I’ve always found it fairly convincing that the vast majority of humans simply do eat meat. We have a taste for it, and in many cases such as China low meat consumption seems more a function of availabiity and economics than anything else. Lord knows most Asian diets actually include more species and parts thereof than most western diets. This suggests to me people really have a biological urge animal protein and are willing to obtain it from whatever is local. In some places it simply isn’t going to be locally sustainable for everyone to have a burger.
Plus we do have a special word ‘vegetarian,’ that’s not the default condition with ‘omnivores’ being a minority group. And that’s true in the vast majority of cultures.
Exapno’s answer covered this, but I just wanted to emphasize – evolution works on a much slower time scale then you seem to be conceiving of it. Mere hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of years of diverging diets between human populations is not going to be long enough to result in evolutionary change.
And diets change a lot more than you think. No human population spends thousands or tens of thousands of years eating exactly the same thing generation after generation.
Just as one example, think of the importance of the following items to the Indian diet and cuisine: chili peppers, chicken eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, onions. Now consider that before Vasco da Gama’s arrival in India kicked off major trading with Europe, none of these items were widely available in India. In a short time, these things became nearly indispensible in the Indian diet.
I don’t know if you saw the P.B.S. programmes 1900 House or Colonial House or Frontier House. From those shows you could see how much Anglo-American diets have changed in just a matter of 100-400 years.
Another theory is that humans, before they were successful hunters and when plant matter was scarce, figured out how to get meat no other animal could - they could get the marrow out of picked-over meals that not even scavengers could get.
That gave them more protein, supporting more active brain usage, etc. etc.
One question I’ve always wanted to ask is, of any of the higher order and more intelligent species on the planet, are ANY of them completely vegetarian? I can’t think of any examples…all the animals we consider the most intelligent are either omnivorous or carnivours. How about the great apes? Are they completely vegetarian, or do they supliment with insects?
Just curious as the thread seems to be winding down.
Gorillas are pretty much strict vegetarians. I imagine they do eat some insects though.
The other apes are omnivores. Chimps hunt monkeys and eat insects, eggs, grubs and other small animals. Put any small defenseless animal in a chimp’s cage and they’ll probably kill it and eat it. Orangutans eat insects, although I don’t know if there’s any evidence they hunt mammals.
Elephants are 100% vegetarian. And elephants are people.
Er, all members of order Cetacea are essentially strict carnivores, save for the plankton-eating baleens which can’t seperate zooplankton from phytoplankton.
A study of Canadian mammals I read a number of years ago stated that field observations had identified only one strict herbivore, the groundhog (Marmota monax) and one strict carnivore, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus). Even caribou were observed to chomp up migrating lemmings! :eek:
Quite a number of herbivores that will not otherwise eat animal parts (well, vertebrate parts - anything that eats plants also accidentally eat insects ) will eat antlers, bones, turtle shells, bird guano, etc. (and also putty and cement) when their diet is deficient in minerals, particularily phosphorus and to a lesser extent calcium. This is known as osteophagia (bone-eating), or, more colloquially, bone hunger or bone appetite. Deer, sheep, cattle and other “strict” herbivores have been observed to kill small animals to obtain the bones (nestling birds are frequently mentioned in this connection). They will not, however, eat the meat unless they are starving.
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) will eat antlers, bones, turtle shells, bird guano, etc. (and also putty and cement) when their diet is deficient in minerals, particularily phosphorus and to a lesser extent calcium. This is known as osteophagia (bone-eating), or, more colloquially, bone hunger or bone appetite. Deer, sheep, cattle and other “strict” herbivores have been observed to kill small animals to obtain the bones (nestling birds are frequently mentioned in this connection). They will not, however, eat the meat unless they are starving.