Q: Why is it okay for wild animals to eat other animals but it is wrong for humans to eat other animals?/ Eating meat is natural.
A: Part of the answer is in the question. WILD animals, are just that. They are naturally born with the instinct to kill animals and eat them, we are not. We are taught throughout life that eating meat, and other animal products is okay or natural. Meat eating is a learned behavior.
We can live without eating meat, real meat-eaters on the other hand such as lions, and wolves cannot live without eating meat. The human body thrives on a plant based diet.
When you look at the comparison between herbivores and humans, we compare much more closely to herbivores than meat eating animals. Humans are clearly not designed to digest and ingest meat. All omnivorous and carnivorous animals eat their meat raw. When a lion kills an herbivore for food, it tears right into the stomach area to eat the organs that are filled with blood (nutrients). While eating the stomach, liver, intestine, etc., the lion laps the blood in the process of eating the dead animal's flesh. Even bears that are omnivores eat salmon raw. However, eating raw bloody meat disgust us as humans and would make us sick. This is why we must cook it and season it to buffer the taste of the flesh.Clearly if humans were meant to eat meat we wouldn't have so many crucial ingestive/digestive similarities with animals that are herbivores. Take a look at these differences:
Meat-eaters: have claws
Herbivores: no claws
Humans: no claws
Meat-eaters: have no skin pores and perspire through the tongue
Herbivores: perspire through skin pores
Humans: perspire through skin pores
Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing, with no flat molar teeth for grinding
Herbivores: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Humans: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Meat-eaters: have intestinal tract that is only 3 times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly
Herbivores: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Humans: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat
Herbivores: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Humans: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Meat-eaters: salivary glands in mouth not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.
Herbivores: well-developed salivary glands which are necessary to pre-digest grains and fruits
Humans: well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits
Meat-eaters: have acid saliva with no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Herbivores: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Humans: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Q: Where do you get your protein?
A: There are many sources of protein that are not only found in animal flesh. Plant based sources of protein can be found in the following: Tempeh, seitan, soybeans, lentils, black beans, kidney beans, veggie burgers, chickpeas, pinto beans, black eyed peas, tofu, lima beans, quinoa, bagels, peas, peanut butter, spaghetti, almonds, soy milk, almond milk, soy yogurt, bulgur wheat, sunflower seeds, whole wheat bread, cashews, almond butter, brown rice, spinach, broccoli, potato, and the list goes on!
Q: Plants are living things that feel pain, why don't you stop eating those too?
A: Plants do not have a central nervous system, they do not have a brain. They have a system of hormones, methylxanthines, alkaloids etc. that allow them to respond to the changing environment. The difference between eating plants and animals is that we must eat plants to survive and we do not need animals or their products to survive. I think it is very obvious that animals are more sentient than a plant. You can torture a cow, a plant however has no cognition of this. Plants do not exhibit any behavior which would indicate consciousness, nor does the ability to feel pain give plants an evolutionary survival advantage. An animal's survival depends on reacting to situations which may cause pain and suffering. On the other hand, plants can not run away from a predator, nor can plants change their position to avoid a forest fire. Therefore, it is unlikely that plants would develop the ability to feel pain when it confers no survival advantage.
Q: What is the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?
A: A vegan and a vegetarian share the same diet, meaning no animal products. They both eat a plant based diet. The only differences are that vegans exclude products that have been tested on animals, and they exclude animal furs, skins, and leathers. A lacto-ovo-vege-tarian chooses not to eat meat, yet allows dairy and eggs into their diet.
Q: Why do you care more about animals than people? People in this world are suffering just as much as animals.
A: There is more than enough food in the world to feed the entire human population. So why are more than a billion people still going hungry? Well, eating animal products is to blame. Huge amounts of our grain, soybeans, and corn get fed to the animals that we use for food instead of feeding starving people.It takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat—but only 25 gallons to grow 1 pound of wheat, so raising animals for food is extremely inefficient. Also, the largest user of fresh water is the livestock industry. Water is directly needed for drinking and the cleaning of animals. And that's a lot of water when we're talking about over 10 billion animals raised for food in the United States alone every year! On top of that, a large amount of fresh water is used to grow the feed that livestock animals eat. It takes a lot less water to grow grains, beans, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. So ultimately a vegan diet ends up saving people from world hunger.
Q: If everyone went vegan, wouldn't the world become overpopulated with animals?
A: First off, the only way this could ever happen is if the change took place over night, and we all know that is not possible. This type of change is something that would take many years. Slowly the demand for animal products would decrease, which would result in these companies not breeding/producing as many animals. Any leftover animals would be able to live out their lives peacefully.
Q: Whats the point of becoming vegan when the entire world will never do it?
A: People would never get anywhere in a world that thought like this. Never stop trying to achieve your goals. The first step in making a difference in this world is awareness, and you can only go up from there. People never thought slavery would end, but it did because people united against it, and spread the truth. Always try your best to cause the least amount of harm possible. Your cause will never be achievable if you don't believe in it.
A: Part of the answer is in the question. WILD animals, are just that. They are naturally born with the instinct to kill animals and eat them, we are not. We are taught throughout life that eating meat, and other animal products is okay or natural. Meat eating is a learned behavior.
We can live without eating meat, real meat-eaters on the other hand such as lions, and wolves cannot live without eating meat. The human body thrives on a plant based diet.
When you look at the comparison between herbivores and humans, we compare much more closely to herbivores than meat eating animals. Humans are clearly not designed to digest and ingest meat. All omnivorous and carnivorous animals eat their meat raw. When a lion kills an herbivore for food, it tears right into the stomach area to eat the organs that are filled with blood (nutrients). While eating the stomach, liver, intestine, etc., the lion laps the blood in the process of eating the dead animal's flesh. Even bears that are omnivores eat salmon raw. However, eating raw bloody meat disgust us as humans and would make us sick. This is why we must cook it and season it to buffer the taste of the flesh.Clearly if humans were meant to eat meat we wouldn't have so many crucial ingestive/digestive similarities with animals that are herbivores. Take a look at these differences:
Meat-eaters: have claws
Herbivores: no claws
Humans: no claws
Meat-eaters: have no skin pores and perspire through the tongue
Herbivores: perspire through skin pores
Humans: perspire through skin pores
Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing, with no flat molar teeth for grinding
Herbivores: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Humans: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Meat-eaters: have intestinal tract that is only 3 times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly
Herbivores: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Humans: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat
Herbivores: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Humans: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Meat-eaters: salivary glands in mouth not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.
Herbivores: well-developed salivary glands which are necessary to pre-digest grains and fruits
Humans: well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits
Meat-eaters: have acid saliva with no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Herbivores: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Humans: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Q: Where do you get your protein?
A: There are many sources of protein that are not only found in animal flesh. Plant based sources of protein can be found in the following: Tempeh, seitan, soybeans, lentils, black beans, kidney beans, veggie burgers, chickpeas, pinto beans, black eyed peas, tofu, lima beans, quinoa, bagels, peas, peanut butter, spaghetti, almonds, soy milk, almond milk, soy yogurt, bulgur wheat, sunflower seeds, whole wheat bread, cashews, almond butter, brown rice, spinach, broccoli, potato, and the list goes on!
Q: Plants are living things that feel pain, why don't you stop eating those too?
A: Plants do not have a central nervous system, they do not have a brain. They have a system of hormones, methylxanthines, alkaloids etc. that allow them to respond to the changing environment. The difference between eating plants and animals is that we must eat plants to survive and we do not need animals or their products to survive. I think it is very obvious that animals are more sentient than a plant. You can torture a cow, a plant however has no cognition of this. Plants do not exhibit any behavior which would indicate consciousness, nor does the ability to feel pain give plants an evolutionary survival advantage. An animal's survival depends on reacting to situations which may cause pain and suffering. On the other hand, plants can not run away from a predator, nor can plants change their position to avoid a forest fire. Therefore, it is unlikely that plants would develop the ability to feel pain when it confers no survival advantage.
Q: What is the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?
A: A vegan and a vegetarian share the same diet, meaning no animal products. They both eat a plant based diet. The only differences are that vegans exclude products that have been tested on animals, and they exclude animal furs, skins, and leathers. A lacto-ovo-vege-tarian chooses not to eat meat, yet allows dairy and eggs into their diet.
Q: Why do you care more about animals than people? People in this world are suffering just as much as animals.
A: There is more than enough food in the world to feed the entire human population. So why are more than a billion people still going hungry? Well, eating animal products is to blame. Huge amounts of our grain, soybeans, and corn get fed to the animals that we use for food instead of feeding starving people.It takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat—but only 25 gallons to grow 1 pound of wheat, so raising animals for food is extremely inefficient. Also, the largest user of fresh water is the livestock industry. Water is directly needed for drinking and the cleaning of animals. And that's a lot of water when we're talking about over 10 billion animals raised for food in the United States alone every year! On top of that, a large amount of fresh water is used to grow the feed that livestock animals eat. It takes a lot less water to grow grains, beans, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. So ultimately a vegan diet ends up saving people from world hunger.
Q: If everyone went vegan, wouldn't the world become overpopulated with animals?
A: First off, the only way this could ever happen is if the change took place over night, and we all know that is not possible. This type of change is something that would take many years. Slowly the demand for animal products would decrease, which would result in these companies not breeding/producing as many animals. Any leftover animals would be able to live out their lives peacefully.
Q: Whats the point of becoming vegan when the entire world will never do it?
A: People would never get anywhere in a world that thought like this. Never stop trying to achieve your goals. The first step in making a difference in this world is awareness, and you can only go up from there. People never thought slavery would end, but it did because people united against it, and spread the truth. Always try your best to cause the least amount of harm possible. Your cause will never be achievable if you don't believe in it.