23 replies to this topic

[EatShitAndCry]

EatShitAndCry, on 05 October 2011 - 05:56 PM, said:

I'm in the process of becoming vegetarian. Don't buy this bs.

STILL GOING STRONG, MOTHERFUCKERS

[Man]

Of course vegetarianism is not the ultimate answer to life, universe and everything. A vegetarian diet still damages environment. Human life in general is not good for the environment. Living in total harmony with nature is not possible (supposing that we don't want to drastically reduce the world population and dissolve all the cities around the world). So, in my opinion, we should reduce the damage we do.
It is not possible to cover our requirements for meat without deforestation and factory farming. Just imagine the idea to supply e.g. new york with meat by raising in animals on meadows around the city. It's ludicrous. I think we all agree that factory farming is not what we want. So we have to lower our requirements.
The reason why vegetarianism is more sustainable than eating meat (talking about the average meat consumption) and less sustainable than veganism is a question of calculation. You need about ten times more food if you feed plants to animals and eat the animals. That would not be a problem if it was about grass, but we eat to much meat for feeding all the animals with grass. Lots soy an grain are imported from third world countries. It sounds paradox, but this means that you eat more plants if you eat meat.
I think that reducing meat consumption is necessary if we want to decentralize food production. And the best way to reduce our meat consumption is going vegetarian.

Edited by Man, 07 April 2012 - 09:07 AM.

[All Dead]

[pax]

Floyd, on 05 October 2011 - 06:15 PM, said:

Well, the part about animals being able to eat things people can't and being grown on land unsuitable for growing crops is true. Our cows eat nothing but grass, and whatever else grows that they can stomach. The land is rough and full of rocks, and has had most of it's nutrients farmed out of it in the 30s when it was cotton fields. All of that makes it completely unsuitable for growing crops. There is also insufficient water for most crops, and the overall land size really isn't big enough for any large-scale production. It is excellent pasture land for cows to graze on, though.

you mention an important point: not every place on earth consists of the same land. in some areas living without meat is rather easy, in others it might be extremely hard. decentralization is probably best for the environment, but this also means that people in different areas have to live on different kinds of food. i probably would not have a problem in living without meat, since grounds here are really nutrientous. but in other areas, like floyd's, this isn't the case.