Keith,
Along with active and informed opposition to factory farming, industrialised farming and the food industry, that might be more effective than just condemning meat and meat-eaters. "Meat is bad" vs "Do you know where that meat you're eating comes from?" That particular meat.
First, I never said "Meat is bad". What I did say was "Frankly, I can't imagine meat remaining a staple for much longer as it is just not a sustainable food source." What I should have said is "Frankly, I can't imagine meat remaining a staple for much longer as it is just not a sustainable food staple." Humans can eat meat sustainably when, as we both have stated, it is eaten in moderation and is carefully farmed. As a matter of fact, my children eat meat and dairy as well. My choice to not eat meat is exactly that - my choice. I am careful about where it comes from, though, when they do eat it. The point being, from the beginning, that we Americans need to learn to eat less meat and less dairy. I'm not sure what the conditions are where you live but, where I live, try finding anything that doesn't contain either meat or dairy at a restaurant.
In regards to the lack of traditionally vegetarian societies, isn't the Hindu community primarily meat-free? In fact aren't there many Asian cultures that incorporate little to no meat in their diets and have so for centuries if not longer? I have come to understand that meat as a food, has in many cultures, been more of a matter of convience for ages. A goat is food that could transport itself and also remains fresh without refrigeration until you are ready to eat it. I may not understand your meaning of a traditional vegetarian society or maybe I'm just wrong.
When properly produced, dairy products are valuable food. They're an important part of sustainable agriculture, without them farming is less sustainable.
What exactly, makes dairy products more valuable than other foods? Lets say grains for instance? How much wheat could be grown with the same water that is required to produce a gallon of milk? I have read quite a bit on this subject. My findings seem to keep indicating that the yields of grains are much higher with same water inputs. And as we all know water is one of our very most valuable resources. Likewise, I have read many times that dairy cattle tend to require a considerable amount of medication and I see no indication that cattle raised for organic milk are immune to that trend. I suppose that you might be correct about in that without dairy, agriculture becomes less sustainable. That is assuming that by this statement you mean that the milk would be wasted or that it is a resource left unexploited but, I think that a tremendous amount of research would need to be completed to determine the validity of that statement. A lactating cow's manure contains less nutrients to be returned to the soil because she is putting every possible nutrient into her milk to nurture her young. So her value to soil fertilization is reduced. Additionally, when considering the additional water consumed by the cow to produce the milk, is the milk of a greater value than the grain that you might be storing for the winter? How do you quantify these factors?
I am pretty sure that our thinkings on these issues are fairly well in line with one another. For the record, I never said that milk was bad either, only that Americans in general consume entirely too much of it. Ultimately, this is a decision for the person making it, not me..
Take care, Ken _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
