"LizH228" > wrote in message
...
> Here is a letter to the editor taken out of yesterday's Denver paper
(Rocky
> Mountain News):
> Letters to the Editor, February 10
> February 10, 2004
>
> Worldwide vegan diet would be catastrophic
>
> With the recent mad cow disease scare I've noticed a lot of people have
> suggested that we all eat vegetarian. Let's think about that for a minute.
Here
> are a few reasons why a total vegetarian planet would be a horrific idea:
>
> 1. We would have to clear billions of acres of land, rainforests, national
> parks, etc., to make room to grow crops.

Wrong. If you consider the gross inefficiency of cattle as converters of
grain to meat, we probably already have enough agricultural land to feed
everyone on the planet several times over.

> 2. Deer, elk, cattle, sheep, goats, etc., would wreak havoc on those crops
> because their natural food source would no longer be available to them. We
> would not like that and we would insist that someone do something about
it.
> What do we do? Shoot them? Chase them away? To where? We would come to
look at
> them as "pests." These predators would eventually become extinct due to
lack of
> natural prey.

There would be a reduction of livestock if we didn't eat them for meat.
Wildlife would have more habitat in the reclaimed farmland.

> Until then, I'm sure they would find humans pretty tasty.

Deer, elk, cattle, sheep, and goats don't eat people. :^)

> 3. Without humans and predators keeping down their populations, deer, elk,
> etc., will die from sickness, disease and overcrowding, eventually
becoming
> extinct themselves.

Without livestock, predators of deer and elk (which were "controlled" almost
to extinction to protect livestock interests) could return to help regulate
the population, as was intended by nature.

> 4. With no room to breed livestock, many goods and foodstuffs, like wool
and
> dairy products, will no longer be available.

There would be plenty of room to breed livestock for dairy and non-food
products.

> 5. Our oceans would be fished to extinction. Yes, all the vegetarians I
know
> eat fish and seafood.

I'm guessing the author doesn't know many vegetarians (or the few he does
know really ****ed him off, prompting him to write the letter!). The demand
for seafood products would be greatly diminished since most vegetarians
DON'T eat seafood.

> 6. Without rainforests, global warming will accelerate out of control,
creating
> floods in many parts of the world and drought in others.

I suppose the author reasons that rainforests would be eliminated to support
his first fallacy, which is untrue. Unfortunately, a larger reason for the
destruction of rainforests is increasing human population and the resulting
sprawl into new territories. Also the demand for tropical hardwood products.

> 7. What would happen if we had a drought? A lot of human deaths would
occur, of
> course, but our crops will die, too. The planet will become a desiccated
> tinderbox waiting for something to ignite it.

Well, at least the floods would help to extinguish the raging fires. :^)

> Human beings are omnivores, meaning we eat fruits, vegetables, nuts . . .
and
> meat. If you wish to eat vegetarian, fine. In fact, if we all decided to
be
> totally carnivorous (eating only meat products) a similar worldwide
catastrophe
> would occur. We need to be omnivorous. Otherwise, this planet will die.

The book is out on whether humans were intended to be herbivores,
carnivores, or omnivores. There are too many varying opinions on the subject
for anyone to conclude anything with any certainty.

> We'll be moving to Mars a lot sooner than we think.

Mars isn't such a bad place. I grew up there (Mars, Pennsylvania that is!).