Originally Posted by
AlmostTrick
You can argue about the affect of meat on human health, but you can't deny it's impact on the environment. It takes a lot of plant food to make a little animal food. Something like 16 pounds to 1 for beef, and 7 to 1 for chicken. And that's not even considering the water used, and waste produced. Our present consumption level of meat can not be sustained for long.
I might argue that the root cause of this problem is the overpopulation of humans on the earth. Nothing is sustainable at our current population.
I'm not vegetarian, but I eat meat very rarely now. I really have no opinion on what humans "should" be eating. I do know that arguments involving saving the planet or saving the animals will do very little to change anyone's minds. About as much, I suppose, as telling a SUV driver they're polluting the planet.
Commercial farming has allowed population growth to continue unchecked. It's a huge problem, but one that absolutely noone will stop. Population growth contributes to increased economic "growth" and increasing debt - and without increasing debt the system collapses. The developed countries that are seeing population decreases are offering incentives to have more kids. A very irresponsible practice IMO.