People also like to point out that we are omnivores just like many other creatures on earth, that we have sharp pointed canine teeth and that eating meat is natural.
Now before we dive into whether those statements are true or not I want to direct your attention to the list of similarities we humans have with herbivorous animals.
1. All animals that hunt and kill their prey have pointed claws, humans do not have those.
2. When our surroundings get very hot herbivorous mammals will sweat through their sweat glands to cool their body whereas most omnivorous and carnivorous mammals will pant with their tongue out to cool themselves.
3. The biting potential of our jaw is very less. We cannot bite and kill animals. We need to use tools. Canine teeth does not mean flesh eater, Gorillas have large canines but they don’t eat animal flesh. They use their canine teeth to intimidate their foes. Our canines are not built to kill and tear flesh but rather to bite through hard fruits like apples and pears.
4. We do not have acids strong enough in our stomach to digest raw meat which other carnivores and omnivores can do.
5. Humans akin to other herbivores suck water into their mouths. We do not lap water up with our tongues like other omnivores or carnivores.
6. A human like other herbivores can move their jaws up, down and side to side therefore being able to chew and grind the food they eat. A meat eating animal can only move their jaws up and down, they can only rip and swallow and not grind their food.
7. Like other herbivorous animals our digestive tract is over 8 times longer than our torso, whereas for meat eating animals it is only 3 times the length of their torso.
8. Imagine you are walking across the road with a cat. You both spot a dead eat on the road and a tree with ripe mangoes. The cat which is a carnivore begins to salivate upon seeing the dead mouse. Now if you were a true meat eater, wouldn’t you also salivate upon seeing the mouse but instead you salivate upon seeing the mango. Ask yourself why.
9. If you were to approach a baby in a crib and place a rabbit and an apple in the crib, what do you think the baby will do? Will it play with the rabbit and eat the apple or play with the apple and eat the rabbit? In case the baby did start biting and ripping into the rabbit, would you consider that normal? No you wouldn’t because that is abnormal behaviour for us as we humans do not possess any carnivorous or omnivorous instincts. But If the baby human in this scenario was replaced by a baby tiger, what would happen and if the baby tiger were to eat the rabbit, would you consider that abnormal? No you wouldn’t.
10. The closest relatives to humans are great apes such as bonobos and chimpanzees. When we look at the physiology and biology of these animals we can understand that majority of their calories come from plant produce. These great apes do not consume chicken, mutton, beef, eggs or dairy products. But people would now want to point out to me and say that these great apes sometimes do eat insects and rarely they might even eat smaller monkeys or squirrels.
Yes that point does hold true so I do admit that we humans indeed are omnivores, however the point is that we do not need to eat those animals or any animals for our health or well being.
The American dietetics association states that a well planned Vegan diet is suitable for all stages of human life from infancy, to child hood to adulthood.
Through modern science we realise now that a diet comprised of grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, supplemental B12 and adequate sunlight exposure is all we need to fulfil our nutritional needs.
We humans began eating meat in many parts of the world as a survival mechanism as we did not have other options during those times. But now in these modern times whenever we choose to eat we have a choice. When we go to the grocery store we have a choice. When we have a choice and someone else’s life and freedom depends on that choice, why choose the violent option? Veganism is as simple as that!
