We do NOT need to eat meat to survive!!! God, I hate it when people say stuff like that when it's blatantly not true. One of my friends, despite having 100% meat-eating parents, became a vegetarian at a very young age (about 6 or 7) and he is totally healthy. He's grown well and is taller than me, he's probably about 5foot, maybe less. He drinks lots of milk and eats lots of nuts. You do NOT need meat to survive - you need protein. And the two are very different things. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's right.