Part 1 of this series can be found here.
For most of history, humans have had vegetarian or near-vegetarian diets as the prominent Swedish scientist Karl von Linne states, “Man’s structure, external and internal, compared with that of the other animals, shows that fruit and succulent vegetables constitute his natural food.” There has been research and experiments done to come to this conclusion, which will be explored in part 2 of this series, as part 1 only held a minute amount of evidence.
Physically, our bodies are similar to herbivore’s, and nowhere near what is typical of meat eaters in the animal kingdom. We don’t have claws, or sharp front teeth useful for tearing flesh. We do, however, have flat rear molar teeth for grinding, and stomach acid 20 times weaker than a meat eater, like other herbivores. Whilst a short intestine is favorable to quickly digest decaying meat, we instead have an intestine 10-12 times the length of our bodies, not 3 times as long. Meat eaters don’t have the salivary glands to digest grains and fruits, like us humans and herbivores. Additionally, carnivorous animals in the wild never suffer from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, strokes, or obesity, harmful illnesses caused in humans mostly by the consumption of the saturated fat and cholesterol found in meat.
Furthermore, our natural instinct when we see an animal we could eat is not to hunt and kill it, nor do our mouths water at the sight of dead carcasses. We do not have the physical means to carry out such an attack anyway, as explained in the last paragraph, and although can now, it is only through developed means such as fire to kill pathogens. Do lions cook their meals before devouring it? Animal-based foods are not necessary for our survival, and we do not have a requirement to consume them. After all,vegetarians are just as healthy, if not healthier than their converse.
Until recently, only the richest could afford to feed, raise, and slaughter animals for meat. Meanwhile, everyone else lived on a mainly plant based diet. Until now, the latest revolution of factory farming in the meat industry, which has made meat cheap and easily available. The meat industry is now the biggest killer on animals worldwide, and as explored in my last article on the subject, unimaginably cruel. Animals have sentience just likes us, and can feel just as wide a range of emotions, such as grief, joy and empathy. There is not denying this, even if we have been brainwashed to desensitize animal deaths by the barbaric meat industry, which now provides most of the worlds meat.
Animal cruelty is the price we pay for cheap meat, and whilst many meat eaters may fight to justify themselves, nature is not in favour or the cause of our new meet eating selves.
