Why would you be a vegetarian much less vegan?

We are omnivores not herbivores. I am not bashing I would just like an insight. I love animals too but I also love the thrill of the hunt, and the taste of meat so I can build muscle. Also, there are animals that would eat you in a second and not worrry about human rights.

Just because you can eat meat doesn't mean you have too.Eating meat doesn't build muscle,lifting weights does.Animals don't what is wrong or right and don't have morals,they eat because they have to,whether it be a human or animal they eat.

Environment
1.Half of all the water consumed in the US is used by animal agriculture
2.For every 1 acre of land cleared for urban development,7 are cleared to grow feed for livestock or grazing land for livestock
3.The livestock population in the US create 140 times the excrement as the human population of the US
4.Food for a vegan for 1 year can be produced on only 1/6 of an acre of land, while it takes 3 1/4 acres of land to produce food for a meat-eater for one year.

Health
1.鈥淚t is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.鈥?br>
鈥淲ell-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.鈥?br>
World Hunger
1.Out of the 40 poorest countries,we buy grain from 38 of them to feed to animals so we can have meat
2.We feed more than 70 percent of the grains and cereals we grow to farmed animals, and almost all of those calories go into simply keeping the animals alive, not making them grow.
3.The world's cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people鈥攎ore than the entire human population on Earth.
4.For every 16 pounds of food you put into livestock,you only get one pound back of edible flesh

US Beef Isn't Safe(I believe it isn't)
1.France, which has only a fraction of the U.S. cattle population, tests more cattle in a single week then the U.S. has tested in a decade
2.According to Europe's latest annual report, Europe is testing cattle at a rate of almost two thousand times that of the United States
3.Almost all fattening beef cattle, all dairy calves and all adult dairy cows raised conventionally are fed meat and bone meal in the United States
4.Under the 1997 feed regulations, the FDA specifically allowed the feeding of chicken litter to cattle to continue, even if the chickens had just been fed meat and bone meal made from cattle remains
5.The U.S. also is presently testing only 1 out of every 18,000 cows slaughtered
6.In fact, the USDA, which now tests only 1 percent of all slaughtered cows
7.The USDA is run by several lobbyists,Alisa Harrison,who is now spokesperson of the USDA,was the spokesperson for the National Cattleman鈥檚 Beef Association for 15 years

Read Genesis, the first part of the bible... it explains what you're asking about. I could try to explain it myself, but you're better off interpreting it yourself.

Actually, meat-eating is a fairly recent invention. Chimps are all herbivores (with the acception of one stabbing a bushbaby or the like) and our teeth and colon anatomy support this. Granted we have made some adaptations, but animal products are still not the best option nutritionally, and phenomena like lactose-intolerance are frequent.

And regardless, who cares if it's natural? Plenty of immoral things are natural, like xenophobia (group selection), which can manifest itself in racism. Thats the beauty of humans, we are free of our instinctual tendencies. We can live happy, sustainable lives without causing pain and suffering to other sentient beings. Most animals cannot. That is why it is okay for a lion to eat a buffalo and I consider it unethical for humans to do so.

And if you are into hunting, why not go out there armed with a camera instead of a gun? You get all the merit of the sport without the inhumane treatment of the fellow animals (we are animals too you know) that we share our earth with.

If you are genuinely interested in animal rights ethics, I suggest you nab Animal Liberation by Peter Singer from your local library. It provides a sound moral argument for animal rights and illustrates the atrocities we commit everyday to further selfish human interests.

I think that we evolved as omnivores, because at one point we needed meat to survive, today that is not the case...
I don't know about that, but that is my conclusion.
I am a vegan, and I have no problem with my muscles, I work out everyday(running and biking, the occasional weight lifting) and my leg muscles are monsters, lol. So I don't think that I have a problem building muscle. And I don't know where you live, but where I live I am not fighting for my life against the wild animals, Do you live in the jungle, where every day you are fighting tigers to survive? Unless you are I don't think that you are in danger of getting eaten by a wild animal.
The main reasons I am a vegan are because I want to be healthier, I don't want to support the pointless suffering of animals, I really don't like meat.

how would u like it if some1 ate u 4 dinner?
if u want 2 build muscle eat some f**** fruits or vegys!

That is true but I am a vegetarian because of my religion and since birth I have never ever tasted meat. So therefore, how can I miss what I never had?

I have to disagree that we are meant to be omnivores. If we were, we would have a mouthful of canine teeth-instead, we have two tiny incisors and the rest of our teeth are flat like other vegetarian creatures. If we were designed to eat meat, we would posses the ability to hunt, catch, kill and consume the animal without the use of tools or cooking. Other predatory animals have that ability. And yes, if I go wandering into a bears den or pride of lions, then I fully expect to be eaten. If a cow, chicken, pig or turkey winds up in my living room, I just might rethink my vegetarian stance-but I dont plan on wandering into a bears cave, so I dont expect a bovine to turn up on my doorstep anytime soon. Humans are perfectly "designed" for gardening. We have an imposable thumb suitable for picking fruits and vegetables. You dont need meat to build muscle or for any other purpose. The vitamin B12 in meat is fed to the animals in their diet-they do not produce it naturally; Humans can consume B12 from natural sources, such as nutritional yeast. If you love the thrill of the hunt, why not go "hunting" with a camera? I dont think any living creature should have to die just in order for me to satisfy my greedy appetite. I can get everything I need from mother nature. Protein is readily available in beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, whole grains, etc. I think its selfish for an animal to have to give up its life for human lust. You say meat tastes yummy, but if you think about it, its all about the seasonings added to it. A piece of meat without even basic salt, pepper, or herbs would be boring. You can season a portabello mushroom the same way you would meat, and it will taste good. I cant find any logical argument for killing an animal for food.

1. you honestly dont need meat to build muscle. im not just saying this because im veg. 2. i dont mind that non-human animals eat meat, they live in nature, its expected. but we have stepped out of the realm of nature. we have made it so that now we dont have to kill another living thing to survive. its just not necessary. 3. if we were truly meant to eat meat, our bodies would be able to process it raw. when was the last time you saw a lion cooking his meal over an open fire? 4. i am vegan and i loooooove it! :) i feel great every morning when i wake up knowing i dont support the meat, dairy or egg industry (dairy cows and egg laying hens go straight to the meat factories once they cant give any more milk/eggs. so supporting one means you support the meat industry also. and that is why im vegan.) i love animals so i dont eat them. maybe one day you'll feel this way too. but maybe not. to each his own. have a good day!

I actually eat meat most of the time, but I do a veggie diet every spring. The difference in my body is astounding, I feel much better, but I do enjoy meat. Also, you are so very wrong that we are meant to eat meat. We have flat teeth like all other herbivores, long intestines to digest fruit and veggies, not a short intestine like all meat eaters. All meat eaters have long sharp teeth for eating meat, again, we do not. It's simply an unnecessary pleasure like many other things. So all of you who for some reason have a problem with vegetarians, find something more important to worry about, and stop saying we were MEANT to eat meat. Like that girl said, we would be able to digest it raw if that were the case. Also, no animal would ever eat a human unless under extreme duress and starvation, and they don't posses the higher intelligence of humans, so of course they wouldn't care about human rights. Get real, people.

Nuke- their are some very important reasons.
Mostly personal health issues. For several years, I could not digest meat proteins and was vegetarian by necessity.

I too was raised a hunter/ fisherman and lived on a farm and raised our own stock. Yet, I could not eat it. Go fig.

So I am still limited to my intake- due to medical reasons, yet I must admit.... I am must healthier since I have gone green. I think the cattle like me better too. They know, I'm not looking at them with BBQ on my mind.

I don't even know where to start.

Here's the deal. In the wild it's an animal-eat-animal world. But the hunted live freely. They have live out in the free.

In our case, we cram cows into cages, torture them, and killed them inhumanley. It's not right.

I don't get it. We are having fat juicy ribeyes on the grill tonight.....I don't think life would be anywhere NEAR as good without that option!!