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From: reintom@rocky2.UUCP (Tom Reingold)
Newsgroups: net.veg
Subject: Re: Let's Keep This Discussion Going
Message-ID: <158@rocky2.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 22-Feb-86 10:02:54 EST
Article-I.D.: rocky2.158
Posted: Sat Feb 22 10:02:54 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 04:06:41 EST
References: <903@decwrl.DEC.COM> <11741@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Organization: Rockefeller Univ., N.Y.C. 10021
Lines: 68

>>> Eating meat is something that
>>> most Americans do every day without pretense.
>> 
>> If you think you eat meat without pretense, think of the following.  If
>> it is suggested that you have a meal without meat, would you think of
>> it as completeand satisfying?  When someone eats a meatless meal, does
>> it look as satisfying as one with meat?  Have you gone a day without
>> meat?  Two days?  A week?  Would it be worthwhile?  If you answer no to
>> these questions, you certainly have pretensions.  
>> 
>> Tom Reingold
>
>Actually, I don't eat meat every day.  I like vegetarian food,
>in fact, Mollie Katzen's cookbooks are among my favorites.
>(Just take her recipes and cut the cholesterol-containing
>ingredients in half -- she's really into the eggs, cheese and 
>so forth.)  
>
>
>Why would I have pretentions if I did eat meat every day?
>I don't follow.
>
>
>steve

As a preface, let me say that I do not see vegetarianism as an
all-or-nothing thing.  It is probably better to cut down on meat
consumption etc. than to keep it high, just as it is better to cut
it out than to keep it low.  In other words, the less the better;
no judgements are necessary from other people regarding how much
meat one eats.

I don't know what you meant when you brought in the word
"pretension".  But if you say that Americans eat meat without
pretension, a couple of things come to mind.

For one thing, if one compares the average American diet (heavily
laden with too much meat) with the average third-world diet and you
say "Boy, are we lucky we can afford tons more meat than they can",
and if that's the major difference you see, then he has a
pretension.  The pretension, to me, seems to say "Meat is so good
that one should eat all one can."

For another thing, if one eats meat and says that it is totally
unnecessary to examine the ethical issues implied, then he has a
pretension.  The pretension might say "A life other than mine is
less important than mine, so it is better for him to die and me to
eat him than for him to live and me to be without my beloved meal."
Or it might say "Aw he doesn't care if he dies.  After all, since
he doesn't have the intellectual deductive powers I have, he
doesn't have the strong will to live that I have."

For another thing, if one thinks that meat is beneficial to one's
health, especially in the large quantities that Americans eat,
then he has a pretension.  The pretension says "TV and news media
propaganda of the 50's told me that meat makes me strong and that's
all I need to hear."  Modern medical evidence is to the contrary.
Excessive meat eating seems to cause cancer and atherosclerosis.
Nor does the protein in those quantities prove itself to be
necessary.  Oxen don't eat meat.  Neither do elephants.  Are they
so weak you would recommend that they eat meat?  Most birds are
vegetarians and they are incredibly strong for their weight.

Is this a sufficient explanation?  I hope I have not said anything
offensive to anyone.

Tom Reingold
New York City