Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Reply to comment

mmg's picture

Change your perspective

I think that within the article, Revkin’s use of human nature in the context of meat-eating is a gross reduction of human nature on the whole just to its eating preferences. However, in that sense, we cannot change human nature. Whichever way I look at this question – anatomically, anthropologically or historically, humans have been omnivores. We have been built to eat meat. Denying some people of meat might mean taking away their only source of protein. What of the man who lives near the North Pole? Will he grow lentils in his backyard? Or eat fish from the nearby ocean? Will the desert-man wait for vegetables to reach his tent, or while he eat goat meat? Our food patterns have woven into our cultures and elaborate festivals and rituals built around that. Can you change nine billion people to vegetarians? I think not.

I have particular difficulty in understanding the point of the statement – ‘Because the human brain does not change, technology must’. Why should the most sophisticated part of our bodies, the intricate organ that is better than any technology conceived, change? Instead of deliberating on food choice, we should expend our energies in saving food, creating lesser food waste, and making more food available to the hungry populations of the world. Yes, I am a speciesist, and I’d rather my species stays well-fed and well-cared for than try to attempt something as improbable as turning that species into herbivores.

Reply

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
9 + 2 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.