Thursday, December 28

Eat less meat

There's a disappointing editorial in the New York Times that I read this morning. It linked meat eating with global warming. It talks about the report “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Ok. So far, so good. Then it fizzles at the end. No easy solutions, it says.

no easy trade-offs when it comes to global warming — such as cutting back on cattle to make room for cars. The human passion for meat is certainly not about to end anytime soon. As “Livestock’s Long Shadow” makes clear, our health and the health of the planet depend on pushing livestock production in more sustainable directions.


In a word, that's bullshit. Maybe it's just because I don't have this same passion for meat they talk about. I used to eat double whoppers with cheese, extra onions, extra tomatoes all the time. But I was trying to gain weight. I wasn't sure that there was any other way but eating lots of meat. I never really enjoyed the meat though. And when I've had supposedly good, well-cooked meat I've been disappointed and not blown away. I mean, I can appreciate bar-b-q and the occasional steak or ribs, but part of that is social and part of it is culturally conditioned. I'd just as much enjoy grilled corn and veggie burgers if I wasn't held up to ridicule. It's not worth it and I've had enough ridicule.

Anyway, the answer is simple. There are reasonable trade-offs. Think about the consequences of your actions. The consequences of what you eat. Global warming doesn't just relate to the Kyoto treaty. It also relates to the meat you eat.

One thing is for certain, my demand for meat is going down in the new year. Way down.

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