Our planet craves to find a balance. A balance which must be found throughout our whole universe. So why must we cut out meat completely from our diets? Let's find an equilibrium much like our beloved home which we wish to preserve from humanity’s excessive greed and exploitation of natural resources. To reiterate my team mates point, these newfound vegetarian ideologies around saving animals from cruelty and reducing the carbon footprint are built on weak foundations. Alternative meat options such as soy contribute to far more carbon emissions than ethically and locally sourced meat. Steven Davis found that more than 6 animals are painfully and carelessly slaughtered per acre during the harvesting of soy fields. The extreme of becoming a vegetarian to “save the world” can be done through lowering your use of fossil fuels, buying free range eggs or even growing your own vegetables.
Vegetarianism may also seem appealing to those who wish to have a healthy diet or lose weight but a healthier option would be the natural one. Humans are omnivores and require protein and iron which cannot be found in that of a vegetarian diet. Archaeological evidence shows that eating meat has been an essential part of human evolution for 2.3 million years, so why stop now? Moreover, meat eating is deeply embedded into our culture. What about Türkiye for Christmas dinner or lamb for Eid? How can you deprive us of expressing our culture?
Furthermore, NLM (national library of medicine) found that individuals with an eating disorder history were 52% more likely to ever have been vegetarian and to be primarily motivated by weight related reasons. How do you feel about promoting vegetarianism to young impressionable girls desperate to fit in? These poor girls are consumed by media pressure and can lead to depression, severe eating disorders and suicide.
A few vegetarians wont help to lower our environmental footprint, why can’t we work together to find a natural, healthy and sustainable balance? Why cause these negative repercussions when we can adapt much like other areas of society? Why can’t we find cohesion? Let’s fulfil Earth's necessary equilibrium.
