I was in my climate change class tonight and a very interesting point was raised.
If we all became vegetarians, would animals like the chicken, cow, and pig go extinct?
The vast majority of these animals on the planet are there because we breed them to be there. So if we all stopped eating meat we would no longer raise these animals. Well, cows I suppose we would still use for milk. But the chickens and pigs would be in trouble. I can't imagine chickens and pigs in the wild. I know they must exist in the wild, but I've just never thought about it. So, would these animals just die off from predation, or would they find a way to thrive in the wild? I guess it would take a biologist or wildlife expert to find out.
Where's David Suzuki when you need him?
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7 comments:
Heh....
So you are saying from our generations of breeding them they've become incapable of surviving in the wild? Interesting, but makes sense I guess :)
I think it's a numbers thing more than anything else. How many of these animals exist in the wild? I wouldn't even know where to find a wild chicken or pig.
And remember, if this theory makes no sense, it wasn't my idea to begin with :)
Well hmmm...
I've seen "wild chickens" in my travels... I think they're kind of like raccoons in that they can survive off garbage and stuff... as for pigs, we have wild boars...
as for cows though... I think they'd have the biggest trouble of all. Of course, all they eat is grass so they might just get by. There's lots of that around.
On a similar note though, Scott and I were talking lately, and we were wondering another interesting connundrum.
Someone who is vegetarian for moral reasons (ie I don't want to kill an animal to eat it...)... if they found a way to clone, say, a STEAK, that person could eat the steak. You can clone just using some DNA, so no need to kill the cow... and instead of cloning a WHOLE COW you could clone JUST the steak (which according to some friends in biology is possible, but still sort of difficult)
So that raises the next question: If you can clone meat, could you open a restaurant that served exclusively meat from extinct species? Mmmmmm brontosaurus burgers and pterodactyl wings.
Food for thought... (the non vegetarian kind)
Now that's an interesting concept, customized cloned meat. And really, eating the cloned meat would be more animal friendly than eating vegetables would be, since harvesting vegetables still kills animals with the harvesting equipment. There would be absolutely no guilt to eating this meat. And you're right, imagine the popularity of brontosaurus burgers, maybe with a side of dodo eggs?
I think we've got a sequel to green eggs and ham. Let's call Dr. Seuss.
To add to your harvest comment. Many vegetarians eat the way they do because they claim to be followers of the least harm principle: by abstaining from eating meat they are minimizing the number of animals that must die for us to sur- you know what, Maddox says it a lot better than me:
http://maddox.xmission.com/grill.html
I read Maddox's post a few weeks back, that's how I've felt ever since I worked in that plant in Wheatley. I'd like to tell the next vegetarian I meet about the dead rats, birds, and frogs that come in on the truck with the green beans.
Green bean, green bean, rat, green bean, green bean, green bean, dead frog, green bean, green bean, green bean, green bean, human head, green bean, green bean, green bean, green bean, syringe, green bean, green bean, green bean, mutilated baby bunny....
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