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The myth of sustainable meat.

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Re: The myth of sustainable meat.

  • imagemsmerymac:

    imageringstrue:
    The methane thing is also a silly argument, imo. The dang globe isn't going to be ruined by COWS. Hi?!

    Why do you say that? Industrial farming (i.e. cows) produce more global warming gasses than cars. CARS.

    I know your argument is that cows have always existed and are totally "natural," but today's agricultural production is far from natural and cows are being bred in ridiculously higher numbers than at any time in history, given that the Western diet consumes much more meat than at any time in history.

     

    There are actually FEWER cows on farms today. 

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  • imagemsmerymac:

    imageringstrue:
    The methane thing is also a silly argument, imo. The dang globe isn't going to be ruined by COWS. Hi?!

    Why do you say that? Industrial farming (i.e. cows) produce more global warming gasses than cars. CARS.

    I know your argument is that cows have always existed and are totally "natural," but today's agricultural production is far from natural and cows are being bred in ridiculously higher numbers than at any time in history, given that the Western diet consumes much more meat than at any time in history.

    yes I agree with you and made these same points. 

    image
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  • mr+msmr+ms member
    imagemsmerymac:

    given that the Western diet consumes much more meat than at any time in history.

    The Western diet contains much more of everything than at any time in history. We have our girth and disease to show for it. And even though meat is calorie-dense, the standard american diet (healthy or not) derives a majority of calories from carbohydrate and not protein/fat. 

    On that note, while everyone is debating cow farts again, I'm going to think about the sustainability of coca cola, fruit pies, canned frosting with rainbow sprinkles and crackers with cheese out of a can a.k.a 80% of most supermarkets. This would make a good post, I think. I wonder how much of our resources go into producing and consuming food with little or no nutritional value. How much CO2 does eating for entertainment produce? hmmm.

  • imagehuber22:
    imagemsmerymac:

    imageringstrue:
    The methane thing is also a silly argument, imo. The dang globe isn't going to be ruined by COWS. Hi?!

    Why do you say that? Industrial farming (i.e. cows) produce more global warming gasses than cars. CARS.

    I know your argument is that cows have always existed and are totally "natural," but today's agricultural production is far from natural and cows are being bred in ridiculously higher numbers than at any time in history, given that the Western diet consumes much more meat than at any time in history.

     

    There are actually FEWER cows on farms today. 

    ::raised eyebrow:: Huh? 

  • imageAlisha_A:

    I call bullsh!t on this article.

    Also, it did not discuss rabbits, which are a very eco-friendly, and delicious, food source.

    Or offal, or even stuff like snakes and bugs and rodents.. all fine sources of animal protein that people in the US just aren't tapped into or interested in yet, but feed people the world over. If you focus primarily on poultry, beef, and pork, and just the choice bits and not using the whole animal, then yeah, it's not sustainable, but it doesn't address that those are only a tiny fraction of available animal protein sources.

    image
  • imageNerdicornss:
    imageAlisha_A:

    I call bullsh!t on this article.

    Also, it did not discuss rabbits, which are a very eco-friendly, and delicious, food source.

    Or offal, or even stuff like snakes and bugs and rodents.. all fine sources of animal protein that people in the US just aren't tapped into or interested in yet, but feed people the world over. If you focus primarily on poultry, beef, and pork, and just the choice bits and not using the whole animal, then yeah, it's not sustainable, but it doesn't address that those are only a tiny fraction of available animal protein sources.

    Oh come on! Asking people to consider eating rabbits isn't even remotely like suggesting we start living on termites, or even guinea pigs!

    People have been eating rabbit for hundreds of years and its on many restaurant menus. It just needs to be made more mainstream.

    image
  • imageAlisha_A:
    imageNerdicornss:
    imageAlisha_A:

    I call bullsh!t on this article.

    Also, it did not discuss rabbits, which are a very eco-friendly, and delicious, food source.

    Or offal, or even stuff like snakes and bugs and rodents.. all fine sources of animal protein that people in the US just aren't tapped into or interested in yet, but feed people the world over. If you focus primarily on poultry, beef, and pork, and just the choice bits and not using the whole animal, then yeah, it's not sustainable, but it doesn't address that those are only a tiny fraction of available animal protein sources.

    Oh come on! Asking people to consider eating rabbits isn't even remotely like suggesting we start living on termites, or even guinea pigs!

    People have been eating rabbit for hundreds of years and its on many restaurant menus. It just needs to be made more mainstream.

    Hmm I'm agreeing with you. I'm just furthering your point that what's listed as meat in the article is only barely brushing the surface of globally what makes up the animal protein market. You listed something like rabbit but I just pushed it a little further to say that there is actually a LOT of perfectly edible meat/animal protein sources out there besides huge livestock, we just as a society seem to gravitate more towards things like beef.

    image
  • imagemsmerymac:

    imagemxolisi:
    This is a good read. I think one of the side benefits of "sustainable" meats is their expense. Most people can't afford to eat them in the same volume as factory farmed meat. Most of my friends only cook meat once a week at the most and maybe eat it out at a restaurant once or twice more. 

    But that still leaves a lot of people who buy conventional meat because they don't want to change the frequency with which they eat it and they don't want to spend more.

    Sure. I'm not sure I understand your point though.

    Yes there are people who will never change their ways. That doesn't mean "sustainable agriculture" can't be sustainable because some people will never touch that value chain with a ten foot pole.

    It's two different markets altogether and the people who are stuffing themselves with supermarket ground beef don't really have any bearing on whether or not small organic, grass fed operations are virtuous or not.

    I mean yeah, we could all become vegans, but the people more likely to become vegans out of those two groups are not the ones eating vast quantities of cheap supermarket meats. 

    "We tend to be patronizing about the poor in a very specific sense, which is that we tend to think,
  • imagecurmudgeon:
    imagehuber22:
    imagemsmerymac:

    imageringstrue:



     

    There are actually FEWER cows on farms today. 

    ::raised eyebrow:: Huh? 

    Erp da derp. I got my figures confused. There are fewer dairy cows, but more beef cows (well, actually, beef cow numbers peaked in 1975, but as a trend there are more beef cows now.) 

    Forget me and carry on. 

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  • imagemr+ms:
    imagemsmerymac:

    given that the Western diet consumes much more meat than at any time in history.

    The Western diet contains much more of everything than at any time in history. We have our girth and disease to show for it. And even though meat is calorie-dense, the standard american diet (healthy or not) derives a majority of calories from carbohydrate and not protein/fat. 

    On that note, while everyone is debating cow farts again, I'm going to think about the sustainability of coca cola, fruit pies, canned frosting with rainbow sprinkles and crackers with cheese out of a can a.k.a 80% of most supermarkets. This would make a good post, I think. I wonder how much of our resources go into producing and consuming food with little or no nutritional value. How much CO2 does eating for entertainment produce? hmmm.

    Yes or the people that think eating organic produce from Bolivia so they can have something out of season is sustainable

    The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.
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