Researcher: Vegetarian Diet Kills Animals Too

[Theodarzna]

Source

Nobody's hands are free from the blood of other animals, not even vegetarians, he concluded. Millions of animals are killed every year, Davis says, to prepare land for growing crops, "like corn, soybean, wheat and barley, the staples of a vegan diet."

Smaller Victims

The animals in this case are mice and moles and rabbits and other creatures that are run over by tractors, or lose their habitat to make way for farming, so they are not as "visible" as cattle, he says.

And that, Davis says, gives rise to a fundamental question: "What is it that makes it OK to kill animals of the field so that we can eat [vegetables or fruits] but not pigs or chickens or cows?"

Any disruption of the land, whether it be to farm or to build subdivisions, reduces the amount of land left for other animals, resulting in the deaths of many. And Davis, a professor of animal science at Oregon State who grew up on a farm, says as a child he saw animals killed by the routine operation of farm machinery, so there's no way to have a bloodless farm.

Commentary: Mostly I bring this up to cast a bit of shade on the Vegan diet. For those believing they are saving the animals and protecting wildlife, do not be so certain. Millions of critters still perish in a combine harvester or in grain processing and general agriculture. So is it time those of us whom eat meat cease feeling any guilt? And can Vegans really claim to care without starving to death?

[Damajin]

Also, eating meat shouldn't induce pangs of guilt anyway, at least not in and of itself. However, there are possibly concerns that need to be addressed in terms of how food manufacturing industries treat animals.

Definitely, as those processing farms are pretty abhorrent. Small scale animal husbandry is coming back though, people have taken the co-op system and ran with it. It's a good sign.

[Sky High]

so farming, no matter what it is is bad for the environment, not much of a surprise.

[Theodarzna]

This seems like something that should be intuitively understood. All of life is a competition for resources. The life of one necessitates the death of others, directly or otherwise.

Also, eating meat shouldn't induce pangs of guilt anyway, at least not in and of itself. However, there are possibly concerns that need to be addressed in terms of how food manufacturing industries treat animals.

I've never felt guild, Fear maybe for were this stuff comes from perhaps.

Though I have worked with a friend whom works on a central valley farm, specifically a wheat field and the process of harvesting it actually kills a lot of field mice whom I had the displeasure of seeing mangled inside thresher blades.

That image stuck with me, mainly when one friend informed me of the virtues of veganism, and how he was saving the poor cows and chickens by living on bread and such.

[Rudkobing]

Haha. Suck it, vegans. You are no better than anybody else..

[Packing an i5]

Not sure how this could be news to anybody however those that consume meat are harming animals more because most of this new land needed for farming is to sustain livestock. Livestock consume massive amounts of Grains, soy, corn yearly. Its not the consumption of the animal when its farm raised for the intention of eating it its all the space and resources that go into selling it.

Most vegans also go the non GMO root and usually for non GMO u have to go Organic. Organic is a luxury brand that still uses pesticides and is not sustainable.

[Fargus]

This is why there's no such thing as a vegan.

[namecraft]

great research copypaste

[Soxoffender]

Source



Commentary: Mostly I bring this up to cast a bit of shade on the Vegan diet. For those believing they are saving the animals and protecting wildlife, do not be so certain. Millions of critters still perish in a combine harvester or in grain processing and general agriculture. So is it time those of us whom eat meat cease feeling any guilt? And can Vegans really claim to care without starving to death?

'Till kill' has long been understood and it's a fair response to any vegan who tries to claim that they never hurt animals and look down on those who do. Most reasonable measurements still confirm that a vegan diet causes less harm to animals though and there are philosophical reasons why a person would choose to be vegan even if they can't entirely end all the suffering they might cause.

[Deleted]

I didn't need to read this to know that vegans are odd little snowflakes.

If you care enough about cows or pigs to deny yourself delicious food you're a nut.

[Deleted]

Well thats accidents, like using cars kills people. It's completely different from keeping them in small pens and then murdering them. Sure its kinda bad but its like completely different.

Besides, Im not sure about other vegetarians but I cant eat corpses! Its not even about saving animals (although I kinda wanna do that too, just dont think one person would matter). I mean humans are not that different, and most people would freak out even thinking about preparing humans for food and eating them. Its pretty much the same reaction I get when I think about eating meat.

[The Whimsical Dwarf]

What about those who grow their own food in their backyard.

[Deleted]

Source



Commentary: Mostly I bring this up to cast a bit of shade on the Vegan diet. For those believing they are saving the animals and protecting wildlife, do not be so certain. Millions of critters still perish in a combine harvester or in grain processing and general agriculture. So is it time those of us whom eat meat cease feeling any guilt? And can Vegans really claim to care without starving to death?

True. And let's not even begin about vegans and their precious soybeans being the main reason the amazon rainforest is being deforested. Damn those naive do-gooders! They are destroying the things they stand for without even knowing it.

[Jessicka]

What about those who grow their own food in their backyard.

Their backyard exists because other animals (small mammals, and birds especially) lost the habitat that was there. They'll also use pesticides and herbicides in inappropriate and unmanaged quantities to kill off things that would otherwise interfere with their chosen crop's growth, and therefore kill off the food supply for birds and small mammals that would otherwise eat those pests - if not poisoning them directly, which is also something that happens.

This isn't news either, I linked to some Australian studies that were done a few years ago in the last Vegan thread.

[Simulacrum]

Seems like this should be immediately obvious to anyone who doesn't live their entire life under a proverbial rock.

[Bodakane]

Being vegan isn't about saving animals lives, its about doing the least amount of harm possible and the systemic abuse that feed animals suffer.

What that researcher neglects to understand is that much of the land used for crops goes to feeding livestock.

Being vegan is no different than being against dog fighting.

[Gwennie]

I'm a vegetarian. This is pretty obvious. Agriculture is very harmful, but it's impossible to live without it, at least with our population. Also, organic and gmo fear are pseudo-scientific bullshit. Though in my opinion, it's not inherently unethical to eat meat. I just made a personal choice.

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True. And let's not even begin about vegans and their precious soybeans being the main reason the amazon rainforest is being deforested. Damn those naive do-gooders! They are destroying the things they stand for without even knowing it.

Interesting, something I"ll look up.

[Aerozia]

Those deaths are unintentional. On top of that, harvesting the crops cows, pigs, chickens etc, eat are also killing those wild field animals. Still eating those intentionally killed animals is just death on top of more death, not an argument against veganism or vegans, who want to reduce suffering and not intentionally participate in it. Key word is intentional, stepping on bugs you didn't see, and tractors running over wild animals in crop harvesting is not the same as sticking a knife into a cow's throat because you like the taste of it's flesh. Those field animals also lived a life of freedom, and possibly could have escaped their death. The same cannot be said for farmed animals.

True. And let's not even begin about vegans and their precious soybeans being the main reason the amazon rainforest is being deforested. Damn those naive do-gooders! They are destroying the things they stand for without even knowing it.

Except the majority of soy is still fed to livestock, and not a necessary ingredient for a vegan diet. A lot of vegans and vegetarians do not eat it at all.

[...]Only a small portion of soy is consumed directly by humans. In fact, most of the world’s soy crop ends up in feed for poultry, pork, cattle and even farmed fish. Unbeknownst to most of us, soy is found in almost all commercially produced meat or chicken that we eat.
And unfortunately, the expansion of soy to feed the world’s growing demand for meat often contributes to deforestation and the loss of other valuable ecosystems in Latin America.

About 85 percent of the world’s soybean crop is processed into meal and vegetable oil, and virtually all of that meal is used in animal feed. Some two percent of the soybean meal is further processed into soy flours and proteins for food use.

Approximately six percent of soybeans are used directly as human food, mostly in Asia.

In South America, almost 4 million hectares of forests are destroyed every year, 2.6 million of them in Brazil alone. Although this is lower than in the 1990s, it is still far too high and can largely be blamed on heavily soy-dependent livestock farming.

Limiting consumption of animal-based food products, particularly meat, is one thing people can do to help end this devastating trend.

I can't post links to the sources, they are in the quote name instead if you wish to google them.

[Bodakane]

Dog fighting doesn't taste good.

Right, you eat meat for enjoyment and people fight dogs for enjoyment. Its no different.

Except 15 billion animals are slaughtered every year and most of those go through the factory farm process which is every bit as bad and sometimes worse than what a dog fighting dog goes through.

[Jessicka]

Those deaths are unintentional. On top of that, harvesting the crops cows, pigs, chickens etc, eat are also killing those wild field animals. Still eating those intentionally killed animals is just death on top of more death, not an argument against veganism or vegans, who want to reduce suffering and not intentionally participate in it. Key word is intentional, stepping on bugs you didn't see, and tractors running over wild animals in crop harvesting is not the same as sticking a knife into a cow's throat because you like the taste of it's flesh. Those field animals also lived a life of freedom, and possibly could have escaped their death. The same cannot be said for farmed animals.

Except the majority of soy is still fed to livestock, and not a necessary ingredient for a vegan diet. A lot of vegans and vegetarians do not eat it at all.

I can't post links to the sources, they are in the quote name instead if you wish to google them.

They also shoot and poison animals that would encroach on their crops, and where they're stored. That is very deliberate.