Would you become a Veggie to save the planet

Quite a debate has been going on in the media this week regarding carbon emissions and it has been suggested that we should either become vegetarians or at the very least drastically reduce our meat consumption.

Let’s face it

1. Meat production produces far more carbon than obtaining the same amount of protein from plants.
2. Meat production uses far more water.
3. Animals such as cows and sheep produce large amounts of methane (in the case of cows not from their backsides as you might expect but from rumination), which is an even more dangerous greenhouse gas than CO2.
   
4. Factory farming produces huge amount of faecal pollutants that find their way into our water supplies, water table, etc.
5. Production of meat on the scale we consume it today is unbelievably cruel to the animals involved.(don't believe me check it out for yourself).
6. Eating meat is not good for your health. Yes, I know people will argue we are carnivores but the truth is at best our ancestors were more like carrion animals, perhaps finding the odd animal killed by something else. There is no way that our early ancestors hunted down and killed mammoths as depicted in popular illustrations, they would have been far too big. Even as late as the 16th Century, North American Indians weren’t that good at hunting buffalo.

So would you become veggie to save the planet?

Only if someone else were doing the cooking and meal planning. For far too long I've visualized the main course being some sort of flesh. Sort of gross when you think about it.

I'm starting to lean towards the Meat is Murder camp...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzNSAU2qM64&feature=related

Meat is Murder

It is said that a pig has the IQ equivalent to a 3 year old human child. As Cameron Diaz said, "that's like eating my niece".

This is chock full of assumptions, the first of which is the one cessation of animal food consumption would "save the planet." The current paradigm which has been in place since WWII is to use agricultural products as animal feed. However, there are vast tracts of land that are not arable, yet are productive for grazers. Cattle and sheep were grass fed, and still are in many parts of the world.

BTS

The problems are not caused by humans eating meat.  They are caused by the number of humans eating meat, and anything else for that matter.

Rice production and composting both create methane too, as does hydroelectric power production.

If you want to 'save' the planet (which will be here long after our extinction) stop breeding to 'fill the earth'.

assumptions .... cessation of animal food consumption would "save the planet."

I totally agree - the situation is far more complex than that. But with an ever growing world population and ever increasing carbon emmissions, we probably shouldn't be sitting back and doing nothing. Hence, I title the topic as a question not an instruction.

No I wouldn't. Because of my health issues I asked both my doctor and dietician if I should give up meat entirely. The response was to consume lean meat, less red meat, and control portions. They told me not to give it up entirely.

W

Rice production and composting both create methane too, as does hydroelectric power production.

What is interesting with this though is that modern 'bio-digestors' can be configured to create natural gas that can be out straight into the gas supply. It is a bit trickier to do that with cows and sheep!

But I do agree that over-population is a huge issue.

Finally Free

The response was to consume lean meat

I suggest that you read a book called the China Study. It argues that there are absolutely no health benefits to eating meat over eating a plant based diet. Of the so-called 'essential' elements of our diets, that is amino acids and protiens that we as humans cannot produce in our own bodies, only vitamin B12 is problematic and this can be obtained from dairy or yeast based products.

If you want to 'save' the planet (which will be here long after our extinction) stop breeding to 'fill the earth'.

I agree, but decreased breeding could wreak havoc with our pensions if we don't have a large, young workforce paying into it while we're retired. I can't believe for a minute that the government has wisely invested our pension contributions and that the money is just sitting there waiting for us to collect it.

W

Bacon tastes gooood. Pork chops taste gooood.

So would you become veggie to save the planet?

Nope.

I wouldn't become a vegetarian to save MYSELF, much less the planet.

leavingwt

Nope.

I suggest that you change your avatar then - Paul McCartney is perhaps the best know veggie on the planet. lol

I suggest that you change your avatar then - Paul McCartney is perhaps the best know veggie on the planet. lol

Nobody's perfect.

I think that they are doing a number on us.  It's another scare/guilt fad to add to the other bad things that we are supposed to have done.  Save the world, save the planet is a phrase that has been planted among us by the media.  For instance, it was the mantra in the heroes series and others.  Once the idea that the planet or world is at risk is popularly accepted into the subconscious, whoever has the loudest voice can use many different supposed threats to activate the anchored idea of saving the planet or world.  I don't know if this kind of stuff is planned, but it seems to be happening.

S

I read "Diet for a new America" and was moved to become vegetarian but my physical desires got the best of me when I went to grandmas and she cooked meat at every meal. I eventually cracked and now I'm a meat eater again, but I eat much less meat and I certainly do not consume it daily.

I also try to purchase humanely raised meats, though hard core vegetarians see it as bad either way.

I think Being vegetarian is a very good thing but it's also important not to be  overly hard on yourself. People tend to fiddle with their diets when their lives are out of order. It's important to annalyze yourself and make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and not pushing your view as "right" upon everyone else. That's just what witnesses do and we can't stand it!

~fmy

I read "Diet for a new America"

I was thinking of reading this myself. John Robbins seems an interesting guy - the heir to the Baskin Robbins chain who has turned his back on big business.

I am too entrenched in eating meat.  I do eat less red meat and more pork, lamb, and fish for my health.

My wife and daughter are almost total vegitarians.  My two sons are meat eaters all the way. 

So 40% of my family will help save the planet by what they eat.

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                                                                                    ................ ...OUTLAW