Like you, I used to be a strict vegan, but I recently started eating a few select non-vegan foods for a variety of reasons, mostly social. I noticed that I was actually able to have a greater influence on others' diets when I showed flexibility in my own. Like you, I occasionally eat certain types of seafood and humanely-produced eggs.
However, I take issue with your argument about cows. Factory-farmed cows might be marginally better off than factory-farmed chickens or pigs, but they still suffer a great deal. In particular, factory-farmed dairy cows arguably suffer the worst of all these animals.
In order to produce milk, the cow needs to have a baby, but of course the cow doesn't get to keep her baby. Like all mammals, cows have an incredibly strong mothering instinct and will become tremendously distressed and depressed when their babies are taken away. The gut-wrenching wails of a mother cow whose baby has been taken away are well-documented. Moreover, there's surely a lot of cortisol in her milk, among other grief-related hormones you wouldn't want to consume (and that pasteurization won't eliminate).
That said, even if it were true that factory-farmed cows were treated well, they would still probably cause more suffering than all other factory-farmed animals put together when you consider the environmental impact of the methane they produce as well as the deforestation and habitat destruction that comes with feeding them. Because they're so big, they require a lot more feed than these other animals, and their methane-laden waste is a more significant culprit of climate change than CO2 from vehicles. Cutting way back on beef and dairy is probably the single most effective way of reducing one's carbon footprint.
It's also worth pointing out that the vast majority of the world's population is lactose intolerant, at least according to certain metrics. If drinking pasture-raised milk makes you feel good, then go for it, but you're probably more the exception than the rule. Most people would probably be better off consuming no dairy at all. I've gone most of my life without eating dairy and have never taken calcium supplements, and I've never been anywhere near calcium deficient, which I know because I have regular bloodwork done.
I will say that I appreciate your perspective that we haven't yet identified all the components that comprise the various foods we eat, but I also think everyone has slightly different nutritional needs, and different reactions to the foods that can provide those nutrients. I think the best we can do for now is figure out what works for each of us through trial and error, with the understanding that what worked for you may not work for me, and vice versa.
Like you, I used to be a strict vegan, but I recently started eating a few select non-vegan foods for a variety of reasons, mostly social. I noticed that I was actually able to have a greater influence on others' diets when I showed flexibility in my own. Like you, I occasionally eat certain types of seafood and humanely-produced eggs.
However, I take issue with your argument about cows. Factory-farmed cows might be marginally better off than factory-farmed chickens or pigs, but they still suffer a great deal. In particular, factory-farmed dairy cows arguably suffer the worst of all these animals.
In order to produce milk, the cow needs to have a baby, but of course the cow doesn't get to keep her baby. Like all mammals, cows have an incredibly strong mothering instinct and will become tremendously distressed and depressed when their babies are taken away. The gut-wrenching wails of a mother cow whose baby has been taken away are well-documented. Moreover, there's surely a lot of cortisol in her milk, among other grief-related hormones you wouldn't want to consume (and that pasteurization won't eliminate).
That said, even if it were true that factory-farmed cows were treated well, they would still probably cause more suffering than all other factory-farmed animals put together when you consider the environmental impact of the methane they produce as well as the deforestation and habitat destruction that comes with feeding them. Because they're so big, they require a lot more feed than these other animals, and their methane-laden waste is a more significant culprit of climate change than CO2 from vehicles. Cutting way back on beef and dairy is probably the single most effective way of reducing one's carbon footprint.
It's also worth pointing out that the vast majority of the world's population is lactose intolerant, at least according to certain metrics. If drinking pasture-raised milk makes you feel good, then go for it, but you're probably more the exception than the rule. Most people would probably be better off consuming no dairy at all. I've gone most of my life without eating dairy and have never taken calcium supplements, and I've never been anywhere near calcium deficient, which I know because I have regular bloodwork done.
I will say that I appreciate your perspective that we haven't yet identified all the components that comprise the various foods we eat, but I also think everyone has slightly different nutritional needs, and different reactions to the foods that can provide those nutrients. I think the best we can do for now is figure out what works for each of us through trial and error, with the understanding that what worked for you may not work for me, and vice versa.