I am really saddened by the ignorant bigotry in this thread. While I would not consider myself a vegetarian, I still eat a selective diet--choosing to eat meat less often, and from better, local sources (if at all possible). I don't condone eating meat (obviously, I just said that I eat meat), but I do believe that we have come to place too much emphasis on the importance of meat in our diet. As humans we are meant to eat mostly vegetables (and fruit, of course) and sometimes meat--not the other way around. While this is largely a dietary issue, and I know that most people are just going to throw shit at me about how they don't care at all, it is also an environmental issue.
Most people blame the logging industry for deforestation in the rain forests of South America, but the really big player in the destruction of this land is the food/livestock industry. Countless acres are cut down daily in order to provide more space for our ever-increasing demand for cattle--not only that, but over time, the land gets so over-used that eventually farmers must move to a new plot of space and the land that is left over is literally unusable; stripped of it's nutrients and support from trees, the topsoil (most important part of the soil when it comes to agriculture) will often runoff and leave nothing usable behind it. The issue is that the practices used today are not sustainable in a way that we can continue to do this for too much longer. I agree that people are always going to want meat--that's fine--we just need to find more environmentally sound ways of achieving this demand, as well as lowering said demand.
Another problem with our gross consumption of meat is the issue of resources and the release of greenhouse gases into the air from cattle. Every day, you turn the tap and drink water, take a shower, go to the bathroom etc. but what you don't think about is how important all of that water really is. As a resource water is not as renewable as everyone perceives it to be, sure it evaporates and then comes back down via different forms of precipitation, but it doesn't change the fact that water--clean water--is becoming more and more scarce. In the somewhat near future, foreign countries will be having disputes over water, not borders or bombs or what have you. I know that in the Western U.S. we're already having drought issues, and every centimeter of snow that falls into the Rockies counts so that during the summer we can have enough snowmelt to provide water for our national agriculture. Either way, in relation to cattle farming in South America, it is estimated that we use upwards of 2,000 gallons of water per pound of beef. Then, factor in the methane that all of the millions of cows release, the petroleum that was used to clear cut the forests used for farming, the fuel that is used to ship that meat all the way back to the U.S., then the six or so different places that meat has to go before it finally gets packaged up nicely and sent to your local Kroger, and you've got one hefty bill for a slice of meat...
Wether or not you believe in climate change/global warming/whateverthefuckyouwanttocallit (I'm still debating the issue with myself) doesn't matter, we're effecting our world in more profound ways than we can realize at this moment, with the amount of resources we are using and the amount of waste we are pumping out into our waters, our atmosphere and our land. Even though the earth is a big fucking place, and it's pretty easy to just forget about what kind of energy went in to making that burger that you're all gloating about, because hey, "I don't need to worry about it, it's not my problem. What's one more burger?", it IS a big deal and we need to stop ignoring these things. I'm not saying "WAIT" drop everything, stop eating meat, don't support the meat industry, and become vegan, because who the fuck wants to do that--meat tastes good, and being vegan SUCKS for the most part (I know a few). But if everyone was to just do a little bit to try and practice more sustainable ways of living we would all be much better off. Buy meat and produce locally, support your local businesses and economies, and try and pick cleaner alternatives etc.
Well, now that I'm getting to the end of my rant I'd like to send out a respectful "fuck you" to all of you that fall into the following categories, those who: don't read everything I posted and just give me an uniformed answer, tell me I'm a hippy or something (grow up), reply just to call me out on some spelling/grammatical/punctuation error that I made, or just reply with something immature and childish.
The point of my response is that all of this effects us in some way or another and frankly, I love skiing, I love hiking, camping, backpacking, exploring, traveling, and enjoying nature, and I want to continue to enjoy all of it for the rest of my life--not to mention to save it for the kids that I'll eventually end up having. So please, everyone, stop being so idiotic about all of this. Also, note that I did not once refer to the treatment of animals for food, which is in an absolutely horrid manner. That is for another conversation and another post though, because this post is already way way too long. I apologize.
