Monbiot on vegans and meat

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Mon Dec 23 18:55:49 PST 2002


Ian Murray wrote:
>
> Why vegans were right all along
>
> Famine can only be avoided if the rich give up meat, fish and dairy
>
> George Monbiot
> Tuesday December 24, 2002
> The Guardian
>
> The Christians stole the winter solstice from the pagans, and capitalism
> stole it from the Christians. But one feature of the celebrations has
> remained unchanged: the consumption of vast quantities of meat.

This is the point at which I've always stopped reading Vegetarian texts -- when they contrast vegetarianism with the eating of "vast quantities" of meat. That's an either/or in which I have no interest. A vast part of the earth is fit only for growing grass. Human stomachs can't extract protein from grass.

As I've said before, grain should not be grown on the Great Plains. That means a radical reduction in the quantity of meat -- but it also means that _some_ meat becomes a vital part of a human diet that is ecologically sound.

Carrol



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