Sunday 18 November 2007

WHY VEGETARIANS SUCK











Now, I know that this is going to be contentious. It’s pretty obvious that I know that, or I probably wouldn’t have chosen to call it “Why Vegetarians Suck.” Let me say from the outset that I know lots of vegetarians who are perfectly lovely people – my life would be an awful lot poorer if it didn’t have them in it. But I take issue with 99% of them when it comes to their eating habits and their ethics. I’m going to try to make my position on it clear. Bear in mind that this is written by someone who would happily eat foie gras or veal – and if that turns your stomach, then don’t read anymore.

Let’s get my most important objection to vegetarianism out of the way first. Presumably, vegetarians would like the whole world to follow their example. What would this mean? Well, it would mean global environmental meltdown, that’s what! A lot of vegetarian propaganda states that the meat industry is damaging to the environment – and it is. But consider the consequences of the planet having to produce enough plant matter to feed the entire population. The only way it could be done is through intensive farming, relying on huge amounts of chemical fertilisers and fossil fuels. We just couldn’t produce enough to feed everyone otherwise. Most of the vegetables we eat are produced like that, in fact, unless we buy organic ones. But the simple fact is that we couldn’t produce enough organic vegetables to feed everyone – it would be too labour intensive and a lot of people would starve.

My second objection is probably just as important, though it doesn’t apply to all vegetarians. Just the vast majority of them. They drink milk and they eat cheese. Well, the dairy industry IS the meat industry. The two serve each other. By drinking milk you are condemning animals to a life of factory farmed misery just as if you were eating a McDonalds. Your average pint of milk is produced with a hundred times as much suffering on the part of the animals as any organic and ethically reared slab of steak. But they don’t kill animals to produce milk? Oh don’t they! What about all the male calves that are born? At one time they would have gone to produce veal. But people are so anti veal nowadays that most of them are just slaughtered for nothing. One a related note, most booze isn’t vegetarian either. It’s got fish liver in it.

And so to vegans. This goes back to my first point – the whole world could not be vegan without intensive growing and harvesting procedures. And loads of little animals are killed by that process – field mice are not that good at knowing to get out of the way of great big combine harvesters. You cannot produce food without killing something unless you do it yourself. I suppose we could all go stone age and do that – but you’d have to wave goodbye to all the mod cons. No-one would have time to make computers or generate electricity or design organic cotton clothes.

So what should you do if you love animals and care about their welfare? You should buy organic meat – meat that has been produced ethically, without cruelty and without intensive methods. You should resign yourself to the fact that this meat will be more expensive than the factory farmed mush that most people buy nowadays. You should write to your supermarkets and demand that they stop selling intensively farmed meat and that they start paying farmers a fair price. You should only buy free range eggs and you should buy your milk from a local farm which treats its animals well and doesn’t exploit them for high milk yields at low prices.

What you should NOT do is give up eating meat altogether. If all the people who care about animal welfare take that muddled and easy way out, then there is no pressure on the farming industry to change its ways. All you vegetarians – it’s because of you that factory farms exist – think about that next time you tuck into a cheese sandwich.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Uhm, honey... what do you think all the cows and chickens eat? Something like 70% of all corn and grain grown in the US goes to feed factory farm animals. Sound crazy? Go look for yourself. And then there's the whole energy pyramid. Only ten percent of the energy animals eat from plants will be transferred to you when you eat the animal. Why waste crops by feeding them to animals who WE'RE going to eat when you could just eat the crops in the first place, saving time and energy?

Anonymous said...

Save the trouble of wasting your energy converting mostly inedible cellulose into food the human body can process!! Let the cows do it for you. It takes 15 lbs of the best combination of non-meat foodstuffs to provide what 4 lbs of meat can, in terms of viable useful nutrition.

This is known as second order vegetarianism.

Anonymous said...

8 REASONS TO EAT MEAT


1) vegetarians arent sexy. have you ever seen a healthy vegetarian? no. you haven't, you are not, nor will EVER see a healthy OR sexy vegetarian. im willing to bet 20k a vegetarian will never make it to playboy. look at this retard. she is NOTHING CLOSE to megan fox and Bar Refaeli

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Ingrid_Newkirk_by_David_Shankbone.jpg

2) meat has protein. i know some of you flat-chested or little penised-sized vegetarians will say, "BuT UbbEr frood hases Pr0T3In ToO0!!!!" true, but not nearly as much as meat. my friend tried to be a vegetarian until his doctor FORCED him to eat meat cuz he didnt have enogh protein.

3) meat is the yummiest food group. it is the best, rivaled only by the fats oils and sweets group. i also hear the rumor that eating meat makes you fat. yes, if u EAT TOO MUCH OF IT. im 12 and im 65 lbs. yup. 65 pounds, and not anorectic or bulimic. and some of u vegetariens are calling me FAT!!?!??!? i take being called fat a compliment :)

4) RELIGIOUS CHRISTIANS AND JEWS

God COMMANDED the israelites to KILL A LAMB, EAT IT, and SPREAD THE BLOOD OF IT ON THEIR DOOR. good luck fighting against religion.

5) what are those pointy teeth called? INCISORS. they came when our ancestors, the caveman/woman first walked the earth, when they ATE MEAT. go argue against EVOLUTION if u disagree.

6) in addition to protien, meat also has iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamin E, and B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, and vitamins B6 and B12). if u skip meat, u r missing out on a whole package of healthyness. SO... experts suggest a balanced plan to attempt to get as much protein as meat. but if there is a vegetarian that actually FOLLOWS this plan, i have yet to meat it. (get it? MEAT it! hahahahah!) and because no vegetarian actually follows this plan, why not just screw it and enjoy a nice bloody red rare steak? :)

7) vegetables are also alive/once living. y dont those pre-humans cry when someone eats veggies?

imagine an ear of corn named Bobbi. Bobbi lives near his family, growing as he gets older. then, unfortunately, a worker rips him off the ground he has known his whole life, away from his loving family, never to see them again. bobbi is heartbroken and starts crying when he is sent to a place where they clean him by nearly drowning him in water. from there he gets bought by a species of human known as "vegetarianus retardus", who bought other corns and she then drives them home and SHOVES them into a BOILING POT of water. boobi screams, but of course humans dont know he has feelings too. silly us. he then gets BURNED and turns BROWN AND THE UGLY HUMAN RIPS OFF HIS GRASS-THINGIES AND CHOPS HIM UP INTO TINY PIECES ONTO A COLD, HARD METAL PLATE TO BE DIGESTED BY LITTLE CHUBBY CHINESIANS WITH BUCK TEETH AND DIE IN ACID AND BECOME ONE WITH THE CHINESE!1!!12!@!!1

ok srry i insulted the chinese and got carried away. i really lik china. but u get my point. eating veggies is also killing something alive, it just doesn't behave lik an animal. how do u know veggies dont have feelings? correct, u dont

8) (my best)
if cats eat fish, why dont we have the right to eat cat? lions and tigers and bears and oh my eat other animals. that's a fact. if they do it, how come we cant? we can, but we are always pussies that say something lik, "NOoOO! DoN T EEt dA (baby/adult/mother)(pig/lobster/cow/deer/crab/chicken/turkey/shrimp)!11!1" those ppl are reeeeeeeeeeally annoying ;D

Anonymous said...

to 16 yearold girl (and all other pre-humans),

ar u serious? OWNED??? more lik, FAIL in all CAPS. I just LOVE ripping out the muscle of a former animal and chewing on it. i also enjoy watching ppl take out the head of a deer, with a huge RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP and a SNAP!! music to my ears! :D what? ur goanna throw up now? it's ok, there are plenty other WIMPS like u around the world, looking unhealthy and retarded. the cavemen and women ate meat and hunted animals. then, ppl became smarter and found out meat was healthy. others, however, took the alternate route by having a heart 20 times larger than it should be and crying if a stupid thing dies.
p.s. im 12
p.p.s. WTF is a wank? i think u should seriously get a life for ranting about how u think some crap on the cob is better than chicken McNuggets

well, im off to a delicious dinner of medium rare steak with a side of beef and a drink of liquified sausages from a baby lamb/chicken/cow that had it's head chopped off and suffered for 45 hours before it died an extremely painful death. the younger, the better! i might also have some bacon and hot dogs from a pig, most likely skinned alive.
:d mmmmmmmmmmm yumyumyummy
XD

also, i want to know what your kind thinks of cannibalism. i also want to know what u would do if u were in this situation:

you got malled by a bear and are about to die a slow and gory death. animal control comes and prepares to shoot down the animal.

A) OH GOD, JUST SHOOT IT ALREADY!!!
I'M BLEEEEEEEDING!!!

B) NO! THE BEAR DESERVES TO LIVE MORE THAN I DO, BECAUSE BEARS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN HUMANS! IT'S NOT BEAR'S FAULT, LET ME DIE A SLOW AND GRUESOME DEATH!

Unknown said...

Wow I think people get a little carried away when it comes to vegetarianism. While I have done my research and believe vegansim is both the most humane and healthy lifestyle out there, I personally do not impose my views on other people. You don't need to be an animal lover to get sick to your stomach over the cruelty that goes on in some (not all) industrial farming of animals. And you also don't have to be a genius to know that the only vitamin humans can not get from vegetables is B12 - which I take in supplement form.

You aren't guaranteed to be fat or obese if you eat meat - you will be guaranteed to be much healthier if you abstain from meat and dairy. The preservatives that are used by the meat and dairy industries alone could kill you.

I agree that taking action in the form of writing to supermarket owners about stocking organic meat and produce is better than simply declaring yourself a vegetarian / vegan and imposing your views on others. But please stop lying to yourself if your truly believe that meat is the key to healthy living - or that it is humane.

To all those getting carried away with the cussing and the owning each other nonsense - who are you kidding? Do some research on vegetarianism / veganism, some unbiased fact checking and decide for yourself if eating meat is really the right way to live your life.

Jimmy Catsup said...

I would like to point out something else. It is clear from the comments on this post that, with the exception of the very erudite and thoughtful Richard, vegetarians also have no sense of irony at all.

And, also, to the "Anonymous" who had to resort to swearing and abuse in his defence of meat eating - you're just as bad!

Agent X said...

To claire
70% of grain and such isn't uncommon because 70% of alot of our supplies goes to agricultural related activities. And we use so much because of the worlds population and bigger animals mean more food for more people
ex: 1 regular cow = food for 4 people
1 healthy well feed cow= food for 6 people and some left over
(not a statistic just an example)

to the annoying know-it-none 16 year old
eating meat doesn't cause heart disease eating uncoiled meat does, and that's because due to our new cullinery tactics we cook everything so our appendix has stopped working or doesn't work as good, news flash were not cavemen anymore and your little side comments like your little makes us wrinkly is a load of bs eating meat has nothing to do with your skin wrinkling it's about gravity pushing your skin down, news flash the skin cream you use (that has not been tested on animals) doesn't have anything special about it. It only works because you lazy vegans lie down so gravity is not having a full effect pushing your skin down or it's reversing the process because your laying down
and the media is all propaganda towards the highest payers
vegetarianism is not more "humane" what do you think happens to deer if you don't hunt them?
What happens is they over populated due to lack of conservitism. So more deer will lead to more disease the deer will get. Pick what's more humane a deer getting shot aprox: 10 seconds maximum
or a deer getting bluetongue and have it's tongue swell up and slowly gag itself to death because there was no one around to kill the 10 year old deer who just now suffacated for about 5 minutes. Yeah vegetarianism is real humane.
And you are also hypocritical and bitchy (the bitchyness comes from being a vegetarian)
and your not going to have kids because a. No one likes you b. No one likes you and your uber skinny c. Your ugly.... And no one likes you d. You have abnormalities from all the atrazine and Prozac you have coming from your little veggies...and no one likes you e. Your a man
personally I'd have to go with all the choices leave it to a vegan man to call himself a girl but I guess you get called it by everyone else

the next anonymous has a point veggie girls have no boobs and guys, eating meat goes to your meat and makes your meat big and happy

the supposedly 12 year old I agree with minus the Chinese parts. I'm Chinese

Anonymous above richard your views and such are a disgrace to the animals killed to feed us and are immoral and unethical and disappointed that someone would be so cruel about the thing the helps us survive

Richard
vegetarianism isn't more humane
ex. More deer more disease more carcasses laying waste to get in food supplies and give a deer mad deer disease bluetongue or epizootic hemorrhagic disease what is bleeding on the inside and slowly and painfully dying

finally
GO MEAT

Unknown said...

LOL this is true...like celebrity vegetarians do this kin of stuff all the time- become vegetarians just to look good or be holier than thou- I just looked at this article about the dumbest celebrity vegetarians, check it out

http://www.lifetransformingweightloss.com/health-coach-blog/the-7-dumbest-celebrity-vegetarians-ever

Shelby said...

Anon-
Both Shanna Moakler and Teryn Terrell are vegan, and have posed for playboy.

In lieu of the twenty thousand dollars you owe me, how about you do me a favor and educate yourself on the subject. Don't just google "why vegetarians suck" or look for points to bolster your own argument. Look at both sides of an argument, always.

Alex McDiarmid said...

Look guys, I'm a vegetarian. I have my own reasons for choosing this lifestyle, and I feel much better when I don't eat meat. It's personal choice, and since it's what makes me happy and healthy I intend to stay a vegetarian. I don't try to impose my vegetarianism on other people- because everyone has different views, which is a great thing. The world wouldn't be the world it is today if it didn't have the diversity of people that it fortunately has, and I think it's a huge generalisation that you presume all vegetarians want the world to follow suite.
I'm from Australia, and last time I checked I was living in a democracy, where we can all freely choose what we want to do and how we do it. Let's not waste time over a frivolous argument and just accept each other for our own personal views and move on.

Brandon said...

I think you're confusing a vegetarian with a vegan m8. I'm a vegetarian, I don't give a fuck if you eat meat. I don't really care if the cow suffered, I mean in the perfect world the animals shouldn't have to suffer but honestly the world isn't perfect. I had to become a vegetarian a few years back due to some stomach issues and to be honest there is times I miss a good old hamburger, I promised myself my vegetarianism wasn't going to ruin the lives of others and I think I have lived up to that.

emily brontë died drinkin' graveyard water said...

You didn't own anybody. You need medication though. Talk to a therapist

emily brontë died drinkin' graveyard water said...

You didn't own anybody. You need medication though. Talk to a therapist