Why vegans were right all along!
-
Hi Guys,
I just read an article from the Guardian by George Monbiot on 'Why vegans were right all along'. They say you 'live and learn' and in this case it rings true for me.
The article reads,
%(#000080)[*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. The practice used to make sense. Livestock slaughtered in the autumn, before the grass ran out, would be about to decay, and fat-starved people would have to survive a further three months. Today we face the opposite problem: we spend the next three months trying to work it off.
Our seasonal excesses would be perfectly sustainable, if we weren't doing the same thing every other week of the year. But, because of the rich world's disproportionate purchasing power, many of us can feast every day. And this would also be fine, if we did not live in a finite world.
By comparison to most of the animals we eat, turkeys are relatively efficient converters: they produce about three times as much meat per pound of grain as feedlot cattle. But there are still plenty of reasons to feel uncomfortable about eating them. Most are reared in darkness, so tightly packed that they can scarcely move. Their beaks are removed with a hot knife to prevent them from hurting each other. As Christmas approaches, they become so heavy that their hips buckle. When you see the inside of a turkey broilerhouse, you begin to entertain grave doubts about European civilisation.
This is one of the reasons why many people have returned to eating red meat at Christmas. Beef cattle appear to be happier animals. But the improvement in animal welfare is offset by the loss in human welfare. The world produces enough food for its people and its livestock, though (largely because they are so poor) some 800 million are malnourished. But as the population rises, structural global famine will be avoided only if the rich start to eat less meat. The number of farm animals on earth has risen fivefold since 1950: humans are now outnumbered three to one. Livestock already consume half the world's grain, and their numbers are still growing almost exponentially.
This is why biotechnology - whose promoters claim that it will feed the world - has been deployed to produce not food but feed: it allows farmers to switch from grains which keep people alive to the production of more lucrative crops for livestock. Within as little as 10 years, the world will be faced with a choice: arable farming either continues to feed the world's animals or it continues to feed the world's people. It cannot do both.
The impending crisis will be accelerated by the depletion of both phosphate fertiliser and the water used to grow crops. Every kilogram of beef we consume, according to research by the agronomists David Pimental and Robert Goodland, requires around 100,000 litres of water. Aquifers are beginning the run dry all over the world, largely because of abstraction by farmers.
Many of those who have begun to understand the finity of global grain production have responded by becoming vegetarians. But vegetarians who continue to consume milk and eggs scarcely reduce their impact on the ecosystem. The conversion efficiency of dairy and egg production is generally better than meat rearing, but even if everyone who now eats beef were to eat cheese instead, this would merely delay the global famine. As both dairy cattle and poultry are often fed with fishmeal (which means that no one can claim to eat cheese but not fish), it might, in one respect, even accelerate it. The shift would be accompanied too by a massive deterioration in animal welfare: with the possible exception of intensively reared broilers and pigs, battery chickens and dairy cows are the farm animals which appear to suffer most.
We could eat pheasants, many of which are dumped in landfill after they've been shot, and whose price, at this time of the year, falls to around ยฃ2 a bird, but most people would feel uncomfortable about subsidising the bloodlust of brandy-soaked hoorays. Eating pheasants, which are also fed on grain, is sustainable only up to the point at which demand meets supply. We can eat fish, but only if we are prepared to contribute to the collapse of marine ecosystems and - as the European fleet plunders the seas off West Africa - the starvation of some of the hungriest people on earth. It's impossible to avoid the conclusion that the only sustainable and socially just option is for the inhabitants of the rich world to become, like most of the earth's people, broadly vegan, eating meat only on special occasions like Christmas.
As a meat-eater, I've long found it convenient to categorise veganism as a response to animal suffering or a health fad. But, faced with these figures, it now seems plain that it's the only ethical response to what is arguably the world's most urgent social justice issue. We stuff ourselves, and the poor get stuffed.*]
Its a thought provoking article. Looks to me that the answer is to look seriously at ones food intake types and try and get back to what is sustainable. I have a funny feeling that 'Big Business' is involved in this situation somewhere!
There is very little people can do about 'Big Business', oil, power etc controlling their lives but as regards food we can make a choice every day as to what we eat.
If you want to get a better insight into how the bacon, beef and fowl we eat and the milk we drink is produced have a look at http://www.factoryfarming.org.uk/whatis.html ...... not pleasant reading!
-
A rather interesting read Mike and quite relevant to my lifestyle.
Four months ago I changed doctors in a fairly desperate attempt to get some control of my life back. This new doctor suggested I cut out all animal fats from my diet and, as he put it, have a more Mediterranean diet for a month or so. I followed his advice and consequently got my life back. I have lost 30kilos, my blood pressure has returned to normal, my kidneys are functioning properly, my cholesterol is back into the healthy range and I no longer rattle from the plethora of pills the other doctor was feeding me, in fact I take no medication at all now. Best of all I am full of energy and am able to do things that I haven't been able to do in years. My house has seven flights of stairs from my living area down to my workshop and front door, just a few short months ago one bag of shopping up the stairs required two rest breaks, a family of sherpas and a nap, now I happily run down to get some tools and run back up.So I tend to agree with the whole idea of eating less meat and the daily "Feasting". I am by no means a Vegan, not even a Vegetarian, I do however eat well these days and find it is actually quite simple and fun to do. I eat more than I have in years and I'm still losing weight, I eat red meat if I want to but find I do so rarely, I eat quite a bit of fish and lots of lovely fresh veg. I'm fortunate to have a Bio, members only, supermarket nearby that goes out of its way to supply only sustainable and local produce and a wonderful local fishery for most of my fresh fish.
I feel that everyone can benefit from being more aware of what they eat, and the natural follow on from that would be a more sustainable world. It's not about being a fanatic, it's just being more sensitive to what works for you. It's a pretty stupid analogy, but your car runs better when you give it the fuel it was designed to use.
Time constrains and family preferences often make it difficult to eat sensibly. Big business wants everyone to continue to mass consume, fast food chains, McArtery cloggers etc make it fast and easy, but mostly it's all filled with taste enhancers and assorted other inedible crap. It's a difficult system to break free from, but I think more and more people will do it over time and perhaps in the future we will all be eating much better again.
-
Glad it was of interest to you Ben and also glad to see that you got much of you life control back with wise eating. This is something that I am looking at very seriously. My wife is a great cook and keeps me on a reasonable diet but I top up with junk. However over the past few months I have cut back on the junk and lost a bit of weight.
Like you were, I am on continuous medication for my heart, cholesterol and blood. I don't like the idea have having to remain on these for the rest of my days as I feel they have side effects. I will be looking at ways to control the situation other than popping tablets. I have talked to people that have weaned themselves off tablets with the use of natural products and it seems to work for them.
Doctors these days tend to look up the medical books and prescribe whatever 'wonder' tablet is in vogue ..... I often wonder about this
-
I live in (possibly) the best neighborhood on the planet to be a vegetarian in but I seldom sample the food.. I guess I'm just on meat autopilot when it comes to buying food.. maybe I'll start trying out some of the new(er) vegan concoctions out there (and report back )
that said, I do try to buy meat from local farmers instead of the corporate brands.. a little more expensive but I don't mind supporting the hippies and the animals are treated in a more humane way - free range, grazing, etc.. (or maybe that's just the pitch.. afterall, they're still being killed for my consumption)
-
Veganism, much like bible thumping lunatics, can be taken to extremes.
A sensible vegetable rich omnivorous diet it really what the human body thrives on.As with anything of this nature moderation and education are the way forward.
This must be true as I read it in The Recipe book. -
So Box what is it that you actually eat? You are very lucky to be losing weight just like that.
Mike you need to stop smoking ... I stopped and have not been smoking for almost 3 years. You also need to exercise...Daily brisk walk and some activity which can increase the heart rate is all good. I suppose I am lucky to ski twice a week in SnoZone. I also walk couple of miles everyday.
-
@unknownuser said:
I do try to buy meat from local farmers instead of the corporate brands.. a little more expensive but I don't mind..
-
If God hadn't intended you to eat animals he wouldn't have made them out out meat, or made them taste so good... Or am I posting in the wrong debate
Seriously - all things in moderation - by nature we are omnivores and so we eat 'everything' that's available...
ANy diet based solely on cows or fish or grains or apples or potatoes or beer etc IS NEVER going to be healthy. Eat a balanced ['natural'] diet -
@tig said:
If God hadn't intended you to eat animals he wouldn't have made them out out meat, or made them taste so good... Or am I posting in the wrong debate
...............true, sir. i agree.
-
Mike,
I couldn't agree more about the pill popping etc and I come from a family of medicos, my mother a pharmacist, father a dentist, one brother a research scientist working mostly in pharmaceuticals another is a heart surgeon, I have several more but I'm sure you get the picture.
All of them are rational about the proper use of drugs and tend toward using as few as possible.
I personally think it's best to really shop around for a doctor, you are trusting them with your health and as such it's important to be happy that they really understand what's going on with you and are not just prescribing things for your immediate symptoms.
My doctor takes a very holistic approach, we spoke for over an hour at my first appointment with him going over all sorts of things, physical as well as psychological in a sense. He took the time to get to know me and my life, things that were weighing me down and things I wanted to do. He took the time to explain to me the various things that my body was doing and how they related to each other and how they could be resolved. My previous doctor simply said, here take these and these and you'll be on them the rest of your life etc etc
So shop around a bit if you can, ask questions and get a full understanding, if they don't seem to really care go elsewhere.Jeff,
certainly try the vegan option, as you put it, but it's better not to think of it that way. Better to "try this food I've not tried before" or try "hey that looks interesting........., oh bugga me it tastes damn good too.
We tend to eat what we are familiar with all the time, I know I had a habit of going to the supermarket and just walking the same path through the shelves picking up the same stuff I always did, quick and straightforward and done.
But now I really shop, made somewhat more difficult because I can barely read the labels, my German isn't too good, and buy things I've never had before and then go home and learn how to cook with them. I've had some disasters but I've had more delights.
And you are so right, you are in a wonderful city for experiencing all sorts of foods.Sepo,
I think I understand why you ask, I remember thinking, Vegetarian ME!? are you nucking futs what the hell am I going to eat!!!
And here I am in one of the most meat eating countries in the world where the vegetarian dish on the menu is roast pork, but it's vegetarian because the pig was grain fed.
It took me a few days to get my head round it but I gave it a try, I started with some boring basics, steamed or roasted veg, salads, fruit and so on but fairly quickly got adventurous and started looking for recipes on the net. Pretty soon I had started cooking for myself for the first time in more than a decade and it was fun and tasted bloody good. I've been traveling the world for work for the last 20+ years and have eaten some of the best and some of the worst, but pretty much I had become bored with food and it was only something to fill the tank, so frozen pizza and such were pretty common or a hotel breakfast of bad scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages then nothing for lunch and a giant steak for dinner. I think you get the picture, irregular crap fatty food.So what do I eat now.
What I don't eat, but I'm not strict on this, I will eat them happily if I'm out but choose not to at home, is really just most animal fats and sugar, so generally I don't eat meat or chicken or use butter or milk or cream etc in cooking.I do eat cheese, yoghurt and fish.
I mainly avoid additives, so most things I eat are fresh or prepared or packaged in a reasonable way, sundried tomatoes in olive oil, tuna in sunflower oil, tinned or bottled things that don't have masses of salt or sugar in them etc but again I'm not that strict on that, if I feel like it I will buy it.Anyway I have learnt to cook and I do love chillies and spicy food so I make a lot of curries now from scratch and they are pretty damn good, eating one as I type this, but I eat a huge variety of things.
A typical day now would start with 2 or 3 slices of toast (made from good bread from the bakery that makes it's own and uses none of the 19 or so additives that go into factory bread) topped with chopped tomatoes, chillies, spring onion or shallots drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil and a good dose of pepper and a light sprinkling of chunky sea salt. I can chop and mix all those bits in the time it takes to make the toast.
Lunch varies a lot depending on how busy I am, sometimes last nights curry, sometimes a quick tuna salad, sometimes grilled cheese on toast, sometimes a sandwich from the local shop.
Dinner is always different, I often cook salmon fillets, well cooked they can be better than an expensive steak. Sometimes I'll make a load of roast veggies and have a simple green salad with them other times steamed veg. Tonight as I said is a curry, made with loads of onions and spices with the main bulk being potatoes, zucchinis, chickpeas and mushrooms. I could have done it with fish or prawns or langoustine but tonight I was cooking with chickpeas for the first time.
I use lots of different fresh herbs and things, I like spicy but I often cook non spicy too. I snack quite often too, cashews and almonds, bananas and whatever other fruit I can get here, christmas cookies full of sugar (but I don't eat them all and nothing else).I guess I have succeeded because I am enjoying myself and not trying to "Diet" I still enjoy a good drink, unfortunately I still smoke, but that will go soon enough (nothing beats a Doc that says enjoy your smoke for now and we'll deal with that later) mainly it's a lifestyle change and not penance to suffer through. And I've managed to work my cooking in with my work and travel, but that's a whole other story
Sorry, didn't mean this diatribe to be so long but it's sort of hard to put a simple answer into words.
-
..... I've had a long chat with my cook, she who must be obeyed! Pauline is healthy and has managed to maintain a correct weight (for her) for as long as I know her. She is of the same mind as many of you, a balanced diet with all kinds of food in moderation.
As far as the live long pills goes, I think I will do some research also for alternatives. There is the world of information on the Net as we all know.
Just an example! Its not human health related, its about my little buddy, Jock, a Westie. Jock broke out in a nasty rash on both his flanks (back side) last year one side was really nasty, raw and red. I could see it was causing him a lot of discomfort.
I brought him to an experienced vet and he gave him the usual shot and prescribed some medication (tablets). They really did no good. I then decided to do a bit of research and discovered that Westies are allergic to yeast! This is the site, http://www.westiemed.org/health/malassezia/ He was not any way near as bad as some of those Westies but was getting there.
I looked at his diet and cut out bread and other things with yeast and in no time at all it cleared up. He is now in tip top condition.
-
You are right Mike, to do the research but be sure to do enough of it and not just take a few articles on faith.
I've heard that some people can read one book and then erroneously base their whole life on it. -
Good info to know, there are lots of books out there that describe the industrial food process. Fast Food Nation comes to mind, and it's information from these sources that has moved us toward vegetarianism. But, this information has moved is away from grocery store vegetables as well. The farming of vegetables entails a lot of chemicals, waste and pesticide overuse. And those chemicals don't just affect humans, but all animals and beneficial bugs that come into contact with it. Colony collapse disorder is thought to be attributable to the use of certain pesticides.
So simply switching to eating veg is not necessarily the best answer alone.
The answer is currently a trendy idea, but there are many benefits: go local. Join a local co-op, buy from local farms that grow organic, use integrated pest management (they only spray if they absolutely must), and don't dose their animals with drugs of every kind. Buy from a local farmer's market, you get to meet the people that produce the food and can ask questions about how it's grown.
Lots of benefits to this. Supporting local businesses and not some faraway mega corporation, good for your community. You get better food. You know who grew it and that the animals were treated fairly and not warehoused in terrible conditions. Joining the co-op can also be fun as there are often social events and volunteer work that can be done, you meet new people or might have the opportunity to do a little work at the very farm your food comes from. Make new friends and get outdoors!
We've reduced our meat intake to near zero for many reasons, including the above. You just feel better. And vegetarian doesn't mean bland, Mediterranean and Indian dishes are a great example.
-
Also, see the movie "Food Inc." Support local farmers with your purchasing dollars/pounds/euros/ etc. who are doing appropriate-scaled sustainable agriculture. Give your money to them and not industrial scale agro-business.
-
Yeah, Food Inc was an eye opener, encouraged me to use local co-ops instead of the convenient chains for my fruits and veggies.
-
I must confess, today I was part of the problem. We went to a local restaurant on a layover for lunch. Don't know why, but I ordered a Reuben sandwich. I expected a rather normal sandwich, the price was just over $7, so one wouldn't expect anything unusual.
What I got was not what I expected. The sandwich you see is almost 12" from one end to the other. No joke. Not seen is the 8" long half-cucumber of a pickle hidden behind the sandwich There is no way in the world I could eat it, and took the rest with me. I'm going to have no wish for meat in the foreseeable future. No wonder there are so many fat Americans, so much food (and a drink) for $10 US. Unbelievable. This sandwich belongs on TV.
-
@box said:
You are right Mike, to do the research but be sure to do enough of it and not just take a few articles on faith.
I've heard that some people can read one book and then erroneously base their whole life on it.Yeah Ben, I've heard that also
-
Jeff, that sambo is like a doorstep. I'd bet there are at least 500+ cal in there!
Its very difficult to get the portions just right. Sometimes we could eat a horse and at others something light does the job. Maybe coffee shops / restaurants etc should add 'lite' meals to the list. They could even be more profitable for them! I imagine you would be happy enough paying $5 for half that sandwich? This would cut down a lot of food wastage also!
-
A quick and easy way to adjust your portion sizes: Use smaller plates. We often use the 3/4 size plates that came with our set for meals. It makes whatever is in the plate look bigger. Works well.
-
You re so right Jeff! I'm going to lock up all the large plates (12") and only have the smaller ones (8") in the kitchen.
Advertisement