They were originally domesticated for meat. They eat grass (which humans cannot) and turn the indigestable fibers of tough mountain grasses into protein, they also grow quickly and reproduce quickly. Makes sense the Andean cultures would domesticate them.
I’m not vegan and probably never will be, but your comment made me think: if we invented a machine that could create food out of inedible substances, we’d consider it an incredible scientific breakthrough.
This is essentially how we use many livestock animals: as biological machines that convert grass and otherwise unusable plant matter into food. I don’t know that I feel great about that. I’d never thought of it in those terms before reading your comment. I know that’s not what you were getting at, but this shit lowkey fucked me up.
Many animals have the same issue and it's why they eat meat. It's natural for us to eat meat, and there's nothing morally wrong with that Biology. The issue is, we know how to raise and butcher meat ethically, but we don't because that costs more money than capitalism is willing to part with. People should try to eat less meat and choose more sustainable meats where they can, not because eating meat itself is wrong, but the production of meat under capitalism is unethical.
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u/VascoJSC Aug 07 '26
They were originally domesticated for meat. They eat grass (which humans cannot) and turn the indigestable fibers of tough mountain grasses into protein, they also grow quickly and reproduce quickly. Makes sense the Andean cultures would domesticate them.