subject: Are We Obsessed With Meat [print this page] Are We Obsessed With Meat Are We Obsessed With Meat
In a society where meat is the focal point of just about every meal it would appear that Americans are more than preoccupied with meat compared to people in other nations. Even as vegetarians we are relentlessly looking to fill the void of meat with meat substitutes. Let's face it, Americans are meat addicts.
Now if we don't want to admit it to ourselves, lets look to statistics to do the job. For starters, proof of our obsession can be observed in the thousands of acres of trees being chopped down every day and converted to farmland to harvest food, not for us, but to feed the animals whose meat we consume. It is also quite apparent in our diet. Research has shown that, on average, each American citizen consumes 260 pounds of meat annually, which is the highest in the world. Moreover, we are using 30 percent of the world's surface to raise livestock despite the fact that reducing our meat intake could feed 800 million of the world's poor. Meat consumption is at an all time high, which translates to meat obsession.
To be obsessed with something is to be possessed by it and right now it appears that such is the case among Americans with regards to meat. The need to consume flesh has taken control of our minds, bodies and general sense of regard for others across the globe. If giving up a few pounds, at minimum, is all that it takes to feed more of the world's poor and we have willfully refused to do so, what else can such behavior be attributed to if not to a meat-induced addiction? How else do we account for our blatant disregard for the well-being of others, our planet and our animal companions? We have to admit the obvious and the first step to overcoming an addiction is admittance. We are Americans and we are meat addicts.
The difference between a meat addiction and an addiction to drugs or alcohol is that we justify the addiction to meat under the guise of good dietary health. We tell ourselves that we need to consume meat to acquire nutrients and protein from it. However, contrary to our claims we can actually eliminate the middle man, or rather animal, and more efficiently acquire those same nutrients and protein by eating the fruits and vegetables directly. Its time to stop trying to justify and rationalize away what is obvious. America has become a nation of meat addicts and the world population, animals and environment are paying the price. However, there is a silver lining to all of this, which is that the choice to break this addiction is up to us.
