mynamehere:
So as much as my heart aches for any animal that is killed (especially cute ones with names like babmi), the only type of meat consumption that i think is natural is the kind where you get it yourself and process it yourself. Anything else is either over harvested or mass produced. (generally)
I respect your perspective... as an ol' ex-farm boy who still lives in a farming community I can assure you that few understand the logisitics of feeding the world... from any diet perspective. (Heck, I grew up on a farm... and I'm not sure *I* understand them any more...) Interestingly, most people find it very difficult to believe that someone who hunts actually cares more about the animals than he does individuals... to some degree's its that 'circle of life' thing... to some degree's its seeing the 30,000 or so deer that are killed each year on the highways of Illinois... to some degree it's because I find them much more *reasonable* and human than most humans I know. (I also HATE zoos... but, that's just me...)
Man is a pretty lousy steward... his first mistake is insisting on his own propogation and exploiting his skill set to his advantage. He has no qualms about *experimenting* on a massive scale to try to manipulate nature to suit his wants and imagined needs... and really isn't smart enough to understand the the long term unintended consequences of his actions... he does with what I hope are the best intentions... and then rationalizes when things backfire on him and looks for the next *religion* that's gonna' fix things.
The problem is that man has interfered with the natural process at every turn since the beginning of the species... we are what we are... and the natural process will remove us from the gene pool when we insist on it.
As I've put previous posts... WE are the problem... on so many levels. We're not a self regulating speicies by any stretch... never have been... and, in all probability, never will be. Industry and consumer demand have made the nice 'homey' family farm a relic of the past... globalization has put increasing price pressures on farmers... while one might think that the use of ethonol would increase the demand for grain products and improve the market... nope... the costs introduced in equipment scales, soil amendments, pesticisides, genetically engineered seed, transportation, etc... keep the farmer "down on the farm"... and where does this demand come from???
I abhor cities the way some abhor meat in their diets... but I understand their necessity as a place to warehouse the surpulse populations... it makes the logistics of social support easier. But that, in turn, makes demands that can't be filled by ideology and thus we create "Soylent Green"... not literally of course... but "Soylent Green" none the less...
I doubt that there are many people who have the faintest clue how to exist in a "natural" environment or the desire to develop the tools. "Natural" is an euphanism for "sanitary" or "clean" (physically or psychologicall) in most instances. Trust me... the *natural* world is not "clean"...
Darwin works... Darwin has always worked... Darwin will work again...
While there is always a temptation to lay blame on so many social issues, the FIRST step is to accept our own culpability. *We* are the agents of change... those who produce food, materials, houses, wiz-bang electronics, cars, energy, etc... are our agents... our proxies in the manufacturing process. We turn our labors into a universal medium of exchange and barter for that which we can not produce ourselves. Change your individual wants and desires... change the world. It's really that simple....
... as noted earlier... "We have met the enemy... and he is us..."
...just last fall... venison is delicious and healthy. Put two in the freezer each year... do my own processing as well... 
