RE: Powerful Image Showing The Reality Of Many Vegan/Carnivore/Omnivore 'Discussions'.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, absolutely - but when free will is over-ridden by an opinion, the opinion is valueless. Obviously, I could hold the opinion that all meat eaters should be fired into space out of a cannon, but it over-rides their free will.. And so it is a valueless opinion. However, eating animals over-rides free will too. The issue then becomes challenging mentally, but not emotionally. The emotions that want to protect life will choose guidance and if that doesn't work then the cannon. ;)
I personally have no problems with sourcing vitamins and minerals, though I do absoulutely recognise the need to grow my own food and to use rockdust to impart the necessary (And usually missing) full spectrum of micro nutrients in to the soil. Usually, the problem is not that plants cannot provide our needs - it is that the soil has been devastated by decades of ignorant use and pollution. The animals are really nothing more, in that sense, than 'convenient' nutrition hoovers.. sucking up and storing denser forms of nutrients - which humans then eat because they find it difficult to achieve such high levels of some from plants. This though is due to ignorance, not necessity.
I am not speaking here with some kind of superiority posture - I didn't know any of this for most of my life.. But when I did take the time to learn and actually quit my job and the rest of my life just to make sure I had looked at the options in full - I learned how to meet my needs.
I am personally not aware of any need for animal based omega 3s vs non animal based omega 3s - what is the perceived difference?
interesting rebuttal. "when free will is over-ridden by an opinion, the opinion is valuelles" I totally agree. I have sought the diet and life way that would cause the least harm, and as I (like you it seems) am always learning and seeking deeper understanding, it seems the more i discover the less i know. The free will aspect does bring up many elements like, do plants have free will? Is weeding an undesirable plant in favor of a crop unduly imposing one's will over plants. One question I've always had is in regards to the bacteria, soil nematodes, fungi, archae, micro and macro beings etc.... Is their disturbance warranted as we till the soil to plant annual crops? There are millions if not trillion of beings that are killed each time a tractor passes through a field in tilling or harvesting pulses, grains or seeds. Or the numerous microorganisms that make up our body, what happens when we kill them in the process of breathing, bathing and metabolizing? One solution I am actively implementing is perennial agriculture, with a focus on native trees with improved genetics for increased yields. This is a common ground among ALL people, that the soil is the foundation of life on earth and we must seeks better alternatives.
Animals are indeed convenient hoovers, although the magic happens with their symbiosis with bacteria in their gut converting sunshine in food. If cows are raised in a natural setting (is eating only herbs and grass NOT grain) their are crucial elements like vitamin A, K and omega-3s that are present in their milk and meat. Vitamin K has been dubbed the X-factor to vigorous human health (discovered by he late Weston A. Price) who made connections of diets from traditional cultures. What make them healthy? vitamin K from animal sources was one of the main factors, unfortunately not available in plant in the right form or doses. To address the animal vs plant omega, humans are terrible at converting ALA to DHA, I've heard as little as 10% efficient in the best cases. ALA is not usable to us (form chia, flax, purslane, hemp etc..) and we need to convert in to DHA to nourish our nervous system. Fish, shellfish, insects, and pastured animal products contain DHA and therefore is available to our brains and an essential element in the diet.
"I am not speaking here with some kind of superiority posture - thank you for making that clear. I take no offense, and really don't mind what other people eat as it's none of my business. I feel it more important to build dialogue based on lived experience and in respect to our 200 000 years of human history.
Thanks for your response.
My understanding is yes, but not in the way that animals and humans do. They have the will to survive and need to be respected. Not for the sake of 'respecting the rights of dandelions', but because the will that permeates the universe is ultimately singular in origin. When will is being overridden anywhere it harms all will on some levels.
It is possible to eat the food from food baring plants (controversial, I know.. lol) and not kill the plants. Tomatoes, apples and so on are all literally designed to be eaten and in doing so we create more plants, not less. The will of the plant to live includes the deliberate production of fruit to facilitate that in this dynamic environment. I am not aware of any evidence from any direction that eating fruit is against the will of the plants. I am, though, aware of some evidence of plants expressing suffering under certain other circumstances.
In terms of the micro-organisms, I don't know enough about what happens on that level when I walk in the soil, but I feel that industrialisation is a huge problem for this and many other reasons. When we respect the soil (soul) of the earth (heart), we walk lightly - not like monsters.
Absolutely.
It was specifically K2 that Weston Price's research pointed to.
You can read here about vegan sources of vitamin K and how they are converted to K2. There are various vegan supplements if people are still concerned and some mushrooms have high levels as I recall.
The following page explains about the issues of DHA, Omega 3 and other essential fats - I have never heard that ground chia and flax have any issues with absorption and nutritionfacts.org regularly recommends that for vegans.