• RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I am assuming this is some sort of vegan talking point that since some human teeth are mostly flat, ignoring canines and some particularly sharp front incisors, humans are supposed to eat only plants? Aren’t humans omnivores though?

    • 1stTime4MeInMCU@mander.xyz
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      1 year ago

      You are interpreting that backwards. I wouldnt say it’s a vegan talking point so much as a non vegan talking point in reverse. It’s commonly argued that because humans have canines were meant to eat meat. Whereas vegans fully acknowledge the capacity to digest meat and evolutionary history that evolved omnivorous diets (but argue the majority of (not all) people have a want rather than a need) . The vegans are just memeing back.

      • PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de
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        1 year ago

        meh I’ve heard mostly vegans make this dumbass argument.

        I definitely support vegans but I don’t support pseudoscientific bullshit no matter who says it.

          • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Multiple different things can be dumbass pseudoscience, actually. Any time someone starts talking about what humans “were meant to eat”, I’m done listening. Humans can and do survive and thrive on an extremely broad variety of diets. It’s part of why societies were able to develop in so many different places.

            • 1stTime4MeInMCU@mander.xyz
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              1 year ago

              Right, exactly. This is what I said. Humans _can _ survive on vegan diets. So the question becomes, if it’s possible to live a totally healthy normal life not eating meat, should you? This is the moral line that vegans come down on differently than the typical meat eater.

              Nobody is arguing that humans can’t eat meat or that it wasn’t beneficial for our ancestors to be able to. The question is, if it’s not required, is it moral? Btw, veganism is about harm reduction. There are people to this day in impoverished countries who are actually required to eat meat to achieve sufficient nutrient intake. You will find 99% vegans having no problem with those people. But if you live in a country with basic infrastructure you probably have enough to at least significantly reduce meat intake

              • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Another question is: if it’s moral, are you gonna do it for that reason?

                I have no arguments against veganism. Vegans are right. Yet I am not a vegan.

                • 1stTime4MeInMCU@mander.xyz
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                  1 year ago

                  This is the “fuck off, I like guns” of meat eating and pretty much the only argument I’m receptive to. I get frustrated when people argue they should be able to do things using bad arguments. But if you say, I don’t have a good argument for this but I’m gonna do it anyway, that’s at least being honest with yourself and I respect that a lot more.

              • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Hi there! You appear to be interpreting some type of meat eating ideology from my comment. Let me encourage you to take it at face value - the only intent is to criticize the idea that humans are “meant” to eat particular foods, an idea present both in the meme that started this thread and in the above mentioned paleo diet

                • 1stTime4MeInMCU@mander.xyz
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                  1 year ago

                  We are agreeing lol. My point is that vegans do not actually make this argument. I have yet to ever hear it made unironically. Sometimes it is made in jest because it is made to us with sincerity from meat eater ideology.

      • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Humans have teeth suitable for both meat and plant foods. So I would say humans are omnivores.

        I may be wrong, but a 100% vegan only diet I think requires supplements to be taken for certain things like proteins that humans need in order to live. Of course, those certain proteins are found in meats.

        However, I think saying humans are carnovires would also be incorrect, and a 100% meat only diet would be I think equally as unhealthy as a 100% plant only diet.

  • Ballistic_86@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    We aren’t carnivores, we are omnivores. An advantage that surely allowed the growth of our brains and allowed us to become the dominant species in the planet.

    Our teeth our designed in a way to both rip/tear meat and also grind up plants.

    It is great that some sector of the population can be vegetarian or vegan, but it isn’t a realistic option if everyone did so. Farming is destroying hundred of thousands of acres of land every year. Keeping up with a plant-based only diet for 8 billion people isn’t feasible with the current technology and farming practices of today.

    • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Farm animals are generally not anymore fed by grazing, but rather from crops that have been grown on farm land. The animals use up energy to sustain their own life, so eating the plants directly is actually more efficient.

      Here’s a random source, for example: https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets

      • ikidd@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        On a cow-calf operation, which is where most beef production starts, a typical cow will graze and/or eat hay for about 12 years while breeding, then get slaughtered pretty much the day they’re shipped because they aren’t worth fattening at that age, they’re just going to ground beef.

        The culls (mid-life cows, failed to get pregnant) might see a couple months of their at least 36 month existence on grain before slaughter. Older ones might just go straight to slaughter.

        Steers and cull heifers (which is most of what gets used for choice cuts like steak) typically see about 14 months typically on pasture and silage/grain being backgrounded on farm, then about 3 months being intensively fed in a feedlot at up to 80% ration before slaughter.

        So, by far, the largest proportion of feeding of most cattle is by grazing or stored forage as part of the backgrounding process. It’s only when they enter the feedlot that it becomes a grain-intense operation, and that part of the production is very short because feedlots don’t make money feeding cows from calf-age to slaughter.

        Also, many larger cow-calfs will also hold on to steers and push them, selling them as “fats”, which sees much less intense feedlot experience. This isn’t a huge proportion of the final months of most steers, but is still an appreciable proportion of the market.

        The stockyards of Kansas aren’t the typical beef production scenario. They’re just very visible.

    • StaySquared@lemmy.worldBanned
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      1 year ago

      Farming in of itself isn’t the problem, rather the process. Too many shortcuts and foreign substances, at least in the U.S.

  • pyre@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    what a stupid meme. it’s almost like sharks don’t have arms and hands so they rely on their jaws more than we do. wow look we don’t have compartments in our stomach, we must not be fit to eat plants.

    • mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yep. imagine going through life thinking all the smart people are dumb because you’re too fucking dumb to know how dumb you are.

  • paultimate14@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Is this an argument that humans did not evolve to eat meat? Because those teeth… Well let’s just say the teeth shown aren’t what you expect from an herbivore now, is it? Put those on a cow and they would look just as strange.

    • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Nah, it’s just mocking the people who claim humans have to eat meat, because evolution/god/whatever gave us teeth to chew meat.

      It is correct that our teeth do allow chewing meat (since we are omnivores), but yeah, taking the teeth as basis for any argumentation, that’s just ridiculous.

  • AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Vegans who actually believe what they preach spend more time on education and less on shaming or meaningless memes.

    This is just posturing.

        • chetradley@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I think you’re hitting on an interesting concept with regards to activism: that it can be categorized into actions that raise awareness, and actions that provide education.

          Take, for example, this story about climate activists blocking traffic in Amsterdam to protest ING’s financing of fossil fuels exploration. Though you may disagree with the methods used in the protest, it’s hard to deny the success of it based on the national attention it drew. Because of it, more people who are opposed to the idea of expanding fossil fuel use are aware of ING’s funding of it.

          I think very few people would say that they are now in favor of fossil fuel exploration, or simply do not care to learn more about environmentalism due to the controversial actions of the protesters.

          I suppose my question for you is, what would have made you want to seek more information about veganism, and what about this post made you suddenly not want to lean more?

          • Jimmyeatsausage@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            There’s a pretty big gap “making it on the news to raise awareness for your cause” and “mastabatory shitposting on social media”

            dude isn’t sneaking video evidence of wrongdoing out of a factory farm… just photoshopping bad dentures on sharks.

            I agree that any movement needs both friendly and provocative advocacy to affect change, but the only thing these types of posts accomplish is helping OP feel superior.

          • AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I can tell you what has led me towards veganism: Friends who knew how to make amazing vegan food. Knowing how to do it economically. Understanding the nutrition concerns and how to work around them. Access to good ingredients. Ways to slowly eat more vegan without rigidly jumping into it. Seeing the environmental impact. Seeing how animals are typically raised and slaughtered. Growing my own veggies and/ or participating in community gardens, etc.

            I said I didn’t want to learn more about OP or their perspective. Personally, I already know quite a bit about how to eat vegan… which isn’t, by the way, the same thing as veganism.

            Calling this activism is a stretch at best.

    • MilitantVegan@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Veganism isn’t a religion. It’s a simple moral framework, a practical moral baseline, and a social movement like any other. Would you call a social justice, anti-genocide, or lgbtq+ rights advocate a religious zealot?

      • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Suuure.

        And not all social justice advocates treat it like a religion. But some do.

        Also, trying to compare veganism, a system of belief, to genocide resistance and human rights is absurd to the point that it exactly makes my point.

        There is no world in which fighting genocide is the same thing as avoiding animal products. None, no way, no how. The arrogance of your statement is so far beyond the usual responses my little troll statement gets that I’m outright flummoxed. I can’t believe anyone would be that stupid, that arrogant, that ridiculous.

        And that goes just as much for lgbt+ rights. You are outright absurd making that comparison.

        And that absurdity is exactly why veganism is a religion to way too many vegans. Like, I’m not anti vegan, I know and love many, I just like getting online vegans riled up for entertainment. But you jumped the damn shark big time homie. That kind of thinking, that’s why people that hate vegans hate them.

        Man, I find it hard to not just start calling you names because damn, son.

      • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        If they act like a zealot, then yes. Most, like most vegans, are not zealots and we can have a great conversation. Your name gives me the feeling that a productive conversation might be difficult. But, I’ll try my best. 😁

        • MilitantVegan@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 year ago

          I chose my username to make fun of all the people who categorize vegans as militant anytime we speak out at all. It’s to highlight that the only vegan who isn’t seen that way is a vegan who stays silent and does nothing to speak out against the atrocities being committed against animals.

      • khorak@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        You are completely ignoring the fact, that for many it is too time consuming and involved to go vegan. And then you are imposing your belief that others should invest the same amount of resources, be it time or money, or they are worse human beings not caring about animals. In other words, being able to switch your diet is usually a sign of at least slight financial privilege. I just had some tofu so you don’t have to preach to me. But let others be and do not compare veganism to anti-genocide. It is absolutely ridiculous.

        • MilitantVegan@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 year ago

          Don’t compare veganism to anti-genocide? My anointed sibling (gnostic gender-neutral idioms >> orthodox gendered ones), every animal product eater/user is complicit in the largest perpetual genocide in human history.

          https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Hershaft

          In the first place remember that veganism isn’t only about diet. And it’s about doing the best that you can, with what you have. Not everyone can go fully vegan, and that’s understandable and okay as long as they’re doing their best.

          Also, I’ve never owned property. I’ve never worked a job that paid enough to afford it (or rent) on my own. When I started transitioning my diet, it was when I had switched jobs to a factory setting with 40-48 hour work weeks (post-covid it was almost always 48 hours), 10 hour shifts on my feet all day. Prior to that I was dependent on eating fast food every day (with predictable rapidly declining health). I also lived in a food desert where going vegan meant that I had zero options for takeout.

          I had no one in my life willing to help, in fact all the people around me made it even harder to change. I also have adhd, and can’t stand the concept of meal prep. So what I did was save up for an Instant Pot, and started making the largest batches of grains and legumes that I could, along with frozen veggies (mainly broccoli). I generally cooked only once a week, and then would combine the helpings of leftovers in different ways each day (to keep it from getting too boring) for both my work lunches and dinners.

          And I also sought community. Having vegan friends helps immensely.

          Don’t assume that I’m as privileged as you think just because I’m vegan. On the other hand I know there are too many people who are far worse off than I am, and everyone who is struggling too much to go fully vegan should never be condemned, on the contrary we should seek to help - because our current food system is killing everyone who is most disadvantaged and impoverished.

          Our capitalist wasteland, particularly when you factor in health outcomes, means it’s even more important to at least go plant-based (not the same thing as veganism), and to help others do the same.

          https://www.theyretryingtokillus.com/fact-sheet

  • StaySquared@lemmy.worldBanned
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    1 year ago

    Humans are omnivores. No way lefties are revising science on this too… right?

    Right?

  • The2b@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Nah, don’t you understand? I’m literally designed to hunt and kill animals, just like other predators.

    This gun? Well how else am i supposed to kill them? I don’t have any sort of claws or sharp teeth or anything designed to kill animals for sustinence

    What do you mean why am i cooking the meat? I’ll get sick if i don’t, just like every other predator on the planet. Plus, i couldn’t even chew it if it were raw.

    And all that is assuming natural = moral, which, if your moral code is equivilant to a lions, is not compatible with society. But it’s convenient to not change most people’s behavior, so they’re cool ignoring the logical conclusion of that argument.