[extropy-chat] what is the upside / advantage of meat ?

[Joseph Bloch]

Brian Lee wrote:

>At least historically animal products were useful in converting vegetable 
>matter that humans couldn't digest (grass, straw, etc) into protein, milk, 
>fuel, etc.
>
>I've found that it is certainly easier, in the US, to get one's nutrients 
>through meat than through vegetable substitutes. Not to mention the cultural 
>constraints of not eating meat.
>
>So path of least resistance leads to meat being consumed, historically and 
>currently.
>
>I too, know some beefy, strong lifelong pure vegetarians so it is certainly 
>possible (look at the population of India).
>

Just a point of fact, here; the population of India is not vegetarian by 
any stretch of the imagination. Hindus eschew beef, but many eat lamb 
and pork (and other face-bearing critters) quite happily. Not to mention 
the 130+ million Muslims in India, who eat beef but don't eat pork, etc.

I'm following the discussion on the merits of vegetarianism vs. 
omnivorism with great interest (being a committed omnivorre myself, 
purely from a basis of culture and personal bias, I freely admit); just 
wanted to point out a slight misconception.

I think Brian's first paragraph (quoted above) encapsulates the 
long-term benefits of eating meat nicely. More biomass becomes available 
to humans for consumption, and from the human point of view, that's a 
good thing. And is, indirectly, perhaps a rationalist argument for 
consuming grass-fed vs. grain-fed beef, although it seems that the 
logical conclusion of that line of thinking would be to simply replace 
vegetation which is not human-consumable with that which is. I'm not 
sure I'm ready at this stage for a lawn of wheat, however...

Joseph