It’s Nutritious (and Delicious!)
Though it isn’t necessary to eat meat in order to be healthy, the nutritional value of meat is well-documented and undeniable.
Lean meat is an excellent source of protein, B vitamins, iron, and zinc. And according to a 2008 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein (such as the much-maligned Atkins approach) is the single most effective diet for both weight loss and cardiovascular health.
Many meat-eaters have decided against vegetarianism for the simple reason that they love the taste of meat. Though it’s a subjective argument (and one which vegetarians consistently reject), the delicious smell and taste of cooking meat is among the most common reasons offered by omnivores for eating the way they do.
Take the case of Sasha Wizansky and Amy Standen, two former vegetarians who returned to omnivorous diets and now edit the journal Meatpaper. (Yes, there's an entire journal just about the way our culture looks at meat.) Standen told The New York Times in December 2007: “We find over and over again that bacon is the conversion meat. Bacon is how vegetarians change their minds.”
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So it is okay to knowingly murder something because you like the way it tastes? This attitude of justified selfishness makes me lose much of my faith in my fellow Americans.
Regarding the nutrition of meat: vegetarians and vegans are just as healthy or more healthy than meat-eaters. For many people who consume a high-processed, meat and dairy centric diet, converting to veganism is literally a lifesaver. For more:
http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20060726/low-fat-vegan-diet-may-treat-diabetes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4801570.stm
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/28979.php
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/cardiovascular-disease-reversing-heart-disease-with-a-nutrient-dense-diet.html
Regarding the deliciousness of meat: taste buds are subjective. The more people know about intense animal agriculture and the more they object to it, meat doesn't taste so good. Check out this study for more details on that concept: http://www.scribd.com/doc/4015305/The-Interactive-Effect-of-Cultural-Symbols-and-Human-Values-on-Taste-Evaluation
By the way, Consumer Freedom is a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries. It runs media campaigns which oppose the efforts of scientists, doctors, health advocates, environmentalists and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. source: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom
If the flesh of your fellow humans tasted good and smelled good while cooking, would you eat human flesh?
If the breast milk of human females tasted good, and made for good cheese, butter etc, would you enslave them for their whole lives and consume those "dairy" products?
1. If human flesh tasted good would I eat it? Well, that depends on the situation. If we're talking Donner Party or "Alive" scenario then certainly I'd eat the bodies of my dead friends. If we had a society that said it was acceptable to eat the bodies of your dead friends and family members at their funeral, and it tasted good then why not? Some societies do that.
2. On the second point if milk made from humans tasted good (and I've heard that it does) and women wanted to make a business of selling their own milk and possibly making it into products and the FDA approved it, hey, why not?