I was there! It was incredible! :)

http://www.meat.org

http://www.peta2.com

Now I’m supposed to woryy about the feeling of chickens?

PETA advocates, et.al.

Not eating meat will not end hunger on the planet, contrary to the opinions of PETA and Mr Friedrice. Mr. Friedrice makes the assertion that “a tremendous waste of grain and energy is required to feed animals for people to eat. Extra stages of production are required — such as shipping the food, using fossil fuels and growing the crops that people could eat directly.” These “extra stages of production required” apply equally well to move bulk grains from areas of surplus to other areas of need.

First, consider the logical fallicy contained in Mr. Friedrice’s statement. Transportation of any food source from an area of surplus to an area of need requires additional processing steps and expenditure of energy. After all, if you are experiencing famine, you clearly have neither grain nor meat and food in any form must be shipped to you or you will starve.

Second, consider that the transportation of bulk grains has always been and remains inefficient. Vermin (bugs, rats, mice, toxic molds, etc) get into the grain during storage and transportation, making it unfit for human consumption. Repeated use of bulk handling methods for transferring grains (from farm to local wholesaler, to regional wholesaler, to transoceanic shipping, to dock unloading, hauling and redistribution in the “hungry country”, et. al.) severly damage and degrade both the economic and nutrient value of the grains. Each step in storage, handling, and shipping requires large amounts of energy to effect the transfers. Between vermin contamination, loss of time dependent nutrients, and physical degradation of the grains from repeated handling and storage, large losses from the original volume of useable grain and their nutrient values are incurred. Huge total amounts of energy are expended to transport the large volume, low energy, high loss, incomplete protein grains from one country to another. Bulk shipping of grains from countries of surplus to countries in need is the truly inefficient distribution model, by all measures! Mr. Friedrice’s opinions on behalf of PETA are unsubstantiated and pathetically misleading.

Conversely, local production of food from both animals and grain is efficient. Since the dawn of farming, local surplus grains have been used efficiently by farmers as feedstock for food and work animals, fermenting favored beverages, and making their daily bread. Having the family cow and calf eat the surplus grain is always better than letting the rats get it! Most importantly, meat provides complete proteins, essential amino acids, and a better dietary balance overall when fresh grains and vegetables were not available. Their livestock converted the surplus incomplete grain porteins into complete meat proteins, providing a far more efficient and potent food reserve during long winters and harsh times. The livestock also generate a large amount of “fertilizer”, effectively used locally by the farmers to enhance grain growth the next year. They could even fertilize a few flowering plants around the family yurt, to keep the Misses happy! The flawed policies espoused by PETA and Mr Friedrice are in direct opposition to exactly the kind of self sustaining practices espoused by our “think local, think green” philosophers!

Third, consider that your local grocer is stocked with fresh greens, grains, vegetables and meat year round. It is only fair to apply the same burden of Mr. Friedrice’s “extra processing steps and energy costs” to those food commodites as well. How many extra processing steps and how much more energy is expended to bring fresh Chilean grapes, Japanese seaweed, and Mexican jicama to Madison WI in February? Without fresh vegetables from far away places, the Vegan diet becomes much more difficult to sustain in February in Wisconsin! If you wish to use canned vegetables, their transportation costs are no different than canned meats. The Vegan diet and PETA et.al are “tried and found guilty” by the very anti-meat assertions made by Mr. Friedrice!

What are we left with? Some people don’t think it is “right” to kill animals for food. Some poeple do. Each is entitled to enjoy their personal dietary choice without ranchor from the other. We must all learn to embrace diversity, right? Right???

There’s room for all God’s Creatures, Right next to the carrots and potatoes!

Invictus Maneo

“He said a tremendous waste of grain and energy is required to feed animals for people to eat. Extra stages of production are required — such as shipping the food, using fossil fuels and growing the crops that people could eat directly.”

And it also gives millions and millions and millions of people jobs, income, and the ability to own property.

Pay no attention to Bruce Friedrich. He has advocated terrorism as “a great way to bring about animal liberation.”

Thanks PETA, you just got me in the mood for a nice, thick, juicy steak.

Just because it gives millions of people jobs and income doesn’t mean it’s the best diet. The fact that a diet free of meat, dairy, and eggs is ultimately healthier and more ecologically sustainable cannot be denied. Because a movement towards vegan diets in the mass public will not occur overnight, there is more than enough time for others to adjust economically.