food Why do most humans eat meat?

[ChB 18,562]

I’m no expert in anthropology or nutrition, but to answer the Thread Title directly, I think it’s because meat is rich in calories and fat, so it gives the consumer a very satisfying meal, so to speak. Combine that with salt, seasoning, and possibly sugar, and you will create a good meal that is hard for fruits and vegetables dishes to compete with. 

Also, back in the days where getting food on your plate wasn’t as easy as going to a grocery store after a day in the office, we needed a lot of energy in order to survive, and meat provided quick and easy access to it. I would imagine that back when we were hunter-gatherers and didn’t know how to farm, we couldn’t afford to be “gatherers only” and pass on an opportunity for a refreshing meal at the campfire.

I’m not going to dive into the morality of eating meat (or lack thereof) as that’s a whole another can of worms that I’m not up for.

[MangoFoalix 25,037]

Because it is part of our diet. We literally have specific teeth that are used to rip apart meat easier.

[swordsman 192]

well it's how it is. I eat the meat and when i die i become the food for the stuff then eat. I can see how we do our food but i also hunt/fish so. really if it was up to me there would be more hunting of our food so you know how you food is made.

[Sir Warith 130]

Humans were hunter-gathers, agriculture was an invention that came later on.

The original diet of humanity was mostly animal meat and animal products supplemented by whatever was found like fruits and nuts.

In fact there are people on Earth who still eat this way as their ancestors did. They did a comparison on them of those who stayed in their primitive diet and those who chose a modern one.

The ones who stuck with the primitive diet were much healthier!

[IronM17 5,399]

Besides the fact that we are naturally omnivores who eat both, meat and plants, it is just impossible to nourish all the people on the earth just with plants. We are something around 7 billion people on this planet. When everyone would eat plants, we would need a lot of space where we can cultivate them. There are so many places on the earth where the cultivation of plants are not possible or just under certain circumstances (like for example that you need a giant artifical watering system in arid regions or greenhouses in regions with cold winters). And to be honest, we even can not norish all people nowadays with both plants and meat. I also think that an unilateral nutrition just with plants is not that healthy. 

I personal live not vegan or vegetarian, but I have reduced my meat consum a little bit because. I eat more plant-based food than meat, but I don't want to miss a good steak or a good schnitzel. For me, the right distribution is important. 

[Sir Warith 130]

Also another tidbit of info...

Modern agriculture is actually bad for the environment. It is actually causing the desertification of the planet by clearing huge swaths of forests, jungles, etc for farmlands.

People love to point to how cows and animal husbandry in general causes a lot of pollution but fail to realize the effects of growing the large amounts of plants required for their vegan sandwiches.

[Latecomer 439]

4 minutes ago, Sir Warith said:

Also another tidbit of info...

Modern agriculture is actually bad for the environment. It is actually causing the desertification of the planet by clearing huge swaths of forests, jungles, etc for farmlands.

People love to point to how cows and animal husbandry in general causes a lot of pollution but fail to realize the effects of growing the large amounts of plants required for their vegan sandwiches.

But more agriculture goes into feeding meat animals than feeding humans, so it's all one big circle.

[Sir Warith 130]

Ultimately you trade one for another and get about the same amount of environmental damage if not more.

[hush 3]

Because it's healthy.