Meat? Environmentally friendly?

[kurite]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/06/meat-production-veganism-deforestation

[TylerDurden]

The writer is a fool. He recommends that pigs eat rendered meats, yet hasn't seemed to grasp the rather obvious fact that the main reason why BSE got started in cows was because they ate rendered meats. Pigs in the wild eat raw meats, not rendered meats, so would inevitably get prion-related illnesses if fed on rendered meats.

[kurite]

I thought prions came from already infected animals? Rendering meat does not produce prions does it?

[TylerDurden]

I thought prions came from already infected animals? Rendering meat does not produce prions does it?

  I suspect it makes things worse. After all, prions are altered proteins, and heat denatures proteins too.

[Sitting Coyote]

There's no relationship between prions and cooking.  Let's put that to rest.  Two entirely separate issues.

It's always risky to base one's judgment of a book on the summary made by a reviewer, particularly a journalist.  Journalists, in my experience, are not the brightest lot and often make errors of interpretation.  I haven't read the book yet myself, but until I do I will not comment on it per se.  Except to say that it's on my list of things to read, and has successfully bumped several other books and articles so as to end up very near the top.

[Michael]

I'm not sure I'd jump to the conclusion that the writer is a fool?!  Were you referring to Monbiot or Simon Fairlie TD?  There seems to be a great deal of (what should be!) common sense in there.  Much of which, I'm sure, many of us here have realised for some time. Of course, some ridiculous stuff too but that's to be expected.   I'd be interested to read this myself.

Thanks for the link kurite.

Has anybody else here read the book yet?

[Brother]

well he is certainly the proud owner of a pair of these regardless.

[TylerDurden]

At the very least, the writer is a fool for recommending that pigs eat rendered meats. Pigs in the wild eat raw meats not rendered meats. As regards prions , it's been  shown that prions are remarkably unaffected by cooking/rendering, so that eating pork from pigs fed on rendered sterilised meats would make no difference, and still give them a good chance of getting BSE, despite the writer's claims. After all, humans get BSE from eating meats too, if from unhealthy grainfed cattle. Pigs, too, are fed on lots of grains.

[RawZi]

    I went to this one doctor, I think I needed an ex-ray or something.  Anyway, when I told her I eat raw meat she told me raw meat has prions and I should eat it cooked.  I got the ex-ray done, and then they wouldn't give me the copies nor the results even though my insurance was not in question and they got paid up front.

    I'm eating raw beef brain now.  It didn't eat cooked.  The cow it came from ate fresh grass only all Summer and Spring etc.  The problem I see is the shards of metal in it.  If I swallow any of that metal could that get the wrong micro-organisms to grow?  My son thinks the little shards could cut my insides, that they are dangerous.  I don't think I swallowed any of them + I don't believe they'll cut/hurt me that way, I made sure not to swallow the tiny things once I realized they were there.  Why do they bother raising a cow wholly on grass and then leave bullet shards or blade shards? (and not warn me!)

    Yep, I don't think that's smart at all, rendering meat for a pig to eat and then eating the pig cooked or raw.  I don't know how messed up some people think apparently.  I was just watching a video.  This MD was saying all meat (everywhere always was) is unhealthy and all dietary fat (for all time) is unhealthy.  What does he think people are made of?  We are flesh and fat.  He obviously has unconscious disdain for what he's a physician for or only looks at cooked and not his patients, eyes that will not see anything real.  I say a doctor like that is not environmentally friendly if he can't look at a potential patient.  No person who only looks at cooked and is afraid to see real animal life can be all there.  Heaven help us.

    This world is becoming more and more plastic due to human intervention.  I wish people would get over the cooking kick already.

[kurite]

If this article will shut up some of the "if you kill animals than your killing the earth" eco vegans than I'm adding it to my collection whether or not there are controversies that most vegans wouldn't even know about.

[Michael]

Quite right kurite!  That's the essence of what's important in this work and, although it's something we all know very well, it's not something that most people are aware of.  With any luck, it will provide the information to the masses of how and why the eco vegan argument is factually incorrect and leave it dead in the water.

Of course, the guy is incorrect about feeding rendered feed to pigs and, I'm sure, about alot of other stuff too.  I'm not quite sure this qualifies him as a fool though TD.  We all have a history of making statements based on our existing knowledge as, indeed, Monbiot did with his original stance on this same subject.  I'm sure you and I have done so in the past and probably do so now too.  Are we all fools or are we all equally prone to making incorrect judgements based on invalid information?

Shards of metal in the brain RawZi?!  My goodness!  I hope you wisely chose not to eat it.

[donrad]

The worst thing humans ever did to this planet was plow up the grasslands to plant grains and legumes. It has destroyed the topsoil and poluted the water. The result is overpopulation of degenerating sick people eating the crops. Fertile lands have been turned into deserts. We feed the grains to animals which is not their natural diet which makes them sick also. The depleted soil kept in production with pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers gives us sick plants. Our food is no longer healthy.

If we return from grains and legumes to pastures the balance will return as nature intended. We would not be able to sustain this level of world human population, but that would be good for the earth.

Vegetarianism is not environmentally friendly.

[RawZi]

Quite right kurite!  That's the essence of what's important in this work and, although it's something we all know very well, it's not something that most people are aware of.  With any luck, it will provide the information to the masses of how and why the eco vegan argument is factually incorrect and leave it dead in the water.

... Shards of metal in the brain RawZi?!  My goodness!  I hope you wisely chose not to eat it.

    Once I realized there was metal, I paid closer attention.  I found several more shards.  I put all I identified aside, didn't eat them.  I hope I hadn't swallowed metal before i realized there was metal there.

[yon yonson]

The worst thing humans ever did to this planet was plow up the grasslands to plant grains and legumes. It has destroyed the topsoil and poluted the water. The result is overpopulation of degenerating sick people eating the crops. Fertile lands have been turned into deserts. We feed the grains to animals which is not their natural diet which makes them sick also. The depleted soil kept in production with pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers gives us sick plants. Our food is no longer healthy.

If we return from grains and legumes to pastures the balance will return as nature intended. We would not be able to sustain this level of world human population, but that would be good for the earth.

Vegetarianism is not environmentally friendly.

very well said! it's hard to understand how the radical environmental vegans miss this... sad. i'm reading 'collapse' by jared diamond right now which covers many historical collapses. it seems like every single one is partly due to deforestation and plowing up grasslands for agriculture: easter island, maya, anasazi, etc