Welcome to Gaia! ::

I see your point, but I feel my period IS gross. ;_;
Its annoying too, but okay. I don't want to eat chicken ovulation, if you wanna put it that way too.
(I'd be very disturbed if someone wanted to EAT my period blood or eggs from ovulation, but that may be just a personal opinion) razz

In many parts of africa, in order to survive crop infestations, they eat the bugs, infact, cicadas are considered a rare delicacy. Atleast according to the book, "Things Fall Apart."

You pointed out some good reasons that this is invalid, but another point would be that, since they focus on the people who ate the most meat having more heart disease problems, those people probably eat more in general, causing obesity, which can also be a factor in heart disease.

Perhaps is the other way around. Those who say it in jest probably want to gross people out, but then again, why is it that women have to keep their periods secret? Society has constructed it as a 'dirty thing' but it's natural, it shouldn't be 'dirty'. I feel strong promoters of vegan diets are trying to socially construct that 'meat is dirty' too.

And the same thing can be said about plants.

I don't have issues with vegetarians or vegans only the ones that follow me around Campus Life time or during Earth-day when i already said 'No thank you I'm happy with my diet, besides I can't eat half the things you recommend me.' Then I turn around to them and say. "A fruit is a swollen ovary."

I'm terribly rude sometimes, and I feel guilty for it too. I remember this one guy followed me for 5 minutes. @.@ 5 minutes! That's a long time showing me pamphlets when I'm trying to buy food. "You know a the inside of a pomegranate looks vaguely similar to a particular male reproductive structure." I need to find a new tactic to get them away from me.

Quoting the comparison: "Imagine a plate of boiled meat compared to a bowl of fresh fruit. Which looks more appetizing?"

to take away most seriousness I remember someone telling me this. I had responded to them "What kind of boiled meat?"

They responded "Any kind chicken, pork, beef...."

"Duck? If its chicken I'd eat it. If its beef I'd eat it. If its duck I'd definitely eat it. Pork not so much because I don't like port to begin with."

They asked me 'Why'

My answer: had something to do with the poorly made dishes on campus. I come from a house hold that doesn't eat meat often. So getting something is a treat. >.> I don't think they take that into consideration either. That in some cultures, meat is a treat or only for special occasions.

Oh lord. I'm sure this has been addressed, but I can't wait to finish reading the thread.

You know that keeping animals is actually a lot LESS energy efficient than growing your food, right? Because what do those animals eat? A lot of grass, and in the US corn. Indeed they can break down those grasses in ways our human digestive system could not. But the same space of land used to support those animals could support at-least as many humans through the entire year, if used wisely, many more.

There's something called the food pyramid.
http://www.science-art.com/gallery/31/31_7112003035.jpg

Now, in some cases, like the habitats of sharks, there are exceptions, where the apex predators actually make up a lot of biomass, but that is because they are eating and contributing back so much. But that is not the state of our ecostystem. Our metabolisms are much higher and less efficient.

In the third world, if you could somehow afford to keep a cow or goat, you'd be keeping it alive for milk, and valuable offspring. That is a LUXURY.

And to anyone who would, though I haven't seen a single argument about it yet, state that b12 deficiencies are the real downfall of a natural vegan diet: Did you know that in the third world, lack of modern hygiene practices actually makes veganism completely sustainable, with no supplements? I found it fascinating.

As for me, I don't mind some eggs and kosher cheese. In-fact, I eat eggs every day.