Tuesday, June 08, 2010

To Serve Man

A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report said today. [More]
Unless you're one of the Kanamit rulers:

7 comments:

zach said...

Gotta love those deliberate lies. I'm well studied in this area, but it should be obvious to anyone after a little reflection. Modern crop farming is not sustainable, ruins the soil, and requires massive amounts of petroleum to operate. Animal products use massive amounts of energy because we feed them... GRAINS and SOY-the beloved foods of the vegans. This makes fatter cattle. Eat grass fed. Better for you, and it Builds and protects the environment.

Carl Bussjaeger said...

An adult can thrive on a vegan diet, provided he gets a quite wide variety of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. But a child needs nutrients that are not found in anything but fish, fowl, or animal flesh. At least one vegan couple has gone to prison for forcing their child to subsist on a strict vegan diet. The boy was stunted, about half the average size for his age, and permanently brain-damaged because he had already gone through various phases of brain development without the needed nutrients.

For that matter, most of the strict vegan adults I've met haven't looked all that healthy.

I've long thought the virtually meat-free diet of many of the world's poor explained why they're still stuck in that rut well into the 21st century.

Chris Corona said...

I for one am holding out for test tube beef.

In all seriousness, the UN is correct on this one. The energy required to feed cattle and other farm animals, as the previous poster noted, is not sustainable (and while grass fed cattle tastes great and is much better for the environment, is very expensive). The change will come gradually as people will no longer be able to afford those expensive steaks, and when our government can no longer afford to subsidize the corn market.

Mack said...

I continue to enjoy your references to TV shows and movies I used to watch.

Between "It's a cookbook!" and "Soylent Green is People!" it's hard to find lines more shocking than those.

The World is a dangerous place.

straightarrow said...

grass fed beef is far less expensive to raise than grain fed beef and if taste is a factor, finishing them for a month on corn or maize with bonemeal, sulfur, salt, and molasses will give them that designer taste without having had to feed them on grain the entire time.

Toastrider said...

What makes you think people will willingly switch?

Here's a tip: when Jane Goodall was doing her research on chimps, guess what their favorite food was.

Yup. This is why chimps will do such entertaining things as 'go fishing' for termites and kill smaller primates. Metabolically speaking, protein is a high-yield fuel for our bodies.

Crotalus (Don't Tread on Me) said...

A lot of people in third-world nations exist on a vegan diet, and they look as though they're undernourished.