Meat eaters

[usahockey22 0]

I once tried vegetarian for about a year or so...just had occasional seafood, but no meat. After a while I just really missed the satisfaction of eating a nice chicken sandwich, or biting into a good piece of steak. Meat is very energy-rich food, and it takes a lot of vegetarian food to equal what you get from meat. I just generally felt better, physically and mentally, once I started eating meat again.

We were born to be omnivores...strict vegan diets are lacking in certain vitamins and minerals. Early on in man's evolutionary history, there were two variations of our ancestor in the genus Australopithecus. The vegetarian one died out, and the meat eating version went on into the genes of the Homo genus. We have been eating meat ever since, though modern day farm-raised meat is quite different from leaner wild meat.

My grandfather lived to be 90 and was eating milkshakes and steaks on a regular basis until he passed away...his mental abilities were top-notch all the way until his death. My grandmother is still going very strong at 92 (physically and mentally), and frequently insists, "I love unhealthy food!" She will opt for steak or prime rib quite often when going out to eat... Didn't hurt them any.

[ljbaron 0]

"Just knock off its horns, wipe its nasty ole ass, and chuck it right

down on the plate" The Cowboy Way.

Now seriously, thats how a real American should be eating his steak.

[fatwabbit 93]

tried going vegatarian for some time... got cranky and had a short fuse. Must be some imbalance in my system... ate a burger and all was fine.

Have been eating more chicken and fish lately, not so much beef or pork anymore. Have also given myself 6 months to drop 20lbs. Let see how it goes...

[cxo 0]

The other thing for me out of the whole article was the animal cruelty aspect. No, it doesn't effect the meat, I do realize this, but it is completely unnecessary. I'm far from a PETA eco-terrorist, but why take the liberty when it accomplishes nothing? It's twisted really, and I don't understand it.

[Hidious 0]

Not trying to spark a Canada/USA war but we were shown a shocking documentary in school last year about steroids/additives that were administered to cows so they would produce more milk and more meat. Such products were illegal in Canada and they were property of some very big company. I even think it was Monsanto.

Anyway, my point doesn't have much weight without me knowing what additives those were but i'll try to recall more infos about it.

[mack 44]

I'm sure there's nothing in the meat and evolution is making girls hit puberty at age 10 or so.

[cxo 0]

BGH is the biggest one that I know of. I don't know if this was the same documentary, but one that I've seen shows how boys aged 8-12 or so look just boys of that age looked decades ago, while girls of those same ages are already wearing training bra's and other female products that they should have no reason to use until they're at least teenagers. The cause they named was additives and steroids being put into food, a big segment was on beef.

Like you, I don't know much of anything about the steroids/additives they're using or if they're being used to a very great extent, but I just wish I was able to. That's the other problem, is that finding out solid information on this stuff is hard to come by and makes it seem all the more sketchy.

[usahockey22 0]

You can buy hormone-free/organic and free range meat. More expensive though.

Most of the drugs are fat soluble, so they are going to be in the meat when you eat it...but it's usually in very trace amounts, supposedly not enough to cause harm to humans.

For the puberty issue, I don't know if there's really any solid evidence that people are on average hitting it faster now than they were in the past. If it is dietary related, I would guess that our fast-food culture could be to blame. Diets high in saturated fat are known to increase sex hormone production. Kids 50 years ago weren't eating McDonald's 2-3 times a day.

[bobovski 1]

I eat chicken during the spring, summer and early fall months when I can get it from local farms at the farmer's market. My guilty pleasure is eating "fresh" vegetables during the winter months or buying some "cage-free vegetarian, cruelty-free" etc. over the counter chicken. My hang up is not purchasing processed, not locally-grown or raised or humanely killed food. It costs a lot more, but eating locally and seasonally make me feel better physically and mentally.

[cxo 0]

You can buy hormone-free/organic and free range meat. More expensive though.

Most of the drugs are fat soluble, so they are going to be in the meat when you eat it...but it's usually in very trace amounts, supposedly not enough to cause harm to humans.

For the puberty issue, I don't know if there's really any solid evidence that people are on average hitting it faster now than they were in the past. If it is dietary related, I would guess that our fast-food culture could be to blame. Diets high in saturated fat are known to increase sex hormone production. Kids 50 years ago weren't eating McDonald's 2-3 times a day.

I'm sure there's nothing in the meat and evolution is making girls hit puberty at age 10 or so.

Assuming mack was being sarcastic, because even though there may not be finished reports or anything on this, I actually think there is plenty of reason to believe that what we're putting in food is affecting human growth. Harming? Not sure yet, but there seems to be a clear effect taking place.

[usahockey22 0]

Assuming mack was being sarcastic, because even though there may not be finished reports or anything on this, I actually think there is plenty of reason to believe that what we're putting in food is affecting human growth. Harming? Not sure yet, but there seems to be a clear effect taking place.

As far as I know, there are no studies to support this...but it's certainly possible. Some people have also claimed that water fluoridation is responsible for this, as it was not used commonly until the 50s/60s in our country. It is even banned in many places around the world, yet the United States continues to pump a toxic chemical into water, under the guise of cavity protection.

Edit--I did find at least one study that showed bGH causes female mice to hit puberty faster...this is not surprising really; the main question is whether or not the same holds true for humans (probably), and more importantly, is the amount found in the average human diet significant to where it would cause such an effect.

[mack 44]

I was being sarcastic and meant that it's somehow affecting stuff like that. Is it the only reason? God no, but study or not I would be hard-pressed to imagine it not having a significant effect.

[cxo 0]

Yeah. It's just, kind of really disgusting.

[Neal 41]

The other thing for me out of the whole article was the animal cruelty aspect. No, it doesn't effect the meat, I do realize this, but it is completely unnecessary. I'm far from a PETA eco-terrorist, but why take the liberty when it accomplishes nothing? It's twisted really, and I don't understand it.

The guy with the cattle prod has problems and forcing the water seems cruel and stupid, but some of the rest is due to the difficulty of the task. You are dealing with an 1,100 lb plus animal that is so ill that it can't or won't stand. There are very few techniques to move that animal that are going to look good on TV.

[number21 3]

The other thing for me out of the whole article was the animal cruelty aspect. No, it doesn't effect the meat, I do realize this, but it is completely unnecessary. I'm far from a PETA eco-terrorist, but why take the liberty when it accomplishes nothing? It's twisted really, and I don't understand it.

The guy with the cattle prod has problems and forcing the water seems cruel and stupid, but some of the rest is due to the difficulty of the task. You are dealing with an 1,100 lb plus animal that is so ill that it can't or won't stand. There are very few techniques to move that animal that are going to look good on TV.

The problem was they were forcing a horribly sick animal to slaughter!!

If its that sick, it should be put out of it's misery and not processed for consumption.

There is some information on this kind of stuff in The Omnivore's Dilemmait's an interesting read. This book really sparked my interest in being more aware of what i am eating. It mostly talks about HFCS, but also the cattle industry, corn, sustainable farming, organic labeling etc.

[TBLfan 25]

I believe legally the cow has to walk into the slaughter house or it is considered animal cruelty.

[supa 3]

mixing sick animals in for consumption is wrong.

aside from that I see no problem in slaughtering animals who sole purpose is to feed us. I Just dont see the way food is raised and killed as being cruel, mainly becuase this world has WAY bigger things to worry about than how a brainless chicken was stored in a a cage.

I do however think that beating/doing twisted shit to animals deserves a removal of the balls and hands. takes a real pathetic human being to beat animals

[Hidious 0]

I believe legally the cow has to walk into the slaughter house or it is considered animal cruelty.

A cow has no idea what's happening until it dies suddenly. Death has to be sudden because if the cow feels a stress or pain before it dies, the meat will be very hard and not very good to eat.

[Neal 41]

I believe legally the cow has to walk into the slaughter house or it is considered animal cruelty.

A cow has no idea what's happening until it dies suddenly. Death has to be sudden because if the cow feels a stress or pain before it dies, the meat will be very hard and not very good to eat.

I've heard this before and I don't believe it. Having worked at and very near a locker plant for several years, many of those animals are under stress and have to be forced into the plant. I think if the animal is able to run and exert itself overly there can be effects from the stress byproducts. But many of the animals I've seen forced into the plant tasted just fine. I also know that not all animals are killed with the first attempt, which is horrible in and of itself.

The problem was they were forcing a horribly sick animal to slaughter!!

If its that sick, it should be put out of it's misery and not processed for consumption.

I should have been more clear - this is one of two issues I see here and I agree that these downer animals should never have been used for food. The other issue is the cruelty in treating these animals. Some of that was sort of a consequence of trying to pass them off as not ill so they could be slaughtered and the difficulty in moving a nearly immobile 1100 lb animal.