Do humans have an innate desire to eat meat, or is it cultural? If our culture had all references to eating meat removed, would people still desire it?
鈥� It is less an innate desire for meat in particular than for concentrated nutrition such as fats and proteins. Even in non-meat foods, we favour nutrient-rich items such as nuts, fruits, grains and tubers. Think of how appetising chocolate or halva is, compared with lettuce or grass.
鈥淗erbivore flesh suits carnivores, which die if they eat too much of the wrong plant matter鈥�
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Herbivores generally must eat large quantities of low-grade plant foods, discarding most of the fibre and excess materials they contain. They also discard the toxins: plants are generally full of harmful chemicals that herbivores must tolerate, excrete or destroy, while concentrating the vitamins, proteins, fats and digestible carbohydrates.
The resultant, purified herbivore flesh suits carnivores, which would die if they tried eating too much of the wrong plant matter 鈥� the list of wholesome plant foods that could kill your dog or cat is shocking. Many herbivores are partial to a bit of meat if they can get it, and omnivores will generally work harder to obtain animal-based food than plant-based food.
So it is with us: most of us relish and thrive on some of the concentrated fat, protein, vitamins and essential fatty acids in meat.
Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa
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This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淏loodthirst鈥�