Humans Are Biologically Herbivores?

Anna Lappé’s book, Diet for a Hot Planet, discusses the impact that meat consumption has on the planet and our environment. It discusses how the global food system is a major contributor to climate change, producing as much as one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. She writes about how the way we farm, what we eat, and how our food gets to our tables all

According to The Middle East Journal of Family Medicine, “many researchers have reported a direct relationship between a vegetarian diet and the prevention of and curing several illnesses, such as: hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart

The reduction of the amount of saturated fats from one’s diet improves health greatly for cardiovascular health. According to nursingdegree.com, ”Eating nuts and whole grains, while eliminating dairy products and meat, will improve… cardiovascular health.” When eliminating food that comes from animals doing so eliminates all dietary cholesterol from one’s diet. Vegan diets go to extreme lengths to prevent heart attack and stroke. Plant-based foods are high in fiber and according to nursingdegree.net, “A diet high in fiber…leads to healthier bowel movements.” While obtaining nutrition from vegan diets also prevent disease at the same time. For example, it is stated in nursingdegree.com,” Eating a diet consisting of whole grains, along with fresh fruits and vegetables, can greatly reduce…chances of colon cancer.”

It doesn’t make sense to eat meat when there is no need to do so. Humans can live long, happy, and healthy lives on an all plant-based food diet. Sense this is correct, there is no need to continue to put these animals in pain that is no longer necessary for our survival. The treatment of these animals is inhumane and brutal. This treatment is equivalent to a person beating up your dog and killing it because they think it is fun. The only plausible reason humans eat meat is merely for the taste of it. Who doesn’t like a nice juicy steak, but if you were to really know about what it took for that piece of meat to reach your dinner table and truly understand the pain and suffering, then you would never order that piece of steak again.

While all of us relatively understand how driving cars, leaving the lights on, or using too much water can affect the environment, there is one massive human activity that is frequently overlooked—eating. From growing, to processing, to distributing, and finally consuming, our agricultural system uses an immense portion of our planet’s limited resources and emits large amounts of greenhouse gases that have drastic effects on the environment. Because of this, it is imperative to understand the environmental impacts of the type of foods that we choose to include in our diets. While much of today’s population is heavily reliant on animal products, it is evident that a meat-based diet is not environmentally sustainable; on the other hand, a plant-based diet is much more environmentally friendly in terms of the amount of grain, water, and

Chicken, lamb, turkey, milk, pork, eggs, fish, etc., all contribute to the environmental problems facing the planet. The fossil-fuel energy consumption to protein output for these livestock are as follows: chicken has a 4:1 ration, lamb 50:1, turkey 13:1, milk protein 14:1, pork 17:1, and eggs at a 26:1 ratio. This averages out to almost eight-times more “fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein” (Pimentel). In addition, each animal has its own benefits and downfalls. Pigs propose a lower carbon footprint but if raised in ideal free-range environments they can pollute the soil with nitrogen (Goffman 5). Chickens pose the threat of spreading bacteria through rivers and streams and spurring algal growth which create “dead zones”,

Humans are known to be omnivores and meat provides several essential nutrients that plants can not give us. Meat is primarily a source of omega -3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, protein and iron (Verma and Banerjee 2010). Livestock sector is one of the fastest growing agricultural subsector globally, employing 1.3 billion individuals and supporting around 600 million poor smallholder farmers in the developing world (Thornton et al. 2002). Livestock provide us food such as meat to maintain the health of the human body (Nestle 1999). With population growth, urbanization, economic growth, and flourishing markets, an increase in global demand for conventional meat product arose (Fiala 2008). The focus of this paper is to provide in

Although the US regulates many aspects of animal butchery, citizens are still occasionally kept in the dark about where their meat is coming from, and sometimes that meat can even be given to them under the guise of “cruelty-free.” Unfortunately, the average person is not as aware of this as they should be. If someone does not do something to change the way animals are butchered, it is going to progressively get worse. Humans are animals too, and all animals can feel pain and have their own thoughts. If it is not right for humans to go through avoidable suffering, then how come the avoidable suffering of other animal species just to produce meat is so easily

The cattle industry produces vast amounts of strain in the environment. It is energy inefficient, pollutes water, occupies many acres of land, and deteriorates the health of the people who abuse its consumption. The government subsidizes this industry. Therefore, the price paid for meat doesn’t reflect the environmental hazards involved in the process. In order to protect our health and the health of the environment we should pay close attention to our food choices and make sure we don’t support industries that degrade it.

“For most humans, especially for those in modern urban and suburban communities, the most direct form or contact with non-human animals is at meal time: we eat them. This simple fact is the key to what each one of us can do about changing these attitudes. The use and abuse of animals raised for food far exceeds, in sheer numbers of animals affected, any other kind of mistreatment” (Coats). The most effective method to stop this cruelty is to learn about where the meat comes from, by supporting the organic and family farms which will ultimately lead to the reducing the amount of animals that have to suffer (PETA). More than 95 percent of animal abuse in America occurs in the meat packing industry (Harper & Low). Animals suffer an unimaginable amount, they are raised to be killed, then bought and then consumed. In order to help fight back against the abuse, there needs to be a cut back on the amount of meat or poultry that is consumed. Seriously consider the option of becoming a vegetarian; by not eating meat, you completely stop supporting animal

Global meat production rose to a new peak of 308.5 million tons in 2013, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a more than fourfold increase over the last five decades. Even more startlingly, meat production has grown 25-fold since 1800 (Horrigan, Lawerence &Walker, 2002). Globally, agriculture utilizes nearly 70 per cent of the world 's available freshwater. One-third of that percentage is used to grow grains to feed to livestock (ECOS, 2014). While the global meat industry provides food and a livelihood for billions of people, it also has significant environmental and health consequences for the planet. Over half of the water used in meat production

     It also needs to be pointed out that meat production industry is highly unfriendly to the environment. It has been proved that the results of this mindless actions are extremely harmful to the whole planet: trees are lost in creating farms for animal food, land is taken away from wildlife, additional erosion is caused, topsoil is lost, groundwater is wasted, and pesticide is excessively used. In fact, one chicken farm uses as much water as a little city. Few may know that this industry, compared to others, causes the biggest pollution at all.

Some individuals may have chosen to be Vegetarian for health purposes, or out of respect for animals. The health benefits of not eating meat may reduce the risk of a Heart Attack, Cancer, and Type 2 Diabetes. Meat contains saturated fat. Consuming excessive amounts of meat may cause clogged arteries. Clogged arteries force your heart to beat faster, in order to pump blood through the arteries, resulting in high blood pressure. Compounds broken down in meat produce fatty build up causing clogged arteries, and in some cases resulting in a heart attack. Preservatives, such as nitrate, are used to prevent bacteria in processed meat, and are known to cause cancer. Red meat is high in iron and may diminish insulin’s effectiveness of converting sugar into energy causing diabetes.

Currently there are 7 billion mouths to feed worldwide, and that number will only increase to 9 billion by 2050. As a result, the demand for meat is expected to grow by more than two-thirds, which means we will need to produce 70% more meat on the same amount of land currently being cultivated and harvested for food production. 26% of Earth’s ice-free surface alone is used just for grazing livestock.

Having a healthy dietary method can reduce the chances of receiving many health diseases. These health diseases include obesity, heart disease, and cancer. By consuming certain foods and nutrients in one’s diet the risk factors for these health diseases can be reduced. A healthy dietary method that is beneficial to reducing and/or improving these health diseases is the vegetarian diet. The vegetarian diet follows a dietary pattern that is characterized by the consumption of plant-like foods and the avoidance of flesh foods (meat, poultry, and fish). The foods in this diet provide the body with many essential nutrients. This is why many health benefits have been associated with the vegetarian