Oh Minister Gail Shea. What have you done now?

[Karnith]

Yeah, she's a bit daft. I would go vegetarian, but meat is just so tasty.....

You don't have to go vegetarian. Eat local and eat organic and you're doing as much help as a vegetarian. As a planet we can't keep on churning meat out like this.

Well, now, that's an interesting statement. If you eat organic (by which I assume you mean something to the effect of "naturally grown" fruits and vegetables; I have no idea what a non-organic cow would be), you're actually increasing production inefficiency. Do you know why most large-scale farms use things like pesticides? Because they make the food less likely to contain natural sicknesses (which is what happens when you fertilize food with regular old manure) and increase the likelihood that the food will survive, both of which help the world's food and health problem far more than avoiding the possible sickness ingesting preservatives and pesticides might cause after a lifetime of ingestion.

And, because I love a good humor magazine (no, unfortunately this isn't the Escapist), check this [http://www.cracked.com/article_16078_the-5-most-ridiculously-over-hyped-health-scares-all-time_p5.html]. Or, if you want a more factual basis from a respectable source (i.e. a man who is a professor of pathology, and seems to have been knighted to boot) for why pesticides aren't all bad, look at this [http://www.fightingdiseases.org/main/bulletins.php?bulletin_id=1193066533].

As for locally grown, it's possible that you will benefit from growing things locally, but unlikely. You see, unless you happen to live near prime grazing land for cows (and other animals, but cows are a good example, so I'll stick with it), there is someone who will be able to raise cows better than you will be able to. Meaning that he'll either be able to raise more than you, or they'll be healthier due to more abundant food, or whatever. The point is, it's almost always better to let the people who focus on meat production dominate that market than to let a local farmer do it. By the by, I am only taking 100-level Economics courses, so if an actual economics expert wants to correct me on this logic, feel free to.

For the record, though, you are correct about wasting food for beef and other meats. It is a rather abominable waste of food. But it's so tasty...

And, more on topic, when did getting pied in the face go from slapstick to terrorism?

Well organic farming can use certain pesticides that aren't really. I think some brands of vegetable oil and whatnot can kill off the insects or at least detract them. They get other insects to kill off the ones that would eat the plants. They also use leaf litter as an integral part of growing crops. They really just take out the unnatural elements and put in things that nature already does.

I don't think all pesticides are bad. I eat non-organic foods as well. Though natural is a step up as well.

Organic cows are basically cows fed organic food. Organic also implies natural, so no growth hormones, etc. Remember mad cow, that was not organic food.

Anyway, thanks for the post and the links.

My main point was that a lot of the people who insist on only consuming natural/organic fruits and vegetables and then claim that it's healthier and better for production probably don't know all of the facts. From what I've heard and read, pesticides are usually preferable to organic methods because they are cheaper and are more efficient. But that's entirely anecdotal, and I don't really feel like looking up statistics comparing the two.

Well, a major problem in Mad Cow disease was the protein build-ups that resulted from feeding cows beef. A similar disease [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)] (sorry for sourcing Wikipedia, but I want to get some sleep soon; I've got morning classes) has been found among cannibal tribes in Papua New Guinea, and a fairly-reputable theory postulates that it is this cannibalism that causes the disease. Since cows were often fed beef, it has been theorized that Mad Cow Disease was caused by "cow cannibalism." My point is that there is scientific debate as to whether artificial elements added to the cows was to blame, or whether it was just feeding cows other cows.

And you're welcome, I guess. I wasn't really being topical, but what does that really matter?

EDIT: Oh, and if you've ever been on a liquid diet (as I was for a while because of a certain operation that I had to undergo), you really don't want to have to be on an all-liquid diet. I felt hunger pangs almost constantly. It was actually painful.

 

[Aerodyamic]

Yeah, she's a bit daft. I would go vegetarian, but meat is just so tasty.....

You don't have to go vegetarian. Eat local and eat organic and you're doing as much help as a vegetarian. As a planet we can't keep on churning meat out like this.

If North Americans reduced their protein intake 10% over the next year, enough water and arable land would be preserved to feed about the same number of people that will starve, during that same year. I'm not going to stop eating meat, but I'd rather buy local produce and meat, and where possible, I'd like to directly support the local farmers.

That said, I'll be installing lots of those energy-saving features in my new house.

 

[Zetsubou]

EDIT: Oh, and if you've ever been on a liquid diet (as I was for a while because of a certain operation that I had to undergo), you really don't want to have to be on an all-liquid diet. I felt hunger pangs almost constantly. It was actually painful.

Stole the reply from my mouth. Liquid diets are not good, I've known friends on them and they have testified to it sucking (lolpun).

 

[RootbeerJello]

I love the quote from PETAs president "...unable to tell the difference between a bomb and a tofu cream pie."

...

It must be tofu. Always.

 

[Death on Trapezoids]

Actually, this reminded me about an interesting little tid bit:
when PETA went to buy peta.org all those years ago, they found it had already been bought-by a man who had it as, you guessed it, People Eating Tasty Animals. I don't remeber if he sold it to them or not.

 

[quiet_samurai]

PETA sucks.
Alot of the things you are told about "going organic" is bullshit. Now not all of it, but alot of it.

 

[Gadzooks]

Would you be OK with chicky-nobs, as in Margret Atwoods futuristic production of meat via genetic altering of the chicken to not feel pain, and be nothing more than a ball of meat and a nutrient receptical?

People will always eat meat, and as unappealing as chicky-nobs sound, I think if you want people to fold to a vegetarian agenda, the closest thing you might get is some genetic horror show that cuts out any pain and maybe gasses produced by the livestock.

Still, it's an equally horrific thought, and I'll keep eating meat because it tastes good and I'm fairly sure humans are meant to be omnivorous.

 

[Jadak]

Fortunately, I don't care at all about this. Good for the world, bad for the world, I don't give a shit, I like a good steak.

 

[AvsJoe]

Companies like Monsanto are not helping this.

I don't really care one way or the other about the topic or this thread but I ask you to edit your post before someone gets offended. I know you don't mean anything by it but you should change it nonetheless.