• Tattorack@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Yes, but such arguments are misplaced. Their issue is then not with the meat industry but with the current state of the world as a whole. But because animals have a central nervous system, and people love being activists without actually doing anything, they become vegan.

    Concrete, the creation of it, and the transportation of it, is probably one of the biggest contributors to climate change. Smart devices, sneakers, t-shirts, and toys, amongst many other things, are created by what is essentially the modern day equivalent to slavery. Many exotic “superfoods” come from third world countries where the local natives can no longer afford to eat it because costs have been driven up, because it all needs to be exported so some blond chick can have it on her toast. Lithium is probably the most important resource right now, yet it’s production of it is highly destructive to the environment. Traditional farming is causing soil fatigue, contamination of ground water, and the destruction of complex ecosystems in place of monocultures, but people hate on GMOs, “chemicals”, and vertical farming.

    These are problems that effect our society and our environment that even the most militant vegans make use of on a daily basis. The lifestyle vegans have (the ones we hear about in the news and see in the Internet, not the far flung tribes or humble Buddhist monks) cannot exist without modern society. So militant vegans are hypocrites.

    • healthetank@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      I mean the difference is that concrete has a function and is largely irreplaceable. The argument most vegans make is that animals are not functionally needed in order to fulfill the “food” requirement of living. Concrete is, by large, used for houses and structures which provide shelter, and there are no viable alternatives.

      • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Not for concrete itself, but certainly how it’s produced. The largest contributing factor to the production of concrete is energy and fossil fuels.

        As for how functionality applies to meat; meat is incredibly nutrient dense, with certain vitamins, such as B12 or A, being in high quantity compared to other sources, or having certain nutrients simply not found anywhere else, such as taurine, creatine, or carnitine.

        To reduce the environmental impact of food, which applies to all food and not just meat, we need to accept the idea of not having excess of everything. We don’t need 5 different cuts of meat from 3 different brands. We don’t need 5 different kinds of apples. We don’t need a whole shopping isle filled with… Goodness knows how many different kinds of cereal.

        • healthetank@lemmy.ca
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          5 months ago

          For sure, but that applies to literally everything - decarbonization of the energy grid/moving away from gas is a huge factor for literally every aspect of life, particularly farming and red meat. The energy involved in creating meat is significantly higher than any other foods, which is why I disagreed with your point. We have an alternative for meat, but there isnt one for concrete. Using it as a comparison is a poor argument.

          Arguing that conditionally essential amino acids are not found elsewhere is a misleading argument. In addition to the fact that all of those three can be created by your body, Taurine is found in lentils, a staple of many vegan diets, seaweed can contain creatine, and carnitine can be found in trace amounts in most foods. None of them are as dense as meat, for sure, but there are numerous sources, plus supplements.

          To reduce the environmental impact of food, which applies to all food and not just meat, we need to accept the idea of not having excess of everything. We don’t need 5 different cuts of meat from 3 different brands. We don’t need 5 different kinds of apples. We don’t need a whole shopping isle filled with… Goodness knows how many different kinds of cereal.

          Definitely agree with this, but its probably just as hard a sell, and much less feasible to do on an individual level.