Humans are omnivores, our ancestors ate animals, why shouldn’t we…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We often forget to see the bigger picture in many ways. We call compassion and benevolence “extreme” because we, after all being humans, see only what we experience. Giving up that tasty chicken biriyani may seem hard. It may be because we are governed by the genetic code that keeps telling us to eat what is “tasty” or do what is easy.

But is that reason enough to throw a baby chick who has just opened its eyes ready to experience life and who wants to play in the green grass under the warm sun, into the macerator. Don’t think I am exaggerating. This is exactly what happens in the egg industry.

Are humans really omnivores?

Coming back to the first sentence of this article, are humans really omnivores? Of course, we are. We can very well digest meat. Well, not really. We cannot digest raw meat, which is one of the prevalent traits of omnivores and carnivores. All carnivores like tigers, lions, and panthers can digest raw meat. We can’t. We can only consume cooked meat.

Also, our psychology is that of a plant-eater. Leave pieces of apple and a live bunny in a toddler’s wake. The toddler would eat the apple and play with the bunny. If humans were omnivores, our instinct to hunt and to use our claws (which we do not have since we are not meant to hunt) and our razor-sharp teeth (again, something that we don’t have as a sign of not being omnivore) designed to rip open carcass and flesh, is non-existent. 

Moreover, we don’t have the need to consume meat, do we? Vegans all over the world have successfully demonstrated that humans can live healthy on a plant-based diet.

So what… our ancestors ate animals, after all we evolved by eating animals, humans are omnivores

“We may not be designed to eat meat, but our ancestors ate meat. It is natural to eat meat because early humans and cavemen did.” Some might say.

That is true, our ancestors ate meat, only after discovering fire though, because they could not digest raw meat. But can we justify doing something and classify it as “right” or “correct” just because our ancestors did it or omnivores do it? Well, our ancestors killed each other. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s start going full-on Hunger Games mode. Our ancestors did not know how to write or read. Then according to the argument, what the heck are you doing, reading this article. Reading this article is wrong since our ancestors did not do it.

Do you see the problem here?

Times change. Being stuck to the past and following what our ancestors did does not make sense. Cavemen ate meat because their survival was at stake. They did not breed and periodically massacre 77 billion land animals every year. They hunted and were hunted. They were a part of the ecosystem. When they hunted an animal for their survival, there was no catastrophic consequence.

But today, the consequences are climate change, global hunger, animal extinction, and deforestation. All of this is the result of mindlessly exploiting countless animals and putting our selfishness before the life and well-being of all that lives.

But in many families, it is part of tradition and culture to eat meat

Let’s walk down the timeline briefly. The people in the prehistoric Old Stone Age era were hunter-gatherers. Many hundreds of years later, in the New Stone Age, agriculture practices developed. Along with growing crops, people began to domesticate animals to raise them for meat, milk, eggs, and so on. So, obviously our culture also got based around these practices. But just like we discussed about how it does not make sense to follow cavemen who hunted and ate raw meat, why do we need to follow practices that teach us to raise animals and then, kill and eat them? In other words, why do we blindly follow what our culture or practices tell us to do.

We need to understand the concept of change and what it represents.

Krishna ate butter. Yes. Jesus ate fish. Rama hunted. Our ancestors ate meat. Our forefathers drank milk. Yes, yes, and yes.

They all did. But that does not mean we should. We should base our actions on reason and compassion. What I mean is, we should realize that even a million arguments, a million people, or a million barriers are not enough to say it is fine to throw a piglet into a gas chamber. There is no reason enough for the piglet to suffer, thrashing around, gasping for oxygen, and trying to call out to its mother who is lined up under chains to be slaughtered, unable to come to the rescue of her child. At the same time in another metal shed of death, a hen is hanging upside down while being de-feathered and de-beaked.

Now, you tell me. Just because humans ate meat some two million years ago, is it okay for that innocent pig’s life to be snuffed out? Is it okay that the hen’s suffering continues? Is it fine to throw a baby chick into the macerator?

Well, it’s the circle of life

Some might still say that it is the circle of life. What is born is to die. What is alive will and should die. You may imagine it to be a circle, but it is in fact, a line. Let me explain: Endless and continual slaughter of billions, every year, year after year, harm to the ecosystem, by almost wiping clean the Great Amazon Rainforest, driving species into extinction, fueling climate change, with our greed and selfishness.

Where is the circle?

This is a straight line of endless torture and suffering. There is no circle of life, only human-made factory farms, which keep killing. But these humans are foolish, they think there would be no price to pay. But believe me, the toll is just starting to arrive.

Climate change will cripple our kids’ life so much so that they may not even survive. We will regret when we have to explain to our grandchildren that trees were wonderful things. But you can’t show them, for trees no longer exist. They will be surprised when you say that there were meadows where trees and flowers provided a beautiful scene. The wind carried the sweet smell of the fruits that grew. The gurgle of the nearby stream and the bunnies that hopped around. The butterflies that flew beautifully, each of a different color and with a different kind of pattern.

Now, the same meadow is occupied by “efficient” factory farms. Grade A meat. Only the finest, for the humans that destroyed the Earth.

Let the past not drive us into such a future. Let us realize that it is time to wake up and act, not just for you or me. But for the collective good. For a better tomorrow.

Summary: Can the argument, humans are omnivores, justify our meat-eating habit?

Time is ticking. Each second 4756 animals are killed. Now, 9,512. Still counting 14,268…

You get the point. Each second, around 5000 lives are lost. 5000 mothers, grieving for their lost child. It does not end there, since the number of factory farms is on the rise. More demand for murder. More murder supplied. Murder of not only animals, but our planet, our lives, and the future.

Is it time to reconsider our choices? Is it time to be kind, compassionate, loving, benevolent, in short, humane? Can we think beyond the defense that “humans are omnivores” to justify our meat-eating habits?

Together we can make a change. A change that the future would thank us for. A change that saves the life of the animals – animals are our friends and not our food. A change that saves all that lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the author, Manish M

“I am an animal rights activist and a vegan. I went vegan for the animals and I believe that together we can create a vegan world where every animal is cared for and loved and not exploited in any manner. I love writing poems about veganism and I also cook vegan food. I run Cloud Nine, a vegan food business based out of Trichy, Tamil Nadu with the motive of providing vegan alternatives to the people of my city.

You can contact me on Instagram @man1sh.2306.

You can also check out my poems @manish_the_little_poet.”

Cover Image by stuarthampton from Pixabay  
Crowd Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 
Stop Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Boy Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay