Are humans meat eaters or vegetarians by nature?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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I don’t know weather humans are actually naturally meat eaters or vegetarians but people have been eating both for a long time. I learned about evolution in school as a small child that Homo Sapians originated in Africa. Also I’ve read elsewhere something about finding remains of very old homo sapians in china or other places possibly indicating that humans evolved from independent hominid populations. I’m no expert on the subject of evolution but If are type of humans originated in Africa then it’s possible that earlier versions of humans could have been plant and berry eaters naturally but it was experimentation that caused them to eventually be meat eaters(starting by eating ants or bugs and then later hunting for meat)

I know this is off topic but I think the solution to the vegan vs meat issue could be solved by advanced technology. If people could artificially create meat without killing animals(say for example you get a cow to go under surgery while it’s unconscious or frozen with advanced cryonics, then remove whatever you want from the cow except for the brain and whatever you remove from the cow has to be replicated. After that put the original piece of the cow correctly back with the cow and then wake it up) That reminds me of a game I used to play where there was some science fiction machine in the game called a beef vat. I don’t remember exactly what it did but it literally made or produced beef, possibly by itself. If plants and trees witch are the source of all vegetables, natural drinking liquids and breads provide the same nutrients as all types of meats that people need in order to live then people could just eat food that comes from plants and trees. I even herd you could make butter from plants and even from hemp. I watched a show from national geographic about a Shaolin monastery or temple where the monks just ate veggies and bread. If most people were vegans then the meat industry would probably go out of business and it would be very difficult for the meat cravers to live with, it might even drive some of them insane. A solution to that would be to keep the domesticated animals that people usually end up eating until the technology I’ve described is available and to have the domesticated animals produce baby animals at a proper rate according to population growth. Actually if the technology existed then you probably wouldn’t need that many animals if you had a lot of replicators producing animal parts on a massive produced level for each animal that is used. Since most vegans are against killing living things for food then I don’t see why they don’t have a problem with killing plants even though plants don’t have a nervous system and brain. I’m not a vegan but I understand there caring nature for animals that are born for only one purpose which is to be eaten. If the technology I described became available then non vegans could eat meat without the killing of animals except people who want to eat foods like sardines and chocolate covered ants would just have to learn to give it up.

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You are correct.

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The human digestive tract is designed to consume and process an omnivorous diet comprised of both animal (meat and dairy etc) and plant materials (produce and grains etc). In that respect, humans, dogs, pigs and rodents like mice and rats are not dissimilar.
However, humans alone have the option to choose whether to eat animal materials or not.

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Homo habilis is often referred to as the first human with fossil records dating back to more than two million years. There’s good evidence habilis created stone stools for butchering, likely using them to scavenge meat from the kills of predators and they may have hunted smaller, easier prey on their own. Modern chimpanzees sometimes hunt smaller animals, sometimes other primates, and eat them.

Humans have been eating meat for more than 2,000,000 years, so I’d say it’s in our nature. You can argue Americans eat more meat than is healthy, but there’s no rational argument that it’s unnatural to eat it.

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Tell that to my omniverous dogs, or my obligate carnivore cat.

Pigs, a noted omnnivore will eat both animal materials and plant based foods.

Us humans, alone amongst the higher order species can choose an anti rely plant based diet, largely due to large scale agriculture allowing either meat or veg. Even chimpanzees (see Jane Goodall’s distressing research) eat meat.

It is mostly just us primates that have that choice.

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I think you misunderstand. Obligate carnivores cannot choose to not eat any meat. Omnivores like pigs and dogs still have to eat some meat.

The statement was meant to convey that only humans have the option to forego meat completely.