Vegetarianism and The Future: Ready for Some Soy Food?

[Zerim]

OBLIGATORY: I've been discussing the topics of diet, ethics, health and social evolution with others for years now. And one thing I realized is that folks seem to get SUPER defensive and emotional about their diet when they feel threatened about it. I know the DX fanbase is an intellectual crowd so I hope we'll be able to discuss this stuff without taking out the non-eutactic blades and the GEP guns. So please, stick with the logic, prod with the logic, and remember, a non-lethal argument is always the most sensible argument.

In ancient times, before humanity invented agriculture, food was scarce. People ate what they could get, and if you were picky in any way, you simply didn't get to live. Understandably, vegetarianism wasn't really given much consideration back then.

Once humans managed to produce as much food as they needed, and in fact started rolling around in excess food, some people felt sufficiently relaxed about things to ask some questions: "If we have the option to pick and choose what we're going to eat, then what should we be eating? Are some foods healthier and more sustainable than others? How do we tackle this stuff?"

Vegetarianism is but one product of such thinking. Currently, there are easily hundreds of thousands of "diets" on the world. Many of them promise increased health and longevity, and some even claim that their way is more "ethical", or "environmentally sound". We're here now, as people who like sci-fi and thinking about the future to discuss the future of food.

How do you think humanity will be eating in the future? Explain your thoughts.

I'll start: I'm an ex-vegan myself. Got into it for health, believed the strong governmental recommendations of increased whole grain and decreased meat consumption, got sicker in the process, but ended up learning a lot about the ethical, social and environmental sides of these issues. My current diet that I'm happy with is sort of a mixed "paleo" diet, consisting of lots of vegetables, some meats and some fruits. Once again I am in it primarily for the health benefits. Ethically, I am against the unnecessary suffering of animals, but I leave it up to individuals to decide where they draw the line of "necessary". For instance, I oppose factory farming myself, but I also hunt (I don't hunt for sport, I eat what I kill) and believe hunters should be allowed to hunt in-season.

I strongly believe that ethics are subjective, that the only time society can set "laws" surrounding behavior and be reasonable is when it's directly affecting the society itself. I don't consider wild animals part of a human society, I don't believe their suffering, while certainly not a nice thing, is detrimental to a human society, and therefore I don't think human societies need to set any laws concerning animal suffering.

All this said, I also have a pretty strong feeling that the future will be vegetarian. Once we find a way to produce meat in labs that is identical to "real" meat, I believe governments and corporations and everyone will start scrutinizing "real" meat-eaters for "inflicting unnecessary suffering" and we will be "technically vegan". I don't really think we'll ever fully stop eating some sort of meat, be it lab meat or "ethically raised meat".

I have tons to say on this matter but first let's hear what you folks think!