 296 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.
Methane could become a greater problem if the permafrost in northern latitudes thaws with increasing temperatures, releasing the gas now trapped below decaying vegetation. What's more certain is that emissions of these gases can spike as humans consume more livestock products.
As prosperity increased around the world in recent decades, the number of people eating meat (and the amount one eats every year) has risen steadily. Between 1970 and 2002, annual per capita meat consumption in developing countries rose from 11 kilograms (24 lbs.) to 29 kilograms (64 lbs.), according to the FAO. (In developed countries, the comparable figures were 65 kilos and 80 kilos.) As population increased, total meat consumption in the developing world grew nearly five-fold over that period.
Beyond that, annual global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tons at the beginning of the decade to 465 million tons in 2050. This makes livestock the fastest growing sector of global agriculture.
Animal-rights activists and those advocating vegetarianism have been quick to pick up on the implications of the FAO report.
"Arguably the best way to reduce global warming in our lifetimes is to reduce or eliminate our consumption of animal products," writes Noam Mohr in a report for EarthSave International.
Changing one's diet can lower greenhouse gas emissions quicker than shifts away from fossil fuel burning technologies, Mr. Mohr writes, because the turnover rate for farm animals is shorter than that for cars and power plants.
"Even if cheap, zero-emission fuel sources were available today, they would take many years to build and slowly replace the massive infrastructure our economy depends upon today," he writes. "Similarly, unlike carbon dioxide which can remain in the air for more than a century, methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just eight years, so that lower methane emissions quickly translate to cooling of the earth."
Researchers at the University of Chicago compared the global warming impact of meat eaters with that of vegetarians and found that the average American diet – including all food processing steps – results in the annual production of an extra 1.5 tons of CO2-equivalent (in the form of all greenhouse gases) compared to a no-meat diet. Researchers Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin concluded that dietary changes could make more difference than trading in a standard sedan for a more efficient hybrid car, which reduces annual CO2 emissions by roughly one ton a year.
"It doesn't have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan," says Dr. Eshel, whose family raised beef cattle in Israel. "If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference."
• Staff writer Peter Spotts contributed to this report.
link:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0220/p03s01-ussc.html
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FawkesFyre Saving the World, one Kitty at a Time

Age: 46 Gender:  Joined: 28 Sep 2006 |
Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 12:28 pm Post subject: |
This may be a generality but it sums things up...and I'm not meaning to offend anyone
Scientists spend so much time (and money) pointing their finger at this thing and that spouting off about how "blah blah#1" is contributing to global warming, and "blah blah#2" is contributing to global warming....
Here's a thought, maybe you're all right and everything we do contributes somehow to it...passive attackes on the human race really isn't going to make things any better. I eat meat, and I'm sure I've probably eatten some that came from a farm that was a result of deforestation...but that doesn't make me any worse than a vegetarian, who they neglect to mention, could very well have eatten a meal at some point where the veggies came from a similar farm where the land had to be created by a similar result of deforestation.
I just wish that we could apply more science into trying to fix our problems rather that all the analysis into who or what is causing it on any given day. Making us aware only goes so far, finding a solution takes us even further. |
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Ming DOOM!

Gender:  Joined: 13 Jan 2003 |
Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 12:43 pm Post subject: |
FawkesFyre wrote: | I just wish that we could apply more science into trying to fix our problems rather that all the analysis into who or what is causing it on any given day. Making us aware only goes so far, finding a solution takes us even further. |
I've thought this to myself from time to time, and I don't think that it could have been said any better than this. Who cares what caused the problem? If global warming has become such a big issue, we should look to ways of correcting it first, then figure out how to prevent it further. |
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Graillik Tur Renaissancetaku

Gender:  Joined: 09 Jul 2004 |
Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 2:02 pm Post subject: |
I'm honestly sick of this discussion. It's people. People are the problem. We live longer, have more kids. Food is plentiful, it is easy to consume and produce. Large cities get larger and larger. Farmlands and natural spreads are cut down to make room for moe businesses and homes. Let's cut to the chase, it's people that are doing this. Not one thing we are doing, just us existing, in obscene numbers. I saw a deal yesterday that explained why immigration into the U.S. is a major factor in global warming. 3rd world countries export their people here. They begin to consume as Americans instead of how they would in 3rd world countries, causing American businesses to produce more goods, causing more pollution. It's a population problem plain and simple, cut down on the number of people, you cut down on the supply/demand chain.
So...as my college history teacher used to say "when you're out there among them, wrap that rascal."
Peace
After thought. We also know to an extent that there were millions upon millions of animals pumping methane and everthing else into the air long before man got here...so what happened? Don't blame something we do, blame us for not having the common sense to understand that only so many people can live in this country, or any other, and us still have a hope of continueing our existance on earth. |
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Akanari Owns your reality

Gender:  Joined: 29 Sep 2004 |
Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 11:11 pm Post subject: |
Soo...
I'm hearing a call for mass visectomies?
Maybe even neutering.
;]
My actual opinions on this subject are nonjudgemental, as those of you who know me know. Sure, everyone should do what they can, I'm appalled by consumption in the United States (I'd like to see our waste in comparison to Europe (per capita)), but really vegetarian is the better way to go. I haven't heard a single argument (that applies to everyone) against vegetarianism or veganism. All it is really is the lack of wish to be in that lifestyle.
Some people think, "Oh, there are enough vegetarians already, and what's my meat going to do?" Oh dear could I show you.
I'm not terribly concerned by the threat of global warming itself, but all the waste and industry. Seriously, vegetarians live off of so fewer acres than meat-eaters do. It's true, look at animals. A solitary herbivore can live in a small patch of forest its entire life. A pack of wolves covers miles and miles of territory. But that is why there are fewer wolves than herbivores.
No doubt factory farms are part of the cause. I'm tired of people demanding research and claims before we move to do something that is obviously healthier for us and the world.
And seriously...those farm bills need to change. I'm not voting for anyone unless they adjust those farming bills. "Follow the money" even applies to America's obesity.
But do what you'd like. ^^ |
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Al the DLOE Director of Unpleasent Facts Dept.

Age: 43 Gender:  Joined: 05 Dec 2006 |
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 12:31 am Post subject: |
ok...now i will wander into the mine field and submit some info.
Medieval warming period: known as the greatest period of human prosperity and farming. temps were so warm Greenland was mostly ice free and actually green. it was in this period that norse traders were free to open trade in southern europe.
considering this can you tell me that global warming is bad?
also the CO2 cycle runs on an 800 year LAG to the current temps so increased levels are from this, not human actions given the CO2 has come out of solution from the ocean, the greatest recycler of this chemical in to O2 (phytoplankton). if a liquid is warmer gases are more likely to dissolve into the fluid due to space between particles. when it then cools the gas is forced out. the ocean is now cooling on par with the end of that warming period 800 years ago. |
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Graillik Tur Renaissancetaku

Gender:  Joined: 09 Jul 2004 |
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 10:41 am Post subject: |
Obviously you've never tracked a deer or other herbivore or omnivore. They eat like mad. It takes massive amount of food to feed a herbivore and massive areas to do so. As most feed for animals is not calorie dense, they have to eat an increased amount to sustain healthy functions. And I don't know where you got a there are more herbivores than carnivores. That's not true in most cases where an ecological stance hasn't been taken. Most of the time the herbivores are less than the carnivores. Take the case of the deer and the wolves. It only takes one deer to feed a wolf pack. The pack will only eat every few days as catching food is not always easy and is scarce. They have to travel massive distances to find the food, then take the chance of eating it. The idea that herbivores out number there predators is simply just not true. It is true that there are more carnivous species on the planet, that is true.
If ya wanna get really out there and blow some peoples minds. There are Christian Scientists that have run earth model experiments and have shown that if the earth were tilted straight up and moved a certain number of miles, the earth would be surrounded by a ozone of water. Why is this important. UV radiation can't get through water, it diffuses it. Also the increased humidity all over the world causes produce to increase in size about 4 to 5 times. There's all types of theories out there.
But...I stand behind this one. If god didn't want us to eat animals...he wouldn't have made them out of meat. Meat is an important part of every diet. You need it, there are things in meat that you can't get in anything else. And taking pills is not gonna solve it. Omega-3s come in many differant forms so fennel seeds are not the same a fish. But there is a point. Do we really need to consume the level of "RED" meat that we do in America? No clue, but I like steak and will continue to eat it.
And why is it Americas problem to fix? The is a whole friggin earth full of people, why are we left holding the crap bag? Why is every other country got one hand out for a give me and another hand flipping us off? It's not our problem to fix.
Stop Immigration completely, deport the illegals, close the borders, make birth control more available and see what happens. I garuntee things will get better. Less people in the country means less consumption of goods, which means less production, which means less pollution and less clearing of land for said production or living areas. Couple this with readily available birth control and a step up on education as birth control is pretty easy to get now, but women aren't taking it and some kind of penalty for a man that fathers a child under the age of 18 or something else that makes him legally responsible so women arent left holding the bag and I"ll be happy. I know this sounds like a political rant, but it's a social rant. We all have to live here and we need to start making desicion that will make this country better instead of trying to be everyone's buddy. Germand and England don't give a flip what other countries think, they are doing fine economically and socially. Japan won't even let you stay in the country without meeting strict criteria to do so. Mexico will never let an immigrant obtain full citizanship no matter what. So it's time of a social change. Start caring about your country, not the world. Let the higher ups deal with the world, we have to clean our own house.
Ah Salam Alleccum. |
_________________ It is my firm belief that in this era of mass connectivity, the death of us all will be mass media.
Why do we insist in believing we are masters of our surroundings when we fail so miserably to master ourselves?
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Akanari Owns your reality

Gender:  Joined: 29 Sep 2004 |
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 11:58 am Post subject: |
Graillik Tur wrote: | That's not true in most cases where an ecological stance hasn't been taken. Most of the time the herbivores are less than the carnivores. |
How can there be fewer herbivores than carnivores? That is physically impossible. Predators normally hunt animals smaller than they are, and thus need to eat more of them. So, fewer carnivores can naturally exist. But if I’m wrong, give me some statistics then. And I’m sorry, when are ecological stances –not- taken? Even humans have to follow the food chain.
Graillik Tur wrote: | It takes massive amount of food to feed a[n] herbivore and massive areas to do so. |
Graillik Tur wrote: | They [wolves] have to travel massive distances to find the food, then take the chance of eating it. |
...So are you saying herbivores or carnivores take up more space? Lets say an herbivore needs one square mile a week to eat (this is just an example). Now a carnivore needs two of these herbivores a week to eat, thus he takes up two square miles. He probably needs a larger space than this because when he eats these two herbivores, he has to travel to find more, and he can’t decimate the population in an area (unlike humans). The lower on the food chain, the larger the population has to be.
I’m not sure what ecological system you’re talking about. <<
Graillik Tur wrote: | The idea that herbivores out number there predators is simply just not true. It is true that there are more carnivous species on the planet, that is true. |
…Uh, no.
Graillik Tur wrote: | If god didn't want us to eat animals...he wouldn't have made them out of meat. |
Well, God didn’t make animals, evolution did. (I say this not to be rude, but to say that the argument that God intended us to eat animals does not apply to everyone, especially if they, you know, don’t believe in a scientifically improvable entity)
Graillik Tur wrote: | Do we really need to consume the level of "RED" meat that we do in America? No clue, but I like steak and will continue to eat it. |
Exactly! The only reason you aren’t eating less red meat is because you don’t wish to. That’s your argument?
Graillik Tur wrote: | And why is it America[‘]s problem to fix? The[re] is a whole friggin earth full of people, why are we left holding the crap bag? Why is every other country got one hand out for a give me and another hand flipping us off? It's not our problem to fix. |
Uhm, since you think we’re so important, isn’t it sort of our responsibility as arguably the most powerful nation in the world to act with integrity for the environment? Also, we have money, and why wouldn’t it help? I still haven’t heard a single viable argument as to why vegetarianism is bad. NONE. We’re not going to die from a lack of Omega-3. Some people have never seen salmon in their life!
Graillik Tur wrote: | Stop Immigration completely, deport the illegals, close the borders, make birth control more available and see what happens. I garuntee[guarantee] things will get better. |
Do I get a refund on that? Are you a Native American? Weren’t your ancestors immigrants? And when we deport the illegal immigrants, who are going to pick our peaches? Who’re going to grow the corn for your cattle? Who’re going to do the jobs higher levels of society won’t do?
Graillik Tur wrote: | We all have to live here and we need to start making decision[decisions] that will make this country better instead of trying to be everyone's buddy. Germand[germany] and England don't give a flip what other countries think, they are doing fine economically and socially. |
When was America not doing fine economically and socially? They also consume less than we do (in terms of trash and housing, etc). I wish I could find this one website where you could see an estimate of how many acres you consume according to your lifestyle and diet.
And they call me extreme…
Yeah, and vegetarians are destroying the rainforests. |
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ScrumYummy bunnyhunches of scrums

Gender:  Joined: 29 Jun 2005 |
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 12:41 pm Post subject: |
There was an article I read that said meat consumption (per capita) was at an all-time high, dangerous levels even. So I can see how that would contribute to other problems as well, such as global warming.
Graillik Tur wrote: | If god didn't want us to eat animals...he wouldn't have made them out of meat. Meat is an important part of every diet. You need it, there are things in meat that you can't get in anything else. And taking pills is not gonna solve it. Omega-3s come in many differant forms so fennel seeds are not the same a fish. But there is a point. Do we really need to consume the level of "RED" meat that we do in America? No clue, but I like steak and will continue to eat it.
|
1. Okay, for one I don't think "god" should be a part of this argument (because that's a religious argument, and this is not), but since you have brought it in--humans didn't eat meat in the garden of Eden, they lived in harmony with the animals. It wasn't until Cain and Abel that humans started eating meat, and if you remember Cain became a murderer. There is a group of Christian vegans that have created The Hallelujah Diet, and use passages in the Bible for part of their reason for being vegan.
If you compare the biology of humans to that of carnivores, and then to herbivores, you will find that "god" designed us to be herbivores. At best, we are mildly omnivorous because we force ourselves to be.
Here is an article that backs up my point:
Quote: |
[Mayapada Prana] Are You Human? Stop Eating Meat!
Eduard de Grave
Fri, 20 Oct 2006 04:25:54 -0700
"You can't tear flesh by hand, you can't tear hide by hand. Our anterior teeth are not suited for tearing flesh or hide. We don't have large canine teeth, and we wouldn't have been able to deal with food sources that required those large canines."
--Renowned anthropologist, Dr.Richard Leakey (Neal Barnard, The Power Of Your Plate, Book Publishing Company: Summertown, Tenn., 1990, p.170)
According to biologists and anthropologists who study our anatomy and our evolutionary history, humans are herbivores who are not well suited to eating meat.
Unlike natural carnivores, we are physically and psychologically unable to rip animals limb from limb and eat and digest their raw flesh. Even cooked meat is likely to cause human beings, but not natural carnivores, to suffer from food poisoning, heart disease, and other ailments.
People who pride themselves on being part of the human hunter tradition should take a second look at the story of human evolution. Prehistoric evidence indicates that humans developed hunting skills relatively recently and that most of our short, meat-eating past was spent scavenging and eating almost anything in order to survive; even then, meat was a tiny part of our caloric intake.
Humans lack both the physical characteristics of carnivores and the instinct that drives them to kill animals and devour their raw carcasses. Ask yourself: When you see dead animals on the side of the road, are you tempted to stop for a snack? Does the sight of a dead bird make you salivate? Do you daydream about killing cows with your bare hands and eating them raw? If you answered "no" to all of these questions, congratulations—you're a normal human herbivore—like it or not. Humans were simply not designed to eat meat.
Although many modern humans eat a wide variety of plant and animal foods, earning us the honorary title of "omnivore," we are anatomically herbivorous. Biologists have established that animals who share physical characteristics also share a common diet. Comparing the anatomy of carnivores with our own clearly illustrates that we were not designed to eat meat.
Teeth and Nails
"Although we think we are one, and we act as if we are one, human beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings, who are natural herbivores."
--William C.Roberts, M.D., editor, American Journal of Cardiology (Fact And Ideas From Anywhere, Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, Oct.1999)
Although many modern humans eat a wide variety of plant and animal foods, earning us the honorary title of "omnivore," we are anatomically herbivorous. Biologists have established that animals who share physical characteristics also share a common diet. Comparing the anatomy of carnivores with our own clearly illustrates that we were not designed to eat meat.
To contrast human physiology with that of carnivores, start at the beginning of the digestive tract. Teeth, nails, and jaw structure indicate that nature intended for people to eat a plant-based diet. They have much shorter and softer fingernails than animals and pathetically small "canine" teeth (they're canine in name only). In contrast, carnivores all have sharp claws and large canine teeth capable of tearing flesh.
The jaws of carnivores move only up and down, requiring them to tear chunks of flesh from their prey and swallow it whole. Humans and other herbivores can move their jaws up and down and from side to side, a movement that allows them to grind up fruit and vegetables with their back teeth. Like other herbivores, human back molars are flat and allow the grinding of fibrous plant foods. Carnivores lack these flat molars. If humans had been meant to eat meat, they would have the sharp teeth and claws of carnivores. Instead, their jaw structure, flat molars, and lack of claws indicate that they are best suited for a plant-based diet.
Dr. Richard Leakey, a renowned anthropologist, summarizes, "You can't tear flesh by hand, you can't tear hide by hand. Our anterior teeth are not suited for tearing flesh or hide. We don't have large canine teeth, and we wouldn't have been able to deal with food sources that require those large canines."
Stomach Acidity
After using their sharp claws and teeth to capture and kill their prey, carnivores swallow their food whole, relying on their extremely acidic stomach juices to do most of the digestive work. The stomach acid of carnivores actually plays a dual role-besides breaking down flesh, the acid also kills the dangerous bacteria that would otherwise sicken or kill the meat-eater.
As illustrated in the chart below, our stomach acids are much weaker in comparison because strong acids aren't needed to digest pre-chewed fruits and vegetables. In comparing the stomach acidity of carnivores and herbivores, it is obvious that humans fall into the latter category. We can cook meat to kill some of the bacteria and make it easier to chew, but it's clear that humans, unlike all natural carnivores, are not designed to easily digest meat.
Intestinal Length
Evidence of our herbivorous nature is also found in the length of our intestines. Carnivores have short intestinal tracts and colons that allow meat to pass through it relatively quickly, before it has a chance to rot and cause illness. Humans, on the other hand, have intestinal tracts that are much longer than carnivores of comparable size. Like other herbivores, longer intestines allow the body more time to break down fiber and absorb the nutrients from a plant-based diet.
The long human intestinal tract actually makes it dangerous for people to eat meat. The bacteria in meat have extra time to multiply during the long trip through the digestive system, and meat actually begins to rot while it makes its way through the intestines. Many studies have also shown that meat can cause colon cancer in humans.
Comparing our anatomies clearly illustrates the fact that the human body is built to run on a vegetarian diet. Humans have absolutely none of the distinguishing anatomical characteristics that either carnivores or even natural omnivores have. Read author John Robbins' discussion of the anatomical differences between humans and carnivores.
Here is a chart from "The Comparative Anatomy of Eating" by Dr. Milton Mills that compares the typical anatomical features of carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, and humans. Notice how closely human physical characteristics match those of herbivores. Review Dr. Mills' entire article on the topic.
Meat: Delicious or Disgusting?
"In the next ten years, one of the things you're bound to hear is that animal protein...is one of the most toxic nutrients of all that can be considered."
--Dr.T.Colin Campbell, director of the Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health, and the Environment.
While carnivores take pleasure in killing animals and eating their raw flesh, any human who killed an animal with his or her bare hands and dug into the raw corpse would be considered deranged. Carnivorous animals are aroused by the scent of blood and the thrill of the chase. Most humans, on the other hand, are revolted by the sight of raw flesh and cannot tolerate hearing the screams of animals being ripped apart and killed. The bloody reality of eating animals is innately repulsive to us, more proof that we were not designed to eat meat.
Ask yourself: When you see dead animals on the side of the road, are you tempted to stop for a snack? Does the sight of a dead bird make you salivate?
Do you daydream about killing cows with your bare hands and eating them raw? If you answered "no" to all of these questions, congratulations—you're a normal human herbivore—like it or not. Humans were simply not designed to eat meat. Humans lack both the physical characteristics of carnivores and the instinct that drives them to kill animals and devour their raw carcasses.
If we were meant to eat meat, why is it killing us?
In addition to being anatomically ill equipped to digest meat in the short-term, the long-term damage that a meat-based diet wreaks on the human body confirms that we were not meant to eat flesh. Natural carnivores never suffer from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, strokes, or obesity, ailments that are caused in humans by the consumption of the saturated fat and cholesterol in meat.
Dr. William C. Roberts, M.D., editor of the authoritative American Journal of Cardiology, sums it up this way: "[A]lthough we think we are one and we act as if we are one, human beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings, who are natural herbivores."
Studies have shown that even when fed 200 times the amount of animal fat and cholesterol that the average human consumes each day, carnivores do not develop the hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes in humans. Indeed, researchers have found that it is impossible for carnivores to develop hardening of the arteries, no matter how much animal fat they consume.
Carnivores are capable of metabolizing all the fat and cholesterol in meat, but humans are a different story: Our bodies were not designed to process animal flesh, so all the excess fat and cholesterol from a meat-based diet makes us sick. Heart disease, for example, is the number one cause of death in America according to the American Heart Association, and medical experts agree that this ailment is the result of the consumption of animal products. In fact, meat-eaters have a 50 percent higher risk of developing heart disease than vegetarians, and a low-fat, completely vegetarian diet has been repeatedly used to unclog the arteries of heart disease patients—it not only prevents but also treats the disease!
In addition to pointing out the damage done by saturated fat and cholesterol, scientists have also shown that eating animal protein can be harmful to human health. We consume twice as much protein as we need when we eat a meat-based diet, and this leads to osteoporosis and kidney stones. Animal protein raises the acid level in human blood, causing calcium to be excreted from the bones to restore the blood's natural pH balance. This calcium depletion leads to osteoporosis, and the excreted calcium ends up in the kidneys, where it can form kidney stones. The strain of processing all the excess animal protein from meat can also trigger kidney disease in meat-eaters.
The consumption of animal protein has also been linked to cancer of the colon, breast, prostate, and pancreas. In fact, according to Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the director of the Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health, and the Environment, "In the next ten years, one of the things you're bound to hear is that animal protein … is one of the most toxic nutrients of all that can be considered."
Eating meat can also have negative consequences for stamina and sexual potency. One Danish study indicated that "Men peddling on a stationary bicycle until muscle failure lasted an average of 114 minutes on a mixed meat and vegetable diet, 57 minutes on a high-meat diet, and a whopping 167 minutes on a strict vegetarian diet." Besides having increased physical endurance, vegans are also less likely to suffer from impotence.
Since we don't have strong stomach acids like carnivores to kill all the bacteria in meat, dining on animal flesh can also give us food poisoning. In fact, according to the USDA, meat is the cause of 70 percent of foodborne illnesses in the United States because it's often contaminated with dangerous bacteria like E. coli, listeria, and campylobacter. Every year in the United States alone, food poisoning sickens over 75 million people and kills more than 5,000. While carnivores can process all the saturated fat, protein, and bacteria in animal flesh, a meat-based diet can send humans to an early grave. Clearly, people were not intended to eat meat. |
2. YOU DON'T HAVE TO EAT MEAT. There are not "things" in meat that you cannot get elsewhere--trust me, I have done research on this, and am a very healthy vegetarian because of it. It is my honest opinion that our bodies work best on a vegetarian diet, and there are plenty of scientists and nutritionists that will tell you the same thing.
3. (disclaimer) I don't have a problem with other people eating meat. I don't think that eating a steak once in again is going to kill you. But I think people need to cut back on their meat consumption; you most certainly do not need it for every meal of the day. |
_________________ -Scrum-
..it borked. :D |
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Wins 23 - Losses 22 Level 7 |
EXP: 2313 HP: 2241
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STR: 779 END: 731 ACC: 795 AGI: 795
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Totem Doll (Sword) (320 - 360) |
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Akanari Owns your reality

Gender:  Joined: 29 Sep 2004 |
Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 1:33 pm Post subject: |
Just to reiterate, I wuv you Scrumyummy :] |
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Our freedom is consuming itself,
What we will become is contrary to what we want
Take a bow. |
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Wins 46 - Losses 45 Level 10 |
EXP: 5098 HP: 2225
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STR: 775 END: 725 ACC: 925 AGI: 975
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Crown of Thorns (Partisan) (305 - 465) |
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