I was surfing the internet tonight when I came across a picture. It was merely an outline of a pig filled with one color for the “tasty parts” and another color for the “untasty parts”. The entire picture was the color of the “tasty parts”, implying that there are no parts of a pig that aren't tasty. I had a little chuckle and got ready to move on when I noticed there were 86 comments on the picture. This piqued my interest and I had a gut feeling that it would soon be a noob war between those who eat meat and those who don't.
The first comments started out simple and innocent. But the 8th comment really opened up the floodgates. My assumption was correct as I continued to read. I only made it about a third of the way through the comments before I had enough. What started as a crappy debate about weather or not the human body was designed to eat meat quickly degraded to insulting the previous posters, vegans, meat eaters, etc. This got me thinking about how people have a tendency to spout things without actually doing a bit of research first.
The main argument between the commentators seemed to be what the proper diet was for human beings. There were those who argued that meat did nothing good for the body and we should only eat vegetables. There were others claiming that only meat was good for the body and we shouldn't even bother with vegetables (except as seasoning for the meat). However, the most well formed thoughts were those talking about how human beings are omnivores (eat plants and meat). I tend to agree with the view of humans being omnivores, as scientists have pretty much proven that point. But, I will take a look at both sides of the picture and try to argue both as fairly as I possibly can.
First, we'll start with the vegetarians. There are many reasons why people become vegetarians. Some people don't like the taste of meat and prefer not to eat it, others have some kind of condition which is aggravated or accelerated when they eat meat, but the largest group by far are those who are attempting to “save” the animals. Unlike the first two groups, the third group is driven by an ideology. For the sake of this article, we'll be looking only at the third group.
There are essentially two main arguments that vegans use to stop us from eating meat. The first is arguing that the human digestive system isn't designed to handle meat and that meat in general does nothing but deteriorate our health. Their other argument is that we shouldn't be killing the innocent animals. To counter the first argument, one merely has to take a glance at a biology textbook to find the answer. Human beings are omnivores. This means our digestive system is designed to process both plants and meat from start to finish.
If you were to compare the teeth of a human to those of a wolf and a cow, we can see how very different all three are. Almost all the teeth in a wolf's mouth are sharp and pointy. These type of teeth are designed to rip apart flesh for consumption. We know this because a wolf's diet consists almost entirely of meat. On the other side, when we look at a cow's teeth, we see large, smooth, flat teeth. These are designed to grind up plant matter between them, much like the mortar and pastel used by Native Americans to grind up plants. We know this because a cow's diet consists of plants. Now let's take a look at a human's teeth. Towards the front, we have teeth that are similar to those of a carnivore. These teeth are designed to rip apart meat. Towards the back of the mouth, they start to flatten out. The back teeth are designed for grinding plants before they're swallowed.
The next argument is that meat isn't healthy for us. This is not true. Meat provides us with essential vitamins and proteins that can't be found in plants. Granted, meat does have a bad side to it, but the nutrients from the plants counter it nicely.
Our last argument is that eating meat simply fuels the killing of innocent animals. These animals will be eaten weather it be by humans, bears, wolves, etc. Not eating the meat will not stop people from raising cows, pigs, etc. Not only can you get meat and milk from a cow, but you also get leather, key medicinal ingredients, etc. In fact, 98% of the cow is used in one way or another.
What these people don't seem to realize is that plants are, in fact, living creatures too. Granted it's not in a manner like animals, but plants do have fluid circulation systems, need nutrients, live, and die. To make the argument that you don't eat meat because you don't like killing is just silly. If that's the case, you'd better just drink your bottled water, because you can't eat anything without killing it. On second thought, you shouldn't even be drinking water. You're killing off organisms that are living in it.
The biggest problem I have with the Meat vs. Plants argument is that people are always trying to force other people to accept their views. Personally, I don't care what you eat and why you eat it. It's your personal preference and I'm not going to tell you it's bad or force you to follow my view, because everybody has a different view. My philosophy is that I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone. I eat both meat and plants because it is the most balanced diet to keep me healthy. Not only that, but I find meat to be a quite tasty part of my meal. Why should I deny myself health benefits and the simple pleasure of how meat tastes to satisfy those who think I'm wrong?
