Wealthy nations should stop eating beef

[ILLYRIAN]

OFF TOPIC

Just imagine if our use of the written word was just a little worse? Stake fodder's comment of, "it is more expensive to eat vegetarian" might read a lot worse, it is more expensive to eat A vegetarian.

 

[nightshade]

In the future we might have to be a bit less fussy about the meat we consume .

I wonder how much of this is more the perception of what people would eat, if supermarkets etc, started to sell cockerel meat for a third of the price of chicken, how many people would quickly switch to it?

 

[M]

While we're on the subject , the sleeping giant for most of us in all this is our own sewage. Most of us crap in our own drinking water , then throw it away 😛 . Nations like the US and the UK are going to have to look long and hard at their toilet habits . Recycling our sewage for agricultural use is the bitter pill we don't want to swallow . Other nations do it , even we do it on a very small scale , but it's still taboo over here . I am hardcore , and not squeamish , but the thought of using my own sewage to grow food gives me the heebie-jeebies 😀 .

It might be worth noting that human sewage tends to be highly acidic, which a lot of plants don't like. It can be used, but it has to age quite a while. Manure from herbivore waste, like cattle and sheep, is ideally balanced for most plants. Part of my issue with the argument of "the farm animals are ruining our planet" is that in traditional farming, where this all gets recycled back into the crops, it's a perfectly balanced system without any real trouble. The trouble comes from farm animals being kept exclusively for meat and nothing else, so their waste serves no purpose and becomes a burden on the environment. Small scale traditional farming is not problematic, but corporate farming for a massive meat market most certainly is.

 

[Hunga Munga]

My nan had all sorts of names for cheap arse chickens and moody cuts of meat . Boiling fowls , capons . She really did coax some amazing meals out of the butchers leavings .

Checked on Google and capons(usually chemically castrated cockerels) aren't even legal over here anymore . Boiling fowls are still about though . Apparently capons are still quite big in Europe ...but my nan despised them 😛 .

That's another thing we might have to walk back in the future . As UK consumers we're all ethical and free range and against animal cruelty and 'give the chickens a natural life' . If we're serious about that , we might be better off slashing our meat consumption to a fraction of the current level . I don't see an environmentally tuned meat production facility being much fun for the animals .

 

[nightshade]

Do think that there will be a meat tax, like there is on tobacco and alcohol?

Edit (people came in work)

Not to turn it political, but do you think taxing meat would be a way to reduce people's consumption?

 

[TriBel]

In my freezer: Ratatouille (£1.50 will do 3/4 meals as side-dish); Sliced Peppers; Onions; Mushrooms; Stirfry Veg; Mediterranean Veg; Courgettes; Various types of beans (plus carrots, peas, cauliflower etc. which don't count as Veg cos they're too boring to be anything other than stuff). Throw in with noodles/rice/Quorn pieces etc. and I can have a nutritious meal for less than a pound and in less than 15 minutes.

Apparently capons are still quite big in Europe ...but my nan despised them 😛 .

Capons or Europeans? 😏 It has to be asked...😄

 

[Hunga Munga]

Tobacco taxes work on me ... but I don't see the ethical justification for high taxes on a food . Maybe a little climate change levy on highend meat ....or a little bonus for low/no meat products to make them more attractive . You can't (in my opinion 😉 ) do more than nudge with a staple foodstuff .

It's amazing what works to change behaviours . I used to have a real unhealthy taste for salt , had it with everything , most foods I wouldn't even consider without a glaze of extra salt . Then about 4ish years ago , I watched a Dave Chappelle comedy special . He did a routine about salt killing more black Americans than just about anything . It's a good routine , I won't spoil it 😉

Now I aint black or American , but I haven't used more than a few spoonfuls of salt in total since I heard that joke . 🙂 40odd years of salt mania cured with a few minutes of standup .

 

[nightshade]

I think people do change because of something they've seen or heard, you just have to look at social media recently after the Seaspiracy film, so many are saying that they're not going to eat fish again. Whether that actually happens is a different matter, but I think people are more open to hearing things and making a change.

 

[Hunga Munga]

I think free range eggs have shown we can change our eating habits for the better . Didn't Hugh Fearnly Wittybloke do chicken farming a few year back , and Jaimie Oliver too ?

I have heard similar things about Seaspiracy but I turned off Netflix 😛 . The sea fishing industry has been shocking for some time , as stocks decline . The UK is a moderate sized island though and access to fish is one of our saving graces for a greener future (in my opinion). I am loving the farmed mackeral we produce. I hope that fishy isn't on Seaspiracy 😀 .

 

[nightshade]

We have a lot of farmed fish and seafood here, and I think that could be a good alternative, not the salmon as it requires too much in feeding, but mussels, oysters prawns are good options if you like seafood. I don't know much about what other fish we farm around here, but I think it's important to research into how the fish you buy is caught, or if it's farmed fish.

I wonder what people would feel is harder to give up, cheese or beef? Goat milk and cheese might become more popular, however goats and sheep still produce a lot of methane.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

I wonder what people would feel is harder to give up, cheese or beef?

Beef. Cheese can't compare.

 

[Hunga Munga]

For me it's cows milk I would struggle the most without .

I'd miss the leather more than the meat too 😛 .

Whatever happens to the climate : Goat milk is gonna be a tough sell 😛 . The cheese isn't bad at all , it cooks quite nicely too .

 

[TriBel]

Cheese...I'm not - strictly speaking - a vegetarian but I haven't eaten beef for years. I only really eat meat if I'm out for a meal. BTW, is there anything I can eat without feeling guilty? 😒 Where do Gummi Bears come in the list of "things bad for the planet"?

I'd miss the leather more than the meat too 😛 .

No way am I giving up my Docs! 😡 Vegan sausage rolls are one thing - Vegan Doc Martens are just wrong on so many counts! 😱

@Hunga Munga They taste okay...and they annoy Piers Morgan - win-win!

 

[nightshade]

BTW, is there anything I can eat without feeling guilty?

I think seaweed is meant to be the super food

Where do Gummi Bears come in the list of "things bad for the planet"?

Errm, depends on if they are with gelatine and in a plastic package, especially if it's a non recyclable one. Sorry!

Greggs vegan sausage rolls are okay warm and awful cold.

I don't eat much meat, and I am cutting down on what I do eat, but I know for me I have to go slowly and learn as I go, I did go vegan for a short while many years ago and I got ill, vegan food for me then was Swedish Glace Ice cream, toast and vegan butter and chips, plus original Pringles! Not healthy, but at the time I didn't eat much veg or fruit at all, so I've had to learn which food I like and keep growing that list. I am in a far better position to reduce meat, and go veggie, however I have tried and tried to find a milk I am happy with in my tea and it's not happened It's the only time I have cows milk, so I barely use a pint in a week Plus I would prefer to use natural materials like wool, rather than plastic materials.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Cheese...I'm not - strictly speaking - a vegetarian but I haven't eaten beef for years. I only really eat meat if I'm out for a meal.

I hardly ever eat meat but those millions of people going to Ruth's Chris aren't going for a nice filet of Brie.

American's eating meat is as close to a right as you'll find I think. Regardless if the meat is steak or lips 'n' assholes.

 

[TriBel]

I think seaweed is meant to be the super food

Humph...it's only super in my book if it accompanies a Chinese Meal. 😒 I'm joking...I quite like it crispy.

I hardly ever eat meat but those millions of people going to Ruth's Chris aren't going for a nice filet of Brie.

American's eating meat is as close to a right as you'll find I think. Regardless if the meat is steak or lips 'n' assholes.

I can't remember the last time I eat steak. I tried to go vegetarian but it was a bloody nuisance flicking the bits of meat out of Chinese Special Fried Rice. 🙄 I'm not averse to eating meat - it just never occurs to me to buy it. The meat substitute's fine for me because I tend to eat "stuff in a spicy sauce type" meals so I can't tell the difference. Plus...I can keep it in the freezer and don't need to defrost it. Really my choices are based on convenience.

 

[Stake fodder]

It's only more expensive to be veggie if you buy the processed foods, pasta, rice, vegetables are all cheap foods. You might pay a little more for lentils and legumes, but still cheaper than the processed foods.

Not in the UK. I did a comparison with Spanky on another thread (might be earlier in this thread). A meat substitute (chicken, minced beef) is cheaper than than the real thing here. In the US it's three times more expensive than meat.

Clearly this is a cultural difference, and once again, the UK is more on the right side of things than the US! I bought oranges, avocados (on sale), and tomatoes yesterday, which each amounted to about $1-$1.25 apiece. For two of these items, you can buy a box of cereal, a big bag of potato chips, or 2-3 boxes of pasta. In other words, processed food is much cheaper in a lot of cases. My city, Seattle, subsidizes food-stamp purchases at farmers markets, so that they buy twice as much, to enable the low-income to eat healthier. Bill Gates lives just a few miles from me, so you'd think he'd be aware of these issues, and the subsidy program. But then, I doubt he does his own shopping.

Just imagine if our use of the written word was just a little worse? Stake fodder's comment of, "it is more expensive to eat vegetarian" might read a lot worse, it is more expensive to eat A vegetarian.

It's cheap to eat vegetarians, as they're weakened and easy to catch! But that is just more meat in the diet. 😀

Not to turn it political, but do you think taxing meat would be a way to reduce people's consumption?

Probably, though I don't see it happening here.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Ah yes @Stake fodder, but meat gained from people on all fours eating the grass in a field.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Now there's a thought, carrying a torch to see what you is eating, imagine coming across a patch of strange herbs that look like tomato plants, and there goes Spike looking at his hand of many colours as it waves about in front of his face.

 

[nightshade]

I bought oranges, avocados (on sale), and tomatoes yesterday, which each amounted to about $1-$1.25 apiece

Yes, but those aren't seasonal foods, they had to be transported there, look up what's seasonal locally and it'll be cheaper.