Comments on: A Vegetarian Perspective on In-vitro Meat

By: David Chabot

David Chabot — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:36:57 +0000

When I see things like “despite evidence that animal products don’t do our bodies any good”, I get scared.
If this was true, then why are we still alive? We as humans have been eating meat (and grains and vegetables and fruits) for millions of years. Quality meat (bio) is good for healts. It provides nutriments not available in veggies.
BTW, meat fat is GOODFOR HEALTH and cholesterol is NOT DANGEROUS. Sugar is.

But I agree, we eat too much meat.
VEGETARIANS DIE YOUNGER. Oh, they tell you they’re healthier, but census data shows the opposite.
VEGETARIAN KIDS ARE SICKLIER. The Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine reports that children reared on these diets are at higher risk for ‘impaired psychomotor development’.

By: Who Cares

Who Cares — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:38:00 +0000

For health benefits you might want to add that vegetables (especially leafy) give a full feeling for longer so you end up eating less and snack less in between meals.
Even if people don’t want to give up on meat completely switching to a diet based on more fruit and vegetables would therefore be healthier due to reducing being overweight.

By: ashley

ashley — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:06:56 +0000

I am against in-vitro meat simply because I can’t stand that sort of ‘unnatural’ technology messing around with organic life systems. I feel the same way about GM foods.

There is no doubt that the eating of meat is a cruel practice, even immoral on some level. However, in moderate doses it clearly is quite nutritious, not to mention delicious, even if not necessary. Fish is meat to in this context.

To me the ideal system would be one that uses animals for work, dairy production, wool and so forth and then, when they die, that is the meat used for consumption, making for an occasional feast rather than a daily dose.

If we had a political system more rooted in local versus national communities, then various communities could develop more individually tailored approaches to diet, amongst many other things. Sadly, that is not our condition, nor likely to be for some time to come barring a very painful collapse, during which millions of humans will die along with the animals they are currently exploiting.

By: hp

hp — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:31:17 +0000

Spoken like a civilized person, Rich.

By: Sheila Velazquez

Sheila Velazquez — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:07:50 +0000

I agree that most of us would be healthier if we reduced our meat intake, but I disagree with your blanket statement about the negative health benefits of nonvegan foods. If we were concerned only with eating complete protein, we could eat rice and beans. I believe the PETA prize is for in-vitro meat that has the same appeal and that is no more expensive than natural meat. This will be hard to do considering the characteristics of many favorite cuts of meat, e.g., muscle, bone, etc.

As someone who has raised and butchered her own meat, I can also say with authority that all animals are not treated inhumanely and that those of us who have raised our family’s food are probably most upset by the cruel treatment of food animals, because we know exactly what ending a life for that purpose means, and how it should be accomplished.

Small farmers all over the country are trying to survive outside the corporate food system. Their animals are well treated. Many are never given antibiotics or other drugs, because there is no need. They are pastured on grass that has never been sprayed with pesticides.

If clean agriculture were better supported, we could do away with factory farming. In order for this to happen consumers would have to be willing to pay a price that would cover the farmer’s costs and leave him with a profit to invest in his farm. To afford this would probably mean eating less meat but of a higher quality.

If government subsidies to big ag were ended, the small farmer who receives none could be competitive. That would mean the availability of healthier meat and vegetables for all of us. We’d all be winners.

By: Rich Griffin

Rich Griffin — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:52:03 +0000

I’ll stick to being a vegan since it has kept me alive despite having a life threatening illness!! (: 21 years and counting!! (:

By: hp

hp — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:46:51 +0000

“The average age (longevity) of a meat eater is 63.
I am on the verge of 85 and still at work as hard as ever.
I have lived quite long enough and am trying to die, but I simply cannot do it. A single beef-steak would finish me, but I cannot bring myself to swallow it.
I am oppressed with a dread of living forever.
That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism.”
George Bernard Shaw