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Originally Posted by SecretMethod70
The UN is off-base here. Nothing wrong with people choosing to be vegan or vegetarian, but it's simply not in our genes.
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Taking antibiotics and using electricity and indoor plumbing aren't in our genes either, but I think there are few who would give these up.
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Rather than focus on extremes, the UN should be working to drastically reduce global consumption of meat and dairy. It'd be a lot more successful. A lot of people could be convinced to put less focus on meat, but telling people they shouldn't do something at all is a quick way to be ignored. Limiting meat eating to weekends, like Manic_Skafe has done, is perfectly reasonable if it became embedded into our culture.
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This is a public relations/awareness issue. I agree that the tack should be more about reducing one's dependency on animal products of all kinds.
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We're not carnivores, but we are omnivores. Meat is a natural and essential part of our diet.
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About 2% of the American population would prove otherwise. "Natural," maybe, but essential? I don't think it is.
We are omnivores, which means that plant matter and animal products are a part of our diet. We're designed to digest both, but this doesn't mean we require meat. A
requirement of meat makes a species an "obligate carnivore." Cats, for example, fit into this description. Even dogs are considered omnivores. Consider bears as well.
There are many carnivores that have diets consisting of 50% or more that is meat intake. Animals like this
require meat. Humans do not.
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It's also not naturally a very large part of our diet, but it has its place. Telling people to avoid meat altogether will be about as successful as promoting abstinence education: some people will comply and most will ignore.
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Many cultures look at meat as a "condiment" or "supplement." These same cultures tend to have far fewer problems with obesity, heart disease, and certain cancers. Yes, there is a correlation: they eat less/little (or no) meat (and often little/no animal products in general), which means they eat more plants --- this kind of balance tends to ward against these health problems.