While I agree with you totally regarding 'torture' of animals I think you're being a bit naive in your desires. Please don't take that as an insult. To explain.
We used to have:
Mom and pop hardware stores now we've got Home Depot.
Mom and pop clothing stores or even a Woolworths, now we've got Walmart and super malls with 500 clothing stores.
Mom and pop car dealerships, now we've got Autonation that owns all over the USA.
I could go on but I think you get my point. Demand ie population decrees we have huge places where 1000s of animals die a horrible death daily.
Your first point , acquire from small more humane farms.
A small farm these days cannot keep up and most aren't profitable enough to support a family with kids who want to go to college.
No offense taken whatsoever. I understand completely. I used to hold the same opinon, and to some degree, still do as I am a realist. However....
There is no doubt that an increased population needs more to sustain but the real reason for the rise of factory farming is the pursuit of the lowest possible price for product, be it food or hardware or anything else. In the case of farm animals, the leads directly to increasing the cruelty to animals since treating them with compassion simply takes a bit more time and a bit more effort, both of which lower (but DO NOT eliminate profit).
Family farms have been greatly reduced because they have a tough time competeing with the ultra-low pricing of the factory farms. They do take more time and effort to care for the animals and therefore their product does cost more. I believe that many of us might be willing to pay a slight increase if it helped eliminate the cruelty that animals currently endure everyday.
Though difficult, there are obviously smaller farms that make it. If we want more of them, we need to support them and not factory farms. If we do not support them, there will be fewer and fewer and the factory farms will continue to grow and the situation for the animals, our health and the environment will almost certainly get worse. I honestly don't think that anyone wants any of that.
Oh, and I do not believe that, even in choosing to eat meat, that the animals MUST die a HORRIBLE death. That is certainly simply a matter of our choosing. If we choose to do so, the animals could easily have a more humane life and passing.
Second point, reduce consumption of meat. Mmmm ok but what are you gonna replace my beloved burger with, Tofu ?
uke: I'm one of the people they believes you need red meat to live a healthy long life. Don't think you can grow good muscle on greens alone.
lol Well, I'm not a big fan of tofu either. Never cared for it much, but I will say I have learned of some versions that are quite tasty. I have also learned of many mock meats that are tasty in and of themselves and even a few that do actually taste just like the real thing. What's interesting to note, is that many vegan meals will not even raise the red flag to meat eaters until they are informed that the meal was vegan. All that said, I will not say that the adjustment away from meat is easy. But I will also say that it is not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. In my own case, going vegetarian was quite easy and made it much easier to go vegan later on. IMHO, simply reducing meat consumption is a win/win/win: Good for your health, good for the animals, good for the environment AND you don't even have to give anything up in terms of food choices, simply leave meat of the plate at some regular interval - One a day, twice a day, one day a week, two days week, one week a month, whatever works for the individual. Every little bit makes a difference.
As far as red meat being required for good health, I propose that this is simply not the case. It CAN be consumed and it DOES have certain health benefits BUT it also is widely credited with being one the major sources of health issues, particularly here in the US. This is a point on which the medical community is largely united, not simply my opinion.
As far as not growing muscle on greens, that's simply not correct. There are many top level athletes that are vegetarian or vegan and all the necessary components for good health can be found in vegetarian and vegan diets. I once believed that protein virtually impossible to derive from plant based foods...WOW was I wrong. Turn out that the protein is pretty much a non-issue. For the most part, a plant based diet with a simple multi-vitamin, which most docs recommend to us regardless of our diet, covers you in full. Might need a bit more sunlight to get your Vitamin D, but that also applies to the population in general, though not eating meat removes the only real dietary source, insufficient though it may be.
Vegetarian/Vegan athletes:
List Of Vegan Athletes
- Famous Vegetarian and Vegan Bodybuilders, Athletes, Sportmen and Sportwomen[/url]
Jake Shields, Champion MMA fighter - Vegetarian
- Vegan Athletes: UFC, GSP vs Shields, Fighters, Frank Mir, Football, Boxer Mike Tyson (Go Vegetarian)[/url]
He has a fight against another champion title holder this weekend - GSP vs Jake Shields. Should be a great match!
Anthony Gonzalez, Pro Bowl NFL Tight End
A good article that includes content on Anthony Gonzalez, one of THE PREMIER tight ends in the NFL for over a decade, and his move to a vegan diet while STILL dominating in the NFL:
Keri: Athletes who choose a vegetarian diet - ESPN Page 2
Third point , eliminate meat consumption totally. Never happen!
From the first time man got hungry he ate meat I'm sure of it. Same as we ate grass and roots I'm sure we were eating red bloody fresh meat. And then when some guy accidentally dropped a piece of meat into a fire well then the rest is history and now it's Forty Billion served
We are a carnivorous species and the consumption of meat is ingrained in our DNA.
As a point of fact, we are OMNIvorous, not carnivorous. I imagine you're correct that we've been eating meat from the moment we figured out that we could and it wouldn't kill us. Immediately, anyway. And there is no question that it appeals to our tastes, at least since most of us are conditioned to it from near birth. However, because we can eat it doesn't mean it's ideal. In fact, it is widely accepted that our biology, such as our teeth (grinders), digestive tract (long and suited to plant digestion), etc, is much more suited to plant foods rather than meat foods.
Like most of us, I was raised and have lived my entire life with certain precepts regarding health, food and nutrition but over the last 18 months I have, quite resistantly, learned that a lot of what I thought I knew was simply not correct. Learning of the animals plight in all of this provided me with the motivation to learn even more and, well, here I am. Hopefully, I providing others with an opportunity to learn and understand as I did so that we can all make our choices based on the facts instead of assumptions and marketing provided by those whose only concern is to fill their pockets at our expense.
