On 31 Oct 2015, at 20:10, Larry Colen <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > knarf wrote: >> I'm not sure what that has to do with our discussion of corn as a >> predominant component in cattle feed. Cattle have evolved over millions of >> years to eat grass. Corn is fed to them at feedlots because its incredibly >> high energy content bulks them up quickly and cheaply for slaughter. > > In much the same way that humans evolved over millions of years to eat a > diverse diet that includes vegetables, fruits and meat. > > :-)
I don't think anyone denies that, but it doesn't stand as an argument for or against eating meat, or nuts or berries or tubers or any particular food, or against somebody making an ethical choice against eating animals, or indeed exploiting them in other ways. One of the ways in which we differ from cattle and many other animals is that we can make these choices and live by them. I think it's unlikely that any cow, however gifted in ethics, could choose to be a carnivore, any more than she could choose an exclusive diet of brazil nuts, as she'd be at a distinct disadvantage in a hunt, and might struggle to bring down even a sheep, let alone a zebra or wildebeest, and would have a difficult time chewing one even if she did. Even apart from that, the argument that we evolved as omnivores doesn't take into account that meat for most of our time and for most people was a very rare meal and contributed very little to daily survival and health. The amount we eat nowadays is far more than we evolved to eat and is partly responsible for our bad health. And then of course there's the unnatural and cruel conditions in which we keep and feed most farm animals compared to the way the animals lived before industrialised agriculture. Even the most avid meat-eater should have some reaction against that if they're any kind of decent human, and if it's only because they value quality and flavour should insist on meat from animals that are raised without cruelty and fed a natural diet. B -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
