[lbo-talk] vegetarianism: an eating disorder

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Mon Apr 6 09:25:43 PDT 2009


I never read threads aguing the morality/immorality or propriety/impropriety or healthfulness/nuhealthfullness of vegetarianism or any other eating habit. But there is one important set of facts which, though having no bearing on individual choice of diet bear strongly against vegetarianism as a 'species'-wide adoption of it: (a) A good deal of the world's protein comes in forms humans cannot digest; (b) large areas of the planet cannot be indefinitely devoted to grain or vegetables but to grass, weeds, etc -- i.e. to protein sources which, to be available to humans, must be first passed through the digestive systems of other anaimals.

A major example: At some point agriculture must cease completely on the great plains and only grass can be allowed there. But sad of steak-lovers: No grain must be used in the feeding of meat animals. Hence in the long run the human diet must be _mostly_ but not wholly vegetarian. Goat meat and rabbit meat will be important, because these animals canutilize protein sources that even sheep or cattle or buffalo can not.

Grass-fattened cattle or other meat animals will of course be considerably less tender -- good-bye sooner or later to tender steaks.

Carrol



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